for you old farts out there

  • Thread starter Thread starter mixmkr
  • Start date Start date
I remember back in 1970-73 using a Sunn Sceptre with two 4x12 cabinets. The band also had a Kustom 200 watt PA system with two of the naugahyde speaker column. I was using a 1956 Strat at the time, a Big Muff PI and an original Vox Crybaby.

The only gear out of this I have left is the vintage Big Muff and the Cry Baby.

I recently, within the last year, saw a Vox Super Beatle at GC that some dude traded in for a Marshall. There was a ridiculous price tag on it. I bet the guy who traded it in was shocked at the mark-up!!! The interesting news is that someone actually bought the boat anchor. If you ever played through one, they are not the quality that you would expect.
 
I dont have one anymore. I owned two V4s and two VT22s over the years and
never replaced a tube in any of them. The only drawback was they are 7027As
and hard to find. They had no master volumes which was a drawback but they kicked every fenders ass I ever put them up against and I have owned a few fenders also.
 
yeah...I put a master volume in one of my V4's (I had two...and still have one now in my closet, with matching 4x12), and it worked ok...but never really cut the mustard. I asked about the tubes, because I was aware of how hard they are to find...but they are out there. I've never replaced any either, btw.
 
72fender
That's great you went with the Vox amp and Strat. When I went to Viet Nam in '67 I let the local music store know that if I came back I'd be getting a Strat and a Super Reverb (with all the combat pay I'd be making). Well they put that rig in the storefront window with a patriotic sign about what it was 'reserved' for and all. When I got back I got the Super but went with a Vox semi hollow body. Not only was it a stupid move but the Vox was like an extra $75.

Yeah, those Baldwins were big and kind of curved on the front. That style just never took off. Then as now, what works and loads in and out easily sells.
 
Anybody remember those amps?

Sure do. I used a Kustom pa back then (black tuck and roll). It wasn't very good but it was better than a Vocalmaster. For solo guitar and vocals I ended up getting a better sound out of my Super Reverb and going through hi-fi speakers.
 
Kustom!

I have an original Kustom amp in my garage. The head is 4-channel P.A. number. I bought the head and the cab (3-15" jensens, I think) for $300 eight years ago. I used it as a PA and a guitar amp at the same time.
 

Attachments

  • kus100c.webp
    kus100c.webp
    11.8 KB · Views: 119
kustom

I had a kustom 200 head. Used it on top of a VOX 18" cabinet. Combined weight must have been 150 lbs!!!! Now they make combo amps with one 12 and a tweeter that absolutely blow my old rig away.
 
Hey this old fart remembers, well I think I do, man I have had some shit gear over the years, and some good stuff, anyone remember the British made Selmer amps, christ, I sold it, I should be locked up for that.
 
Remeber the equipment on the cover of Pink Floyds Ummagumma. Was that
WEM equipment? If so what is WEM? English? I heard they had all that equipment and van stolen from a concert in The Big Easy, cant remember if I ever found out if that was true so for now it is hearsay.
 
Buck,

Yeah I sure do remember those Kustom amps. We thought those were so kool back then. Funny how ugly they look to me now. I never owned one of those, but I wish I still had all of the Ampegs I've owned over the years. I miss that VT-40.

Also had an Acoustic 150 with a 6x10 cab. Solid state crap!

Also had several VOX amps, several vintage Fenders - All gone...........sigh.


Speaking of Ampeg, anyone remember the Dan Armstrong plexi-glass stuff? A removable pickup you could slide out and replace for a different tone?

How about the Coral Kilowatt amp? Biggest amp I've ever seen. Taller than the SVT or the 3x15 Kustom or Peavey cabs. All of which contributed greatly to the popularity of chiropractors.


Twist
 
"It wasn't very good but it was better than a Vocalmaster."

Shure Vocalmaster- boy, that takes me back. We used to rent the old Trainor PA's too, they raised "crap" to a new level! Folks today have no idea how good they have it - anybody remember the old Bogen PAs? Sonic poo poo.

Bob
 
At the resort I play we have Bogan preamps going through a rack of power amps that go througout the property. There's 12 or so, but I go through 7 of them. About once a week I blow one up and we switch with another I'm not using. Bogan sucked then and they suck now.
 
Remember?? I still have them.

Got the V-4 1/2 stack, numerous Ampeg Rockets,Gemini's, and a Coral Kilowatt with the single 8-12" cabinet. Originally a bass amp (3-tube front end with a solid state power section) I believe the 1000 watt rating is at 2 Ohms but I could be mistaken. Makes a hell of a guitar amp though! Loudest thing I gave ever heard, and among the heaviest I have ever hefted. Caps are a bit noisy after all these years, but otherwise reliable, powerful, and visually impressive (think big black refrigerator with a three inch chrome strip surrounding it); it also is very good with any sort of effects plugged into it even without a loop. There are two funny three-pronged speaker outlets the like of which I have never seen before but I am looking for another 8-12" cabinet (!) if anyone hears of one.
Yeah, I'm an old fart too. But still at it, actively ruining the aural acuity of the young and feckless.
 
I had a Super Showman when I was in high school. Paid $400 for it in 75-76 and the guy threw in an old Vox wah wah too.

If you wanted clean and loud it could certainly do that. One of the 4-12 cabs had Utahs and the other had Fender SD's. Designed by Bob Risson, who later went on to make his own line of SS amps, and currently offers tube combos on ebay. The cabs had stickers with SPL warnings.:eek:

I put mine on consignment for $400 at Frontier Music in Orange CA in the late 70's and somebody broke in and stole the head. I bought a silverface Twin to replace it that I still have today, but that old amp needs a lot of work to get it back into shape.
 
I represent that statement

Don't call me old...brrrrraaappp. I'm very well preserved, it's the beer. I had a blond Bassman. My keyboard player gave me a Super Beatle so I sold the Bassman to one of my guitar students. I wanted to get a Sunn Model T but copped out for an Alpha 112pr (that C-Moss overdrive was pretty good for a solid state amp at that time, I learned to hate it) that the music store I taught at gave me when I bought my Strat from them. My keyboard player took back the Super Beatle and I got kicked out of the band. I had a Hagstrom II I sold to my sax player but he never paid me for it, damn it. When My brother died I inherited his blond Bassman, Ricky 12 string and Jazzmaster. I get a lot of good feedback, (from the rig and from other people) for the sound of my Les Paul through my Fender Hot Rod Delux.
 
good memories

Reading through this thread brought back some good memories. I played in a band when I was about 14 that had a couple of Super Beatles and a Vox Bass amp. I can't remember what it was named. We had the Vox columns for PA speakers driven by (get this) 2 Bogen 100 watt amps. I played a Vox Super Continental w/ a 147 Leslie. (wish I had that rig back) Thinkin' back, those Super Beatles were a lot more trouble than they were worth but they looked cool on stage!

I think collectors have grabbed up all the vintage Vox stuff.
 
Remeber the equipment on the cover of Pink Floyds Ummagumma. Was that
WEM equipment? If so what is WEM? English? I heard they had all that equipment and van stolen from a concert in The Big Easy, cant remember if I ever found out if that was true so for now it is hearsay.


I was at that show, and it's true.

It was a three band show: Country Funk, The Allman Bros (with Barry and Duane), and Pink Floyd doing the Ummagumma album. Four bucks. The show lasted from 8 PM until nearly 3 AM, and I saw John and Yoko in the Cafe du Monde at about 4 AM.

The Floyds' trailer (or was it a truck?) was stolen after they packed it up after the gig.

Does that make me king of the old farts? ;^)
 
Back
Top