Post
by Despot » Wed Oct 04, 2017 12:31 am
I used to think that finding late '60s or decent '70 SF amps was a practical impossibility in Ireland - even less so ones converted to run on our voltage here in Ireland. And even more so if you consider that you're looking for something like a Princeton or Deluxe Reverb.
Then I found a '73 non-reverb Princeton (export) and a '71 Princeton Reverb (with a transformer that was easily converted to local voltage) within 6 weeks last year. And the all-original and lovely sounding PR was cheaper than buying a brand new PRRI.
I've since seen a SF Deluxe Reverb and a particularly lovely BF Deluxe Reverb ('65) go up for sale here (in the last year) - and the BFDR wasn't crazy money (it had a replaced grill cloth and missing logo, but was otherwise clean). In fact I think it was less than the price they're charging for these reissues.
I guess what I'm saying is that there's a better availability of vintage amps, even here in Ireland where I thought such things were limited to Vox and Marshalls, than I thought. And on that basis if I was to spend 3k on an amp, I know I'd try to buy something old that will at least hold it's value rather than an amp that will immediately lose some.