1975 Fender Super Twin Referbish, Worth it?

[rich724]

I'm the original owner of a 1975 Fender Blackface Super Twin which has been setting in the basement for over 30 years. It was my workhorse amp mid 70's through mid 80's gigging every weekend (or more). Its in need of a total refurbish requiring new caps, tubes and a reverb tank. The estimate is thought to be about $350 US. I will never use this amp again as it is much too much for what I need and at 61 I'm hesitating lifting up the stairs as it weighs a ton. The only reason to refurbish it would be for a resale.
In your opinion would this amp be worth the time and expense to have it done? My other thought is to cannibalize it and sell the pieces.

Your thoughts?
Regards,

[CPL]

I'd refurbish it since I'm pretty sure you can get more for it than you put into it to fix it up. Besides, it would be a shame to take it to pieces.

[CAR-15]

What he said ^^^^^^^

[a.hun]

What they said ^^^^^^^.

Or sell as is. Definitely don't dismantle it for parts!!!


Andy.

[bclaire]

Does it work at all? My thought would be to sell it as-is and let the buyer choose tubes, and what to repair first...

[bclaire]

I'd follow this amp just to see if it sells and what it sells for...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-FENDER- ... 3f5408feca" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Those things were beyond boat anchors... I'm not sure how desirable they are....

[Randy Bass]

I'm the original owner of a 1975 Fender Blackface Super Twin which has been setting in the basement for over 30 years. It was my workhorse amp mid 70's through mid 80's gigging every weekend (or more). Its in need of a total refurbish requiring new caps, tubes and a reverb tank. The estimate is thought to be about $350 US. I will never use this amp again as it is much too much for what I need and at 61 I'm hesitating lifting up the stairs as it weighs a ton. The only reason to refurbish it would be for a resale.
In your opinion would this amp be worth the time and expense to have it done? My other thought is to cannibalize it and sell the pieces.

Your thoughts?
Regards,

I'm not really a Fender aficionado, but I would probably hunt you down and beat you to death with your own arms if you cannibalized a perfectly good vintage amp like that . It would be a different story if it was hacked-up and needed a ton of restoration work, but caps and tubes are standard maintenance items. That amp deserves to be in good working order, whether you fix it or sell it as-is to someone who will appreciate it. There are people out there who would put the chassis in a head sleeve and use it as a pedal platform for loud stoner/doom stuff, so it's not useless. You could always try to trade it for a small tube amp like a Tiny Terror or something to avoid the psychological preoccupation with getting "top dollar".

[rich724]

I believe that what is needed are new caps and tubes along with a reverb tank. Its a 100lb. (45kg) beast so I think I would selling it for local pick up only which could take time. Maybe it will sit in the basement for another 30 years.
Thanks all for the reply's.

[bclaire]

The other alternative is to give a buyer the name of the closest UPS Store to you and coordinate dropping it off with them as he talks to them and pays for boxing and shipping....

[rich724]

Thanks all for the feed back. I have someone within an hours drive who is interested to purchase "as is". I'll send him some pics this weekend so we shall see.
Thanks again.

[Jondog]

I think you'd get a decent price as is. Someone like myself, who likes fixing amps would be all over it.

[OrangePaul]

Are you my older brother?!

He has this exact same amp but when he was gigging in the 70s/80s he used to run a solid state Stingray into the speakers in order to save tubes...

Which reminds me that the vintage tubes and JBL drivers in that combo alone will be worth a small fortune


Edit: actually his is a Silverface Twin Reverb but I'm pretty sure it's a '75 model from new

[Sid Nitzerglobin]

For a sale, I'd sell it as is personally, whether it plays currently or not. From what I've seen, I wouldn't be too confident that you'd make your money back. If you're doing the work yourself then it's probably a better bet to go ahead w/ the overhaul, assuming you know what you're doing and enjoy the work.

I've got a '74 SF Twin that's in a similar scenario (needs about $250-300 of parts & work and although it still plays and sounds decent currently I just don't need a Twin) but I just haven't been able to get myself to let go of it yet for what I'd get out of it.

[MikeD]

Pretty easy decision. Just see what they're selling one in good condition for and than minus the cost of an overhaul. If the result doesn't encourage you to carry it up from the basement just sell as is and with a big "will not send" at the end

Like the good ole reverend Billy Gibbons said....why make it any harder than it oughta be?

[rich724]

After speaking with the owner of a local amp repair shop and considering that this amp is all original (tubes, foot switches, etc) he suggested that it might be worth keeping it a while longer and see what interest there would be in the collector community at some point in the future. It doesn't seem worth the time and expense to refurbish this amp just for resale, so back into the basement it goes.

Thanks all for your input.