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Is this a fake AD140?

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 11:35 pm
by rmeat
Hi all,

I need some information from someone who knows what they're talking about.

I bought this AD140 from the local guitar center today for a steal... but I am convinced it is a fake. It's weird because the transformers appear to be the same as the ones I see online, the tube layout appears to be the same, but the font on the front/back are obviously not original. The crest and "made in great britain" are just stickers. Oddly it appears the crest sticker is over the actual crest. I should add the amp sounds amazing (albeit needs new tubes.) It almost looks like they took an existing AD140 chassis/case and replaced some of the cosmetics. I've never heard of anyone faking an AD140, especially in this fashion but it appears that's what someone did.

Thoughts?
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Re: Is this a fake AD140?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 3:20 am
by OU818
May not be fake, may be an early custom shop build.

You could always open it up and check out if Ade's signature is in the chassis and whether it matches his usual one.

However that hand writing does look pretty familiar:

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Re: Is this a fake AD140?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 2:44 pm
by bclaire
Yeah, that's Ade's handwriting. That could be a very cool score on your part!

Re: Is this a fake AD140?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:56 pm
by rmeat
Thanks guys!
Looking at the picture of the internals- the handwriting looks very similar. I'm gonna take it to my friend tonight to open up the chassis. Hopefully it's a real custom shop :D I'll post the pic later

Re: Is this a fake AD140?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 5:13 pm
by rmeat
Update- I took apart the amp and found that it is a PCB- but it says it was "Built by Paul Stevens"
Here are the pictures:
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Re: Is this a fake AD140?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 5:33 pm
by rmeat
UPDATE- My dad messaged Paul Stevens on LinkedIn and he said it was a prototype he built for Orange. Wow that's insane.

Re: Is this a fake AD140?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 5:51 pm
by steamboat
That's really cool! Awesome little piece of orange history.

Re: Is this a fake AD140?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 8:10 pm
by Jondog
Very cool. I was thinking it may be a prototype being no warning labels on the back. I’d say thats a nice score. Looks like the 0V star ground screw has been soldered to the board. That would suggest great care went into into the build.

Re: Is this a fake AD140?

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 5:04 am
by Ronnie Robinson
Wow phenomenal!! Enjoy!!

Re: Is this a fake AD140?

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:08 pm
by D|C|M|E
That's too awesome, especially if you got a great price on it!

Congratulations, dude.

Re: Is this a fake AD140?

Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 4:16 pm
by LD50
What a great find!
Look after it nicely. 8)