1970 fender super reverb advice needed

jpfamps

That looks a reasonable, although I would like to look at the inards first.

I would factor a cap job into the price if it hasn't been done already.

If the cabinet is sound I wouldn't be at all concerned gigging this amp.

I have gigged a 1969 Pro Reverb for several years now, and the only problem I have had with it has been valve failure.

jpfamps

Travisthedog said:

It's in a hell of a state though mate - the cobwebs and dust etc show the level of neglect along with the cab damage

I couldn't get the vibrato working either

How much would a re-cap cost roughly

Vibrato will not be an expensive fix.

ThePrettyDamned

The experts can give wisdom, but that looks bloody cool!

Yup, that's my contribution...

Travisthedog

Thanks bro - your singing from my hymn sheet!

Voxman

I think its overpriced for its condition - I would urge head over heart rather than vice-a-versa.  It needs too much work at that price to be bought for restoration purposes, and amps of this type have a limited market because of size, weight and volume where current trend is to go for a smaller amp bought new with a full warranty (often with free online extension) & then mike it up if needed.  It will certainly need a reliable amp tech to thoroughly check it out including a safety check. I'd be loathe to trust my life to a stores 'OK' here and with amps of this age safety is essential - its not just about earthing but potential fire risk.

At the very least it needs some serious haggling to reserve funds for an amp tech & any repairs needed.  The difficulty in values for ld amps like this is very subjective and market driven ie its only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. In its current condition I would suggest no more than £4-500 tops. 

BTW - On Ebay I saw there's a 1981 Blackface ProReverb  at £100 so far: 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Pro-Reverb-Blackface-70W-guitar-combo-1981-/171430263536?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27ea0a3af0

musteatbrain

Not massively overpriced. If it was 100 quid less. I'd not hesitate. Great amps

strtdv

If everything works it's a fair enough price.

Paying a decent amp tech to replace the electrolytics and generally get it in good electrical order will cost in the region of £150 or so in my experience, so if there's a lot of hum, reverb/vibrato not working etc or modifications to be reversed then you need to factor that in to the cost.

If it needs a bit of electrical sorting I'd try to get it for £700 or under, as fully sorted it would be worth about £800-850 with a bit of a clean up.

The plus points are its an early one (pre-'72), so closer to blackface, non-master volume and non ultralinear transformers, so should sound great and still be a lot cheaper than an original blackface.

40-50 watts is a sweet spot for Fender style amps IMO, it's got that great piano-like bass of the bigger Fenders, but gets just warm and gritty enough at gig volumes without deafening you.

Ossyrocks

Those are CTS alnicos in there, one of the best sounding speakers for a Super Reverb. Also, don't worry about blowing them, they will take the heat, there's four of them !

I've owned about 50 vintage Fender amps and currently have five.

I'd buy this amp and sort it out, so long as the transformers are original.

Rob.

Travisthedog

Well I've got a load if bits that I've pulled together to trade in on this. I've done some good deals in this shop in the past so it's always worth trying your luck. If I can pull the deal the amp will have cost very little indeed

Thar said I'm gonna asks to take it to a gig on Saturday before commiting (the shop is ace like that) or at very least bring it home and give you guys some guts shots to ponder over

@lexie1 I'd love your thoughts on this mate - email me!

Voxman

Sorry, for some reason I thought that was the 2x12 when in fact its the 4x10 - so the price doesn't seem unreasonable - my bad.  But that's a back-breaking 86lb amp (well over 6 stone, which is about 12-13lbs heavier than an AC30 with Alnico Blues) so fitting castors is going to be a good idea!  

ICBM

Voxman said:

Sorry, for some reason I thought that was the 2x12 when in fact its the 4x10 - so the price doesn't seem unreasonable - my bad.  But that's a back-breaking 86lb amp (well over 6 stone, which is about 12-13lbs heavier than an AC30 with Alnico Blues) so fitting castors is going to be a good idea!  

No, fitting castors is a bad idea - it makes the amp unstable and it can easily fall over. They're too tall and narrow.

That one shouldn't be anything like 86lbs - that's more like the weight of the later 70W ones, and is about the same as a Twin Reverb. 45W Supers with Alnico speakers weigh more like 60-65lbs, from memory. Heavy-ish, but quite manageable.

Travisthedog

@icbm

Agreed - first thing I did was pick it up and it was heavy but not as heavy as my old twin or even my old ac30

Lexie1

Jon, just buy it, you know that it will be doing everything that you have been relentlessly hunting for, OK so it looks tired, but everything the amp chaps here have said is correct.

jpfamps

The Super Reverb isn't that heavy an amp (as ICBM says).

It's slightly unwieldy due to the shape, but is manageable.

If you do take some chassis pics for our perusal, a look under the cap pan would be useful to see if the amp has been recapped.

To drain the filter caps turn the amp off (and unplug it!) but leave the standby switch in the "on" position for a few minutes.

The cap pan is underneath the chassis and secured by 4 self tapping screws, so is a 2 minute job to remove once the chassis is out of the amp.

hywelg

Ths FFG does indeed list the weight as 86lbs
http://www.thevintagesound.com/ffg/super_reverb_sf.html

But then it lists the Pro Tube series Super Amp 4x10 as 60lbs. I  had one of those and it never felt very heavy to me and I cant see why the SR would be nearly half as heavy again as the Pro Tube version

57Deluxe

If it sounds good, is authentic Fender of the era and has 4 good speakers(!) then £750 is a good price for the volume it offers, versatilty and the mojo.

It may not be the easiest amp to haul around, but it will do ANY Gig environment - from Pub to Glasto!

It might be nice to tidy the tolex seeing as is enough of aged wear elsewhere to hint at its past. - Is well worth haggling over for this too...!

People pay £2k ish for a CARR or Tone King or Two Rock etc, when all they do is emulate this amp plus a bit of grit  - which you can easily get from a pedal anyway.

PS - yes do thoroughly check the integrity of the cab (no wobbly dovetails etc) as the wight of this relies on the rigidity of the cab construction. 

PPS. Although heavy, due to its height it is actually easy enough to shuffle along with slowly by the top grab handle!

Travisthedog

Cheers for such great comments one and all

I'm going in........

GuyBoden

Great amp, you'll need to check each component, which is a big part of the fun and you'll learn a lot.

bandmaster188

everything you'll need to know about your super is in here. circuit diagrams, mods, biasing etc etc etc.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Desktop-Reference-Vintage-Guitar-Amps/dp/0964106000/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409146365&sr=8-1&keywords=gerald+weber

John_A

Travisthedog said:

Cheers for such great comments one and all

I'm going in........

So you ignored my advice ....  Good on you, I'm sure it'll be a great amp, and buying with the heart rather than the head has to be commended