New Amp Day

[LarryM2]

Well,
I'm looking at a Fender '57 Custom Twin-Amp 40W 2x12 Guitar Combo Tweed Tube, in "very good" condition, and I'm wanting you guys to advise me as to what kind bid should I be thinking on it? The asking price is $2000 with $80 shipping. There's new ones out there for $2999.00 so I'm hoping he'll come down some because it's used. I'd like to make a bid ASAP. It's a floor model 57 Twin 212 in very good used condition. There are minor some scratches on the sides of the amp from being moved around on the showroom floor but overall the amp looks great and is fully functional. The '57 Twin Combo Amp effectively reproduces the 1955-1957 amplifier's low-powered 5E8A circuit, which produces 40W into a pair of 12" Alnico-magnet speakers. It gets its power from a pair of USA-made GT6L6-GE output tubes. The power supply includes Fender's rarely seen '50s dual rectifier arrangement that uses 2 - 5U4 rectifier tubes. FEATURES
'55-'57 5E8A circuit design
Hand-wired chassis
40W tube power
2 - 12" Special Design Ted Weber/Eminence Alnico magnet speakers
Solid finger-jointed pine cabinet
Genuine lacquered tweed
Striped oxblood grille cloth
Leather strap handle
Controls: Presence, Bass, Treble, Volume (Bright Channel), Volume (Normal Channel)
Dual channels (Normal and Bright)
Chrome control panel
4 inputs (2 per channel)
Standby switch
Internal bias pot
Dual rectifiers
4 x 12AX7 (preamp)
2 x GT6L6-GE (power section)

Thanks in advance for any input...

[g1]

So someone has installed NOS GE power tubes?
The new one comes with a 2 yr. warranty. It is not transferable, is this seller offering any warranty?

[Leo_Gnardo]

So someone has installed NOS GE power tubes?

Mmmmm, no. "Groove Tube 6L6GE" which are some sorta copy of the genuine item. Who actually made 'em, nobody can say. Near the end of Groove Tubes' pre-Fender ownership, Aspen Pittman claimed he had some USA outfit clone the venerable GE 6L6GC. But real facts are hard to come by when dealing with this crowd. Did Fender inherit a stash of these tubes when they bought GT? Is the mystery tube maker still making them? Nobody seems to know. I've run across a few of them in amps brought in for repair & maintenance. They look a lot like the real item but never impressed me as sounding superior.

[Justin Thomas]

I just perused my favorite tube vendor for the look-alike to those 6L6-GE, and I'm pretty sure they're NOT a 6L6-GC, as it says they're a 20-25W tube. So, a 6L6-GB equvialent, maybe? They're not JJ, don't look anything like the standard Chinese offerings, don't look like any Sovteks... They're $10 MORE than every other Groove Tube the vendor offers, per pair, so $35/each. I wouldn't consider them anything special...

Though, what I DID notice was that the "new" "Tung-Sol" 6L6-GC STR looks an AWFUL lot like the old REAL Svetlana ( =C= ) 6L6GCs that were so beloved (by me, anyway...) I've seen a couple of STR 6L6GCs in my days, and NONE of them had the rectangular holes in the plates. So it seems to me that ye olde Sovtek is starting to try to copy the looks of ye olde REAL Svetlana 6L6s. And dear lord, I sure miss =C=...

Justin

[pdf64]

...The new one comes with a 2 yr. warranty. It is not transferable, is this seller offering any warranty?

Yes, a warranty is worth a lot.
It may be worth looking for one that was sold pre 2017, as (I think) these had a 5 year transferable warranty.
Or look for a clone made by a smaller company, eg Victoria have a good rep and lifetime warranty.