(tell us about) The amp you got for free (or almost)

[Chuck H]

I got the idea for this thread from a new member that posted to say the forum helped him repair his Silvertone that he got for free in the 80's on the road side. It had never worked before but now it's a free amp!

I'm thinking there are some fun or even "Wow! Really?" tales here about free stuff. Almost free should also qualify.

I don't have much on this. Things I got free amount to an old VOM record player with a PP 6V6 amp and a Jensen speaker that ended up being a nifty guitar amp (side of the road). An old Telefunken Opus table radio with original tubes and in decent condition with original purchase swag from a shop in Hollywood stuffed behind the back panel (pulled out of the local dump). And a set of transformers from a The Fisher 500B (on a shelf in a friends garage).

Anything remotely cool could be fun to hear about. And really hoping for some remarkable finds.

[Justin Thomas]

Myself, I received my first good batch of parts from a customer of the pharmacy I was working at. A Stromberg PA included, which became my "Spitfire With Cheese." A set of early 70s Twin Reverb trannies which I just pit in my Bassman build, a Thomas organ chassis with 2 OTs that became my stereo amp (as in, guitar amps, not hifi). I've still got a few chassis with traππies lying about to be used. Got some decent guitar hardware too.

He made a significant investment in my hobby, at no cost to me besides "pick it up & take it all."

Jusrin

[glebert]

Just off the top of my head, all free. There have been more but these are ones that I am either still using or sold for good profit.:
Carvin SX200 (chassis, made it into a head)
CMI SG System "The Oven Amp" converted it to 6550 tubes
Crate VC6212 (Vintage Club 60), blown PT, hacked in one from a Laney tube amp chassis I had sitting around
Peavey Silver Stripe Bandit, some broken pot shafts
Crate GX130C head, needed a couple cliff jacks replaced and a good cleaning.

[mozz]

Free was the guy on here who gave away a bunch of amp parts, princeton build chassis with transformers, lots of other amp parts.
Paid but a little: Pre WW2 tweed Supro, PP 6v6's. Was browsing a outdoor yard sale and it was sitting under a table. I asked "how much for the speaker?" $20. Another find was a Gibson GA75W. $5, sold on eBay over 25 years ago, needed the money at the time for car insurance. Gibson acoustic, LG-O 1961, $15. Upper price range a few years ago, $200 1959 tweed Champ.

[Chuck H]

Free was the guy on here who gave away a bunch of amp parts, princeton build chassis with transformers, lots of other amp parts.
Paid but a little: Pre WW2 tweed Supro, PP 6v6's. Was browsing a outdoor yard sale and it was sitting under a table. I asked "how much for the speaker?" $20. Another find was a Gibson GA75W. $5, sold on eBay over 25 years ago, needed the money at the time for car insurance. Gibson acoustic, LG-O 1961, $15. Upper price range a few years ago, $200 1959 tweed Champ.

That's a lot of good stuff. I have to assume you're a good guy and it's karma.

I had an ex friend who had ended up in a bad way using drugs and no fixed address, etc. First time I saw him in years he and some clearly meth addicted hag he was with approached my wife and I walking through a shopping center. He had an early Gibson LG-0 with him and offered it to me for $50. I told I had to pass on it. A deal like that is hard to pass up but I couldn't live with the guilt of owning someones stolen guitar.

[Chuck H]

A Stromberg PA included, which became my "Spitfire With Cheese."

I sometimes worry that I'll need info on that amp if anything comes up because I have no records of what we did and I've never been able to find them here. At least you own the hard copy.

[Chuck H]

I remember going into a thrift store and they'd recieved an old Hammond home organ (full console monster). I can't remember the model now but it wasn't the A100 because this thing had a built in leslie type rotating speaker enclosure and the full B3 compliment. Price $52.00 WHAT? I was on foot because I lived close to my job at the time and I sometimes stopped in there leaving work. But I was still a half a mile from my house. I had no money on me but I had a wad of stash cash at home. So I told them to hold it for me and jogged home. By the time I got back, with my truck, it had a sold tag on it The clerk I spoke to didn't pass the hold request to the other clerk and someone came in and payed cash within the fourty minutes I was away.

EDIT: When I was in high school I had a "I play guitar too" buddy and we would jam at his place after school sometimes. His guitar? A 1956 Les Paul gold top. It was beat up a bit and previously owned by his older brother and his father before that. This was the family hand down guitar meant to be used until graduating to something new and stylish. Gold top LP's at the time didn't command the premium they do now and a guitar like this would have been worth about a thousand bucks. My guy had his eye on a new (used) guitar at a shop and offered to sell me the old LP for $350 so he could afford it. Well I was a freshman in high school in 1982. $350 was huge coin for a fouteen year old. I simply didn't have it. And even if I did the flip on it wasn't much more than a "good deal".

EDIT 2: I tried to find the value of a 1956 LP standard but it's strangely colluded. My best guess is that a guitar like the one I knew would fetch about 30k today. I hope my buddy held on to it.

[Justin Thomas]

I sometimes worry that I'll need info on that amp if anything comes up because I have no records of what we did and I've never been able to find them here. At least you own the hard copy.

Unfortunately, I sold that one. I might have the schematic on my computer, and if worst comes to worst, I think I've got gutshots on my phone or Farcebook somewhere... I also didn't follow it exactly.

Jusrin

[Mick Bailey]

My nicest find came about in 1979. I discovered that a chap at a grocer's about a mile from where I lived played guitar and he invited me over for a jam. He had a Gibson SG with Vibrola trem and an AC30. I had a home-made guitar and a Big Muff that I took along. He suggested I had a go on his spare guitar, a Strat in red that was fading to pink where the sun had caught it. It played superbly and I was really taken with it. At the same time he couldn't get enough of the Big Muff pedal, which my cousin had given to me. At the end of the jam he said he'd be willing to do a straight swap - the pedal for the guitar. I couldn't believe my luck.

I played that guitar for a while but something really grated with me that I became obsessed with; the bridge pickup had removed and one of those Gibson mini humbuckers inexpertly fitted. This eventually led to me selling the guitar, which I've regretted ever since.

I found a brand-new Crumar Sprit synthesizer at the back of a local music shop around 1988. This was the last model designed by Bob Moog and I think they made 50. I paid £100, sold it three years later for £250. They peaked at around £5,000 after Bob died and have now settled to around £3,000.

Other finds;
A '63 mint AC30 in smooth Rexine (£15)
a Traynor YBA-2 bass amp at a furniture auction (£70)
Early Vox AC-10 2x10 - Mint, unmarked (£15)

Recently I bought a box of tubes for £35 without looking. Included were boxed Telefunken 12AX7s, and tubular plate EL84s.

About 10 years ago I was given some free NOS Mullard OC71 and OC44s Ge transistors, boxed.

[Chuck H]

A '63 mint AC30 in smooth Rexine (£15)
a Traynor YBA-2 bass amp at a furniture auction (£70)
Early Vox AC-10 2x10 - Mint, unmarked (£15)

That's remarkable! Too bad about the strat though.

I had a 1986 MIJ tobacco burst Standard Stratocaster that I bought new at Guitar Center during a "special event" for $299 (worth about $1000 now). But I really wanted a humbucker guitar so a year later I traded it toward a Fender Esprit. I got my purchase value for the Strat and paid another hundred bucks to get the Esprit for $399 (worth about $1500 now). Then I got my Yamaha SBG and stopped playing the Esprit. I put it up for auction at a charity event and it raised four hundred dollars. I really wish I still had the Strat.

[35L6]

1946 Silvertone floor model hifi

[35L6]

About 70 or 71 I loaned a guy $200 . For collateral he let me hold his 60's Strat , white just like the one Jimi had at Woodstock . Couple weeks later he had the cash and if I wanted the money or keep the guitar . Like a fool I took the cash .

[Mick Bailey]

My wife spotted a Sessionette 75 for £10 (about $16 at the time) in a charity shop. It needed a little bit of work, but I still have it. I mentioned I had one to an acquaintance between Covid lock downs and he said "do you want another?" When I asked how much, he said I could have it for nothing. It's in really nice condition.

One of my favourite guitars is a plywood 70s telecaster copy. It may be an Antoria. I went to see a funk band and the guitarist had a sound that stuck in my head for years. He turned up one afternoon and gave me the guitar, minus the neck. I fitted a neck from another free guitar I had given to me. Everything about that guitar is wrong: action is too high, plywood body, start neck, no through-stringing, wrong bridge, crudely fitted neck humbucker, wrong pots, wrong caps. I won't change a single thing. It's superb.

There used to be a web site called Freecycle. My wife spotted a small amp on there and was quite excited about it. We drove over to pick it up and as soon as I saw it I realized that it wasn't even worth the petrol money. Its a 15w Chinese combo branded Freedom. It didn't work - blown output IC. I fixed it up and have put more hours on that than any other amp I've ever owned. It's been my main bench amp, sometimes switched on all day long, and recently I've been using it with my guitar synth because the frequency range is so good.

[Chuck H]

About 70 or 71 I loaned a guy $200 . For collateral he let me hold his 60's Strat , white just like the one Jimi had at Woodstock . Couple weeks later he had the cash and if I wanted the money or keep the guitar . Like a fool I took the cash .

Hoh! Need a "don't like" tab. But then in 71 you could buy a used strat for two bills so at the time...

[Chuck H]

One of my favourite guitars is a plywood 70s telecaster copy. It may be an Antoria. I went to see a funk band and the guitarist had a sound that stuck in my head for years. He turned up one afternoon and gave me the guitar, minus the neck. I fitted a neck from another free guitar I had given to me. Everything about that guitar is wrong: action is too high, plywood body, start neck, no through-stringing, wrong bridge, crudely fitted neck humbucker, wrong pots, wrong caps. I won't change a single thing. It's superb.

Love this.

I had a cheap Austin plywood top acoustic. It was actually quite pretty with a decent cherry sunburst. And it set up nice and the TONE! Piano string bottom end, round but bristly treble and a sort of built in mid cut. It was loud and sounded like an acoustic guitar track already polished up in the studio. I loved that guitar. Unfortunately I fell on hard time for a while and had to store it in poor conditions. The neck warped and even after having it straightened it twisted again within a few months. So I had to replace it. That was going to be hard because most actually good sounding acoustics are expensive. So...

I went to Guitar Showcase in San Jose, Ca. They had a terrific acoustic selection in an insulated show room. I played every guitar in the place and liked many. In the end it came down to a Taylor and a Yari. I liked the Yari just a little better and bought it for more than I had. But I was in good with the guys there so they gave me credit even though I couldn't possibly qualify. I still have that guitar. It's my only acoustic. Model DY-51 with a cedar top. I plan to be burried with it. It wasn't better than my cheap Austin though. That guitar had spoiled me so the new guitar HAD to speak to me regardless of what I had to do to get it.

EDIT: Reading your account I'm reminded of Prince's tele. It was a copy made by (I can't remember?). But he loved it and used it for almost everything he did live and in the studio. It was actually a really pretty thing with some unusual cosmetic wood work. It's not wrong to love an instrument. Or an amp for that matter.