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

[Leo_Gnardo]

I'm reminded of Prince's tele. It was a copy made by (I can't remember?).

Hohner. That's right Hohner the harmonica and accordion company. A bit unusual but a kool instrument. Article: https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/arti...casters-114863

[stokes]

Mesa Boogie Mk II C+, not free but 300 bucks. Rehearsal studio I worked at was going under. The 2 owners were splitting up the gear before selling off most of it. This Boogie was in a closet, only used by me. One of the partners wanted it and the other didnt want him to have it so he asks me, "how much cash you got right now"? He had just paid me $300 for some repairs I did for him so I said at least 300 bucks. He said "its yours, take it now before Steve comes in". Best $300 I ever spent.

[glebert]

Oh, forgot I recently got a Blues Jr with lots of the BillM mods and a Cannabis Rex speaker for free with badly burned tube board. Got a replacement board for $30 and wired it in and put some new power tubes in and it was good. My buddy is demoing that right now and hopefully he's going to buy it.

[Chuck H]

Oh, forgot I recently got a Blues Jr with lots of the BillM mods and a Cannabis Rex speaker for free with badly burned tube board. Got a replacement board for $30 and wired it in and put some new power tubes in and it was good. My buddy is demoing that right now and hopefully he's going to buy it.

I think the Blues Junior is going to end up being a "classic" design. Having seen it's initial rise in popularity and how much it's been duplicated. And the Cannabis Rex is a good speaker too. My second favorite in fact. I'm sure that amp sounds great. If your guy doesn't buy it you can sell it to me for what you paid

[The Dude]

There's just no way I could even compile a list. Over that past 45 years, I've accumulated so much stuff. Some sold, some waiting to be sold, some I've kept. Whenever somebody doesn't want to repair something of value and leaves it at the shop, I fix it for myself or fix it to sell. My "freebies" would be in the hundreds.

[glebert]

Whenever somebody doesn't want to repair something of value and leaves it at the shop, I fix it for myself or fix it to sell.

This is actually a tricky legal bit, at least in my state, and one of reasons I don't do "outside" repair work. If they don't explicitly tell me "you can keep it" I think I would be required to hold it for 2 years, then sell it in a publicly advertised sale but could only sell it for the amount that I was owed for the repair (or something like that). I had one guy who wouldn't respond to my messages so I ended up just scrapping the amp.

[The Dude]

......If they don't explicitly tell me "you can keep it".....

I'm talking about only those items where the customer said to keep it or scrap it. For other repairs, it's similar here. Legally, you have to send registered mail so that you can prove they were notified to pick up their gear in writing. You then have to give them 90 days to pick it up. After that, if still not picked up and paid for, it's yours. You can do what you wish with the piece.

[Chuck H]

There's just no way I could even compile a list. Over that past 45 years, I've accumulated so much stuff. Some sold, some waiting to be sold, some I've kept. Whenever somebody doesn't want to repair something of value and leaves it at the shop, I fix it for myself or fix it to sell. My "freebies" would be in the hundreds.

Well maybe pick two items that would catch our attention. As in "Wow! Free?"

[g1]

A few years ago I picked up an old 'PA' at an auction of a church where everything had to go, including the building (to be moved). A little home-made 2 X 6AQ5 amp, an old chrome type astatic mic and a couple cheezy speakers that hung on the wall. I waited to see if anyone would bid (no one did) and got it for the opening $5.
Another time (back in the 90s) a box of tubes at a flea market for $20, containing several usable tubes, as well as six GEC KT77's in original cartons from the 60s. Apparently they are worth around $600 per pair now (actually that 'now' was probably 15 yrs. ago).

[Helmholtz]

Another time (back in the 90s) a box of tubes at a flea market for $20, containing several usable tubes, as well as six GE KT77's in original cartons from the 60s. Apparently they are worth around $600 per pair now (actually that 'now' was probably 15 yrs. ago).

Original 60s KTxx tubes were solely manufactured by the UK Marconi-Osram-Valves (M-OV) company.
Later sold under the British GEC label (from 1969 on).
Has nothing to do with the US General Electric company (GE).

[g1]

Original 60s KTxx tubes were solely manufactured by the UK Marconi-Osram-Valves (M-OV) company.
Later sold under the British GEC label (from 1969 on).
Has nothing to do with the US General Electric company (GE).

Sorry, my mistake. These are GEC.

[rockman627]

I used to fix my friends brownface Fender Concert. Then he quit playing and gave it to me. I have a thread or two about it in this forum. I was recently given a Vox NT 15 head I'm trying to get going. This also has a thread here .

[The Dude]

Well maybe pick two items that would catch our attention. As in "Wow! Free?"

Well, the two that first pop into my head are a couple of GK 800RB bass amps. This was years ago and soon after they came out. I had been keeping my eyes open for a deal on one anyway because they were (and still are) one of my favorite sounding bass amps. I had a customer bring one in that had gotten 220V due to a bad tap. After calling him with an estimate, he told me to just keep it- he'd already bought another one. Here's where the story gets strange. After scouting for a deal on one for quite a while and finally scoring one, a week later another one comes in that's toast. That customer also said to keep it. So, I ended up with 2 of them and still have both. One lives in the basement for rehearsals and the other goes on fill in gigs when I play bass.

[Chuck H]

The GK RB bass amps are one of the few SS amp models I recognize and respect. To be fair I'm not a bass guitar player. But the RB amps were state of the art at the time and still bring it today if you're lucky enough to own one. I've seen dozens and even repaired one. They get respect and for good reason. Great score

[printer2]

Traded a buddy (we were in out teens) some car speakers in cabinets to use for his stereo. He was happy to hear music sounding not bad. Before that he had two 2x12 cabinets to play through. A guy borrowed money from him and gave him an amp and two cabinets. When I got them home one cabinet had some Marsland speakers, eh. The other had two pre music instrument speakers by Celestion, was a hifi 10W speaker that sounded like guitar Celestions, sadly they burnt up. The amp was a bass amp but only 50W which did not do much in a bar. Years later, "Oh, would it sound good for guitar?" Tried it, sounded like poo. Finally recapped it and it sounds fine. Wish I still had those Celestions though. Would sound fine with a '68 Bassmanj.