Maine amp (large)

[pelethar]

I have picked up an oldish Maine amplifier - it's a bit of a beast, probably 2-3 feet wide and very heavy with several input sockets. I know nothing whatsoever about amplifiers. Would this be likely to be any practical use to any current musicians / have any sale value, or would it be just obsolete?

[Enzo]

Hi, welcome.

What does obsolete mean? Plenty of people playing through amps that are 20-30-40-50-60-70 years old. it works or it doesn't, and the sound it makes is pleasing to you or not. That is the bottom line.

A working 2x12 amp ought to fetch at least $100 in my mind. Probably could ask more. I think it is a British amp, market that.

[pelethar]

Hi, welcome.

What does obsolete mean? Plenty of people playing through amps that are 20-30-40-50-60-70 years old. it works or it doesn't, and the sound it makes is pleasing to you or not. That is the bottom line.

A working 2x12 amp ought to fetch at least $100 in my mind. Probably could ask more. I think it is a British amp, market that.

Thanks, that's good to hear. I'll give it a go!

Apologies if this is a moronic question but what does "2x12" mean in this context? Am wondering how to describe the thing mainly.

[Enzo]

2x12 is common amplifier slang. It means 2 times 12", meaning it has two twelve inch speakers.

SImilarly we call the common large speaker cabinet a 4x12 if it has a quad of 12" speakers. A small combo amp with a single speaker might be a 1x12 or a 1x10. A Champ amp is a 1x8.


Many amplifiers come in head versions, which is just the amplifier chassis in a box, and a "combo" version, which is amp and speaker combined. Like the classic Fender Twin Reverb. If I call an amp a 100 watt 2x12, that tells anyone it is a 100 watt amp chassis with two 12" speakers, so it is a combo amp, not a head.

[eschertron]

Possibly on the back of the amp there will be some info on the wattage of the amp, maybe the maker's address or country of origin. This may help identify the amp for more accurate valuation.

[J M Fahey]

Does it work?
If so, looks like a decent Guitar amp.
Somewhat dated, would need a couple good pedals to get modern sounds.
Should be loud.
Post a back picture and another showing the speakers, readable labels if possible, you might have a nice surprise there.
In any case, google is your friend.

You will find comments such as:

I'm on a cheap amp binge at the moment and these things seem to go for peanuts on ebay and other places. I believe they're a British made amp and Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins used a 2x10 Maine guitar combo on the Garlands lp. Does anyone here have any experience or know anything more of these amps and cabs?

I came across what looked like a 2X12 combo today. It was badged 'Maine' on the grill and had 'Bass 12/60' marked on the panel which was coloured red. It looked like an ok piece of kit which I have access to if I need to use it. Does anybody know anything about these combos or the Maine make?

"Maine 100W British made vintage guitar amplifier."

"From the late 1970′s or early 1980′s
Two channel amplifier – foot switchable
Spring reverb unit – foot switchable
2×10 (could be 2×12 – not measured) speakers
Nice warm crunch using the ‘color’ control"

Some comments:

"Hi Ian, I have this exact same amp. Guy I bought it from said it was from 73 or so. I took mine apart; it has Celestion G 10-50s in it. Couldnt believe it! Proper spring reverb too made in USA. How long did you have it for? What did you think of it? Yours seems to be in better nick than mine. Cheers, Paul."

"Hi Paul, I had it for about a year or so – never really used it in anger as I have loads of amps.
Bought it for about £35 and sold it for a bit more.

Nicely built transistor amp and a nice clean sound – colour controls didn’t provide a nice enough crunch though and although a dual channel amp I didn’t think both channels were usable enough. Solidly built too and quite heavy. As I recall it had a nice USA accutronics spring reverb.

In a nutshell: a competent and loud Guitar amplifier, only oldish 70´s SS sound.
Some people will be happy with it, only problem is finding them.

[pelethar]

Possibly on the back of the amp there will be some info on the wattage of the amp, maybe the maker's address or country of origin. This may help identify the amp for more accurate valuation.

OK so the main label on the back is as follows:

Maine Electronics Ltd, England
Serial No: 7793 (I think - very faint)
Model No: 1200 (ditto)
Supply 200/250 Volts 50/60 Hz 2.5 Amp Slo-Blow.

And there's a second smaller label just saying "150 watts".

Really appreciate all the help chaps

[pelethar]

rear view of the beast as requested

[eschertron]

OK so the main label on the back is as follows:

Maine Electronics Ltd, England
Serial No: 7793 (I think - very faint)
Model No: 1200 (ditto)
Supply 200/250 Volts 50/60 Hz 2.5 Amp Slo-Blow.

And there's a second smaller label just saying "150 watts".

Really appreciate all the help chaps

Are you in the EU or OZ? Have you plugged the amp in to hear anything? By anything, I mean turning the volume/level up to hear a hiss or hum that would indicate the thing still works. For the age, it looks very clean!

[Pj_From_Wales]

Ive got a Maine head. I bought it in a second hand shop for peanuts thinking it would serve as a good donor of parts and nice knobs etc, found it worked and couldn’t bring myself to break it up, and then when my marshall took a dive in a road accident I used it for some imminent gigs and it became a curious companion. In 2015 it threw a wobbler and I started to strip and repair it, refreshing my transistor chops as I did, and then suffered a cardiac arrest and was in a coma for a while. My memory of the prior time has been smashed in the process and consequently I cant remember for the life of me what I did with some of the bits, and a schematic would be a god send but more likely an impossible miracle I suspect. I know its not really worth much, and its no tone talisman as per the eyes of guitardom, but I really want to restore my poorly friend lol. I think from looking at emails to a friend my intention was to fix her up and try and add a tad of current feedback for good measure.

I think my best bet at this stage is probably trying to either find something with a similar topology and deduce from there or find another (yeah and lord lucan at the same time).

Any thoughts? Many thanks!

[g1]

Sorry to hear about that but glad to hear you made it.
Have you looked at these?
http://music-electronics-forum.com/t36594/

[Pj_From_Wales]

Sorry to hear about that but glad to hear you made it.
Have you looked at these?
http://music-electronics-forum.com/t36594/

Thanks! Had a few blips along the way (ended up back in hospital this weekend, ah well cant make an omelette without cracking eggs)

Thanks for the suggestion on those links, I have looked at those and its a very different topology and transistor family seemingly. I suspect this might be an older model.

It appears to have a stack of mosfets wired up as diodes to set the bias. Doesn't help that I'm refreshing my chops in the process, its coming back but when its an unusual design with an annoying fault and no point of reference the process gets somewhat challenging. I need to go back over some theory probably. Will have to consult Mr Elliot's site.

Im trying to use the compliment of transistors as a way to search for amps that may have similar output stages in order to give me some perspective.

Appreciate your response. All the best!

[g1]

(ended up back in hospital this weekend, ah well cant make an omelette without cracking eggs)

Lay off the omelettes for now, ok?
Close up, well lit pics are always helpful, maybe someone will think of a similar topology.

[Bygone_Tones]

That is a mid to late 1970's amp (British). If you open it up you should find a nice pair of Celestions in there, likely blackbacks. They do have some value but only if they are working properly and still sound good. Condition is everything when it comes to value. If you want any help dating them I've got loads of Celestion articles on my website (www.bygonetones.com), or you can just ask me of course. I used to deal in guitar speakers, mainly old Celestion, still do occasionally.