1980s Fender Eighty-Five Combo Amp

Vintage combo amp, built in the USA and made famous by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood

This amp apparently made its debut in 1988 and the serial number on the back probably means it was made in 1988 or 1989. When I first started playing, the Fender M80 amp was a favorite among my peers and this sounds alot like those boxes to me.

In a bit of a reversal for Fender amps, the cleans on this one don't really sound all that great. Very heavy metal, but the distortion channel is actually better. When I picked this up last weekend and played through it with the Aria Pro II strat, the sounds coming out were a bit like those on the Weezer Blue Album.

That makes sense, as posted in the abstract, Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead made this amp famous when he used it to record one of their most well-known songs, 1994's Creep and those albums came out the same year. This is one of my better finds, as its a great amp and I'm probably going to end up paying around the same amount to find the original footswitch. These can go for as much as $200, thanks in large part to Mr. Greenwood's influence.

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1990s Park G10 Combo Practice Amp

Vintage Marshall-designed box cranks out nice sounds, made in Korea

Another of the cheap finds that were scored during the practice amp kick, I had never heard of this brand before I stumbled upon it (literally) at the Goodwill. After reading some reviews and finding out that it was at least decent, I went back the next day and was lucky enough to find it still sitting there.

Like the Mako Piranha, this amp needs to have the electronics cleaned up. Just about all of the pots are super dirty and the overdrive really only works in a few spots. I was able to get some cool, early Pearl Jam-esque sounds in those spots when I plugged in the Aria Pro II strat and the cleans also sound nice and clear for a cheap practice amp, both the high and low end.

Also, like the Piranha, there are no effects to play with on this amp, but the ability to get those old school overdrive sounds make it worth picking up, if you can find one. Sometimes its nice to be able to just plug in and get a more natural sounding distortion than plugging in a pedal. That's the goal for recording, going forward; the option of different sounds and creating those sounds as organically as possible. Even the effects on the amps recently featured sound cleaner than the pedals that I've accumulated, which are also vintage.

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1979 Peavey Deuce VT Series Guitar Amplifier

Vintage American-made 2x12 combo amp, loaded with CTS speakers

The last few weeks have seen some super sweet vintage pieces added to the arsenal and this one is probably the best combination of quality and condition. This amp was purchased from the original owner and he even gave me the original receipt and manual that he had kept all this time.

Peavey amps have generally been known for volume over the years. I won't be using it for that purpose, but mainly for the on-board effects that are installed. The reverb is very clean and I've had alot of fun with the phase effect, doing some of my best Todd Rundgren impersonations. I haven't really tried to get any overdrive sounds on this amp yet, but some youtube demos I've watched show a wide range.

This is only the 2nd amp that I've ever owned that is powered by tubes, the Carvin X-60B being the top dog among the current lineup. This one is powered by (4) 6L6 tubes and the owner had them replaced just a couple of years ago. Of course, 6L6s are very common tubes and I could possibly find a vintage set to install, just to keep everything vintage.

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1980s Mako Piranha Practice Amp

Super rare guitar amp, made in Korea. Great looking and sounding little box

Many longtime players remember the Mako name, because apparently Kaman Music made a very aggressive push with their guitars and basses in the 1980s. The first bass that I ever owned was actually a black Mako P-Bass copy with a maple neck and I remember it being a good quality instrument.

I never knew that they made amps as well. During one of my daily CraigsList sweeps, I found this little nugget in my area and picked it up for the price of an expensive lunch. There are no effects to play with, but it was definitely worth buying. The Tube Blaster function is basically its overdrive channel and it delivers a solid little crunch. This was my first purchase in a series of small amps.

The Mako logo is not made of cheap plastic, but appears to be chrome and the silver grill also gives it clean-looking vintage Fender vibe. I was surprised to find this in such great shape. Some of the pots are noisy, but that's an easy enough fix, just have to rip her open and clean her up one day.

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1980s Ibanez GX60 Guitar Amp

Vintage early-80s Japanese combo amp, great cleans and distortions, takes pedals very well 

 

This was an incredible thrift store find and a rarity at that. Ibanez is among my favorite guitar brands, namely because of their electric guitars and the "fast necks" that they've been equipped with since at least 1980. This amp was also built around that time and just about everything they pumped out seems to be high quality merchandise.

Ibanez guitars and pedals from the era have a great reputation and are highly-sought after in the collectors' market, but I had no idea that they made amps as well. Much like the Boss SE processors from the late-80s simulate the sound of the pedals produced by Roland in the same period, this amp is capable of reproducing "tubescreamer" tones with the distortion on and the reverb is also very smooth.

Like many of the other items that have been featured here over the years, I haven't been able to dig up much information on this beauty. Its possible that the amp was built by Maxon, which also made the Ibanez pedals referred to above. If anyone has any info on this amp, including whether or not it came with a footswitch, please feel free to drop a line.

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2000s Vox AC15CC1 Tube Combo Amplifier

1x12 with both pro-quality cleans and effects, sounds even better than it looks

This is just the 2nd tube amp that I've ever owned, with the vintage Carvin head that was featured last month being the first. A Vox was the perfect choice for another one, because it has a completely different feel than that Carvin, where say a Fender amp might be a little redundant. 

The cleans on the Carvin are one of the better features of the amp, but you get a warmer version on this Vox and the tremolo effect also put this one over the top. This line was discontinued sometime in 2008-09 and they have been known to have their issues. But owners of multiple Vox amps usually prefer the sound on this model to the newer one.

On top of sounding great, this thing is in excellent condition. The biggest blemish is some sticker residue along the bottom-right corner, I got some of it off, but didn't want to pry any further and risk ripping the gorgeous purple-green-gold mesh that looks incredibly sharp. The faux leather cover and the fact that I won't use it for gigging will keep it that way.

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2000s Crate GFX-15 Combo Practice Amp

Great little practice amp, with on-board effects, made in the USA

Kind of the little brother of the GFX-212T that was featured a little while back, this guy is a great amp for the aspiring metal guitar god and an above average chorus effect makes it a versatile piece for a practice amp.

These were manufactured in the early 2000s in the USA and they're fairly solid amps. This one did need to go in for service at one point, but I haven't had any issues with it myself.

This came with an electric guitar that I bought a few months back and I basically use it to demonstrate that electric guitars are in working order. It gets a decent distortion, Crates have always been known as having a tinny sound anyway, and the on-board effects really put it over the top. These generally go for around $50 online today.

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2000s Crate GFX-212T Guitar Combo Amp

Great Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Amp in like-new condition 

 

This one comes from the my own personal collection, purchased brand new in the summer of 2002.

The amp is still close to brand-new, as it's barely ever been used, aside from some light use for recording in 2004 and exactly 2 live shows in 2005.

It comes with the original foot-switch, has a built-in tuner, which always comes in handy and 8 built-in effects. Reverb, Delay, Chorus and Flange have multiple notches on the dial and the level knob allows you to control just how thick or thin you want the extra sound in there.

Inputs: 1
Power: 120 VAC, 60Hz, 95VA; 100/115VAC, 50/60Hz, 95VA; 100/115VAC, 50/60Hz, 95VA
Channels: 2 (Overdrive and Clean)
Overdrive: Gain 1/2, Shape, Gain Select, Low, High, Level and Channel Switch
Clean: Level, Mid, Low and High

In/Out: Connects external effects and speaker cabinets

Speakers: (2) Crate Custom Design 12”, 8
Speaker Impedance: 120W RMS @ 5% THD, 4

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