1989 Roland Boss MG-10 Guitar Practice Amp

Vintage practice amp, from the famous effects and amp giants, made in Taiwan

Contemporary Americans may be among the most nostalgic humans to roam the Earth and this blogger is no exception. As mentioned in the post about the Squier 15 Practice Amp, this Boss amp was the first thing that I ever plugged a guitar into and made some horrible noise. So even though this little box isn't the world's greatest amp, I had to have one when I saw that they were still floating around 25 years later.

I plugged the Knight Warrior into this little guy when I got home on Friday night and messed around with it for about 20 minutes, before giving way to the Fender Eighty-Five and getting some real good Cobain-esque sounds. I'm not sure this will get very much use and I definitely bought it for the memories, but at least it is in impeccable shape.

The previous owner listed it as "never used" and I can believe it. You can see some white marks on the molding along the face of the amp, but those are the only and tiniest of imperfections. I definitely didn't remember this thing being so small, I think there are two 5-inch speakers inside. Other recent reviews claim that this takes Boss pedals very well, and that would make sense, but the only Boss pedals that I have are overdrive and distortion. This amp already comes with built-in distortion, possibly with the same components as the pedals, so I haven't made a point in plugging them in yet to find out.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.

1990s Squier 15 Practice Amp

Vintage jam box, made in Taiwan under the Fender banner

Normally the Squier brand isn't something that I would purchase, especially after spending a little time with the more recent guitars they've put out. This amp, however, carries a large amount of nostalgia with me. The 2nd amp that I ever owned was a Squier 15 and I traded a fellow classmate of mine my first amp, a Boss MG-10, because he came by to jam and I just fell in love with the old school crunch that it was pumping out through my Les Paul.

Sure enough, it still kicks and this youtube video (not me) demonstrates just some of the sounds that this little guy is capable of. That guy is playing a 50-year old Fender through the amp in that video and my Custom is a 1977, so maybe that does play a (large) role in the final sound, but I was happy to score one. These are still available all over this place somehow, I must see one or two every month. If you're an amp person and you're looking for something new to play with, you can find these for as little as $20.

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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.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.

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.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.

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.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.