Is $599 too much for a re-capped 1967 Bassman Head?

Armchair Bronco · Post by **Armchair Bronco** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 12:59 am

The local Guitar Center is selling a vintage 1967 silverface Bassman head that's recently been re-capped and re-tubed. They want $599 for it.

I have a 10% off coupon I can use, so the damage would be about $540 + tax.

That's more than most vintage Bassman heads from the 60's are going for on eBay, but a re-cap job with new tubes runs anywhere from $100 to $150 so I need to factor that in.

I'm heading in tomorrow along with my own guitar and my own 1x12 cab so I can try this thing out. If I like it, should I pull the trigger? It's not a killer deal, but then those days are probably over at GC.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:17 am

so its just the head?
thats way too much, you can score a head and cab off of craigslist for alot less than that, and i know i have seen some old heads and cabs go for less than 600 bucks.

Armchair Bronco · Post by **Armchair Bronco** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:39 am

Yeah, I've seen the same thing, too.

But never in Seattle where we have about a zillion guitar players and no less than 5 different Guitar Centers in the metro area.

Killer deals like that usually show up in the Idaho or Wyoming listings for Craigslist, not Seattle.

I'm seeing average prices on eBay in the mid-$400's. If I add $100 for a cap and tube job, then I'm already at $500, so GC's price isn't totally whacked out.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:42 am

buy it then.

Armchair Bronco · Post by **Armchair Bronco** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:07 am

stewart wrote:buy it then.

Or move to Idaho or Wyoming...

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:20 am

or by a head from wyoming for 350, pay 40 bucks for shipping and get it for over 100 bucks less.
altho its all a waiting game these days.

Will · Post by **Will** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:20 am

Or man up and do the cap job yrself for $40-60.

The music-go-round near me had a drip-edge 50W today for $500. $600 seems pretty high.

Armchair Bronco · Post by **Armchair Bronco** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:33 am

DuoSonicBoy wrote:Or man up and do the cap job yrself for $40-60.

The music-go-round near me had a drip-edge 50W today for $500. $600 seems pretty high.

One of these days, I'm going to find some community college course on "Basic Electronics and Soldering for the Layman". I've done some soldering in my day, but it would be a shame to whack out a 40-year-old amp because I haven't mastered the basics. Until then, I'll pay someone to do it right.

But learning how to do it myself is on my list of "Things I Want To Learn How To Do...".

Pacafeliz · Post by **Pacafeliz** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:12 am

cap jobs are something important and essential. they're NOT somehting bad - quite on the contrary (or the amp could blow up...)

i think it's a good price. go for it... i say.

Pat.

light rail coyote · Post by **light rail coyote** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:13 am

offer them 525

aen · Post by **aen** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:52 am

Pacafeliz wrote:cap jobs are something important and essential. they're NOT somehting bad - quite on the contrary (or the amp could blow up...)

Yar. If your old amp had no cap job, i towudl not work. paper n' oil caps dont hold up too well.

Will · Post by **Will** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:34 am

Cap jobs in those old PTP amps are easy as shit. You discharge the caps, clip the leads one at a time, and replace each cap with a new one of equal or greater value as you go. Make sure the polarity is right and yr golden.

James · Post by **James** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 11:45 am

Offer to pay the asking price if they give you a set of tubes with it. If not walk away. If they've had it a little while and you're walking out the door after saying "I will buy it if you give me a set of JJs for it" there's a good chance they'll call you back as you leave. If not you haven't missed out on a great deal so it's no big loss.

James · Post by **James** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 11:47 am

Also, you already have a thread about this amp. And theKurtz avatar...

Armchair Bronco · Post by **Armchair Bronco** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:45 pm

James wrote:Offer to pay the asking price if they give you a set of tubes with it. If not walk away. If they've had it a little while and you're walking out the door after saying "I will buy it if you give me a set of JJs for it" there's a good chance they'll call you back as you leave. If not you haven't missed out on a great deal so it's no big loss.

That's good advice. I've talked to a couple of different sales reps over the phone about this amp. One said it had new tubes, one guy wasn't sure. I also want to have their tech crack it open in front of me and go over the recap job in person. Like Ronald Reagan used to say: "Trust, but verify."

Post by **Mike** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:29 pm

Please make another thread when you go back.

Armchair Bronco · Post by **Armchair Bronco** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:37 pm

Mike wrote:Please make another thread when you go back.

Only if you you guys in the ShortScale.org "Thread Police" promise to tell me to change my Avatar, my signature, and my opinions about guitars and amps first!

Then I'll be more than happy to start another thread.

Reece · Post by **Reece** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:40 pm

my sarcasm detector just had a stroke.

Post by **Mike** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:42 pm

Armchair Bronco wrote:
Mike wrote:Please make another thread when you go back.
Only if you you guys in the ShortScale.org "Thread Police" promise to tell me to change my Avatar, my signature, and my opinions about guitars and amps first!

Then I'll be more than happy to start another thread. ((front))

It's not the Thread Police, you're just a fairly banal poster. Sorry. You have preconceived ideas about most things and generally refuse to listen to other people, so I don't even know why you make threads anyway

James · Post by **James** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:18 pm

Mike does have a good point though. You've already made a thread about possibly buying this amp and then you make another asking a question that was answered in both of the first two replies.

James wrote:You should easily be able to pay $400-450 for one that age.

DuoSonicBoy wrote:$400-ish should be about right for a SF Bassman. I paid $300 for the 100W I had some years back, but it was a '72. They are great amps, and super clean.

I could understand a new thread if you had bought it and were posting a demo or lots of pictures. One or two pictures and you may as well stick it in the 'pictures of your gear' thread. Perhaps if the thread had derailed further and had become a 12 page discussion of how to service amps and on the history of the bassman, it would nearly be justified.

At $599 you either need to go in there with $500 cash and say "I have $500 on me now, if you'll take that I'll take the amp" and walk away if they say no, or you need to say something like "I'll pay Â£599 if you throw in a set of tubes [specifify brand or you're going to be getting the cheapest going and they'll be no better than having no tubes other than you'll have an emergency spare I suppose, you should also still ask if the they say the tubes are new because the price is still high] and a cover" and also walk away if they say no.

Most of the bassmen that come up on ebay will have had a cap job done at some point and with it some other maintainance. You will find one or two that have been kept completely stock and they'll probably go for a bit lower. Most people who have these amps know that for an amp that's 30 years or more old, having the orginal caps in it is bad news and they will have been changed. Really rather than looking at cap job vs no cap job, you should be deciding if you want a stock one with regard to circuit, or one modded towards blackface specs. That's something you'll have a choice over, and perhaps it doesn't matter to you and you'll be happy with whatever comes along. The key thing is to change your avatar, and know that things are much tidier if you keep them together.

Also, change your bloody avatar.