[Harp-L] re: cool tube amps on Ebay



Hey!

A friend got two nice tube amps on Ebay, an old PA amp called a Challenger
(never heard of it) and a Bogen. Both were under a hundred bucks, with
shipping. So cool, huh? So why buy a boutique amp when all these cool amps
are so cheap?

Well...the Challenger had no fuse. None. Wasn't designed with one. You can
imagine with those old oil and wax capacitors what kind of a fire you could
have. Had those big Can capictors that you can't get any more. No grounded
plug of course and all the capictors and probably most of the tubes should
be replaced. One of the inputs in the Challenger wasn't working and when it
was hooked up it started motorboating, making that stuttering sound. In
other words, Weird speaker jacks too. if you don't know a lot about
electronics (I know very little)  at best you spend a hundred dollars on an
amp that won't work long, at worst you have a major fire hazard. OH yeah,,
and point to point wiring, which may be better tone wise makes for a
confusing mess when you have to work on them. My friend can build an amp
with just schematics and a box full of parts so it's worth it for him to get
the old amps. For most of us, I think we're better off with something with
modern safety features.

How did they sound? Oh my...through an 8 inch speaker the Bogen just
screamed and the Challenger purred. Beautiful just beautiful
Rainbow Jimmy
http://www.spaceanimals.com
http://www.myspace.com/theelectricstarlightspaceanimals




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