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Ahhh...Craigslist "Score"!
I've been patrolling eBay and CL for 80's vintage tube amps for the past couple months. I've gotten it in my head to "upgrade" the guest stacks in the basement studio that the guitarists in my 80's metal tribute use to rehearse. The deal is this: I've got a bass stack, two full guitar stacks, an 8 piece drum kit, and full PA down there, so when we rehearse, they walk in with their guitars and pedals, and don't have to set anything up. It's a nice arrangement. Low fuss, no muss. Currently, my "guest amps" are a Peavey Windsor (meh, it does 80's metal okay...just doesn't clean up well.) and a Crate Lee Jackson Stealth (Ah...this one DOES 80's metal very well...it's a sleeper!). I've got literally nothing in either one of these amp heads. I think the Windsor was traded for a POS Line 6 Spyder III that was on my first "guest half stack". I had $300 in that whole half stack, and that included a Randall cabinet with 75 watt Celestions. The Stealth came to me off CL a year or two ago for $200 with a Celestion 75 watt loaded Randall cab from teh early 80's.
I've been looking at other "low cost" (read that as "cheap") 80's tube amps, but here in my area, I can seldom find anything decent sounding for less than $350-$700, (Peavey VTM or Triumph and JCM800 Marshalls respectively) so my "guest stacks" were wearing the cheap heads listed above.
At Christmas, we were going to visit my parents in Charlotte, and for some odd reason, I checked Charlotte CL on Monday morning. On December 8th, there was a post from Denver, NC stating the following:
Hm....$125, eh? Wait...$125? For a Laney AOR? Now mind you, I've not seen an AOR or a Pro-Tube go for less than $350 on eBay in quite some time, and that doesn't factor in shipping costs that add at least $50 to the price.
I did some quick research, and low and behold, some folks like these amps...a lot. The terms "Hot-Rod Marshall", and "Marshall-like", and "Poor-man's Marshall" were bandied about quite a bit. In the 80's, when I could afford neither, I wanted either a JCM800 or a Laney Pro-Tube, just due to the players that pimped them in Guitar World, Guitar Player, and Guitar For the Practicing Musician! $125? Heh, I'm on it!
I hit the seller up for info and pix, and he sent me some poorly taken shots of the amp, and it was indeed a Laney Pro-Tube. He also said it sounded great, and had no scratchy pots, but it was missing the badge and two knobs. I told him I'd be in town on the 24th through the 26th, and I'd like to come check it out. That's when communications stopped. Dammit.
I arrived at the parent's house, and they asked what I wanted for my birthday in January. I said "nothing", but they weren't having it, so I said, okay, well, there's this cheap amp I'm looking at in Denver...if the guy emails me back, it's like $125. They said "We'll buy it for you!" Okay...this is getting easier....
So, I sent a text to the guy's # and told him I'd take it, sight unseen. No response.
I called and said I'd take it...in a voicemail...no response.
I texted again a couple hours later, around 8 PM....nothing.
I started thinking it wasn't going to happen....
At 11:47 on Christmas Eve, I got a text. "Yeah man...let's get up. Maybe tomorrow? Call me in the morning"
I replied that I'd call at 10 AM, and he said that worked.
Next day, I called....voicemail. I texted...no response. Later that night, I called...voicemail. I texted...no response.
My fiancee said "Maybe he sold it and doesn't want to call you? Or maybe the price was a misprint, and he's scared to call you back and tell you?" Grrr....
So I woke up this morning, sent a text that by noon, I was heading back home. A half hour later, he said he could meet up at mid-day, and sent me his address. I drove 30 minutes to the address, and there it was.
It was dusty, missing the badge and a few knobs. A nick or three in the tolex. To top it all off, he didn't have a cabinet there, so I couldn't test drive it, but he had an "honest face"....and I'd been waiting for days. He assured me it worked.
I got home this evening, and wiped it down. According to the transformers, it was assembled in January of 1986. Everything "looked" okay from the visual inspection of the tubes & sockets.
There is a GT 12AX7 and three RFT 12AX7's in the preamp. Get this, there's two EL34's, and the logo on the glass is faint and fading, but they look like...Telefunken?? (I'll pull them tomorrow....but damn if it doesn't look like the remains of that logo...)
Anyway, I took the amp, put it on the stack, selected the proper impedance load, and warmed her up. Plugged in my '86 Charvel Model 2, and hit the Standby......
Hey, we've got TONE! Man, this amp actually sounds really good! Very British with loads of gain on tap, and it cleans up very nicely. I didn't get ripped off, apparently!
So $125, 27 texts, 6 unanswered phone calls, and a lot of miles to the seller, back to my parents to pick the fiancee and dogs up, and then back home, and then a good wipe down, and I guess I've got a Laney AOR Pro-Tube Lead Craigslist Score story...I guess
Horrible night time cam-phone shot from the studio dungeon!
I've been patrolling eBay and CL for 80's vintage tube amps for the past couple months. I've gotten it in my head to "upgrade" the guest stacks in the basement studio that the guitarists in my 80's metal tribute use to rehearse. The deal is this: I've got a bass stack, two full guitar stacks, an 8 piece drum kit, and full PA down there, so when we rehearse, they walk in with their guitars and pedals, and don't have to set anything up. It's a nice arrangement. Low fuss, no muss. Currently, my "guest amps" are a Peavey Windsor (meh, it does 80's metal okay...just doesn't clean up well.) and a Crate Lee Jackson Stealth (Ah...this one DOES 80's metal very well...it's a sleeper!). I've got literally nothing in either one of these amp heads. I think the Windsor was traded for a POS Line 6 Spyder III that was on my first "guest half stack". I had $300 in that whole half stack, and that included a Randall cabinet with 75 watt Celestions. The Stealth came to me off CL a year or two ago for $200 with a Celestion 75 watt loaded Randall cab from teh early 80's.
I've been looking at other "low cost" (read that as "cheap") 80's tube amps, but here in my area, I can seldom find anything decent sounding for less than $350-$700, (Peavey VTM or Triumph and JCM800 Marshalls respectively) so my "guest stacks" were wearing the cheap heads listed above.
At Christmas, we were going to visit my parents in Charlotte, and for some odd reason, I checked Charlotte CL on Monday morning. On December 8th, there was a post from Denver, NC stating the following:
Laney AOR Series 50W TUBE guitar head - $125 (Denver)
Laney AOR Series II 50w guitar head. All tube, sounds great, everything works. Needs some cosmetics (knobs, road wear). Lets make a deal! $125 OBO
Email or phone for pics...
Laney AOR Series II 50w guitar head. All tube, sounds great, everything works. Needs some cosmetics (knobs, road wear). Lets make a deal! $125 OBO
Email or phone for pics...
Hm....$125, eh? Wait...$125? For a Laney AOR? Now mind you, I've not seen an AOR or a Pro-Tube go for less than $350 on eBay in quite some time, and that doesn't factor in shipping costs that add at least $50 to the price.
I did some quick research, and low and behold, some folks like these amps...a lot. The terms "Hot-Rod Marshall", and "Marshall-like", and "Poor-man's Marshall" were bandied about quite a bit. In the 80's, when I could afford neither, I wanted either a JCM800 or a Laney Pro-Tube, just due to the players that pimped them in Guitar World, Guitar Player, and Guitar For the Practicing Musician! $125? Heh, I'm on it!
I hit the seller up for info and pix, and he sent me some poorly taken shots of the amp, and it was indeed a Laney Pro-Tube. He also said it sounded great, and had no scratchy pots, but it was missing the badge and two knobs. I told him I'd be in town on the 24th through the 26th, and I'd like to come check it out. That's when communications stopped. Dammit.
I arrived at the parent's house, and they asked what I wanted for my birthday in January. I said "nothing", but they weren't having it, so I said, okay, well, there's this cheap amp I'm looking at in Denver...if the guy emails me back, it's like $125. They said "We'll buy it for you!" Okay...this is getting easier....
So, I sent a text to the guy's # and told him I'd take it, sight unseen. No response.
I called and said I'd take it...in a voicemail...no response.
I texted again a couple hours later, around 8 PM....nothing.
I started thinking it wasn't going to happen....
At 11:47 on Christmas Eve, I got a text. "Yeah man...let's get up. Maybe tomorrow? Call me in the morning"
I replied that I'd call at 10 AM, and he said that worked.
Next day, I called....voicemail. I texted...no response. Later that night, I called...voicemail. I texted...no response.
My fiancee said "Maybe he sold it and doesn't want to call you? Or maybe the price was a misprint, and he's scared to call you back and tell you?" Grrr....
So I woke up this morning, sent a text that by noon, I was heading back home. A half hour later, he said he could meet up at mid-day, and sent me his address. I drove 30 minutes to the address, and there it was.
It was dusty, missing the badge and a few knobs. A nick or three in the tolex. To top it all off, he didn't have a cabinet there, so I couldn't test drive it, but he had an "honest face"....and I'd been waiting for days. He assured me it worked.
I got home this evening, and wiped it down. According to the transformers, it was assembled in January of 1986. Everything "looked" okay from the visual inspection of the tubes & sockets.
There is a GT 12AX7 and three RFT 12AX7's in the preamp. Get this, there's two EL34's, and the logo on the glass is faint and fading, but they look like...Telefunken?? (I'll pull them tomorrow....but damn if it doesn't look like the remains of that logo...)
Anyway, I took the amp, put it on the stack, selected the proper impedance load, and warmed her up. Plugged in my '86 Charvel Model 2, and hit the Standby......
Hey, we've got TONE! Man, this amp actually sounds really good! Very British with loads of gain on tap, and it cleans up very nicely. I didn't get ripped off, apparently!
So $125, 27 texts, 6 unanswered phone calls, and a lot of miles to the seller, back to my parents to pick the fiancee and dogs up, and then back home, and then a good wipe down, and I guess I've got a Laney AOR Pro-Tube Lead Craigslist Score story...I guess
Horrible night time cam-phone shot from the studio dungeon!
I HATE BEING LEFT HANDED! 
I rock out to Baby metal because Wilkinsi said I can't listen to Rick Astley anymore.
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