WoodyJ wrote:

Gilette wrote:

Makes you furious doesn't it? Life's unfair...

Those amps and guitars actually belonged to three different bands. Eddie did the restoration/recovering work on most of them, though.

Wow, lucky Eddy, it sure looks stunning. In a music shop I always get the urge to try out every piece of gear on display. Same thing here. You'd want to connect all of them together, turn them up and strike a few bars of Misirlou!
Sorry for going off topic guys, back to the brownface Showman.

Your photo zip file downloads ok; looked at the pics, including the repetitive gutshots - more pics better than less. To my eye it looks like a Fender 6G14-A in its expected condition. The part about them being scarce where you are is something for you to consider. Given the price history you mention, IF that's what I wanted & could make that offer on it, I would do it. The desirability, however, is something for you to determine. But, to my eye, the amp looks legit.

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.

Thank you very much Wes!
About the "RA 1063" ink stamped in so many points on the chassis, both inside and outside, what should it mean? Is it a rework at the factory done in 1963 or what? Have you ever seen anything like that in a Fender brownface amp?
And what about the power tranny (18th week of 1963): another later rework?
Maybe I shouldn't care so much about these details... should I?

Guido (Orno Breaker)

SurfinGuy wrote:

Look here, ...included the tube chart, dates to 1961!!!

Obviously you cannot go only by a tube chart. Note the handwritten 'A' reflecting the -A circuit, and the correct number of 5881's (vs 6L6 in orig 6G14 circuit) and correct (6) pre-amp tubes (versus 4) which is a dead giveaway to a -A (harmonic tremelo uses several tube "halves" to get that).

The amp you're looking at is a -A regardless of not having 'A' on the tube chart. It's important to look at what's in front of one and not necessarily a tube chart. A transformer might get replaced under warranty, because some surf guy blew it up - or a circuit revision could've been done and implemented on the fly by Leo running out to the line and saying "start making this." This was not NASA building rockets back then; it was more like Kelly Johnson's "Skunkworks" building the U-2. You can even see Leo in the circuit design between the first one and the -A, as well as other amps later where he scoops the mids right off the bat tying a lower value resistor to the bass control.

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.

I have to disagree regarding the ink stamp. That could be a date that the amp was serviced, or.....?? It would be great if there was a retired Fender employee that worked on these things in the early '60's who could shed some light on this.

From a collector's standpoint, the chassis serial number, the transformer dates and the tube chart stamp are generally accepted as what determines what year the amp was assembled, not random ink stamps.

Guido, have you checked with any of the vintage Fender amp forums or the Brownface Fender Amp group on Facebook? That's where you will find the hardcore collectors who obsess over numbers. Here on SG101 we are mostly just players who desire an amp that sounds great.

Jack
aka WoodyJ

The Mariners (1964-68, 1996-2005)
The Hula Hounds (1996-current)
The X-Rays (1997-2004)
The Surge! (2004, 2011-2012)
Various non-surf bands that actually made money (1978-1990)

Sorry Jack, you disagree regarding what? I think we are saying the same things, or did I miss something? I know my english is very bad, and I apologise for that.
The point is that, at least in my little experience, in a brownface Fender amp normally ther is no such date stamps on the chassis, stamps like the one on the amp I'm watching from Austria ("RA1063") and also in the amp appeared today in Ebay from the US ("RB4563 4 Nov 1963"). Referring to these particular stamps, given the fact that their dates are one or two years later than everything else in the amp (tube chart stamp, trannys codes, serial number...), then it's quite reasonable to think that it may be a stamp applied after a later rework or reparation done on the amp, maybe at the factory or maybe not. Is this conclusion wrong for you Jack?
But you are right, I am only fooling around with all these details only because I am not totally convinced about spending all that money in an amp that I cannot see and touch and (most important thing!) play before buying it

Guido (Orno Breaker)

Last edited: Mar 25, 2017 11:06:16