I have an Acoustic Control Corp 165 Tube amp that I picked up for a mere $200. As it is, it doesn't really rock my boat, and these amps aren't very popular right now, so I doubt I could get much in resale value. Here's a photo of it being used as a base for my JTM45:
Anyway, I am hesistant to gut this amp. You never know when some new player comes along using an old amp and their value skyrockets. But it seems like a perfect donor amp.
Hi Lefty:
Tube sockets available from Tubesandmore.com. Iron from Mercury. I just can't see destroying an amp for a couple hundred. If you're in any kind of tax bracket at all, you can donate that to Salvation Army and get full credit off your income. Or just give the darn thing away to some promising young kid.
My .02 YMMV
Dan
The Last of the World's Great Human Beings
Seek immediate medical attention if you suddenly go either deaf or blind.
If you put the Federal Government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years time there would be a shortage of sand.
Well, I wasn't planning on destroying it, just making it something more useful . But I suppose I could pull the chassis and hang on to it in case the amp ever becomes valuable on the vintage market. And then have a new chassis fabricated and use the combo case and speaker. The speaker is really nice (in a full range sort of way).
Gut the bastard.... I had the G100T. Looked the same!! Worst amp ever. Nasty tones and unreliable. Gut it! LOL
LeftyStrat wrote:Well, I wasn't planning on destroying it, just making it something more useful . But I suppose I could pull the chassis and hang on to it in case the amp ever becomes valuable on the vintage market. And then have a new chassis fabricated and use the combo case and speaker. The speaker is really nice (in a full range sort of way).
Dogears,
Do you think I could make a good dumble clone with this platform? Just wondering about why this amp sucks so bad. Bad iron or just a bad design?
dogears wrote:Gut the bastard.... I had the G100T. Looked the same!! Worst amp ever. Nasty tones and unreliable. Gut it! LOL
LeftyStrat wrote:Well, I wasn't planning on destroying it, just making it something more useful . But I suppose I could pull the chassis and hang on to it in case the amp ever becomes valuable on the vintage market. And then have a new chassis fabricated and use the combo case and speaker. The speaker is really nice (in a full range sort of way).
You'll have a hard time convincing me that's the worst amp ever. I had a Standel something or other with a pair of 10's in it back in the 60's. All the gain components were made out of sand or something. Hideous amplifier!!!
The Last of the World's Great Human Beings
Seek immediate medical attention if you suddenly go either deaf or blind.
If you put the Federal Government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years time there would be a shortage of sand.
The 165 was my first "high end" amp - bought one new in about 1980 for $800 or so as a I recall. I liked it but it was LOUD and a little hard to tame, at least in the band I was in.
It was Acoustic's answer to the Boogie amps (which is what I really wanted, but I couldn't afford one) - although I guess with more solid state content that I realized, looking at the schematic.
I think you got a steal at $200, even if you gut it. The cabinet is pretty nice.
I would think that the trannies would be more than sufficient for a project amp, unless you insist on something as TW or DBL-spec as possible.
Wow!! Same story as me.... I got mine in 1982 or so.... I was 16 I think. Couldn't afford a Boogie! I still have the EVM12L that was in it!! The good 200watt version
Very nasal tone and not dynamic at all. Mine always was breaking due to bad solder joints. No way it will ever be a vintage desireable piece, IMHO.
Looks like a good mod platform. Appropriately sized cab and probably decent iron.
blave wrote:The 165 was my first "high end" amp - bought one new in about 1980 for $800 or so as a I recall. I liked it but it was LOUD and a little hard to tame, at least in the band I was in.
It was Acoustic's answer to the Boogie amps (which is what I really wanted, but I couldn't afford one) - although I guess with more solid state content that I realized, looking at the schematic.
I think you got a steal at $200, even if you gut it. The cabinet is pretty nice.
I would think that the trannies would be more than sufficient for a project amp, unless you insist on something as TW or DBL-spec as possible.
Thanks for all the replies. Looks like I'll be gearing up for a Dumble clone. This amp has the original EVM-12L which is nice. I seem to remember it has about 460 volts on the plates.
Such I nice looking cab, hopefully I will find the tone to match.
Go for it - its cool to use donor amps - Ive been doing it for ages. I like the fact that you can take a crappy amp and turn it into a "boutique killer"
I call them "sleepers" when theyre built - great for blowing away other guitar players at shared gigs when they scoff at your "non-marshall" rig etc.
Also its interesting to see what you end up with from "random" iron - you can always swap it out later if it doesnt float your boat.
pedro wrote:Go for it - its cool to use donor amps - Ive been doing it for ages. I like the fact that you can take a crappy amp and turn it into a "boutique killer"
I call them "sleepers" when theyre built - great for blowing away other guitar players at shared gigs when they scoff at your "non-marshall" rig etc.
Also its interesting to see what you end up with from "random" iron - you can always swap it out later if it doesnt float your boat.
Pedro
I agree completley. I've bought a few on e-bay really cheep and build up nice amps from them. My favorite is my "Crumble". A dumble ckt in a Crate cabinet. I replaced the entire chassis but I only paid $5 for the Crate, and the Crate chassis still works.
1420]http://acoustic360.homeunix.net/images/ ... 60tube.jpg[/img]
. But I suppose I could pull the chassis and hang on to it in case the amp ever becomes valuable on the vintage market. And then have a new chassis fabricated and use the combo case and speaker. The speaker is really nice (in a full range sort of way).
