Welcome to Solid State Guitar Amp Forum | DIY Guitar Amplifiers. Please login or sign up.

March 29, 2024, 01:47:13 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Recent Posts

 

Gibson Skylark availabe but needs repair- should I get it?

Started by ChewyNasalPrize, December 07, 2013, 04:39:34 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

ChewyNasalPrize

I have an opportunity to get a Gibson Skylark GA-5T with a blown transformer locally for $100 or maybe less. Seller says the transformer *may* be all that is wrong with it but it may not. He says he can't be sure if anything else is wrong but he knows for sure the transformer is toast. If that is all that is wrong with it, I can surely replace the transformer myself.

I've read pretty good things about these amps and have seen them listed in GC used inventory for as little as $300 and as much as $500. I'd like to have a cool old vintage tube amp and one that I might be able to fix-up myself inexpensively then have some opportunity to sell for at least what I put into it. But I don't want to get stuck with something that could cost $300 or more just to get it working.

Any advice? Is it a good gamble or should I pass?

I'm going to look at it Monday.

Thanks.

J M Fahey

A burnt old little amp with a MAJOR and EXPENSIVE failure is worth nothing.
Offer the guy $20 for the carcass.

Roly

How long is a piece of string @Chewy?

Even if I knew for certain that the tranny was the only fault I'd personally consider $100 a bit steep for a "not going" amp, but given that it could possibly be a melted ruin, recto, output stage, speaker cooked, I'd consider that very steep (but then I'm "frugal").  It's unlikely that the tranny just decided to give up.  The likely course of of events would be a couple of hours of death metal kills the output stage, which then shorts the rectifier, which then cooks the tranny.

It's a punt, a bet, and like the horses or stock market you have to decide how much you are willing to lose if it turns out seriously pear-shaped.  To whatever you pay you will have to add (at least) the price of a tranny and your time fitting it.  If it takes three weekends totally rebuilding the back end of the amp including a blown speaker, it could turn out to be a fairly expensive exercise.

Personally I consider "not going" stuff to be an opportunity because I know my skills and resources, but it really is a personal call that depends on your situation and interest.  Frankly I wouldn't pay $100 for a 60's 5 watt valve amp of any brand in perfect working order, but then I'm like that.  Basically you're buying a case with a name on it, and some knobs.

Yes it's a bet, but I think it's a fairly good one because it won't be that hard to repair whatever is wrong with it, and I seriously doubt there's anything like $300 worth of parts in the whole thing.


PS - agree with JM.
If you say theory and practice don't agree you haven't applied enough theory.

ChewyNasalPrize

Well, seems like this particular string tops is $400 long but likely maybe only up to about $200 if that.

Sounds like worst-case scenario would be that I have to replace every part and if those parts all total wouldn't be more than $300 and if I can do it myself, I would have a practically new amp when done that I might be able to sell close to cost. That's really what I was needing to know... what the worst case might be.

I'm also actually looking for a "project" amp. Something relatively simple. I also dig these old small vintage amps. So in my case the added value is in the kind of amp it is and that I could probably fix it myself and learn a lot in the process.

I'll go take a look at it. Thanks for the advice guys!

J M Fahey

Forget resale value because it's not there.
People paying $300/400 (I'd like to see that, by the way, *asking* and actual *selling* prices are NOT the same), if such people exists, want a MINT / ORIGINAL / UNTOUCHED amp, because the bill can be split in, say:

*crummy old poorly working amp .... $20
*MOJO ..................................... $380

which a rebuild does not have.

Practice? COOL !!!!
I'd build a *KILLER*   AX84 amp.

http://www.ax84.com/

ChewyNasalPrize

Man, that looks good....

But it says they don't sell the parts/kits anymore?

DrGonz78

Yeah $20-35 is all I would be willing to pay for the amp. However, even broken skylarks are fetching a nice dollar amount on eBay. So you buy it for cheap and then just go list it on eBay as is broken. Take the profit you make on eBay and use the paypal fund to help buy the 5F1 over at Mojo. You will get over $100 for the amp and the eBay buyer will even pay for shipping. Well that's what I would do after I tested the supposedly bad transformers.

http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amp-kits-tweed-style/Mojotone-Tweed-Champ-Style-Amplifier-Kit#.UqP4ONfk5Ic
"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." -Albert Einstein

JHow

I bought a Plush 1060 head with a "blown" transformer, that was supposedly diagnosed by a local well-known shop, but turned out was not blown transformer at all. 

Who says the transformer is blown?  The same guy who doesn't know what else is wrong with it?  Did he test it?  How?  If he cant tell you, ask if you can test it yourself, or make a low offer as others suggested.