66 Super Reverb dilemma

[TerryD]

My friend has a blackface super reverb that he wants me to sell.  I see they only pull about 1600.  I think thats a big mistake to sell "that" amp for that, since it is what it is.   I think his real grip is the weight.  I am thinking about making him a cabinet for the amp chassis and reverb.  And also maybe making a cab for the speakers.  Possibly only using two 10s.  I did this on a friends large transister amp and left the speakers in the original cabinet and that was the cats meow for him.

What are some problems with what I am thinking?

Any other ideas?

[P Batty]

It would have to be a pretty nice Super Reverb to bring $1600, the usual "players" get about half that. As far as putting it into two cabinets, it could be done, but you wouldn't have the same sound with two speakers. It depends on how much "whomp" he needs- if he usually plays bright leads he might get by with 2-10", but if he wants some bottom he would be happier with 1-12" in a not-too-small enclosure- but then you would have an amp designed to play into 2 ohms driving a 4 or 8 ohm load. Two cabinets would probably be heavier than a combo anyway (although easier to carry.) If he doesn't need two channels and doesn't have to play really loud he would probably be happiest with a Princeton Reverb with an upgraded (i.e. Weber) speaker- most of the functionality of the Super with 1/3 the weight.  I would sell the Super Reverb intact, any repackaging of it would ruin its value, and get a more suitable amp.  If you were to start from scratch and build a new amp with 2 6v6's and a 4 ohm transformer and 3-10" speakers in a combo cabinet made of Baltic Birch Plywood, you could probably get the weight  and size down a bit and still have a similar amp, but that would be  a whole lot of work.  The transistor amp you modified didn't have OT matching to consider. 

[rafe]

maybe he could find an early  Deluxe reverb of similar value and trade

[Fresh_Start]

If he likes the Super Reverb's sound, I think you're on the right track with separate head & speaker cabs.  No harm done to the original cab or chassis - just separating the weight.  He can always put everything back in the vintage cab if he wants too at some point in the future. 

Mojo Musical Supply makes a Super Reverb head cab and a 2x10 Tremolux speaker cab which might work out well (provided you get a 2 ohm speaker load).  For whatever reason, you can buy Mojo cabs for less from Marsh Amplification than directly from Mojo and Marsh is a good guy to deal with IME.  Heck, you could wire up two of the Tremolux cabs if you wanted four 10" speakers.  Alternatively, Avatar makes a 4x10 cab and their products are nice too.  The Mojo cabs look vintage though.  JD Newell might be willing to make you a 4x10 cab that matches a vintage BF-style head also.

I built a Super Reverb clone a couple of years ago and tried to convince the owner that separate speaker & head cabs would be better.  He has since admitted that he wished we'd done that.  A friend of his built him a dolly to roll the SR around on, but it won't go up (or down stairs) and that's a heavy beast for sure.

A Deluxe Reverb is not going to sound like a Super Reverb.  A Princeton Reverb is even farther away.  Don't get me wrong - I love both of those amps; they just won't give your friend the sound of his Super Reverb.

Cheers,

Chip

[phsyconoodler]

Buy him a set of casters or a collapsible dolly to move it easier.He could even leave it attached to the amp all the time.
  Quote:"It would have to be a pretty nice Super Reverb to bring $1600, the usual "players" get about half that."

Maybe in your neck of the woods! A good 65 Super easily will sell for 1600.00,maybe more if it's original. It depends on what people are willing to pay and if they can't find one.Rarity drives up the prices.
  From one end of the US to the other the price is drastically different.If I could find a half-decent 65 super for 800.00 I'd buy as many as I could!

[rafe]

I agree that the Deluxe reverb is a different pony, but it's great and easier to manage, beyond that
my self i'd keep the super, the wheeled case would help in transport and i'd hit the gym lol
I would deal with the downside ...but then again I am still willing to haul around my amps even when it's painful 

[softwarejanitor]

Buy him a set of casters or a collapsible dolly to move it easier.He could even leave it attached to the amp all the time.
  Quote:"It would have to be a pretty nice Super Reverb to bring $1600, the usual "players" get about half that."

Maybe in your neck of the woods! A good 65 Super easily will sell for 1600.00,maybe more if it's original. It depends on what people are willing to pay and if they can't find one.Rarity drives up the prices.
  From one end of the US to the other the price is drastically different.If I could find a half-decent 65 super for 800.00 I'd buy as many as I could!

Around here (Austin, TX area) I've seen a fair number of nice looking Blackface Super Reverbs offered in the $800-$1200 range over the past year or two, Silverfaces even cheaper.  Prices on guitar stuff seem to be off since the start of the recession probably because there is an awful lot of used gear for sale right now.  Supply and demand rules, and right now it is a buyer's market.

[P Batty]

Looking at this situation again, it really is the definitive modern dilemma of amplifiers- How much are you willing to compromise for tone versus portability.  There are a several ways to look at it. Is this a collector's amp? Or just a gigging amp? There are dozens of Super Reverbs on eBay, with "buy it now" prices over 2K, for what look like nice, but not really collector's grade amps. A true collector's amp would easily fetch over 2 grand, but most 45 year old amps that have been actually gigged with will show some or a lot of wear and tear- which doesn't mean they are bad amps, but they won't be worth a lot of money.  The unique characteristic of a Super Reverb is that it is an elegant design in every respect- tone, responsiveness, volume, size, versatility- any alteration of the design will diminish it- it is arguably as perfect as a Blackface Fender gets.  It is heavy, but not for the amount of air it can push. A Twin-Reverb with JBLs is louder, but not lighter, and certainly not as responsive. 2-10" speakers with 40 watts gives you a Vibrolux Reverb, a very nice amp (and more expensive) but significantly different than a Super Reverb.  The most versatility would be putting the Super Reverb head in a Bandmaster Reverb  head cabinet, and then have two custom open-backed 2-10 enclosures, and using only one for smaller gigs.  That is at least $700 in cabinets, if you want a vintage look, assuming your speakers are good.  If you can build your own you could maybe save some money if your time isn't worth a lot.

I think your friend really needs a different amp.  How loud does he need to play?