...... I got to the flea market early because I knew the Labor day crowds are always KRaZY !!! :eek:

I quickly walked the aisles and aisles full JUNK to either side that people just can't seem to throw away. My eyes collected the data and my brain quickly processed the information.

I have trained myself to zone in on and target guitar or amplifier looking shapes, but to quickly reject stuffed animals, VHS tapes and porcelin ornament shapes.

My feet stopped suddenly as I walked past a carmel corn stand. I agreed that this was acceptable and I gave the man a buck. I continued on hoping there were no more interuptions.

I stopped again when I came across a Mercury 2000 vacuum tube tester. It appeared to have never used, with loads of documentation and all the original manuals. Looked to be quite a deluxe piece of gear. I plugged it and the power light came on. I had no tubes with me to test...... but figured it looked new and it probably did work. Price was $35. :o I offered the lady $25 and she said no. As I was walking away, she decided YES, YES by gawd!!!! , she'll take it. :eek3: :eek3:

After dumping the tester off in my truck, I continued on........


Eventually, I focused in on what appeared to be a guitar amp head. .....yes ...? ....... YES !!! it WAS a guitar amp head. My heart rate raised from 90 beats per minute to 120 bpm.

As I casually walked up to it, some guy was in my way looking at it. I wanted to shove him out of the way, but was patient and waited my turn. He finally wandered off and I began processing the information. :confused:

1. It was a tube amp.

2. It was Traynor amp and it said so on the logo.

3. I had no clue what the wattage was or if Traynors were any good? :confused:

4. It was very clean, non master volume, had a little fan on the inside to cool the tubes and had the original Mullard, Phillips tubes in it. :hmm:

I asked the lady if it worked and how much she wanted for it?
She said it did work and thought it was a 200 Watt amp..?? !!
I looked at her square in the eye and said......... 200 Watts huh ? ......... that's funny because there are only 2 power tubes......... :mad:


....... she then replied, well ! I don't know then........??

Then she said, she was asking $275 for it but will take $200 !

I thought it may have not been too bad a deal, but I had very little information to go on. I reluctantly let it sit and walked off. :P

I walked around for about a half hour wondering if I should take a chance and buy it?? :confused: Finally, I figured nope, don't really need another amp, so I left.

When I got home, I turned on the computer and read up on Traynors.


:eek7: :eek7:



I hopped back in my car and crammed it in gear. I went flying down the highway trying to negociate traffic and pick the route with the fewest traffic lights and left hand turns...... I was going about 65 in a 35 at one point. :eek!: :eek!:

I finally got there and ran all the way to the back row close to where the amp was. I then slowed my pace and casually walked closer and closer......... I didn't see it !!! My heart rate was still at about 190 and I was trying to catch my breath.

Finally , out of the corner of my eye, I caught a little glint of what could be a guitar amp. It was in the general area and as my brain processed the information and my eyes focused in a clean and sharper image, I did determine that it WAS in fact a guitar amp.......... in fact, it was the SAME amp that I came back to buy. :eek!:


I slowly walked up as if I had never left the place. The lady looked up and smiled at me and said, oh! Hi...... still thinking about the amp ? :)

I said, yes, ........................ yes I was ..........................

She said, it really does work. I replied, well, the only thing is...... those vacuum tube are really old looking and I know they will eventually go bad........ AND THEN WHAT ??? :eek7:

....... she said, well, all I know is it does work now.........

I crouched down and was looking in the back of the amp when I got some chest pain !! My heart was still ticking away at a brisk pace. I was wondering if a STUPID guitar amp was worth a heart attack ??

So, the important question here was ............ I asked her if she would take $150 for it? She asked if I would go $175 on it??? I said I didn't know.....??...... then I started to ask if she had a owners manual and ............??.....that is when she said yes !! YYESSS !!! I WILL TAKE $150 .........!!!!! I am probably selling to TOO CHEAP !!!!!

..... so, I forked over the cash and grabbed the amp.
It appeared to be tied down to the table, but that actually was not the case, it is just that it weighed a TON !

....... I carried it about 1/4 mile back to my car and thought along the way that my back was going to snap in half.

I drove home and plugged it in. I carefully let the tubes warm up before turning the power switch off standy by.

I plugged a telecaster in and then appied power.

Suddenly, the heavens opened up and a whole host of angels appear at my windows as each and every note rang out in crystal clarity ! The tone was amazingly warm and Fender Bassman like.

Then I turned it up to 5 and all HELL broke loose !! :eek3:

Suddenly, this innocent little amp turned EVIL and UGLY !!! One power chord and it ripped the curtains down from the windows!!!!



It was Woodstock in my living room baby !!!! YEAH !! Whaaaaa Hhh aaaa aahh HAaaa a HAAahaahah HAHA aHAAAA aHa AAAHha AhaHAHAHA ha ! !!!!!!1 HaHAHAHA AHAa WHWwHAAHA haHAHHAH Whaaaaa Hhh aaaa aahh HAaaa a HAAahaahah HAHA aHAAAA aHa AAAHha AhaHAHAHA ha ! !!!!!!1 HaHAHAHA AHAa WHWwHAAHA haHAHHAH Whaaaaa Hhh aaaa aahh HAaaa a HAAahaahah HAHA aHAAAA aHa AAAHha AhaHAHAHA ha ! !!!!!!1 HaHAHAHA AHAa WHWwHAAHA haHAHHAH Whaaaaa Hhh aaaa aahh HAaaa a HAAahaahah HAHA aHAAAA aHa AAAHha AhaHAHAHA ha ! !!!!!!1 HaHAHAHA AHAa WHWwHAAHA haHAHHAH Whaaaaa Hhh aaaa aahh HAaaa a HAAahaahah HAHA aHAAAA aHa AAAHha AhaHAHAHA ha ! !!!!!!1 HaHAHAHA AHAa WHWwHAAHA haHAHHAH !!!!





:nice:























....... any ways, I did find out that it puts out 90 Watts clean and supposedly 150 Watts wide open !!!




...... so this just goes to show you that you should do your home work and know what amps are good and which ones are the dogs. :cool:

I am still waiting to find a Hiwatt DR103 for $300 bucks like my brother did. :)



.....that will be all ............................ :corn:

good deal man.

Tweedbucket, excellent post. One of the best little stories I have read in a while. :)

But shouldn't this be like an "I Had A Cool Dream The Other Night" type of thread. :confused:

Tweedbucket, excellent post. One of the best little stories I have read in a while. :)

But shouldn't this be like an "I Had A Cool Dream The Other Night" type of thread. :confused:





well, no ............................. no it shouldn't :confused:



..... this actually happened on Labor Day .......... :corn:

We have an inventory of
over 10 million tubes in stock!

No, that is not a misprint. We actually have Ten Million vacuum tubes in our inventory. So you can stop wandering around the Internet! We are the only tube supplier you will ever need. Even our competitors buy from us, especially those hard to find tubes. We have them all, in stock, and we have them at the best prices! Try us! Give us a call today at 1-800-326-4140 and find out for yourself why we are #1.

Whether you need vacuum tubes for industry, hi-fi applications, ham radio, old time radio, or any other purpose, we will be the only supplier you will ever need.

We keep both NOS (New Old Stock) and factory-new tubes in our warehouses. The majority of our orders ship within twenty-four hours. After your order is received, we hand test each vacuum tube TWICE to make sure it is exactly up to the manufacturer's specs

https://vacuumtubes.net/

Lots of new military equipment still uses vac tubes, triacs, etc. There is simply no substitute for them in many applications.

I don't know if that site you posted has the tubes a tube amp connoisseur like Tweedbucket would need. The Ruskie's Sovtek and Svetlana tubes used to be desirable for guuitar amps I think.

I don't know if that site you posted has the tubes a tube amp connoisseur like Tweedbucket would need. The Ruskie's Sovtek and Svetlana tubes used to be desirable for guuitar amps I think.



JJ makes a good tube. Svetlana winged C is another awesome tube.


I don't like Sovteks much except their 12AX7LPS isn't bad. :confused: