Now I have to find a good amp tech.

[TalismanRich]

I've been off this past week, and I finally decided to plug in the old Guild Thunderbird amp, after not using it for several years. It had sustained some minor damage when the basement flooded many years ago, so I had pulled the Jensens, and cleaned what I could (removing the fiberglass in the cabinet.

 

The amp still has the original 2 wire plug. Luckily almost all is right with the amp. A couple of pots could use some cleaner, and the top input jack on the first channel needs to be replace, but everything else fired up fine. The amp is about 35 or 40 watts and weighs a ton.

 

I always like the way this amp sounded. It uses the 7591A power tubes, has two Jensen C12Ns. I didn't look at the dates on the speakers but I think I bought it around 1969 or 70. I had it while I was in high school and used it for the next half dozen years playing gigs through college. The closest new amp that I have to that sound is my Patriot. Its got lots of touch response, and with the bright setting, it can almost make my S100 sound like a tele. It gets really crunchy when you dime it, but these days, I keep the volume down.

 

So, its time to have an amp tech convert to a three prong plug. Maybe check the caps (its got several 4 stage can caps that from what I can tell are only available from Antique Electric Supply) The pots and jack, I can fix those myself. The only thing left is to get my son to help me haul this thing up the steps to the car!

 

.

 

 

[pressure]

Great story Rich. I don't know how anybody can hold on to guitar stuff for so long. Unfortunately I have always had to trade something in to get the next great thing.

[TalismanRich]

If it wasn't for pack rats like myself, there wouldn't be much vintage stuff around!!!!

 

The amp is the first part of the story, The guitar was also in the water, and the case was nasty. I bought a generic case years ago, but it doesn't support the guitar very well. I feel that its possible for the headstock to hit the end of the case, which could cause a break.

 

I wanted to get a proper case for the S100. I checked with Sweetwater to see if a Gator case for the SG would fit, but Dontae found that the top horn on the Guild is a bit bigger, making it a tight fit. I could try to order a case from Guild, but first I ordered 3 yards of crushed panne velour;

 

The guts of the case have been stripped and I'm looking to rebuild the original case. Unfortunately, they didn't have a nice orange, so I ordered red.

 

Here's a shot with the old velour. It was really matted and nasty. Water does that!

 

 

After cleaning most of the cloth off, I'm looking at this for the repair.

 

 

I'll do a little bit of reinforcing of the top and bottom, and I'll have to rebuild the box. but in the end, I hope to have a nice restored case.

 

 

[fxdx99]

That's a cool looking setup, Rich. Cool that you kept it all these years. Where's the pic of you playing it doing your best Townsend windmill?

[ElNumero]

Rich, I can recommend a really good one (even two) in the Greenville area, since you frequent there. Give me a call.

 

thanks

 

Will

[kennyv4]

Great amp and guitar. It's great you were able to hang on to them for so long.

[bolero]

that is a nice old amp

 

I think I once slept in a guitar case that looked like that