Re: Dang. Dream amp, and me with no $$$
I can't find any gut shots of '70s Univox tube amps, but their insides don't look much different from Marshall, Fender, Traynor, or Sunn heads of the the early '70s. The Univoxs are actually pretty well-built.
When I say "dream amp"... well maybe "object of my strange obsession" is a better term. It would be cool to have around, and I could use a loud-but-clean amp on rare occasions, but really, when would I ever play it? Now, if a Marshall 4010 combo shows up in the neighborhood at a reasonable price, me 'n' Mrs_S are gonna have a talk, 'cuz
that's a dream amp (or more specifically, "the one that got away") and is something I
would use, a lot.
Those 4-12 columns are useless, except maybe as retro decorations that double as vocal monitors for a jam room/man cave, which I don't have. Parking those in family room would end in divorce, I'm quite certain. Parting them out as "vintage low-power guitar speakers" (and saving the Univox badges) is probably the way to go, but I couldn't force myself to do that; they're in nice shape and should be preserved.
Jerry, I'm not sure why I feel the need to justify myself, but with four kids (one in college, three to go, and two of those special needs), all needing summer activites, and a house that's in need of constant repair (new back porch last week, new roof between now and first snow), even retro uber-cool '70s two-tone blue amps are a luxury I can't afford. "Engineer" is still a good, solid profession, but salaries are flat, even declining if you factor in the increasing amount of health care they dump on us each year. Outsourcing to Asia and Eastern Europe is rampant; hell, it's
required... my official annual review goals each year include a target for how much of my work I can peel off and sub out to our offshore offices. And who knows, when the next economic downturn hits, it could be my name at the top of the layoff list. So, no, I'm not begging on the street, but for practical purposes, I have no $$$ for groovy, decorative '70s guitar gear.
I did generate a little extra cash doing a side job recently, but I put half of it into a pair of PA cabs for my kid's band to use in rehearsals (so they can stop singing through my guitar amp) and the other half's going to general family expenses. I remember how hard it was to get a band off the ground without gear, and think that providing them the bare essentials to get started is a good investment. On the other hand, after telling them of the great deal I found on a pair of used Yamaha S115IV cabs, it would have been hilarious to divert the funds, walk in with the Univox columns, say, "Here are those PA speakers I promised you, guys!" and then sneak out the door with my new/old guitar amp head.
As a little reminder of how deep my little obsession goes, here's the 18 Watter clone I built myself a few years ago:
It's a sickness.
