Re: My Name is B Bent and I am addicted to old Fender amps!!!
You know, looking at that trashed out old TD, it makes me wonder if that thing went through a flood or something. Personally, I think that with good iron and tubes, you can make a new deluxe that will sound just as good. Might not look as cool, but geez, for 1800, I can build 2 or 3 and still make a small profit. :smokin:
I won't debate that you could likely put something together that would sound just as good. Matter of fact, had that Champ not come up like it had the odds are that you would have likely gotten an email from me to do something like that alot sooner. It's also very possible that because of that Champ I may very well inquire about building one that I won't be terrified to leave the house with!
But for me that amp represents a certain something, a collectible, a historic link to a time and something that I place a certain value in.
Growing up I dreamed of gear. It may sound weird, but I dreamed of gear like other kids dreamed of cars or motorcycles. When I was in high school every shop owner tried their damndest to talk me into solid state gear yet, when i went and looked through the albums and tapes and CD's of artists whose tone I loved, none of them were using that kind of gear. Everyone expected tubes to dry up and we would be a world of chassis without tubes and that would be it.
I think I kind of bought into it. I talk about having known then what I know now and something like a Tweed Champ is a step in the right direction to rectifying the mistake I made. I paid what I did because it was a fair deal and because it's something I can place that much value into.
To me there's something magical to be able to plug into it and know that this was an amp that came out of the same place that made gear that changed the world of music. It's the tool for tones that I hear in songs that changed my life.
It's hard to explain but to me there's more to it than just the parts and what they do together. There's an entity to it, something I identify it with that I value.
I never thought I would own anything from Fender from the 50's. Never. Especially at a point in my life when I could barely afford entry-level gear and was so far in debt I never thought I'd climb above it.
