Bogus 18watt on e-bay

[Plexi]

"""It's pretty easy to get original tag-board material because RS sold the exact stuff untill 2 years ago!!!!"""

Yeah but i think Steve Uk bought all they had left. but there are other places that sell stuff that look like it.

When Ians amp came up,alot of the marshall experts told him they thought it was a fake cab and many other things. Even MG miss some things when they do some of these amps,and yes it is had to see from the pics alot of thigs. Wannatones amp experience was unbelieveable.
They sent him a pic of Ians amp chassis inards..The tolex job was sloppy,not noticeable from the outside,but the cuts of the tolex were not straight,and leftover laps were big on one side,and very short on the other. Looked liked they recovered it,and used the old parts to put it back together,screws and all. The feet were wore,but the bottom of the amp tolex didn't even have a scuff mark. Also some of the cap cans have still had the 20 watter value,instead of the 1.5k. And they left the back tag plate showing it was a 110/220v which the amp never had a 110 tranny.the 20 watters did.
When Adrian questioned them about the speakers,they said they could replace them with exact speakers with that date code.. And as you can see,many of the RS trannys were used in other amps.
So they have alot of part,thats for sure. Its not that these amps aren't going to sound good,or they are still marshall amps, but they should let people know what they are buying,and not as original or a parts amp.But if they do that they can't get the big dollars. I'm sure they read all our info,so they may be getting better at figureing out what to look for. Its a detective game.

Richie

[Ian]

Hi Blewsbreaker – ha….OK, you’ll get no argument from me, I’m certainly not going to defend the likes of MG lol .

I think it’s a problem buying any high price vintage gear from almost any dealer. Case in point – last 6 moths I was trying to buy a pre CBS Tele….gave up and bought a 78 “boat oarâ€

[dboul]

Dan - I thought I heard somewhere that Marshall also used Drake trannys in the 60’s?
Ian.

I believe Marshall used some Drake stuff in early JTM's, but I've not seen an 18watter without an RS tranny set.

I've always seen the RSEL84OT and Hygrade or similar PT. I'm not an expert though, that's just my experience. When I got involved in this 18 watt obsession, I read quite a bit and relentlessly searched for original trannies to clone. All of my research pointed to the RS set.

I was curious if any of the owners of Originals here could tell us if any of their amps have trannies other than RS?

Cheers!

[zaphod_phil]

And yes...your amp,sweetspot's amp and colin's are some of the 100% real ones except for some "Minor" changed stuff....
Hope this helps....[/b]

AFAIK Ian's amp is exactly as Jim Marshall built it, complete with one joint not soldered! I'm not sure what you meant by minor. Obviously, it's had valves changed when necessary, and that connection has now been soldered. Colin's is a very carefully built reproduction by Graydon of an original 18W he previously had and was forced to sell. Folks please correct me if I've got any of the details wrong here.

As for MG watching this board, I frankly doubt they've got the intelligence to. Hey, Music Ground if you're out there, come and sue us! It would be fun for all this to come into the open!

[Ian]

Hi Phil – yep, entirely correct re. description of my amp . Re the valves - I changed them all last summer (HH & JJ-EZ81), but previous set had been there since at least 77, ie two Brimar AX7, one Mullard AX7 & Mazda EZ81, so maybe some of those were original?? The EL84’s are some obscure Russian things so I guess they’re obviously replacements (“Zaerusâ€

[loverocker]

I think it’s a problem buying any high price vintage gear from almost any dealer.
Ian.

Ain't that the truth. I found a dealer with an "all original - one changed cap" '55 all-gold Les Paul. After ordering and paying for it, I mentioned it to our Forum buddy, wannatone, who said that particular dealer might be a bit suspect. So, a bit worried, I emailed a vintage Gibson dealer who I knew had done business with this dealer. He gave the dealer a 100% recommendation - quote: "I will vouch for him without reservation". Which put my worries to rest.

So... the guitar that arrived had a modern cheapo R/T switch ring, 4 DiMarzio(!) pots and a '70s control cavity cover! All stuff that I spotted within 10 mins of opening the box. There was 1-week approval, so I asked for (and got) a 2000 euro refund. Now, it's a great guitar, but it taught me a lesson: a well-respected dealer may try to scam some buyers, but be perfectly straight with others.

Back on topic: I really don't think I could spot anything other than an obvious fake 18Wer

[Ian]

Hi Barry – sorry to hear about the Gold LP, sadly it doesn’t surprise me – it seems most dealers find it useful to employ a very loose idea of what “originalâ€

[ColinM]

Phil...

Colin's is a very carefully built reproduction by Graydon of an original 18W he previously had and was forced to sell. Folks please correct me if I've got any of the details wrong here.

The amp in the gallery entitled 'Colin's original 18watt' belonged to me until about 2 years ago. It was all original except for the speaker. I sadly had to sell it, but the guys on the forum here very kindly built me another - the one below.

Best wishes, Colin

[loverocker]

Well, it is a fantastic guitar, but my heart sank further as I spotted each unoriginal bit.

To cap it all, just to show how flexible dealers can be with the notion of originality, the dealer offered to send some vintage-correct parts to 'make it original'!