Selmer little giant ebay question

[jonnyburgo]

This looks like a beauty, Worth a punt? what about the wooshy noise? and more crucially how much????

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Se...30793312011%26

[ICBM]

Could be several things - valve, filter cap, resistor - but is unlikely to be very expensive to fix, they're simple amps and not hard to work on. Even if it needs a complete cap job and several other things, it shouldn't cost more than £100 for a full overhaul I don't think.

They do go for a fair amount of money though, so at that point it might become uneconomical if you have to pay the market price first - I'd guess this one will go for £250-£300 as is, although I may be a bit out of touch.

[impmann]

Do they *really* go for that much...? I had one of these about 20+ years ago that I got from a secondhand shop in Woolwich... I paid £20 for it and sold it for a loss...

I don't remember them sounding that great, so what's the attraction?

[Wonks]

It's the current fad for old valve amps - however good or bad they were - that is putting the prices up. Plus, they don't make them any more and are getting scarcer, so collectors start moving in.

[Professor SourTone]

I have the same amp, in nice condition like this one. Its at least as much collector value as anything else, although they do have a ratty, amp-blowing-up charm. If you can only have one valve amplifier, this would not be the best choice. They look really great, though, and since Vox's have gone through the roof, Selmers have been reappraised and are no longer cheap. There was another colour scheme as well, iirc, red and cream, or similar.

Any wooshing sound is certainly caps - if you're going to use an amp this old, at least consider replacing the power smoothing caps.

[ICBM]

Do they *really* go for that much...?

This one went for £323. It was in unusually nice condition though.

I don't remember them sounding that great, so what's the attraction?

Its at least as much collector value as anything else, although they do have a ratty, amp-blowing-up charm. If you can only have one valve amplifier, this would not be the best choice. They look really great, though, and since Vox's have gone through the roof, Selmers have been reappraised and are no longer cheap. There was another colour scheme as well, iirc, red and cream, or similar.

A chap I knew had one of those. He blew the speaker if I remember. Getting another one that fitted and sounded right was difficult.

Any wooshing sound is certainly caps - if you're going to use an amp this old, at least consider replacing the power smoothing caps.

I'd replace all the electrolytics on principle when they get to this sort of age. It could also be resistors, carbon-comps often whoosh and crackle when they get old and drifted. Or even a leaking signal cap... the problem really is that to thoroughly overhaul it you destroy some of its vintage charm, and if you do it piecemeal you might be at it for some time.