After talking about vintage amp schematics it made me think of the days where you could get a Music Man Vintage Amplifier and how they’re somewhat unusual and yet common at the same time to find today.

For those who may not have known about this guitar producer, Music-Man is a company that offers many guitars and other products including amps available for musicians to use and enjoy. They were founded in the 1970’s by Forrest White and Tom Walker, two disgruntled Fender employees, and later purchased by Ernie Ball in the 1980’s. Their logo is characterized by two people playing the guitar, usually found in the top left of the amp speaker cover.

Here are some recent finds for these amps on ebay:

They released amps with two different chassis numbers when owned by Ernie Ball, these being the HD-500 Edition 1 Edition and the HD-500 Edition 2.

Prior to being aquired by Ernie Ball, they designed and sold the following list of amps (listed by Chassis Number):

1600-B
1650-RD
2100-65
2100-75
2100-130
2100-150
2100-B
2165-RD
2100-RD
2165-RP
2100-RP

There are quite a few musicians who have used their guitars and amps (which I’m sure eventually we’ll get around to listing all of them someday sooner or later!)

Their value today can be characterized by a few things

The amps are known well for their reliability, it’s not uncommon to see them in excellent shape some 30 years later after being produced.  Some people choose to identify the amps by their model number, but many models share the same characteristics and features as the chassis. The amps range from their 65 watt series to their 100 watt bass amp series.

But like always, it’s always better to just listen to one to see what you can expect from one:

Have any thoughts on Music Man guitar and bass amps? Share your thoughts below.

So while the collections online leave a yet to be desired, there’s not much we can do about it – while I’d like to post up my own list of them here, I probably couldn’t do that without getting pictures from another site, and that can lead to bigger problems I don’t really want to deal with! (It’s a big no-no to use other people’s images without their consent – and frankly I don’t have the time to individually contact obsolete websites to ask permission) – So, the best thing I can do is reccommend a few books to check out. There’s actually quite a lot of interesting books and while I haven’t read them all, I thought I would share some below that seemed the most interesting.

	Complete Schematics I can’t honestly review this book because it’s not scheduled to be released until January of 2010, but with 650 pages, it looks promising. You can however pre-order it at Amazon.com, which I recommend if you’re serious about this stuff because you’ll probably forget about it come January.
	The Tube Amp Book With 416 pages of new material and two CD-Roms of diagrams, this is almost a complete kit for beginners to get started. While the images could be more accurate and easier to read, this is a good place for beginners to start, especially if Fender is something you’re interested in. See More Details & Read Reviews
	Introduction to Guitar Tone and Effects This isn’t a book about building or repair amps per se – but it does have a great way of explaining how to get different effects and is definitely a good resource for beginners – sometimes just learning about it can help you come up with your own playing style. Also comes with a CD-Rom to listen to the different styles described in the book. Learn More

Can you recommend a good book or resource for vintage amp schematics? Share them in the comments below.

There is little documentation available on the Marshall JTM45 and what little we could find comes as “officially” as one can get, straight from Marshallamps.com, the official website for Marshall amplifiers.

Models produced in the 1962 feature a smooth black covering with a white grill cloth, leather handle, and silver polished aluminum panels. The rectangular metal logo has red block lettering. Single speaker output was made with either 5881 or 6L6 valves. Cabinets housed Celestion G12 15 speakers and it is believed that serial numbers start at 1004.

1963 models are similiar, with twin speaker outputs, Black knobs, and white engraved panels. The cabinets also are angled as opposed to straight.  In 1964 the valves used wer KT66’s and the g12 15’s were replaced with G12 20’s. Serial numbers begin with the number 2, and some may have gold and black plastic logos. Marshall also started introducing combos in 1964.

In 1965 identifying models and changes to the original amp becomes hazy for everyone, including the company. It was the year the elusive Marshall Bluesbreaker amps (sometimes referred to as JTM45’s super tremelo) were produced.

Marshall JTM45’s are difficult to find and identify, mostly due to poor record keeping by the company as they first got started. However, it is an amp that made history and began the success of one of the most well known and popular amplifier manufacturers today.

But enough confusing history, let’s hear some music!

If you’d like to get your hands on a Marshall JTM45, you might be able to find one on ebay:

Do you own a Marshall JTM45 amp? Share your thoughts on it (or any missing pieces of the history puzzle) below!

As usual, words don’t say enough about this classic vintage fender amp, so let’s watch a video of someone playing on one:

The quality of this video is clearly nothing spectacular, but it does an excellent job at showing the capabilities of the Fender Bandmaster Reverb amplifier and let you bask in that unmistakable sound.

A vintage Fender Bandmaster can usually be found somewhere between $800-$2000, depending on condition and if any modifications have been made. (For example some have been rewired to include a three prong plug instead of a two prong plug – others have changed the schematics inside to create different effects with their Fender Bandmaster Reverb).

If you’re looking to buy a Fender Bandmaster, you may be interested in some of these listings on ebay below: