I've just spent an hour wandering the Interwebs, looking for good basic tube-amp kits that could be slightly modded to be guitar amps. You know, like the little Masco kits that Lafayette & Radio Shack used to sell back in the 1970s for $6.99.

No luck thus far, but I keep circling back toward the half-baked conclusion in the headline.

A few minutes ago, my eyes stopped swimming & I picked my jaw up off the floor. I'd found a small company that would put together an "authentic" 100-watt Plexi clone for a mere $3,299 -- that's for the basic version, anyway.

...or, you could buy the actual Marshall reissue for $2,350.



What am I missing here?

Yeah, at $200 ya gotta wonder whether it's worth turning over to a repair dude -- though it COULD be something so simple as a loose screw or a cold joint. Still, all ya got to do is look at the tuition of taking even a single vo-tech class, & it starts to look like you raised your knowledge level a smidge for a pretty Frugal price.

I just dropped $60 on an old kit Masco three-tube intercom that's been slightly modded as an amp, but still needs some finishing work. Dunno if the page will last long, but here's the link:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1607220...trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Info is sorely lacking, but it MIGHT be an ST-R (ST-2?) slave. If the guts are at all like the IJM-5, the tube complement is 12AX7, 50C5, & 35W4 -- "offbeat" is the polite word that comes to mind.

YES, I'm going to have Ted go over it, because apparently these little beasts didn't have a power transformer, & had all the filaments in series right to the wall... which means that I'd be at risk for getting zapped all to heck!!! (As an intercom, generally users weren't running around with potentially grounding leads -- that'd be the guitar -- in their sweaty li'l hands.) Power transformers aren't just to step mains voltage up or down, but also provide isolation. Now it's just a question of how much Ted will charge me to put in an iso xformer, & maybe a 3-wire lead & a fuse... but GEEZ LOUISE it'd be a unique, fun little lunchbox!!

And certainly cheaper than a $900 5-watt "boutique" amp.