I find it funny and almost odd that the year of manufacture of a guitar is near always known and almost is a figure of pride and joy for the owner, yet when it comes to the amp the joy is basically limited to manufacturer and model.
Can't argue that I'm immune, I'm just as guilty. I can simply look at any of the 20 or so guitars I own and can immediately rattle off without blinking an eye its year of creation plus a swag of other details, but for amps the year is mostly unknown however details like power and speaker type just fall into conversation.
It was only this afternoon that I realised my 'premium' amp is 12 years since its release. Yeah, the 100W 2x12" JVM210 that I have was released by Marshall in 2007. I sat for a moment and worked out some of my other amp histories. My Princeton solid state 5W practice amp with 8" speaker came into my possession 2nd hand in 1978. There is the four VOX amps of various vintages with the VX50 being the oldest, the Realistic 5W practice amp from that Tandy mob that closed up shop years ago, and the 1976 Playmaster head that became a 2204 clone with 6L6 finals. And my AC18W build and the 2x12" cab I built to go with it is already 18 months old. I suppose my newest two amps are the Fender Blues Junior IV and TCE BH250 bass head both of which are only 8 months old.
Yep, some are getting some serious age on them. And all bar one still work very well. Makes me wonder what other old amps are out there in guitar player land, and if they are still rocking it with the best of 'em...
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