New Broken Amp Day

I used to work at a music store that carried Laney Amps.  Until I worked there, I didn't know much about them.  I kind of found out they were the "other" British amp aside from Marshall.  They are very well made, but they aren't too big over here in the U.S. as they are in the U.K.

To make a long story short I found a guy on Craigslist selling a Laney GH-100-L amp for only $90.  Normally they cost $1200 new, so I knew something was amiss. Actually, I have to be a touch honest in that, he posted that it was broken, and roughed up.  It had no sound coming out of it.  He didn't want to mess with taking it to a repair shop, so he was just getting rid of it.

Here's a funny thing.  He lives halfway between Tampa and Orlando.  So he had about 20 people interested in the amp, none of them wanted to make the drive for it though.  They wanted him to deliver.  I was the only one who would drive to him.  And to be completely honest, it was a 98 mile round trip.  That's what the car odometer said.

So I did look it over, and decided that it was a worthwhile investment.  But here's what's wrong with it.

1. No handle.
2. No back plate.
3. Missing a foot.
4. A lot of dust, and more rust than there should be. I mean, was this thing near the salt water?
5. Powers up, but no sound.
6. 2 of the output jacks are shoved inside the chassis. Why? I have no idea.
7. Some of the switches on the back are also not lined up with the chassis.
8. This is normally shipped with EL-34 tubes, but has a switch that lets you put in 6L6 tubes. Right now it has 6L6 tubes.
9. The one part on the side looks taped up for some reason.
10. This thing had set for 5 years or more without being fired up.

So here's what I'm looking at. I need to buy all new tubes. For those of you who know me, know I love EH tubes. This has J.J. preamp tubes, and Mesa 6L6 tubes. Nothing wrong with the Mesa tubes, but I bought a British amp to sound like a British amp. So EL-34's are going in this thing.

Since it's sat so long, I'm sure it needs a sodder job. That's one reason I'm sure that it will fire up, but not have sound come out.

I need to clean it up. No biggie on that, I can wipe dust and rust off.

I do need to buy a handle, foot, maybe a back plate for it. I also need to staple down the tolex in the back.

So here's the total cost I am estimating I'm looking at.  $90 for the amp.  $15 for gas and tolls.  $130 for new tubes.  $120 for sodder job (if needed.)  New, handle, foot, and backplate, $50.  I suspect that the amp was run in the wrong mode for the tubes it has in it.  That means that a few of the capacitors are burnt or wore out.  Depending upon the number of them, it could be upwards of $30. 

So it's not a cheap repair, but I will see if I can do some of it on my own.  Anyway, onto the pictures.