OK guys, time to come clean! :lol: Martin came up with the story, so I agreed to go along with it for a bit of fun :)
What actually happened was this.....
The 'relic' started out as the cabinet for my Martamp Deluxe, but in the final stages of applying the tweed, Martin over-dried the glue with a heat gun and burnt the front grille. Whoops. Then the glue on one top corner seeped through the tweed as it had gone on a bit thick, causing a big stain. Martin wouldn't sell the cab to me like that so he built a second one for my Deluxe, which was mint :)
He was going to put an amp of some sort into the sub-standard cabinet and use it himself as a gig backup and I suggested that he should 'relic' it. He started out on the top with some scuffs and stains and was quite impressed with how it looked! He sent me a few pics and I loved it, so a plan was hatched...
I offered to buy the 'relic' if he could build me an amp that I could use at rehearsals (with a couple of pedals) in a stripped down rig, something like a Deluxe but with 6L6s for more clean headroom and power. So that's what it is!
I sourced an old knackered Celestion G12H on eBay and sent it for a recone, so it now has a brand new 55Hz speaker (like the Heritage G12H). The knobs are from an old 50s radio, all the screws are mis-matched, there's a replaced/repaired pilot light, the toggles switches are different sizes etc etc. Martin's put a lod of work and thought into it! He relic'd the rest of the cabinet and there you have it. The one and only Martamp Relic :)
Looks great with the Tele, huh?
