Selmer or similar Treble And BAss

[sgmypod]

Love these ugly amps....how much should I pay for one, anyone got stories of owning.....anyone know of somewhere that has one

[MDV]

I had a selmer ages ago....forgotten all about it actually

I'd pay 23p, a packet of crisps and some bubble wrap.

[Philly Q]

I bet Phil King owns/has owned one.

[Lew]

recently you'd pay maybe 300 for an early brown one but it seems people have cottened on to them recently and you will pay that for the later silver chasis t'n'b. unfortunatly it looks like the vintage hype machine has got around to sucking them up in to its void so it really will vary alot on the seller.

[WezV]

I bet Phil King owns/has owned one.

i think i have discussed selmers with phil before so you may be right!

I really like them,  just a shame about the looks

[PhilKing]

I've had 2 different ones through the years, a croc skin and an upside down black face.  They both sounded great and I wish I had held onto the croc skin.  The limitation is that they have just a treble and bass tone control on each channel, but that is more than offset by the fact that they have 2 channels.  I used to put all my tones to 10 anyway on my old Marshalls (I still pretty much do once I have the amp sounding good by tube swapping). 

They have now started to go up - they were a steal for a long time.  If you listen to one through a 4x12 you'll want it - the problem is Selmer used to send them out with 2x12's (though they did use Goodmans speakers which also sound great - I just picked up a couple, one ceramic and one alnico).  They are even more of a Bassman with EL34's than a Marshall is.  They react very nicely with pedals and I think the originals might have had 4 preamp valves.

Other than the fact that the silverface once look like cr@p, the circuits are pretty much the same (other than the very early ones which had a tube rectifier).  If you can stand the look, there is one with reverb in too and they are a lot cheaper than the earlier better looking ones.

[sgmypod]

Missed a SV reverb one..love the sound of them..they are ugly(but hey I like unique things)

[hamfist]

Marc, You already know I'm a Selmer fan.

They are really well built, generally. Although the youngest ones are now 30 yrs old so many have taken a lot of abuse !  I'd say they are generally better designed and built than old Marshalls, Laneys, Sound City's etc. They are on a build quality with early Carlsbro's and almost up to Hiwatt standard (although definately not as "beautiful" inside).

The earlier ones go for significantly more money (for "vintage" value I suppose). The later ones move from tube rectification to SS (which to my mind is an advantage). Also some of the earlier versions were "upside down", so all the heat of the tubes goes up into the chassis (like most combos). this is not as reliable a design as the later ones which have the tubes sitting upright, with the chassis underneath them - much better for heat distribution.

 The last version (the SV ones) go for the least money ....  about £200-£220 for a good one on ebay. They are still stuffed full of Partridge transformers, Mustard caps and (hopefully) nice old tubes. All Selmers are properly hand-wired too - no PCB's in sight.
  The reverb on the SV's are a waste of time IMO.    They are great amps to mod !!!

[Tellboy]

Bass player in one of my old bands had a Mk3 black face like this (as Hamfist mentioned this model is "upside down") http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/gallery/gallery3/gallery4/cat21.html. I tried it a few times - great amp when turned up.

[JamesHealey]

I've had two "Metal Faced" ones.

First one I got at a police auction for £26 when I was 15, the second I got from a pub who had one in the basement and simply wanted rid of it because it was taking up space that cost me £30.

I've had a Carlsbro 60TC for £150 and a Carlsbro 60 P.A. for £75.


Bargain amps!