# Whats the oldest thing you've plugged your 1/4" jack into?



## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

My entry: 1948 Gibson BR-6

I recently had the pleasure of getting this old beauty up and running. Everything is original on this amp. All it needed was the pot and input jacks cleaned.

Here's a few videos of me playing it as well as a picture below:

[video]http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidallancole/11990904935/[/video]

[video]http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidallancole/11991347014/[/video]


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

David, you've got me beat by a decade. My first amp was a tweed Deluxe. It was given to me by my father's friend to accompany the guitar ('73 Mustang) that I'd just purchased from him. Unfortunately I didn't know what it was & ended up selling it within a few months for $300 to fund a Les Paul. D'OH!!!!!


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

Dang man, I wasn't even finished editing the thread since I am terrible at creating them. You probably don't remember the year of that Deluxe then eh?


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Cool amp! Weren't those made to be paired up with the lap steels?

I have a '51 B9 and the case is similar to that housing.
I've seen matching sets too.

To answer the question, my first amp also, probably late '70s Pignose. HAha!


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## J-75 (Jul 29, 2010)

roryfan said:


> david, you've got me beat by a decade. My first amp was a tweed deluxe. It was given to me by my father's friend to accompany the guitar ('73 mustang) that i'd just purchased from him. Unfortunately i didn't know what it was & ended up selling it within a few months for $300 to fund a les paul. D'oh!!!!!


!!!!!!!!! Ouch !!!!!!!!!!!!


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

sulphur said:


> Cool amp! Weren't those made to be paired up with the lap steels?


I believe so. When looking these up on ebay, there were numerous lap steel guitars with the same designation. This amp is not very loud at all. It has push-pull 6V6's but it sounds as loud as my Pepco 801 which is a single ended 50C5.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

dcole said:


> I believe so. When looking these up on ebay, there were numerous lap steel guitars with the same designation. This amp is not very loud at all. It has push-pull 6V6's but it sounds as loud as my Pepco 801 which is a single ended 50C5.



Yup. They sound great with a lap steel. Here's mine:


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

A 1957 Tweed Tremolux - many years ago before they were cool. Wish I still had it.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

we're taking guitar cords, right?


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

Right, not the 1/4" thing in your pants you call Jack. Lol!!! 

I didn't really know where to put this thread as the title has left it open for anything you can plug a 1/4" jack into. Guitars, effects pedals, amps or even old telephone switch boards.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Mine is a Supro 1624T Dual Tone (1959).


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## Bobby1note (Jan 6, 2014)

For me, it was plugging a beautiful old Harmony arch-top guitar, into the 1/4" jack on the back of an early '60's television set. The TV was bright orange, made of Formica I guess, and looked something like this one.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

That's a sweet looking amp. I think I would fall in love with that amp. I gather from the first image it has one 12" speaker in it?



Chito said:


> Mine is a Supro 1624T Dual Tone (1959).


- - - Updated - - -

Was the 1/4" jack for external audio sources? You could jam along with the local television shows of the day which I don't know what they are as I am a child of the 80's.



Bobby1note said:


> For me, it was plugging a beautiful old Harmony arch-top guitar, into the 1/4" jack on the back of an early '60's television set. The TV was bright orange, made of Formica I guess, and looked something like this one.


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## Bobby1note (Jan 6, 2014)

I really have no idea why the old TV's had a 1/4" jack,,,, maybe so you could hook it up to your record-player??? At 14-15 years old, we didn't care,,, as long as we had an "amp", and we could "twang" like Duane Eddy,,,, or play the Theme from Peter Gunn. :smile-new:

The TV belonged to my buddys' parents. When they went out for the evening, we'd plug-in and play. I remember going home after an evening of playing,,, with finger-blisters the size of marbles.:slash:


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## TheRumRunner (Sep 29, 2011)

This one is pretty old









And so is this one









And a couple of old Nationals
















And this 









Is going to be driven by this
















DW


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

How olds that Victor? It looks like a contender.


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## Woof (Jan 13, 2010)

and the oldest thing right? not the oddest 



Lincoln said:


> we're taking guitar cords, right?


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Pretty sure you meant amps, but seeing as you didn't specify which end of the cord, I'm going to cheat a little. :smile-new:
I inherited a '43 Gibson J45 with an aftermarket pickup (from '50s or '60s). So it's got a 1/4" jack, does that count?

Working on an EH-185 amp ('39 or '40) to plug it in to but it's got a ways to go.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

A few posts backed I mentioned anything that accepts a 1/4" jack is fair game as long as its guitar/music related. I only threw it in this forum as I was starting with an amp.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Lincoln said:


> we're taking guitar cords, right?


Sigh ... so this doesn't count ...




Nor it's sister....


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## james on bass (Feb 4, 2006)

I don't know what changed that I can't attach photos anymore....


At any rate, my uncle dug up an old Rivera (Pepco) tube guitar/bass amp and cabinet a number of years ago after an uncle of his passed away. Sounded okay, though I didn't really want to push that old speaker.


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

dcole said:


> Dang man, I wasn't even finished editing the thread since I am terrible at creating them. You probably don't remember the year of that Deluxe then eh?


No idea, I didn't realize what it was at the time. It was covered in black vinyl, had wheels, the knobs had been changed & a couple of the preamp tubes had been replaced with transistors, but to be fair even if it hadn't been so heavily modified I still wouldn't have appreciated it back then. The good news is that the guy who bought it restored it to its' original glory.


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## Shooter177 (Aug 8, 2012)

Everything I have is mid 60s. 
Traynor yba-1
framous hollow body 63
framous solid body 64-65
epiphone acoustic 65


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

When I took lessons we did have some old Garnets to plug into at one point.
Not sure how old though.
But late 60's/early 70's amps--and this was much later.

So I don't come close to some of you.


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## Rski (Dec 28, 2013)

Rigged up a tube preamp to feed some 50's console HiFi amp that I was fixing for my aunt, can't say at had any mojo....learned later that some splitters from the bygone hifi days donot dime well.

- - - Updated - - -

Rigged up a tube preamp to feed some 50's console HiFi amp that I was fixing for my aunt, can't say at had any mojo....learned later that some splitters from the bygone hifi days donot dime well.


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## J-75 (Jul 29, 2010)

Back in '62 I rented a Gibson amp from L&M for a weekend for $25. It had a round speaker cut out, and was covered in black textured leather (I think it may have been alligator - that was the texture). It had a Jensen AlNiCo 12". I think it was a 40's era model, owing to the speaker. When I returned the rental, I asked how much I could buy it for. The guy said $25. When I was reaching for money in my pocket, he said "you already paid for it".
I removed the chassis and built a head for it - threw away the old cab (it was an embarrassment in the day of the new blonde Fender amps - the term "retro" was still decades away.) - built a new closed-back cab for the speaker. The circuit & tubes were almost identical to my '61/62? Reverberocket, save for the reverb part.

Earlier, in '61, I had removed the chassis out of an old floor-standing console radio, and used the amp section to drive an Art Deco birch cab with a Jensen AlNiCo 12" - totally un-giggable setup, but it worked in my bedroom with my '59 strat. BTW, the radio console had a heavy, field-coil speaker (which I scrapped), so that rig was '30's vintage.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

That is so cool. It must have taken you aback to have the guy say you payed for it all ready.


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## keithb7 (Dec 28, 2006)

Oldest think I ever plugged into was a 1947 Ampro cabinet. Seen here. It's down in my band room.


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## Big_Daddy (Apr 2, 2009)

For me, it's still this old '58 Les Paul I owned in the /70's.


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## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

1) a 1964 Thorcraft( made in Vancouver) 5 or 6 watt

Then, to justify to my Dad, that I needed a new amp because this one distorted too much....:sSig_Idontgetit:
2) a mid 50's Stromberg Carlson converted PA amp with 2 rectifiers and 4 6L6(100 watt) with a home made 2 X 12 cab the size of a coffin


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

I had a MASCO MA-50 that I converted to a guitar amp. It was built in the 40's and sounded really good...kinda like a big tweed deluxe


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

Right on! More power!



ed2000 said:


> 1) a 1964 Thorcraft( made in Vancouver) 5 or 6 watt
> 
> Then, to justify to my Dad, that I needed a new amp because this one distorted too much....:sSig_Idontgetit:
> 2) a mid 50's Stromberg Carlson converted PA amp with 2 rectifiers and 4 6L6(100 watt) with a home made 2 X 12 cab the size of a coffin


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

'70's Traynor TS140 (140watt SS 2x12 combo)
Im not an old/vintage amp guy.


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

I've never plugged into a vintage amp.

as for guitars, I had a 1981 tokai gold top for a short period of time.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

That not terribly old at all. Are you pretty young?


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

define young? I'm 31.

if it were an 82 I'd have kept it.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

There's a music store in Orillia that isn't anything special, but does have an exquisite collection of 50's amps around the store, mostly Fenders but some others as well, that I'd love to plug into and try out.

I think probably the oldest thing I've played, though, are the two 59 tweeds I own. One is a Princeton I bought in 1976, and the other is a Bassman I bought in 1992. One indicates a manufacture date code of September and the other of December, though I forget which one is which.

When I was in a band in the late 70's one of the guys had a lovely Valco amp with a pair of 12's and what I suspect was a pair of 6L6's. Judging by the controls, I suspect it was likely just a little younger than my tweeds.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

I am 30. I figure the younger you are, the less time you've had to try things plus were that much farther away from the older gear than a guy who is 60.



blam said:


> define young? I'm 31.
> 
> if it were an 82 I'd have kept it.


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## jimmythegeek (Apr 17, 2012)

My old Bogen Challenger. I believe it is a mid 60s model. Definitely nothing to write home about but I've had some fun with it over the years.


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## Option1 (May 26, 2012)

A gentleman never reveals the lady's age...



Neil


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## Jimmy_D (Jul 4, 2009)

Bobby1note said:


> I really have no idea why the old TV's had a 1/4" jack,,,, maybe so you could hook it up to your record-player??? At 14-15 years old, we didn't care,,, as long as we had an "amp", and we could "twang" like Duane Eddy,,,, or play the Theme from Peter Gunn. :smile-new:
> 
> The TV belonged to my buddys' parents. When they went out for the evening, we'd plug-in and play. I remember going home after an evening of playing,,, with finger-blisters the size of marbles.:slash:


Yup, up to the mid-60's we used to plug the turntable into the tv's speaker via an rca jack, the concept of using your tv for a speaker was pretty common at the time the way I remember it.


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## DrHook (Oct 28, 2013)

When I was a kid all I had was a 10 watt Sears solid state to go with my Silvertone slider (anyone knows of a slider for sale let me know)....however...in 1973 you could get inventive..grabbed dad's early 60's Roberts Reel to Reel and plugged the guitar into the mic jack and then the output from the tape deck to the 10 watt amp...instant melt your face FUZZ pedal!


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

Sweet. Using crap the way it was not intended helps a person think outside the box me thinks.


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## HarpBoy (Jun 10, 2009)

I think it's my '56 Magnatone Varsity Deluxe. I don't remember ever plugging into anything older, but then I'm old and may have just forgotten :congratulatory:


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

As far as I can remember at the moment...a '40s Gibson amp that belongs to a friend's dad (he also has the Gibson lapsteel to go with it), my '60s Harmony tube amp, my '50s Seabreeze reel to reel tape recorder. There was a real warmth to those old amps (and I wish I'd kept them), at least compared to the next/first generation of solid state amps, at least to my ears. 

Peace, Mooh.


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

I have an old supro form '59 or 60...or maybe '61


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## MS41R8 (Sep 26, 2016)

Lincoln said:


> we're taking guitar cords, right?


😅😅😂😂😅😅


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Missed this thread on the first go-round... not that I could have contributed much at the time.

At the guitar end of the cable, I've plugged a 1920s National (I think) steel resonator and a 1920s archtop (forget the make, but it wasn't a high end one) into my PA at my open mic. Both instruments showed up the same night - one was a '28 and the other was a year older or younger. Memory is a bit foggy. I've also plugged in a couple of pre-war Martins and a 50s-ish accordion. Didn't get to play any of them.


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## Hammertone (Feb 3, 2006)

jimmythegeek said:


> My old Bogen Challenger. I believe it is a mid 60s model. Definitely nothing to write home about but I've had some fun with it over the years.


Well, hooray for old Bogen Challengers. Mine is from the late 1940s, IIRC. I suppose I could check....


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## keithb7 (Dec 28, 2006)

This one, 40's Regal made in Chicago, or the Masco...I serviced them both. Both great amps!


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Well, there was this stripper in Kapuskasing....but it's bigger than 1/4".....honest.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Title is misleading. You don't plug your 1/4" jack into anything.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

__





quarter inch jack - Google Search






www.google.com


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Milkman said:


> __
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I've always called a guitar cord a jack or jack cable.

People do seem to confuse "input" and "output" when it comes to the 1/4" on the guitar itself. I call it an output.


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

1939 archtop. Gibson-licensed clone. I had Pick-Up-The-World make a strip to go under the bridge. The sticker inside said Beare & Sons Toronto. I guess the pedigree would be British music store in Canada selling American guitars. I believe the Canadian Beare brand was "Michigan" although someone called that guitar a "Cromwell." It was difficult to play (good action but fat neck) and sounded like a cardboard box to me. Wanted to love it but finally sold it on consignment. It went fast. So charming. But I am way happier with the Larrivee OM that replaced it as my acoustic squeeze.


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## warplanegrey (Jan 3, 2007)

I currently have a 1956 Fender Deluxe in my possession. So...that.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Since the Supro is gone. This is the oldest amp i got right now.. A1978 Polytone Mini Brute IV.


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