Vintage 784-139 50 watt OT on eBay

[LoudStroud]

This auction closes today for an original ‘78 50 Watt output transformer and the bidding has already reached $799. That is 1/3 to a half of what you can arguably still find a working head from that late 70’s for.

I’ve been on the search for an original 70s Drake to drop into my 71 smallbox. Personally, not worth it for me at these current going rates. Soursound or MarsTran for a replacement tranny will be my choice instead.

What do y’all think? Is upwards to $1000 for a late 70s Drake OT worth it?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/126387439969

 

[Ned B]

Seems high. If it was a '68 I would pay that much.

 

[LoudStroud]

Seems high. If it was a '68 I would pay that much.

Agree. The auction closed earlier this evening at the $799 bid. You never know, sometimes an auction with a super high bid falls through and it’ll get relisted. Wouldn’t be surprised if that happens. But then again, wouldn’t be surprised if it was worth it to somebody restoring an amp. Seems kinda high for a late 70s OT.

 

[william vogel]

Agree. The auction closed earlier this evening at the $799 bid. You never know, sometimes an auction with a super high bid falls through and it’ll get relisted. Wouldn’t be surprised if that happens. But then again, wouldn’t be surprised if it was worth it to somebody restoring an amp. Seems kinda high for a late 70s OT.

What are you going to do with your old transformer?

 

[LoudStroud]

What are you going to do with your old transformer?

The old one from my '71 head? It's long gone. I've owned this amp for ages. Turns out the OT that was in there when I bought it (cheap) back in the late 80's wasn't the original. Still have it though.

 

[Ned B]

Looking at the bidding with the high bidder (4 feedback) twice at 799, so they were "willing" to pay more, leads me in the shill bidding direction...though maybe I'm just cynical.

 

[giam23]

The diagram on the side tells me it’s no earlier than a 79, 800US it’s nuts for one of that age. Like Ned mentioned I would pay that for a 60s one but I could find a super beat up 79 JMP with a replaced PT for about that price

 

[LoudStroud]

The diagram on the side tells me it’s no earlier than a 79, 800US it’s nuts for one of that age. Like Ned mentioned I would pay that for a 60s one but I could find a super beat up 79 JMP with a replaced PT for about that price

Yep totally agree. The high bidder apparently wanted it really bad. But then so did the 2nd highest bidder.

Prices on most all things vintage Marshall seem to be escalating significantly lately. Asking prices at least. Makes me glad for what I already own, but is also capping off my interest in collecting more. At least for paying outright.

 

[V-man]

Might be high, but you find a JMP sitting around a while in the classifieds, and convince the seller he can FoaD listing his molested unoriginal piece of crap for anything close to an intact Marshall’s premium.

Suddenly a $750 head buy with an $800 OT and some reversal work turned out to be a reasonable investment.

 

[stratburst]

You would definitely lose money on the investment with your 71. There is nothing special about a late 70's OTs compared to some of the beter repros out there.

 

[neikeel]

Too expensive for me.
No magic in that OT.

 

[LoudStroud]

Well I'm definitely gonna not whine about trying to find another original (unless it falls in my lap). I have a '74 Drake 784-213 from a Carlsboro in my '71 smallbox at the moment. Slightly higher primary impedance and even though it's not the dead on original sound, it arguably could be considered an improvement. Adds more low end as you crank up the Volume. Scoops the mid's a hair, but they jump out when Volume set around 4.

 

[AndyD]

Well I'm definitely gonna not whine about trying to find another original (unless it falls in my lap). I have a '74 Drake 784-213 from a Carlsboro in my '71 smallbox at the moment. Slightly higher primary impedance and even though it's not the dead on original sound, it arguably could be considered an improvement. Adds more low end as you crank up the Volume. Scoops the mid's a hair, but they jump out when Volume set around 4.

Agreed! A great sounding OT.

 

[Blake F]

I'll put in my opinion even though this post is a little old, in case it helps. I've gone through a lot of work on the 'clone vs. original' rabbit hole and I don't believe that newly manufactured clone transformers sound the same as the old ones (in a negative way, unfortunately). Not Mercury, Marstran or the like. They're certainly doing their best to remake and rewire them properly, but they don't sound the same and it's likely because the materials (mostly the iron core laminations) aren't the same. Without the same materials, these new manufacturers aren't going to achieve the same tone no matter what they do. Most of the old parts, all the way from capacitors to transformers contained impurities which ended up sounding better. New core materials are being made with better quality but it's not sounding better in guitar amps.

I've been looking for those exact original 784-139 transformers too, for a 50W clone, just to A/B the difference. They used to be cheap and you could get 2 of them in a cheap Marshall 9005 amp but no longer.

At the prices they're getting for originals, I'd just opt to buy a whole amp (as was suggested above). Sometimes you can pick up a real ugly modified 50W for cheap, just for the parts.

 

[LoudStroud]

Funny you post your opinion (and I agree with you), since I just sprung for an old 784-139 OT that popped on Reverb last weekend. I paid a little better than what the going rate seems to be these days, but it looks proper early 70's. It'll make my '71 small box whole again for the first time since I bought it in the late 80's. Turns out the tranny had already been swapped out somewhere in its lifetime prior to when I bought it. Thanks for your reinforcing perspective!

 

[LoudStroud]

I'll put in my opinion even though this post is a little old, in case it helps. I've gone through a lot of work on the 'clone vs. original' rabbit hole and I don't believe that newly manufactured clone transformers sound the same as the old ones (in a negative way, unfortunately). Not Mercury, Marstran or the like. They're certainly doing their best to remake and rewire them properly, but they don't sound the same and it's likely because the materials (mostly the iron core laminations) aren't the same. Without the same materials, these new manufacturers aren't going to achieve the same tone no matter what they do. Most of the old parts, all the way from capacitors to transformers contained impurities which ended up sounding better. New core materials are being made with better quality but it's not sounding better in guitar amps.

I've been looking for those exact original 784-139 transformers too, for a 50W clone, just to A/B the difference. They used to be cheap and you could get 2 of them in a cheap Marshall 9005 amp but no longer.

At the prices they're getting for originals, I'd just opt to buy a whole amp (as was suggested above). Sometimes you can pick up a real ugly modified 50W for cheap, just for the parts.

Funny you post your opinion (and I agree with you), since I just sprung for an old 784-139 OT that popped on Reverb last weekend. I paid a little better than what the going rate seems to be these days, but it looks proper early 70's. It'll make my '71 small box whole again for the first time since I bought it in the late 80's. Turns out the tranny had already been swapped out somewhere in its lifetime prior to when I bought it. Thanks for your reinforcing perspective!