Gretsch 6160 Chet Atkins amp?

[ElTwang]

Hi all,

Anyone knows the deal with this amp? I've been offered one of these from 1965.

[zarfnober]

Any amp from the 60's is worth having,imo. A lot of the Grestch amps were Valco built, point to point wired and just plain cool as far as I'm concerned. Unless it's been properly serviced, you should plan on taking it to a tech and have them look it over and add 3 prong power cord at a minimum. How much do they want for it?

Rocco

[ElTwang]

A possible trade for a vintage Fender Mustang (refinished).

Condition from pics looks great. New front grille, replaced 5 dried out caps, new Celestion Gold speakers.

[ElTwang]

....how do those amps sound? What's the tremolo like?
I've never played any Valco or Supro amps. This one should sound quite clean. It's rated at 35 watts.

[zarfnober]

Look in Vintage Guitar's monthly price guide, I really don't know the value on these. As for the tremolo, any Valco, Dano, Silvertone amp has a good trem circuit. If it's weak, expect a bad cap, usually .05uf(or close to it) in the circuit.

Does it have reverb?

Rocco

[ElTwang]

Thanks zarfnober.

No reverb but that won't be a problem as I always use an outboard reverb.

[Desert Surfer]

Gretsch 6160 Chet Atkins amp is 35 watts, 2 x 12" cabinet, 2 channels.

According to my 2009 Vintage guitar price guide, it estimates at $650 - $800

I never tried this particular amp, but have tried 6162 Dual Twin Tremolo / Reverb once, it has a good vintage sound, very clean tone, but Tremolo / Reverb are just fair. I believe 6162 was made by Nalco same as the above 6160. The electric cord is very thin (the old fashion type) The seller asked for $650 but I did not go for it.

If you give me more information on your Vintage Mustang, what year? condition? any modification? etc. I will look it up and give you the best estimate.

If you Mustang was made in the same time; '65-69, all original except the refinish, very clean condition, plays and sounds good. It is probably worth more than the Amp.

This is just my 2 cents input. Hope it helps.

[Haole Jim]

Figure also likely filter caps and at least some new tubes. Maybe reconing speakers.

Personal feeling; screw it; spend your coin on a '65 Reissue Twin Reverb unless your form is super warm for old amps.

[Desert Surfer]

There is a Chet Atkins amp on eBay: $1650 or best offer

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-GRETSCH-Val ... 563633fa2f

Either this eBay one is way over priced, or The Vintage Guitar Price book's estimate is low. For $1650, I would buy a 2nd hand Victoria Regal II.

Typo in my last post, it should be Valco, not Nalco..

[zarfnober]

I've known Mark at Victoria Amp for around 35 years, he makes one fine amp and the Regal II is one of my 2 favorites of his. Absolutely killer sounding single ended amp with reverb and trem. Plus, you can put any octal power or rectifier tube in it without rebiasing, allowing you to tweak it to your delight without taking it apart, just try a different tube. Really great sounding amp. Since we're talking Gretsch here, he originally designed this for Gretsch, and they didn't want it! BTW, he built all of the "reissue" Gretsch amps for Fender, and they all sound quite good however, he's not building amps for them anymore. I'm not positive on this but, I believe Billy Zoom did some designs for Gretsch that they'll be coming out with and, if Billy built it, you can bet it will sound fantastic.

FWIW, any Victoria amp sounds great and they're built quite good, definitely worth the price.

Rocco