Rickenbacker M-8 1959

Not many...On - Off - Volume. Grey cover, plastic handle, and Rickenbaker name plate on the cloth. Looks MEAN and like you MEAN business. Don't need alot of bells and whistles if your in a Mr. Charlie Musselwhite groove. Less is good.

I run a harp through this amp, and it sounds like Chicago...GOD I LOVE THAT SOUND! With the Shure unidyne, it is a pretty dynamic duo when you cup and inhale those sweet blues.

Gig? Maybe small venue bar, front porch, garage, living room, etc.. Thing has been around for a long time now, so I would say...It's pretty much bullet proof, not much can go wrong (see "features" re: no bells and whistles) with a little TLC this thing may be playing into the year 3000. Need to get one of those "TubeTesters" that Daddy used at the Five and Dime to test the tubes on the B/W TV... Anybody remember them? lol

What do they know? Warranty long done.

Got a sense of history, or pride of ownership? Like driving a classic car or sipping an old whiskey. Played many years very few amps have that "thing". This has that "thing" albeit in a small dose. You know that look ya get when you're truckin into a jam with a vintage box? You're gonna get that alot.

Mine's a '57. Two inputs, one knob and a power indicator light. It's basically a Champ, but it's blue and has a little less gain. Very small and lightweight, but not nearly loud enough to compete with a drummer. Mine was in pretty rough shape when I got it, but it was easy to restore. It's a really simple design.

Much like a Champ, it's pretty clean with a Fender guitar until the volume's at about 4. After that it breaks up really nicely. Sooner if I use humbuckers. The tone's not brash, but there's not a lot of bass. It's perfect for the tubey-crunchy thing at low volumes.
It was noisy when I got it, but after the re-build and replacing the caps it's really pretty quiet for a single-ended amp.

Well, I wouldn't really gig with it because it's not powerful enough to use with a band, but I practice with it regularly and it's been reliable since I re-built it. As I said, it was a wreck when I got it, but it had been in a wet basement for many years and then got used for a while by a guy who had the wrong tubes in it. With that abusive history I think it held up admirably.

When I was re-building this amp I spoke with service reps at Rickenbacker who were not interested in helping me AT ALL.
"We don't support that model anymore. We have no information on it." was about the most I could get out of them. When I told them they had a schematic for it on their own website they were unaware of it. When I asked who I could speak to about correcting a few errors on that schematic they said they didn't know. So much for customer support. Needless to say I was on my own.

Overall this amp is a great little screamer for practicing or recording. I have a bunch of little, low-watt tube amps and this might actually be my favorite. It sounds pretty tough for it's size. If it were lost or stolen I don't know if I'd seek another one out, but if another came my way I'd probably buy it. It's not a giging amp by any means- it's not meant to be- but it's an awful lot of fun to play through. My only complaint is that the nameplate is gone and I can't find another!

2 channels, one volume knob, a green light and all in the back. I believe it was made in 1959 but I may be off by a couple years. Plastic carrying handle, light brown grill cloth, gray tolex. the speaker is a Jenson and appears to be slightly larger than 7 inches. This amp looks almost new. Some rust on the plastic handle brackets are the only imperfection. Not a nick or tear or scratch anywhere. Even the sticker on the back of the speaker sparkles like new. [ya, I know, so what?]

Well, it works. I play Les Pauls and Strats and it sounds ok at low volume but turned up it sounds like the speakers blown. No tube thing going on. Looks nice thou.

After 40 years it still works! Even has an extra new tube [International"C" Servicemaster 5Y3MGT]in the box to go with it. With this extra tube this amp may last into the next Ice Age!

I thought they only made guitars but I talked to the folks at Rickenbacker at the 96 Namm show and they were very willing to help me I.D. the amp if I would send them some pictures. Too bad I'm such a lazy ass and never got around to it.

I play it for ten minutes every couple years so if it were stolen I probably wouldn't miss it however if this thing turns out to be some money I would like to sell it. Concidering the price I paid for it [free] and the fact that it's in immaculate condition I'll give it a 10.