Rickenbacker M-8

Not sure what year this one was made, but by seeing pictures of other M-8s, it's definitely on the earlier side rather than the later side. '57, '58 maybe? I've used the amp over the years as a harp amp and it has performed tremendously. Simple amp, a single volume knob, and two input jacks is all you get, and all you need. It's great in a lower-volume setting, rather than a full-on electric bar band scenario, as it won't compete with the bass, drums, and guitars. A couple of original tubes, but the original Jensen speaker was blown. I replaced it with a vintage Fischer speaker and it sounds great.

Along with a Sure bullet mike, you get that sought-after chunky Paul Butterfield sound almost out of the box. I get a great tone starting at about 4 on the volume knob, and it just gets dirtier and dirtier from there. No clean sounds here, but that's OK! It just doesn't have the power to compete with the other amps.

Hard to say...I blew the speaker after a couple of years of gigging, but it was already over thirty years old at that point! Everything else on it is the original, so I say it's pretty darn reliable.

N/A

The best thing about this amp is that I happened upon it in a little Salvation Army thrift store in Colorado. It looked almost brand new, and had no price on it. I asked, and they sold it for $2.00!