Rickenbacker TR-14

mfgd in 1981, I found this little mint-condition baby at a 2nd hand music store in January 2002 - I'm guessing it sold for about $200 when new - it's solid state, single channel with two inputs, 14 watt output into a 10" speaker - all controls are on front panel: (from left) volume, bass, mid, & treble, reverb, and distortion. The distortion knob has on-off click. Both reverb and distortion on/off function can also be controlled by footswitch. There's a head-phone jack, and a lighted on-off rocker switch on the far left. The tone controls are passive. There's no effects loop, not that I'd want one. This amp is more than adequate as a practice rig, or for small clubs. It doesn't have the guts of a Princeton Reverb, although its similar in terms of wattage and speaker size. It's a pretty good blues amp.

With a single coil pickup (like my '85 Squier Bullet), the distortion knob yields a sound ranging from realistically tube-like, to fat overdrive. With humbuckers, like my DeArmond S73 (similar to Guild S100), you hit overdrive as soon as the distortion knob clicks "on", at full-tilt you get fuzz-tone. It's possible to get an excellent clean sound, but overall volume potential suffers. The reverb knob, like my '68 Princeton Reverb, need never be twisted past "2" or "3".

well built budget model - very reliable

I fed the serial number to Rickenbacker's web-site and they told me what year it was - that's about all the customer support that I've required.

I've been playing about 35 years - mainly bass, some guitar - my main axe is a '67 Guild Starfire bass (with '88 GK microbass amp) - I bought this amp because I'm sometimes hesitant to take my '68 Princeton Reverb on the road, and wanted something with a headphone jack for "silent" practice sessions.

The amp is a small (1x10) practice amplifier, with a 14W output. It has two channels, a reverb/distort footswitch, and headphone jack, but it lacks an effects loop. It really doesn't need more features, because it was never meant to be used on stage. It is a small, solid state practice amp.

I enjoy playing surf and 2-Tone ska, both of which feature a clean sound. The amp has much more reverb than any other I have ever used (it blows away the Twin Reverb in this category), so it sounds unbelievable for surf. The distortion, however, is awful. The clean channel distorts when the amp is at full volume, and the distortion channel itself is pretty weak. I play a Squier II Strat with three single coil pickups, which is one reason the distortion sounds a bit weak; I'm sure a humbucker would thicken the sound.

I have had the amp thrown around, unpackaged or padded in any way, in the cargo hold of a plane when I flew to school, and it came out fine. It was built very well.

I contacted Rickenbacker about getting a channel/reverb footswitch, and the information they could provide was very limited. Rick only made amps during the mid-70s, and the production dates of the TR-14 spanned from 75-76. They also provided a few limited specs on the amp. Other than that, Rickenbacker is as clueless about the amp as I am...

I wouldn't buy it again, because it is a small practice amp that I'll keep forever, as Rickenbacker amps are pretty rare. I love its superfluous amounts of reverb, and I hate its distortion. I compared it to other used amps in my area, and it was the best amp I could get for the $75 price limit I set for myself. It's a simple but sturdy amp.