Kendrick amps ?

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 9 Jul 2002 3:59 pm

Kendrick is supposed to be a hand made botique amp. Kendrick has a model that is like a Fender Twin. Anyone have any info on this amp? I have one of their speakers in a guitar amp and it does have a vibe.

The going price on the Kendrick amp with 2-12 inch speakers is $3,500.00 OUCH!

Jay Ganz · Post by **Jay Ganz** » 9 Jul 2002 4:57 pm

Gerald Weber makes great amps. No question
about it. They would definitely be worth
checking out if you had access to
one and if you really thought you
could come close to affording it. Whether
they're worth $2000 more than a 100 watt
Fender (or other) factory produced tube
amp is debatable though.

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<a href=http://members.localnet.com/~jsganz/66EmC6.mp3>Push/Pull audio</a> (C6th mp3)

<a href=http://members.localnet.com/~jsganz/Wra ... .jpg>Old Wraparound </a>

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 9 Jul 2002 5:07 pm

Jay, you're absolutely right. These amps are killer tone, as well they should be, for the price. I think Fender's tube stuff is as good as anything out there, for a lot less money. But if you've got the bucks, go for it!

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 9 Jul 2002 5:41 pm

I had a smaller Kendrick 1-12" 35 watt amp. It was very nicely built, but it further reinforced my strong belief that it's silly to buy a new boutique amp when you can buy an old Fender. An old Fender from the '50s, '60s or early '70s is as solidly and quality built as anything. They last forever. Just maintain them and every 30 years replace the bad capacitors. I've got a '65 Deluxe Reverb, a '69 Twin, a '68 Deluxe, a '70 Princeton Reverb, and I've had others. These are the most reliable and rugged and wonderful sounding amps around. They also sell for about a third the price of a new boutique amp. Find a clean working '68-'71 Twin Reverb, have it recapped and retubed and biased and you're good to go for decades.

My 2 cents worth.

Brad Sarno
St. Louis, MO

Steve Stallings · Post by **Steve Stallings** » 10 Jul 2002 11:47 am

I've got the model 118. It is a eleven watt amp with one 8 inch speaker. No frills. Hand built like a tank. I think they are around $800 new. It is a true tone monster when cranked. There are actually quite a few Kendricks around Texas. They are certainly well built with a unique vibe. I think they are a bit pricy.....but hey, it's just money.

I respectfully disagree with the assertion that the vintage Fenders have this build quality. I love Fenders and have a Vibrolux that just smokes.... but they were not built with the same attention to detail that Gerald puts into these. Just my opinion

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Steve Stallings
Bremond, Texas

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 10 Jul 2002 4:55 pm

Hey Steve, I think you are at least partly right---but remember, the things that cost so much about the boutique amps--the point-to-point wiring, hand assembly, cloth insulated wiring--were the only things available back in the Fender Heyday. There were no mass produced circuit boards, components weren't made to such critical tolerances, and labor was cheap. Now, tubes themselves are more expensive, labor costs are higher, and we really don't need tube technology anymore, unless we prefer the sound. It ain't like 1963, when the same guy that fixed the old Sylvania black and white, could stop hum in my old Fender Champ.
But I just thought, what about Music Man? You don't hear much about them, but Leo's touch was very evident there!