So, what happens when someone rings up and says "Can I bring in a guitar and amp that my father in law bought new in '62 for a service ?" You get a little bit excited.............. He then says "it's all been sitting around in storage since the mid 60's when he died". OK ......... now I'm excited.
In '62 in Australia we didn't have a lot of quality gear that was affordable to most musicians, working or not. US brands were VERY expensive but we had some GREAT locally made gear that most beginner to professional musicians used regularly due to cost and supply.
The Goldentone amp was one of these brands. Built by Goldentone in Melbourne and distributed by Rose Morris in Melbourne they were one of the leading Australian amp manufacturers of the day with everything from cheaper, almost "entry level" amps to top of the line professional amps like this one here.
When the owner turned up with this I couldn't believe it. The first thing was ................ the original cardboard box, complete with 10, 3 and 2 " Government Railway "stamps and original address label.
I opened the box and .......... the original operating instructions in the original envelope AND the amp was in it's original plastic bag ......... amazing.
The amp didn't actually need much work. It was museum quality and none of the metal or plastic parts had deteriorated at all. The tolex was immaculate. The faceplate was immaculate. All the wiring inc the 2 core cable for the original tremolo switch was perfect and anyone who works on these old amps knows this stuff just deteriorates into a rubbery mess.
The original 6 (yeah, count 'em) Rola "speakers are PERFECT. You see where I'm going with this. This amp is IMMACULATE, COMPLETELY original and an amazing collectors piece. Amazing.
In the end it needed a little work on the valve sockets due to slight corrosion and some small work on the rectifier stage but it was essentially in almost complete working order.
This is the guitar that goes with this amp...........