Tele Tuesday and a 1972ish Ampeg VT-40

Scott Lentz ~ 1955 white guard "Mary Kaye" Blonde Tele style guitar. Scott builds some really great guitars. I was lucky to get this one before he had to quit making them like this. I got to pick the body and neck from 3 ash bodies, and maple necks that were cut out and not yet assembled.

Flat Pole pickup and vintage style bridge. These area little tricky to intonate but if you use the same strings all the time it's ok.

The Ampeg VT-40 is a beast. Think Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out by the Rolling Stones and that's what this sounds like. Around 60 watts with reverb, 4 -10 inch speakers. The Stones used the big Ampeg monsters live for a time but all the VT series amps have the "sound" and more than that. These things can do sparkly clean to raunchy rock and any pickup combo on any guitar is easy to dial in however you want it. No other amp i have ever played through is quite like it. One of the best amps ever. Yes, i said that. Now i need to get the dolly they came with to roll this thing around cuz it's heavy!

What it sounds like... sort of haha

Maple neck with no "skunk stripe" This is a maple cap neck. The truss rod is put in from the front and then the fingerboard is put on. They didn't do this in the early 50's at Fender. It's Scott's favorite so who was i to argue? I like it a lot!

So i basically got what would be a Fender Master Built guitar for a lot less money and a lot faster. Still want a Fender though!

That’s a great sounding amp!
Thanks for sharing this amazing story.

Thank you, you're welcome

Ohhhh yeah! I once played a Tele B-Bender, what a guitar, super clean but would roar once turned up full on.

Everyone should have a good Tele! :)

Oh yeah, even if it's used to hit someone in the head, like Richards once did.

@rossfletcher Love it!!!! :-)

Thanks! I wish i had a dozen more or worked at a guitar store so i could play them all

Yes, the Ampeg VT series amps are really killer amps! They have a tone section that's different from the Fender and Marshall amps in the way it's set up, so they're really versatile.

I love it. You can clean up a mushy humbucker into Buck Owen's style clean or fatten up a strat or anything in between. Any guitar i play through it really shows up as it is. Not everybody likes that haha

Great to see another Tele on Steemit and that's a really cool one. I've not played an Ampeg, but I'm up for something different

Hi! Thanks.

Ampegs are a mixed bag. I have had 4 or 5 of them. The VT series like this one are LOUD and heavy! The early ones from the 50's and 60's are pretty cool but don't always rock out if that's what you want. Everett Hull the owner of the company was a jazz guy and didn't like Rock. If you can find a Reverbrocket those are really cool. They are Ampeg's version of a Fender Deluxe Reverb. Actually most of their small amps from back then are pretty cool. The prices of 50's and 60's Ampegs are still much cheaper than vintage Fenders which is nice. There have been reissues and new versions but i haven't played those