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Here is what must be one of the only surviving Fhone piggybacks anywhere. Fhone amps are as rare as hens teeth, but matching speaker boxes are simply non-existent. By all means, if anyone can show me that another exists, I'll modify this page accordingly! If you are looking at this page, you are probably already aware of the legendary Fhone brand name. These amps were hand made in very small numbers by Sid Grondman in Melbourne in the 1970s. Sid apparently also sold a Fhone amp to Bill Wyman during a Rolling Stones tour of Australia, and a picture of the amps being used at a Bee Gees concert in Sydney in 1972 can be seen at Roly Roper's great website here (so much for Rock street cred!) Sid worked with AC/DC for some years before they went to England, and now operates the Wilson Street Studios. And for one of the most famous Aussie rock video clips of all time, check out the clip of 'It's a Long Way To The Top' done on the back of a table-top truck in Melbourne's Swanston Street in 1975 on YouTube here - amps exactly the same as this can be seen. The fabled Fhone Century Series. (You will also see the bass player - who I think was Mark Evans at that time - playing a Gibson G3 bass exactly like we have in stock). This amp has been recently serviced and restored by Ivan Richards here in Melbourne, who re-biased the amp to run 2 x KT88 output valves, as modern EL34s would be struggling to handle the high plate voltages (620 volts! - power would probably be a conservative 70watts with the KT88s). He also installed an effects loop into pre-existing holes in the back of the chassis, further enhancing the usefulness of this extremely collectable and fantastic-sounding Aussie amp. Looking at Angus, I doubt he lugged his own Fhone amps around! The head weighs 18kg and measures 61cm(W) x 31cm(D) x 24cm(H), while the 3x12 speaker box (containing 3 of my favourite speakers - Rola 12U50s) weighs in at 38kg, and measures 104cm(H) x 71cm(W) x 33.5cm(D). As always, shipped weights and sizes will be slightly higher due to packaging. It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll, but an amp like this has been proven by history to help! Sold to Tony in Far North Queensland
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AC/DC
fans eat your heart out!
