i my self have never bought anything from Ebay. i always wondered what if i send the money and i dont get my shit!, anyways i want a 5150 212 combo
and brand new there like $1,000usd compared to like 500 bucks on ebay.
im just scared if i send a cashiers check that they will just screw me, beacuse its very easy to do.

Now, a question on the side note about the amp it self. i know the tubes in the amp needs to be changed. whats the usual life time of the power tubes/pre amp tubes. And how much to replacement tubes usually cost. And do i need to set the bias for the 5150 ?? can i replace the tubes my self ??
or do i need to send it to a tech.

Sorry for so many questions but i have a crap ss amp and dont know shit bout tube amps, but after i heard the 5150 combo i was like i must have it. i been working for like 1 week, just to save up for this amp then im going to bail on this job. thx guys

Yes, Ebay is legit. Ive only been ripped off twice (both times I got my $$ back) first time was a set of EMG's (a message from god) and the second time was a peice of alder...

The average life of tubes for the pwoeramp is a about a year, atleats thats when I chang mine.. and since your combo will have the bias at around 42mA you should change yours about every year as well. Preamp tubes last alot longer, usually 2-3 years. a Matched Quad of JJ's is about $100 and 5 premap tubes are about $50 I suggets buying from Doug, he matches all his tubes and sells them for great prices http://www.dougstubes.com/ And no you do not need to set your bias, since its a 5150 the Bias is already set and unlike the heads which are set really cold, the combo isent. Just buy macthed poweramp tubes.

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ebay is legit.. some ebayers are not...

go paypal, and always get contact info from the people you're buying from... if they try to fuck you over, you know where they live and that should make them think twice about screwing you.

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sweeeeet, thx for the help guys. i dont have a credit card , my only option is cashiers check, thats still cool im assuming. damn i cant wait, im on a mission flipping burgers all for this baby

ask your mom or dad to set up paypal. i use my bro's, and he does not care as long as i pay him.

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I use my dad's credit card for paypal. Feels a lot safer than sending money or checks (and considering that I live in Sweden it'd be rather costly to send payments with the mail).

I've bought 3 things on eBay, and it worked out good each time.
First time, my PayPal account had not been activated when I won the auction. I had been in touch with the seller about this possibility, and he was ok with that, but it took longer than I expected. The seller probably was worried to shit for a while.
Second time was no trouble at all.
Third time the seller didn't want to ship international, but I managed to persuade him to send it to a guy I know who lives over there, and then I payed the seller what I owed him, and my proxy the shipping he had to pay to send the item to me.

Just be sure to check the seller's feedback and be honest and upfront about everything, and you're not very likely to run into trouble.

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I got ripped off in a way, couldnt get my money back wither. I payed 464 for a power amp and when I got it I tested it out. Channel 2 was blown completely and there is no way to fix it. I tried contacting him about it and no response. That was 8 months ago.

EDIT: and the feedback was near perfect, and in the description is said nothing about it. also the condition was terrible the ear was bent(That was fixable) the top of it is covered in dirt that I cant seem to get rid of. The guy said it was "Like New" I guess they meant "Like New..out of the box on to the ground and kicked the shit out of"

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yes it is

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If you send a cashiers check do it at the post office and make sure ou request a signature upon delivery and a make sure its a certified peice of mail. So if he takes your check and does send you your shit, youll know he got the check cause the post office will tell you if they got a signature, and then you can sue his ass.

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Its easyer to be screwed on the net with a credit card,i always use cheque to pay.

Wow flipping burgers solely for the purpose of getting a 5150! You the best DeadHands.

I know you'll think it was worth it. I think some folks on here were saying that 5150s run for like $600 new now that they've been discontinued, so you might check that out. I personally don't know.

Go ahead and get a sonic maximizer for that baby too. They're cheap and it makes SO much difference you wouldn't believe it.

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there special credit cards for internet stuff which have insurance (the 'blue' mastercard thing, I think.)

I usually just transfer money through accounts with internet banking, works internationally too, within europe. other continents have different systems, over here its IBAN/BIC codes and stuff. do americans have those too?

Ebay is legendary, but there are some dodgey people on there.

I got a guitar from ebay. A shit guitar, but a guitar all the same, and it came in 3 days.

My older sister got a Valiant from ebay. She's pretty fuckin' pleased.

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i got rid of my bbe... i used to love that thing... but decided i'd rather cut out all the extra garbage in my rig and get my good tone from a good amp, instead of an alright amp with a bbe. plus it added so much noise to my rig...

on the plus side, they made my jmp-1's cleans really fenderish and the chuggy scoopy breakdown settings were ridiculously tight and heavy.

my old guitarist had one for his 5150... just didn't like it i guess.

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you just gotta watch the sellers reviews

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Yeh, if you turn the process knob up any higher than 12 o clock than you just get hiss...

But its really does help to tighten my 5150 up... but it takes alot of that rich, harmonic tone that the 5150 has... I still use my bbe alot though. But I also play my amp with NO effects quite often aswell.

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Guess this is getting off-topic, but...
I totally agree with you BLS, but when I'm trying to play fast or when I want a little more grit I'm willing to sacrifice the richness for the tightness. Man I do love that richness, tho.

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sorry for the off topic stuff, i just used to over hype bbe's. but now, i notice more bad things from it, even when it was bypassed it added noise... in a rack, your signal is as good as your weakest link. it did do some nice stuff, i just found that it wasnt my thing for my rig.

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