Tony Nickels' Sound Salvage

Tony Nickels' Sound Salvage Builder of custom order guitar amplifiers, enclosures, speaker cabinets, pedal boards and more. Since 2018 - Marion, IA

I specialize in using recycled materials to build beautiful, one of a kind products that will be a centerpiece of your gear collection.

Fun thing about old audio electronics. A lot of them are just guitar amps, with a few extra steps! 3M/Revere Companion A...
06/12/2026

Fun thing about old audio electronics. A lot of them are just guitar amps, with a few extra steps!

3M/Revere Companion Amplifier. Would have been an extension to run a stereo channel from a Reel to Reel. One 6EU7 preamp, which is *kind of* a 6-volt 12AX7, and a single EL84. Probably around 5-watt, with nice transformers and an oval 6x9. Full bakelite plastic housing. Very cool 😎

Huge discount on the Hardwood Walnut Full-Range 1x12 cabinet through this weekend. Original list price - $950 - Buy it b...
06/11/2026

Huge discount on the Hardwood Walnut Full-Range 1x12 cabinet through this weekend. Original list price - $950 - Buy it by Sunday and its yours for $750.

Loaded with a 150-watt Celestion Triple Cone Full-Range speaker, this cabinet would be stellar for a modeling rig, or for acoustic guitar. It's built from Walnut piano wood, and has vintage Rogers organ grill cloth. A very beautiful cabinet.

♤♤♤Sound Salvage Celestion Triple Cone Walnut 1x12 - 8-ohm - 150-watt - $750♤♤♤

Wine Crate amplifier is already flying through the testing stage. Figured I'd introduce you guys and make it short and s...
06/01/2026

Wine Crate amplifier is already flying through the testing stage. Figured I'd introduce you guys and make it short and sweet to begin. I'm calling it the Custom Super-phonic, because of a random brass badge I had in the junk pile.

• 5 Watts Via Single 6V6GT
• RCA 12AX7A and Phillips 5878 Preamp
• Negative Feedback Loop Switch (Grit And Girth)
• Simple Level, Bass & Treble Controls
• 10" Speaker (Warehouse V10 Ordered)

I'll go into more detail when the new Warehouse speaker arrives, and I can get a full feel for this amp. Right now its got a ratty Fender ceramic from a Princeton that has lost its bass. Even with that janky speaker, this amp absolutely rips.

Customer order slant back baffle vertical 2x10, in Blackout aesthetics. He's loading a pair of G10 Creamback in when it ...
05/29/2026

Customer order slant back baffle vertical 2x10, in Blackout aesthetics. He's loading a pair of G10 Creamback in when it arrives in Virginia.

Don't want to give away too much about the next two amp builds from Max n' me, but here's a preview. Another random bolt...
05/25/2026

Don't want to give away too much about the next two amp builds from Max n' me, but here's a preview. Another random bolt of upholstery fabric from Goodwill, this time with a neat tartan pattern. I'm a sucker for blues and browns. That cabinet will get a marching 15-watt 6V6GT amp head. You can see it in the background. It's sitting on top of that wine crate I also found at Goodwill. Luck would have it that Max had already finished a 5-watt 6V6GT build, that's going to fit in that crate, along with a 10" speaker. Interior is braced and its ready for interior paint. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve for both of these, so stay tuned!

♤♤♤Free Shipping Weekend♤♤♤Need to clear up room for more cabinets and amplifiers finishing up soon. For this weekend, M...
05/16/2026

♤♤♤Free Shipping Weekend♤♤♤

Need to clear up room for more cabinets and amplifiers finishing up soon. For this weekend, May 15-18 any purchase of a general market product ships for free! This is a $45-150 value, depending on purchase. Fully insured, and packed like a tank.

LEFT ROW:

•Sound Salvage "Rhymes W/ Orange" Unloaded 1x12 - Orange Tolex & Cane Cloth - $375♧♧♧

• Sound Salvage Thrift Store Threads Unloaded 1x12 - Thrifted Upholstery Fabric - Walnut Modern Cut Baffle Cutaway - $500♧♧♧

• Sound Salvage "The Purps" 2x10 Eminence Vintage Spec 2x10 - Built With Vintage Eminence Drivers to Exact Eminence Plans - 400-Watts - 4-ohm - Purple Tolex & Black Cloth. Black Racing Stripe on Rear - $800♧♧♧

• Sound Salvage "The Purps" Weber ToneCvlt Black Shuck Loaded Ported 1x12 - Ported to Thiel EV 12L Specs, with middle port closed, extending bass. Weber Black Shuck for Detuned Guitar & Bass - 200-watt - 4-ohm - $650♧♧♧
_________________________________

MIDDLE ROW:

Silvertone 1482 12-watt Combo Amplifier - Vintage 60s - 100% Stage Ready W/ Full Cap Job & Circuit Clean-up - The same tech that builds my custom amplifiers gave this amp a complete overhaul, replacing drifted components, and voicing the input channels a bit different from eachother to make the amp more versatile - Original Transformers Replacement Vintage CTS Speaker RCA Tubes - READY TO ROCK - Visit My soud salvage page to watch it's journey back from the grave - $850♧♧♧

• Sound Salvage Lacquered Tweed 2×(6×9) Speaker Cabinet - Vintage CTS Square Magnet Ceramic 6x9 Speakers - 20-watt - 4-ohm - $600

• Sound Salvage Lacquered Tweed 4x8 - Mismatched Speakers - ROLA Alnico + Heppner Alnico + Jensen C8R + Utah/Realistic Ceramic - 8-ohm 25-Watt - Built W/ Harp Players in mind, but a solid cabinet for any arsenal - More Speakers Available - $800

• Sound Salvage "Wrecker 35" TrainWreck Inspired Recycled Hardwood Amplifier Head W/Matching 1x12 - Walnut & Maple - 18-watts - Celestion Ruby Alnico Speaker - Almost All Reclaimed Materials Used. Tons More Info And Pictures Available On My Sound Salvage Page - $3,500♧♧♧
___________________________________

RIGHT ROW:

• Sound Salvage Modern Cut Wide 1x12 - Cream Tolex - Stained Cane Cloth - New Celestion Creamback Speaker - Modern Cut Walnut Baffle Cutaway - 65-watts - 8-ohm - $800♧♧♧

• Sound Salvage Unloaded Wide 1x12 - Black & Red Tolex - Black Cloth - $425♧♧♧

•Sound Salvage Supro-inspired Offset 2x12 Lightweight & Compact - Vintage Heppner Alnico Speakers - Blue Supro Tolex - Silver Cloth - $650

• Sound Salvage "BloomBox" Bluetooth Boombox Party Speaker - Two 4" Eminence Line Array Full-Range Drivers - GRS Rear Facing 6.5" Subwoofer - 3-Channel With 160-Watts Per Channel (Left/Right/Sub) - Outlet Power & Power Supply Included - LOUD with Great Bass & Projection -Your Choice Pink Or Navy Blue - Recycled Piano Bench Walnut Control Cutout - $500

• Sound Salvage Passive Full-Range Modeling Cabinet - Recycled Walnut - Celestion Triple Cone Full-Range Speaker - 8-ohm - 150-watts - Vintage Rogers Organ Grill Cloth - $875

More recycled hardwood coming your way!A walnut laminate 1x12, with a full-range Celestion speaker. Meant for use with a...
05/11/2026

More recycled hardwood coming your way!

A walnut laminate 1x12, with a full-range Celestion speaker. Meant for use with a modeling guitar rig, this cabinet is definitely a case of classic meets modern. Made mostly from recycled piano and church organ wood. Grill cloth is vintage Rogers organ cloth. Heavy-duty Cognac Handle. Brown mahogany back accent strip, with a solid navy tolex back. This speaker wants to see a sealed or ported enclosure, so I went with a decent interior volume and nixed the porting.

Available for purchase!

Cool new gear in the shop this week.Up front is a custom order oversized 2x10 cabinet, in Carolina Blue tolex with Cogna...
05/08/2026

Cool new gear in the shop this week.

Up front is a custom order oversized 2x10 cabinet, in Carolina Blue tolex with Cognac Handle and leather corner guards. Grill cloth is cane, and there's a partial baffle delete, with a bit of red mahogany in its place for accent. Quite a unique cabinet! Fun part is, this cabinet is built to match a special edition Mesa Boogie 100 watt amplifier head, with the same aesthetics. Fully convertible back makes it perfect for any 2x10 configuration.

There's two vintage tube amps from around the same time period there as eachother, too.

The one on the left is a 1964-65 Lectrolab R600C. This one is from my personal collection, and has just come back from Max. It got the usual cap treatment and new cord. But, seeing as how I'd like this to be my own main stage amp, I've had him modify the circuit quite a bit. Though, as always, everything is very easy to return to stock, thanks to Max's commitment to clean work. I won't get into it too heavily, but there's an extra stacked gain stage in one of the 3 channels via a FET transistor. Other two channels stayed more stock. My telecaster loves this amp.

The one on the right is fresh in to the shop. Known as one of the very first combo amplifiers with built in reverb. An original Ampeg ReverbRocket 1x12 combo. Original Jensen is in there, but this amp is ROUGH. Will be a great project to bring back to life! I'll get it cleaned and structurally sound, and get it to Max for a full overhaul. These are terrific amplifiers, and I've already had a few friends reach out inquiring if it'll be up for grabs. We will have to see!

I've still got a few cabinets to finish up, plus Max and my next amp build to start construction on. Here's my Spring Sa...
04/27/2026

I've still got a few cabinets to finish up, plus Max and my next amp build to start construction on. Here's my Spring Sales Rack in the meantime. Will get to Reverb postings later this week.

LEFT ROW:

•Sound Salvage "Rhymes W/ Orange" Unloaded 1x12 - Orange Tolex & Cane Cloth - $375♧♧♧

• Sound Salvage Thrift Store Threads Unloaded 1x12 - Thrifted Upholstery Fabric - Walnut Modern Cut Baffle Cutaway - $500♧♧♧

• Sound Salvage "The Purps" 2x10 Eminence Vintage Spec 2x10 - Built With Vintage Eminence Drivers to Exact Eminence Plans - 400-Watts - 4-ohm - Purple Tolex & Black Cloth. Black Racing Stripe on Rear - $800♧♧♧

• Sound Salvage "The Purps" Weber ToneCvlt Black Shuck Loaded Ported 1x12 - Ported to Thiel EV 12L Specs, with middle port closed, extending bass. Weber Black Shuck for Detuned Guitar & Bass - 200-watt - 4-ohm - $650♧♧♧
_________________________________

MIDDLE ROW:

Silvertone 1482 12-watt Combo Amplifier - Vintage 60s - 100% Stage Ready W/ Full Cap Job & Circuit Clean-up - The same tech that builds my custom amplifiers gave this amp a complete overhaul, replacing drifted components, and voicing the input channels a bit different from eachother to make the amp more versatile - Original Transformers Replacement Vintage CTS Speaker RCA Tubes - READY TO ROCK - Visit My soud salvage page to watch it's journey back from the grave - $850♧♧♧

• Sound Salvage Lacquered Tweed 2×(6×9) Speaker Cabinet - Vintage CTS Square Magnet Ceramic 6x9 Speakers - 20-watt - 4-ohm - $600

• Sound Salvage Lacquered Tweed 4x8 - Mismatched Speakers - ROLA Alnico + Heppner Alnico + Jensen C8R + Utah/Realistic Ceramic - 8-ohm 25-Watt - Built W/ Harp Players in mind, but a solid cabinet for any arsenal - More Speakers Available - $800

• Sound Salvage "Wrecker 35" TrainWreck Inspired Recycled Hardwood Amplifier Head W/Matching 1x12 - Walnut & Maple - 18-watts - Celestion Ruby Alnico Speaker - Almost All Reclaimed Materials Used. Tons More Info And Pictures Available On My Sound Salvage Page - $3,500♧♧♧
___________________________________

RIGHT ROW:

• Sound Salvage Modern Cut Wide 1x12 - Cream Tolex - Stained Cane Cloth - New Celestion Creamback Speaker - Modern Cut Walnut Baffle Cutaway - 65-watts - 8-ohm - $800♧♧♧

• Sound Salvage Unloaded Wide 1x12 - Black & Red Tolex - Black Cloth - $425♧♧♧

•Sound Salvage Supro-inspired Offset 2x12 Lightweight & Compact - Vintage Heppner Alnico Speakers - Blue Supro Tolex - Silver Cloth - $650

• Sound Salvage "BloomBox" Bluetooth Boombox Party Speaker - Two 4" Eminence Line Array Full-Range Drivers - GRS Rear Facing 6.5" Subwoofer - 3-Channel With 160-Watts Per Channel (Left/Right/Sub) - Outlet Power & Power Supply Included - LOUD with Great Bass & Projection -Your Choice Pink Or Navy Blue - Recycled Piano Bench Walnut Control Cutout - $500

I will take on custom orders, but shy away from making manufacturer copy cabinets. If you hire me, it is usually for something unique, or if you're after something with custom dimensions. All cabinets hand built by me using USA Pine and Canadian Plywood. I use hide-glue in every step of the construction process, including tolex and tweed adhesion. More info can be found on my Sound Salvage page here on Facebook. Just look for "Tony Nickels' Sound Salvage" Thanks for reading, and shoot any questions or comments my way!

Had the need to add some tweed to my inventory, so that's what I've been working on this week. These two were built with...
04/26/2026

Had the need to add some tweed to my inventory, so that's what I've been working on this week. These two were built with harmonica players in mind, but respectfully, they'd be a fine addition to any musician's speaker arsenal.

On the left is a mismatched 4x8 cabinet, running a mix of ceramic and alnico speakers, all at an 8-ohm total cabinet load. Both harp players and guitarists like mixing all 4 drivers for a wide range of sound. I've got a hodge podge of old 8's hanging out in the shop, and this is the mix I landed on for now. They include:

1 × Heppner Alnico (Hammond)
1 × ROLA Alnico (Baldwin)
1 × Jensen Ceramic C8R
1 × Realistic/Utah Ceramic ("guitar" speaker)

I need to do some testing to assure all 4 can handle 20 full overdriving watts, which is my task today. I've got a few matched sets around if someone wants something a little less vintage-inspired.

The other cabinet has a set of CTS Square Magnet Ceramic 6x9 speakers. These were also organ pull speakers, but the set sounds great for most musical applications. Harp players like the fuller range sound from 6x9's, and good luck finding a builder who incorporates vintage 6x9 speakers in their builds! A very overlooked section of sound reproduction. I've also got a ton of Utah/Pyle Whizzer cone 6x9, if that's more your bag.

Both are up for grabs, though the 4x8 is reserve only for now until I have a chance to fine-tune the speaker selection. Either cabinet would kill with a lower wattage amp head. They're going straight on to the sales rack for a new marketplace post later today.

♤♤♤Sound Salvage Lacquered Tweed 4x8 - Mixed Speakers - $800♤♤♤

♤♤♤Sound Salvage Lacquered Tweed (6x9)x2 Cabinet CTS Ceramics - $600♤♤♤

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Cedar Rapids, IA
52402

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