My suggestion for a practice amp - Roland Cube 20x is my favourite, gives cleans with variety of easy to use, reasonable sounding effects. It's inexpensive and second hand are often found at Cash Crusader shops and the like.

For added flavour and the Fender sound I like, add a Tech 21 Blonde, or if you can't find any of the Tech 21 products, a Boss Bassman FBM-1, which seem to be readily available.

There you have full Fender sound in a small package at a low cost.

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Makes sense Chris,

when you say you 'check it out fully' what exactly do you mean? Do you take the instrument apart?
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Yes, I have taken apart and Fender pups have part numbers. I have also wanted to see the neck/body stampings. And, I am prepared to replace strings if needed and I don't buy, provided the instrument is genuine.

I do a fair amount of buy/sell trade and I am usually very careful, and if there is the slightest doubt, I check it out fully. Mostly, I have bought strats, and by now, I know the Fender product reasonably well. When you tell the seller you want to check it out, I have not found the guy to be offended by this. When buying a strat, or other guitar, the obvious 'fake' to look for is a cheaper pickup, e.g. a US strat with a MIM pup.

Costa, you have know me for some time and we've discussed the second hand trade, I was caught once, simply because I was too impulsive, my own fault, but you learn. It's not a case of not trusting the seller, but rather to be cautious.

I bought the double CD version from Guitar Center and have found it very different in content when compared to the earlier DVD concerts...seems to lack the performance power of the previous concerts and with lesser known songs, but I enjoy the Clapton closing songs.

Roy, even if only for comparison purposes, why dont you try a few simple pedals. I have a Tech 21 Sans Amp Tri-A.C. (all the Fender amp models you can want) you can borrow, use your favourite OD and ambience delay, direct into a PA - it must work, imo. I have done the POD thing so many times, and given up.

Roy, as you know, i have been very happy with the TC Flbk and to add to the confusion of delay sounds, I recently starting using a T-Tex Replica, which I am extremely happy with. Yes, it is expensive (but, I did a swop) and hard to justify if you see it as just another good delay pedal. BTW, more confusion, the Way Huge Aqua Puss is excellent, if you are looking for old school analog (only - nothing else) and another close contender is the Hardwire DL-8. And don't forget that tap tempo is a useful feature to have, which I dont think the MXR CC has (?).

...it does sound a bit depressing to think the road is often downhill, but admire those guys that rebooted their careers, sometimes with a jump-start and sometimes slowly, and made a success of it.

some examples, imo;

Clapton - '461 Ocean Blvd'., then again with 'Unplugged', again with 'Crossroads' x 3 DVD sets
Santana - CD's with Friends and then a new vibe
Gilmour - the 'On An Island' CD (not to my liking much)
N/Young - several rock attempts in the more recent years, most notable I think was 'Chrome Dreams II'
Van Morrisson - anything from 'Down the Road' onwards
Tony Joe White - from 'Lake Placid Blues', then 'One Hot July' and 'Uncovered'
Bonnie Raitt - 'Dimming of the Day' and more attempts later
Chris Rea - 'On The Beach' and then some others from time to time

Some greats and some lesser greats, but they all looked at new directions, and it worked.

To my way of thinking, this was the best of the British Blues and today I still play my 'Then Play On', which is favourite for me. Peter
Green not only sang blues, but also has had more than his fair share of misery in his life, which came through in his songs.

...just to add to the above,...all well and good, however, 'let the buyer beware...' and put the time in to do the research and know what you are buying. If you really want it, be prepared to pay a bit of a premium to get it before someone else does and always know your walk away point.

Take the Super-Sonic, it's the better amp of the two - read the web reviews, or if you are still undecided, then make the trip to the shop to do the test play. I assume it's the S/S 60 and not the 22 (because of the age). If you are still swayed by the HRD idea, then it must be a HRD III and not a II model.

Or, if this is the sound you want, another consideration is a good deal going on the Forum currently where Henker is selling a Rivera for R8,5k, used. One of the best boutique amps in this sound category.

Roy, following from our discussion on this guitar last week, and your promise to show me the completed article,...it does look stunning so far!

I spoke to someone about this today and he remembers the product Duraback. My memory says Tectyl and I lived in East London in those days and guys used it a lot for rust protection on cars/bakkies.

At thirteen, I bought a couple of Sam Sklair LP's, and quickly moved on to "Crosby, Stills and Nash" then Grateful Dead's "American Beauty".

...and, to add to what IceCreamMan says about store buying preferences, I agree fully with his view.

Fair price, for what it's worth...I have traded quite a bit in this market and a 2nd hand strat Mex goes for about R4k. If you have extras, like an amp, a case and good pickups, the price goes up a bit with each extra, so i would say total about R5k in this case, or R5,5k max. Having said that, if you find there are only few possible buyers and only one sincere final buyer, and you want to conclude a sale, you could end up negotiating a lower priced sale.