amp rebuild


spanky10940
Registered User
Joined: 12/27/02
Posts: 221
spanky10940
Registered User
Joined: 12/27/02
Posts: 221
02/13/2005 5:42 am
A while back I got my hands on a 1974 Fender Twin Reverb. I know I posted here about it and I bought the tubes from J&J as PRS Playa suggested. Problem is that the thing had been sitting in someone's garage for quite some time. The solder boards are all covered with mildew and I was advised NOT to put the tubes in until I had a qualified tech take a look at it.

My question is, has anyone gone thru this type of equipment rebuild before? if so, how much should I expect to pay for this? I'd really like to bring this classic back to life and possibly add a reverb box to it too... But my dilemma is, if the cost is close to what I can grab a fender super twin reverb for, then I'll ditch this sucker..

any advice?
"The one truly great thing about this life is that noone can sincerely and truly help someone, without helping themselves"

Ralph Waldo Emerson
# 1
Dr_simon
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 07/06/02
Posts: 5,021
Dr_simon
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 07/06/02
Posts: 5,021
02/13/2005 1:28 pm
How much mildew are we talking about ?

A little bit a lot or , cant see the PCB ?

One thing you might want to try is putting the PCBs somewhere dry and warmish so the mildew desiccates. You may then be able to blow it off with compressed air (don't inhale the mildew !!!). Then you can look for cracks, bad joints etc. with a flashlight and a magnifying glass.

From that point you can probably right up your local music store and ask to speak to the tech who should, at the very least be able to give you an estimate to have the thing looked at / give you a quote for any work that needs doing.
My instructors page and www.studiotrax.net for all things recording.
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# 2
spanky10940
Registered User
Joined: 12/27/02
Posts: 221
spanky10940
Registered User
Joined: 12/27/02
Posts: 221
02/20/2005 7:16 pm
sorry for the late reply -

the amp is actually a hardwired unit and I don't know if you can really call them boards.. They're more just a type fiber board that the capacitors and such sit on. They are black with it.. it's IN them more than it is on them and the whole thing has that, I just dug it up smell... shame too... I don't see to many of them out there.

There is a twin reverb in the local shop for about $680 (usd) that I'm considering in case the tech tells me it'd be cheaper to buy a new Porsche than to redo the relic...

The guy that does their amps is out till mid March so I should know then what it'll cost and I'll let you all know in case you run into the same thing.
"The one truly great thing about this life is that noone can sincerely and truly help someone, without helping themselves"

Ralph Waldo Emerson
# 3
Lordathestrings
Gear Guru
Joined: 01/18/01
Posts: 6,242
Lordathestrings
Gear Guru
Joined: 01/18/01
Posts: 6,242
02/20/2005 7:46 pm
[font=trebuchet ms]Thanks for the update. Keep an open mind. I bought a flood-damaged 1977 Ampeg VT-40 that was in very rough shape. The cabinet corners were coming apart, all 4 speakers were trashed, and the pots were full of crud. I couldn't afford to buy four good 10" speakers, and since I was about to build a new cab anyway, I did some research. I settled on making a 1x15" sealed cab with a ceramic California WeberVST in it. This one is a keeper! May you be as happy with the results of your venture.[/font]
Lordathestrings
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# 4

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