What's New at PriceLess Amp Restoration
March 8 2002
Since my work load has been picking up, I
decided to post my current work load so scheduled customers can keep track
of my progress and new customers have a better idea of my currently
scheduled work load and what slots I have open.
Say good by to all those nice Navy JAN tubes.
The supply of Philips and Sylvania NOS tubes are just about gone. All the
big wholesalers like New Sensor and Mojo no longer carry the Philips
6L6GC or the really nice GE 12AX7A's or 12AT7WC's. What few pieces they have,
are too expensive for my taste. Apparently the Philips 7581A's are more
plentiful and thus still available. Prices on these tubes are unchanged so
far. I still offer the 7581A's for Vibroclone's and Super Reverb's on steroids, but this supply won't last forever
either. Thank goodness for all the high quality new production tubes from
EH, Svetlana, EI and JJ.
Well also say good-bye, at least temporarily, to the new Schumacher Twin Reverb OPT's, which was being offered by New Sensor for almost a year. Like most suppliers, no one wants to rely on only one OEM. New Sensor is now using Magnetic Components as a second source for the Twin Reverb OPT. Taking with Otto from New Sensor, Magnetic Components are designing to the exact same specifications as the original spec. The trannies are just a "tad" smaller but look very similar and sure sound the same to me. Here's a comparison pic. The Schumacher TR OPT is mounted to the below chassis and the new Magnetic's is sitting next to it on the left-hand side.
November 25 2001
Whoa, it's been almost a year since my last
update. It was a really busy spring and summer. All together I built three
custom Vibroclone amps and restored a large assortment of Fender amps. So
many amps, I decided in October that I needed a break. Don't want a good
thing going sour. So I'm currently on sabbatical until the first of the year
and really enjoying the time off giving me a chance to get caught up on
personal projects and allowing me more time to play my own guitars and amps.
Our band has had three gigs since late summer, so it's been nice to be able
to spend more time with the band mates working up new tunes.
Since I get many inquiries regarding tolex
tips and tricks I added a Fender amp tolex tips and tricks page link in my
restoration services page. Here's the link for easy
reference.
One of my personal projects that I've wanted to complete for several years was to add some quality components to my California garage home-brewed Strat copy. I replaced the stock pickups with Lindy Fralin's Blues Specials and replaced the cheap Japanese tremolo with a tremolo from Callaham Vintage Guitars and Amps. Added new 250K CTS pots and a new US made 5 way switch. I also took the time to completely shield the entire pick guard and body cavities. Strat is now very quiet and sounds killer with the Fralin pickups. Not only does the Callaham bridge increase sustain, it actually is a useable tremolo. (Highly recommended).
February 17 2001
New Concept in Customer Service
Customer service and communication is a very important aspect of vintage
tube amp restoration. When someone sends their pride and joy across the
states or across an ocean to be serviced be someone they have never met,
it's very reassuring to the customer that their amp is in goods hands if an
open line of communication exist between the service tech and the customer.
I currently use email and Excel spreadsheets to communicate the exact cost,
parts used and labor required. If the customer can't read Excel format, I'll
convert the spreadsheet to a PDF file which can be read by Adobe Acrobat
Reader, which is free shareware software. Now with the use of an inexpensive
digital camera, I can take pictures of before and after service, incremental
progress made and issues needing attention to even better communicate by
sending pictures through email or posting pictures to my website and then
point the customer to my webpage.
Svetlana Electron Devices
Apparently the US distributor for Svetlana tubes, Svetlana Electron Devices
is out of business. So the availability of the Svetlana 6L6GC is rather
scarce right now. New Sensor is temporarily not offering the 6L6GC.
Fortunately Mojo is some how managing to offer the SV6L6GC but is selling
the tubes as fast as they can get them. Thus most orders are likely back
ordered. Hopefully this situation will change soon. We all waited 5 years
for Svetlana to start high volume manufacturing of their 6L6GC. Apparently
the factory is running strong. Anybody up for being a new US distributor of
Svetlana tubes?
Vibroluxclone
Wish you could afford a Blackface Vibrolux Reverb? Me too! Check out my
latest clone of a Vibrolux Reverb.
December 12 2000
All schematics and drawings have been
converted to Adobe PDF format for ease of viewing and printing. Download
free Acrobat
Reader 4.05.
I'm now set up to accept PayPal payment for
parts and repair service. PayPal is an Internet secure way of transferring
funds from your bank account or credit card. Click here to set up your
PayPal account.
WeberVST vintage series speakers and Super
Reverbs.
There has been a lot of discussion and questions regarding the fitting of
WeberVST vintage 10" series speakers in a Super Reverb. After
consulting with Ted Weber, Mark Norwine and Larry Rodgers, here are the results of my
investigation.
First, Ted Weber uses the same basket for all of his vintage series 10" speakers. These baskets are a little larger then Jensen, CTS or Oxford speakers, which were commonly used in Super Reverbs. Depending on the year of Super Reverb, there is a clearance issue with the top left speaker relative to the power or to the output transformer. The Tweed Bassman has the same clearance issue with the power transformer. A while back, Mark Norwine, worked with Ted Weber to design a basket with a special cut-out to be used in the upper left position in a Tweed Bassman. This basket cut-out solution works with Super Reverbs from 1964 to 1966. In 1967, Fender apparently was planning on using taller power transformers. Fender therefore changed the soundboard design and moved the upper left speaker cut-out to the right to allow for the taller power transformer. (Note, Fender did not start using a taller power transformer until later in approximately 1971). So when mounting a Weber vintage series speaker in a 1967 or later Super Reverb with an off-set upper left speaker cut-out, the top left speaker, even with the specially designed basket cut-out, does not have enough clearance relative to the output transformer. Rotating or re-mounting the top left speaker will not yield sufficient output transformer clearance. A new soundboard must be cut to match the symmetrical soundboard of pre 1967. With a symmetrically cut soundboard, the specially designed basket cut-out will have enough clearance to the power transformer and thus allow the chassis to be mounted to the cabinet using the existing chassis/cabinet mounting holes.
1967 Super Reverb and 1968 Super Reverb soundboard. Note off-set upper left
cut-out.
1968 Super Reverb with new soundboard and Weber P10Q's. Note basket cut-out.
August 21 2000
Would you believe Schumacher is producing Fender style transformers again? Well it's true. New Sensor's engineer and long time amp enthusiast, Otto, has been working with Schumacher for over a year now to produce Fender spec'd transformers again. I don't know how many models are expected from New Sensor/Schumacher, but the first transformer is a spec'd Fender Twin Reverb output transformer (Can you say Vibroclone?). Besides the tranny being painted black for rust prevention, the tranny looks exactly like the original, sounds great and is stamped with Schumacher's EIA (606) code. Check out this pic, feels like the "Twilight Zone".
I just completed the chassis work for another
Vibroclone project for Dennis out of Texas. We used a 1968 BMR chassis. Go
to the bottom of the, "more Vibroclone
discussion" page for details.
All of the NOS Utah speakers have sold, all faceplates have sold but the brown Pro Reverb and all but one '68 BMR cabinet has sold. '67 Twin Reverb has sold too.
June 10 2000
New URL
Always searching for a faster connection and web server, I've changed ISP's
once again. I know, once a year I seem to do this, sorry, but I've got two
serious on-line gamer kids who need a competitive edge. I'm in the process
of transferring my existing web page and web server to my own domain, so if
I should change ISP's again, the change will be transparent to those who
frequently visit PriceLess Amp Restoration. The transition should occur by
the end of June. I will then post the new URL. It should be something like:
www.priceless-amps.com
New For Sale Page
I now have a for sale page up and running and will
be updating it as items come up for sale. Currently I have Utah speakers,
Fender faceplates and a restored '67 Twin Reverb listed.
Reverb Cables
Magic Parts finally has some braided reverb cable back in stock. All
suppliers ran out about 6 months ago. Some say the company who was producing
the cable, which was very similar to the original wire used by Fender,
stopped making the wire. Some suppliers are now carrying a similar cable as
before, but it has a thin clear outer plastic insulator. Although nicer to
work with, it's not original enough for my taste. Magic Part's new braided
cable is a little smaller in diameter and has a black cloth inner wire
compared to the original white/clear plastic which gives this braided wire a
little over all darker color, but still closer to the original wire. So
those who need braided reverb cable, hand made like the originals, we're
back in business! One pair of reverb cables for any Fender combo is $15 plus
$4.50 shipping. Here's a pic link for a pair
of cables and a new reverb cable
connections and length pic.
