Whats the right way to bring an old amp back into service?
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Posted on May 04, 2008 07:32 pm
Bluesdues
Member Since: Apr 26, 2006
I have an old fender Twin II that hasn't been used in a few years. It seems that I remember hearing that there was a proper way to bring an amp back into service if it's been sitting for a while. Does anybody have any info on this?
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Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
May 04, 2008 10:31 pm I know for me with an amp that had sat for along time I always did a complete inspection before even powering it up. Then I would turn volumes and gains completely off and let it sit in standby for 4 to 6 hours. This was the same whenever it was re-tubed as well. I would let it sit in standby for a couple hours before lighting it up. And usually in both situations I would play for a couple of hours slowly bringing it up to a usable level from a very low level.
I'm not sure if that is the best way but it always worked for me.
Now a solid state amp, flick it on and crank it up. Not much to warm up there other then a few odds and ends.
May 04, 2008 11:05 pm Thanks Noize2u. The part about bringing it up slowly is what I remember hearing about. I drew a total blank on it earlier. And I can't find a downside to leaving it on standby for a few hours.
I have a much older Fender Tremolux head that I've had for decades. I think I'll have that one checked out before plugging it up. It's been at least 15-20 years since its been juiced. Sure wish I could find a black face Tremolux cab for it.
May 05, 2008 12:03 am Thing is with standby, no current flows through the circuit, only heaters and bias.
The 'amp tech' way of firing up old circuits and re-charging capacitors is to use a 'variac' in series with the mains voltage. Apparently a lightbulb in series works as well. The resistance starts high (less current flow) and as the filament warms up resistance lessens, and more current flows.
I learned all that from hanging round www.music-electronics-forum.com . Really good forum, nice people.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
May 05, 2008 07:04 pm Indeed you are correct CS. The main reason for doing that is simply to warm the internal component's without actually lighting them up. Then as you stated a gradual warm up of the actual circuit by starting at a very low level and gradually increasing the juice. But the variac is a good idea as well as will only allow a certain amount of current into the circuit at one time. But you cannot start playing until you are at full power flowing through the variac.
