Guitar amp I found today
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Posted on Apr 28, 2004 09:27 pm
synthia
Member Since: Apr 26, 2004
a 1963 Fender vibroverb-
I think it might need new tubes. what should I do?
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WaltChief Cook and Bottle WasherMember
Since: May 10, 2002
Apr 28, 2004 11:48 pm Ah, buy tubes? Used to be, (60's) any TV repair shop had a tube tester and would test tubes for free. Obviously to sell you tubes for the bad ones. Any more I don't know where you would go to have one tested. You can still buy them pretty easly especialy if they are real common tubes like a 12X.
Is that what you where asking about? Other things you could do would be: Bounce up and down and yell Whoohoo I found one....Go the the local mart and buy chocolate...kick the thing and see if it acts different (if it has the old spring reverb that might be fun)...Play through it as it is and insist it is the latest "da bomb" sound.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Apr 29, 2004 12:00 am I dont remember what is in the 63, but as Walt said if you have a TV repair shop they might still have a tube tester. Other alternative is to check out some of the local music shops and see if they have a repair shop or if they cn recomend one.
for the 63 Fender Vibro you may want to make sure it is tended to by some one qualified as that is not a cheap amp to replace at all. I would check in the yellow pages under musical instrument repair or something along that nature. If there is a shop that is a guitar or vintage guitar shop that would be the best alsternative for sure as they wont steer you wrong. Well most of the time anyway.
And hey, welcome to HRC. If you have any questions feel free to post away. We are always glad to help.
HuePinnipedal Czar (: 3= Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004
Apr 29, 2004 12:10 am Quote:
Play through it as it is and insist it is the latest "da bomb" sound.
BAH ! yer killin' me Walt ! (hack,cough,cough)
Sorry I don't have any usefull information synthia, but hi ! 8-)
CrashIgnorance Is StrengthMember
Since: Nov 10, 2002
Apr 29, 2004 01:43 am I've got an old Alamo amp that I had to put a new speaker in and was thinking about replacing the tubes although the thing still cranks for 10watts. I took it to the local music shop to see about tubes and found out that all the tubes now-a-days are from Russia. They told me that its real hard to find American made tubes anymore but the Russians have a lot of tube stuff so they still make them. They said that Russian tubes are good quality. Have any of you heard this same story or are the guys at my local shop yankin my chain? I'm interested to hear what you find out.
WaltChief Cook and Bottle WasherMember
Since: May 10, 2002
Apr 29, 2004 07:11 am Can't say for sure, but they are still readly available on the net. Just did a 2 second search and this was first up: www.audiotubes.com/ Didn't mention source.
pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
Apr 29, 2004 09:02 am I've been tinkering with my own and other tube amps for awhile (built a few as well). That's a gem, to be sure.
When you say 'it might need tubes', 'what should I do' i'm not sure if you've done anything yet.
A few ?s:
Has it sat for a while? did you get it out of a closet, or has it been played, played with, etc. What's it's history(if you know)
Did you power it up already, does it power up?
I'll go through the 'yes' part first:
If it does power up, then does it smoke, if so, then a good old-tube amp tech is in order, (see below) and not just a musical repair, as they may not be versed in old tube amp repair, some don't know what they are doing and will really mess up an old vintage classic.
If it doesn't smoke, then does it make sound? speakers could be shot, or the connecting cables shot, old, rotted, etc. if the sound is hissey, staticy, poppy, then the tubes could be bad, but more likely, the electrolytic capacitors are old. These capacitors go bad after awhile, and if not replaced every 10~15 years, may go south and give the funny sounds mentioned. ALso they will 'motorboat' the sound in some cases. I say 'may' go south because there's cases of amps having 40 year caps and still working fine, quiet, punchy, etc.
If it not power up, then cord could be bad, fuse could be bad, power transformer could be bad.
fuse can be replaced (2a slo-blo, i think) but cord and power xformer would be a good thing for someone knowledgable and experienced. (see below)
One more thing * * * tube amps can carry well over 400volts. Don't let anyone poke around in there if they don't know what they are doing. Even an unplugged amp can keep voltage for a very long time (hours, days, weeks) and can also build up power if left alone over time.
check out www.webervst.com/techreg/techreg.htm for a amp technician. The guys on this board are very good technically and respect the old fender amps. You could post a question on the amps section under the weber bbs section as well.
hth, and congrats
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
May 12, 2004 10:27 pm Say Crash, I know Im late but hell yes Russian tubes rock. Sovtek are the kats backside for tubes. It is very hard to find American made tubes, I think even the Groove Tubes are made offshore. But I have had nothing but good luck with Sovtek tubes.
May 13, 2004 04:35 pm forgot i posted this lol.
The post was more of a should i go NOS or new tubes. I guess i should update. I replaced all the pre amp tubes with EH 12ax7s (russian) Ive put a RCA 5661 in the reverb socket so it runs a little cold. power tubes have alot of life left in them actually...nice sounding amp tho. Nothing like an 18 watter tho.
TadpuiI am not a crook's headMember
Since: Mar 14, 2003
May 13, 2004 05:07 pm Wow, what a gem of a find! A low-wattage vintage Fender. If you ever get tired of it, feel free to mail it to me :D
McDogMember
Since: May 31, 2004
May 31, 2004 07:10 am I recently bought a used Mesa .50 Caliber all tube combo. At first I thought all the tubes desperately needed replacing but this was because of my own ignorance at the time. Actually the power tubes DID need replacing because one of them was loose in it's (permanent) plastic base.
Jun 07, 2004 02:49 pm is there a such thing as a TV repair man anymore?
Jun 07, 2004 02:49 pm (outside of porn, of course) LOL!
