Interesting old amp afternoon

[mad dog]

It all happened quickly. On Sunday, saw a sales listing for one I've always lusted after, a brownface Fender pro. An hour away. Sale or trade, not bad price. I mention the Gretsch 6165 "Variety Plus", then head over to his place. The Pro is a 1960, 5G5, 5 preamp tubes, missing upper backplate, an old JBL but probably not stock, recent service, "experienced" cosmetics. I'm assuming there is a story here, most likely changed OT. Here's the amp:

Other pics: http://s159.photobucket.com/albums/t150 ... ace%20pro/

Plugged into the Pro for a minute. Not bad. He plays my Gretsch for a long while. The more he plays, I'm thinking "no way, I can't give this one up!" So unusual, sounds so fine and unlike most anything else. Right then I decided no trade. He plugs a tele into his Pro and starts playing. Then I try. Then him again. And now I'm in trouble. This thing sounds unreal! The first (and only) aluminum dust cap JBL that didn't bite my head off, a huge, clean sound. Dense and punchy. And the trem works!

I offered to trade; we're both thinking on it. Go home and check Craigslist. There is his amp, at a substantially lower price. Clearly, selling was the priority, not trading. Within hours, we had a deal. The next step is frustrating, but familiar. Got it home, played for 20 minutes and got big noise, smoke. Arcing in a power tube socket. It's at the techs now. He said it was most likely that there'd been a partial burn in the plastic socket ... the last tech never noticed or cared, so just replaced tubes. So I'm getting ceramic sockets, having a bias pot installed (inside the chassis, no drilling), longer 3 prong chord, change out the standby switch. BTW, the OT is original.

This happened with my Ampeg Gem II. Literally in the first minute of play after purchase. I stuck with that amp, and it's one of the best I've ever played. So deja vu all over again.
MD

 

[mad dog]

It all happened quickly. On Sunday, saw a sales listing for one I've always lusted after, a brownface Fender pro. An hour away. Sale or trade, not bad price. I mention the Gretsch 6165 "Variety Plus", then head over to his place. The Pro is a 1960, 5G5, 5 preamp tubes, missing upper backplate, an old JBL but probably not stock, recent service, "experienced" cosmetics. I'm assuming there is a story here, most likely changed OT. Here's the amp:

Other pics: http://s159.photobucket.com/albums/t150 ... ace%20pro/

Plugged into the Pro for a minute. Not bad. He plays my Gretsch for a long while. The more he plays, I'm thinking "no way, I can't give this one up!" So unusual, sounds so fine and unlike most anything else. Right then I decided no trade. He plugs a tele into his Pro and starts playing. Then I try. Then him again. And now I'm in trouble. This thing sounds unreal! The first (and only) aluminum dust cap JBL that didn't bite my head off, a huge, clean sound. Dense and punchy. And the trem works!

I offered to trade; we're both thinking on it. Go home and check Craigslist. There is his amp, at a substantially lower price. Clearly, selling was the priority, not trading. Within hours, we had a deal. The next step is frustrating, but familiar. Got it home, played for 20 minutes and got big noise, smoke. Arcing in a power tube socket. It's at the techs now. He said it was most likely that there'd been a partial burn in the plastic socket ... the last tech never noticed or cared, so just replaced tubes. So I'm getting ceramic sockets, having a bias pot installed (inside the chassis, no drilling), longer 3 prong chord, change out the standby switch. BTW, the OT is original.

This happened with my Ampeg Gem II. Literally in the first minute of play after purchase. I stuck with that amp, and it's one of the best I've ever played. So deja vu all over again.
MD

 

[dapmdave]

That's a great-looking old amp. Plenty of mojo and character.

I went through something similar about a month ago... viewtopic.php?f=9&t=25913

Dave

 

[mad dog]

Dave:

I saw that thread. BFDRs are wonderful. I had one for many years, like an idiot no longer have it. If I did, it'd be time to try a CRex speaker in there. Mine woke up very nicely with a Weber 12F150 speaker, but I'm thinking the CRex would do even better.
MD

 

[capnjuan]

Hi Michael:

While the amp is at the shop, you might talk to your tech about a new choke. I dig funky as much as the next guy but this one looks ... well ...

Hoffman's Part number 125C1A

Great amp; good luck!

 

[mad dog]

Cap:

I noticed that. Does it look busted? What does a choke do anyway??
Thanks.
MD

 

[capnjuan]

Post deleted.

 

[Jeff Haddad]

Nice score - congrats!

 

[dapmdave]

Cap:

I noticed that. Does it look busted? What does a choke do anyway??
Thanks.
MD

??

??

Dave

 

[mad dog]

Oh, that I can understand!!

MD

 

[capnjuan]

Post deleted.

 

[skinny]

Congrats mad dog !!
That sure is a beauty :shock: Looks like it has many-a-story to tell by the looks of it.
I got me a '63 that has tone from the gods.
It has, what I was told when I bought mine, an original CTS in it.
The trem, on these browns' are like no other I've heard as well...even better than my Magnatone 8)
Enjoy!!

skinny

 

[fronobulax]

double post is a side effect of merging. let me know if they really are identical and i'll delete one.

 

[alpep]

very nice amp

 

[RussB]

That choke looks fine to me. For the record I've serviced only a dozen or so Blonde Fenders that all chokes without endbells.

Randomly replacing any iron (trannies & chokes) is a bad move on a vintage amp, unless it is indeed faulty. Here's some pics from some Blonde Bassmen & Bandmaster's

 

[RussB]

Nice score by the way! :mrgreen:


Any early amp should be at least checked out by a tech that's familiar with vintage gear. Make sure the electrolytic capacitors have been replaced withing the last 15 or so years

 

[mad dog]

Russ:

No need to check caps. The last tech replaced what looks like every one. They're all in a bag in the back of the amp. Looks like way overkill to me. My tech said at least he was honest and left them there, some are worth money. He also said let's not worry about swapping in any old caps right now, just get the amp working right as it is.

I'm very lucky to work with this guy. He knows his stuff and has seen every damn thing.
MD

 

[RussB]

Mad Dog,

The OT and the choke have the same date code.

Are you saying all the signal and coupling caps were also replaced along with the electrolytics? If so, note that it's a pretty common for those old red/black and yellow Astrons to leak DC as they deteriorate. It's often called "Tweed Disease" :lol:

...and sadly, those old caps aren't worth a thing

In my opinion, those wafer-base Russian power tubes are the bottom of the barrel. You can certainly do a lot better without breaking the bank with NOS tubes

 

[mad dog]

Update on this old brown pro:

The tech turned it around in record time. He found that the OT had indeed been changed. Somebody put in a 70s bandmaster OT, glued the face plate from the original with the serial numbers back over the replacement. Which means 4 ohm OT running into an 8 ohm JBL.

Can't say I was surprised. Knew there was a story with this amp, could sense it. Having heard it, and given the very reasonable price, that didn't matter to me. Anyway, got it home, decided not to use it until I could do something about the ohm mismatch. My tech savvy buddy brought over a weber Z matcher, hooked it up yesterday. Oh man, what a sound! Drop dead beautiful cleans out of this old dog.

My buddy is urging me to find an 8 ohm OT and go for it. The amp tech said he likes the OT Fender used in the RI vibroverb, said it would probably be perfect for this Pro. I'm considering it. Until then, 3 extra pounds of Z matcher in the back of this amp. Have to do some clips.
MD