Fender-Made WHITE AMP | Service and Repair
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- Опубліковано 18 кві 2021
- This is a very special amp, made by Fender in the 1950's. Watch me update the amp with a basic service and a few small repairs. Thanks for tuning in :)
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Colleen, your 3-wire installation approach is spot on. The only improvement you can make is when sizing the three conductors coming out of the AC supply cable. It adds a margin of safety to strip about 8" of cable jacket, and then shorten the hot and neutral wires to 4" long. This creates 4" of extra length of ground wire in the chassis. The reason for this is if the AC cable is somehow yanked hard, the hot and neutrals will break before the ground does. This can prevent the chassis from becoming live at mains voltage. I've been told that it's 'extra work' to do this, but any little increase in user safety is good.
I've heard of this too!
There's something about watching people doing amp repair that I find very calming.
ASMR
It's her voice that's also very calming!
Her, because she’s enjoying what she is doing. Not complaining every 10 seconds like other repair people/channels
@@timpit164 Haha! I wonder who you mean? 🧐 I watched hours of that guy, but dropped when he started trying to feud with Beato (for views), then went all political. I come here to get away from all that.
Her sweet voice alone can fix any amp 🥰
I was an electrical technician in the military for 22 years. You are regularly teaching me things about amp circuits. I wish you decades of success and growth.
you make a good bch
@@christophercolumbus8944 what's a bch?
@@janinapalmer8368 LOL
@@christophercolumbus8944 well ... what is it ? Still waiting ..
@@janinapalmer8368 bi-t-c-h
haha youtube censors
I don't work on guitar amps, but you did the 120V AC wiring correctly. That's the safest way to wire it.
you have such a nice calming soothing voice ......................music to the ears!!!
Sorta hard to be stressed out hearing her thoughts on approach, and her work. It’s like high voltage yoga.
Nice to see a young person full of enthusiasm and knowledge of these old amps. Nice relaxed presentation style too. Keep it up 👍🏻😎
Speaking of capacitors an FYI from several generations back...
My father was in electronics in the 50's and he always told me if a device has not been switched on in a long period, it is best to "set" a charge on the electrolytic capacitors by rapidly switching the power on and off once and then letting the charge form in the capacitor overnight. This allows the chemical make-up in the capacitor to slowly set up and this will lengthen the life of the capacitor vs loading it up and having the electrolyte under constant voltage as the charge forms inside the capacitor. This can cause leaks or other problems with "wet" capacitors. It's that electrolytic charge that remains in the capacitor after power is turned off. Over time it dissipates and the physical make-up of the electrolyte inside the can changes over time.
Absolutely love your Vlog. My dad would be a huge fan were he here...
Really clean sound, no hum, no crackle.
THANK YOU so much for not blindly re-capping everything. It is so unnecessary.
I love How her workplace actually looks like a functional everyday workstation rather than something Out of a catalogue.
I too have a '56 White that I found in a pawn shop in the early ' 90s for $17. It had a hang tag that said 'As is'. I turned it around and noticed that the power tube was just rolling around in the bottom of the cabinet. Anyway, I bought it, got it home, plugged the tube in, and VOILA, it sounded great! I still play it to this day. I love your videos, how they're so informative, and how you don't cut any corners. Nice work, and please keep making them!
Hi Colleen. I’m an electrical engineer from London and your 100% correct the way you have connected the mains lead in this video. There is fantastic content is your videos and I thoroughly enjoy watching your repairs.
OMG - I knew a guy here in Britain who would fly to America, buy an old car and drive across the states. He visited Chess studios and this old black guy sat outside loved his knowledge of music so took him to a garage and gave him some stuff. He had a 'White' amp that at the motel took half an hour to come on (as a valve electronics guy myself my head was screaming "NO!" when I heard this) but he said it crackled to life and had *THE* Chess tone he'd heard on his records since childhood.
Chess records is an national treasure
At 4:30, the "death cap" does not need to completely short-circuit in order to put dangerous voltage on the chassis ---- they are often sufficiently "leaky" electrically to energize the chassis and shock you if one hand is on the guitar strings and the other touches a grounded object (or if you are standing barefoot on a concrete slab ---- pure danger! Even damp slippers can conduct to concrete; I found this out the hard way as a kid). I often plug newly acquired amplifiers into a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) wall outlet of the type usually found in modern kitchens and bathrooms, and if the death cap is bad it will probably trip the breaker built into the outlet. Always best to add a grounded power cord and remove that capacitor; if somebody insists on keeping that circuit as original as possible, then at the very least one should convert to a polarized AC plug and ensure that the death cap is connected from the neutral line of the power cord to the chassis and not from the hot to the chassis. "Ground polarity" switching should ideally be bypassed, but if the customer insist on keeping it active then the death cap should be replaced with a modern "XY" safety capacitor, which are typically rated for a 1000 volts or more.
Been doing repairs for 18 years and I have seen a lot of things in my time. It takes a certain type of person and mindset to do this type of thing and you definitely have what it takes. Great videos keep em coming!
Explaining the how and why/theory is really helpful and cool.
Agreed. I especially like the drawn diagrams. I didn't really understand how a chorus pedal worked until recently when a buddy drew me a picture on a napkin showing the signal entering the pedal as one wave, splitting into two waves, one dry and one modulated and then exiting the pedal as a combination of the two waves. I guess I'm a visual learner.
Well done! I do agree that a full replacement of all capacitors are in order for a unit of that age. That being said, I highly commend you for communicating with the owner; and fulfilling his wishes. It really demonstrates your integrity as a tech. I look forward to your next episode with great eagerness.
Only since you asked.. the proper way is to wire to the switch first, then to the fuse. The reason for this is if someone grabs the fuse without the amp being unplugged the fuse is still live. This way, with the power switch off, there is no power to the fuse for sure. That's how it was explained to me
PS. Love how you show the actual soldering repairs!..For some reason I can watch someone solder all day. I guess that's why I like amp building so much, it's relaxing.. :)
Agreed
Never replace a fuse in a plugged in device. Never.
Where were you 35 years ago when I had a Gibson GA 300 that needed to be rebuilt.Thanks for letting us hang out, Keep up the great work..😁😁
Same here for a 3 wire cord ... Also I have done your method of back twisting stranded wires onto each other for over 35 years now ....... My mentor Eustice Faulk showed me that back in 1980 or so .... I got my first tube scope from him back 1991 or so .....Keep up the great work ....
Hi,
So happy to see a young person with knowledge to repair, and restore vintage valve equipment.
All strength to ya elbow gal!
The man from Sheffield
Hi
Neat, never heard of this amp before now. Way cool. I like that you’re keeping as many original parts as possible. It sounds really good too.
I have one of these that I got back several decades ago and I love it . Replaced one 8 uf filter cap ! That is all it has ever needed ! As far as the power cord , I put my toe in water , see which way plugged in I get a sizzle by touching the chassis ( with my bare toe in grounded water ) and mark the polarity with a sharpie . Then I always plug it in with the neutral and hot in the polarity that did not get the sizzle . I should just break down and put a three prong plug in it ( Some day ) !!! It sounds fantastic to be sure!
Your videos are so fun to watch, it takes me back to when I was studying audio engineering building preamps I forgot how fulfilling doing repair/build work could be. Thanks can’t wait to see more!
I just found your channel a few days ago and i love it!!!!
I love these repairs as you explain the logic behind what you do
Thanks from the UK
Pleasure for the mind,the ears and the eyes.
What more could I ask?
Thanks a lot.
I use the same grounding scheme when doing the u-ground plug mod to vintage amps. When building an amp, I use a dedicated screw terminal that I like to solder to the chassis as well. And I'll admit that I'd never heard of White amplifiers until today. Cool project!
The way you rewired the fuse make sense. Thank you!!!
Channeling your "inner Uncle Doug" with the notepad! I like how you've modernized the approach with a pen instead of pencil!
Ezra, with a pencil, if you're wrong, you can correct the error.....and then deny it ;)
Love your peaceful voice & steady hand. You have a bright future ahead!
Just discovered your channel this week and I really appreciate what you bring to the table. Thank you so much for making easy to follow videos that also explain your repairs. As an amp enthusiast and beginning builder, having a video that explains amp circuitry is much easy to follow vs my amp repair book. Thank you and keep up the great work!
lots of good information that coming through aside the main project. i like that you make the topic accessible to people who are not wayy into guitars and amps already!
Hey thanks so much for the shout out Colleen. You are the COOLEST! I just sold my White amp, i miss it already.
Neat piece! Because you asked and there aren't a lot of us that have weighed in yet: both of the 5F1 circuits I built do exactly what you said with their three-prong wiring. Ground to a transformer bolt, live to the fuse, then to the switch, then to the primary, neutral to the other side of the primary. I've always kind of assumed it matters less for AC circuits than for DC circuits, but it's a painless habit to be in, and I'd guess it's probably how modern standards bodies recommend or require anyway.
I like the way you install the 3 wire power cord. I think that's the ultimately safest way to install. Thanks for the video!
Love watching you explain and diagnose all kinds of guitar amps and hearing you play your guitar. You're awesome.....and fine too 🧡
Nice work! I really like how in these more recent videos you take a bit more time explaining things like the death cap and drawing up examples. Especially since you now have a bigger audience of people who may not know these things already. Me included haha.
Keep up the great work, excited to see more videos!
One of my guilty pleasures watching Fazio Electric Lady's latest UA-cam videos, I know I shouldn't but I can't help myself! Watching smoking solder in the morning with my coffee just jumps starts my day.
It's so satisfying just watching you soldering and desoldering.
Great greeting from Japan!
I'm on a journey learning about how amps work. Your videos are perfect for me. Your presentation style is also excellent. Cheers!
The great Italian amp making tradition!
Grande Colleen!
Un abbraccio da Roma!
Amazing channel, love watching your videos. Please keep up the great work.
I have just found your channel, very interesting and well presented and with your recommendation I’ve also started to watch Uncle Doug. A nice job on the white amp, I agree with the way you went about the repair, keeping it as original as possible. The way you replaced the power lead makes sense to me and that’s how I think it should be done, great work keep posting.
Nice clean work. And I like how you explain everything.
Hi.
Super thankful for the UA-cam algorithm putting this in my suggested videos. Very cool to see such a unique amp. Now I'm watching your other videos and I appreciate you sharing your skills and knowledge.
Add one more to your list of subscribers and thank you for doing these videos. 😊
Same!!
I like the sound of that old speaker. Thanks for all the videos.
Thank you for sharing your work on this awesome amp. Awesome learning video.
Nice fix. The input jacks with those shorting tabs can be a source of noise that can drive you crazy and yet be the last place one might look for the problem. The director of EE here were work brought in a Modern boutique tweed that was generating occasional noise (ha, much like the noise when you removed the jack and flexed the jack tip connector). We were looking everywhere for that noise, substituting tubes, flexing wires, re-flowing solder joints and then an old amp tech here pointed us to the shorting jack. A little flexing of it fixed the noise. It just needed a little more tension onto the jack tip connector. Very good show! Thanks.
Wow! Beautiful work and you didn’t even have to remove the chassis. Outstanding!
Thank you Colleen once again!!!
Always so much info in your repair videos!
I learn every time I watch your channel!
Thanks for the excellent explanation theory wise on how you solder in the 3 prong power chord with the fuse ultimately providing protection if the switch was to short out and fail.
I really appreciate your Channel Colleen!
I really dig your playing at the end as well! Regae/ blues/ Rory!
Bob
Wow nice amp really enjoy your new channel.
In one Uncle Doug episode he took the old filter caps out of the Tweed amp he was working on, took the paper covers off of the filter caps, and put the new filter caps inside the old filter cap housings using a wooden dowel glued to each end with a hole in it for the wire to go through, making sure of course that the positive and negative was going through the correct side. Thereby changing the filter caps and making the amp appear as if it had never been worked on.
Thanks Colleen, I appreciate your methodical troubleshooting and repair. Good stuff. I'm a retired radar and comms tech and bass player.
I completely agree with the way you installed to power cord. That's how I do it too. I also totally get the owner wanting to preserve the originality of a rare vintage piece of history. Keep up the good work, I'm really enjoying your channel! ❤😍
(I really need to start making videos of my repairs)
This young woman is an incredibly talented electrician!
That thing sounds AMAZING! Love your work
Uncle Doug , Brad and me love your channel ... 3 of the best endorsers ever ... Lol ... Great vid ... Love seeing actual soldering ...
Awesome channel! I’m glad I discovered it. Thanks!
The safest way is always the best choice. Good job!
I like the way you did the 3 prong. Makes sense. Some people don't like the ground on the PT bolt, but in an amp like this , so rare, I wouldn't want to add a dedicated lug. Nice work!
you must do very good and reliable work to be able to have people trust you with these older amps! Good job!
Really enjoyed this one. I lived in Fullerton for a time and was aware of this one, but never had seen one. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for explaining what the death cap is. I see people talking about it but never have said why they call it that
Now I need to check my old Gibson amp to make sure it doesn’t have one!
What was the original purpose of putting this cap in??? Why is it no big deal to remove it? Thanks
@@altadena57 I think you have to do it when you have a 2 prong cable because it prevents you from getting shocked but the problem is if it decays, you can. No need with grounded three prong plug.
@@TK-fk4po Ahhh; now I get it; Thanks much
@@TK-fk4po Thanks for that explanation.
I build just about everything I use regularly in my life. Old cars, computers, guitars, tools... I just get a major buzz out of it all but I haven't gotten around to building amps or pedals yet for some reason and they're kinda how I make my living! Stumbling on your channel has been really educating and is really making me want to finally scratch the itch!!! Thanks for the great videos! :)
Glad I found your channel! This is inspiring me to finally service my '65 Champ.
Yes, going to the fuse first is most definitely the best way to do it which protects the amp and the user.
Cool amp. You asked about how others ground the chassis. I ground them with a dedicated small chair lug as close to the entry point of the power cord as possible. I no longer use transformer screws for a ground point because the weight and years of vibration of the PT will occasionally loosen a nut. Personal preference.
Exactly this! That’s how the folks at the TDPRI forum do it.
That is so cool! 😎 Never heard of the White amps, but I love my 5F2-A build.
Bravo on NOT replacing caps that don’t need it. If the value is close and it’s not leaking, I think leaving them alone makes sense. Especially for preamp cathode bypass caps.
You're really good at this Colleen.
Love the ending of the video! So tasteful, thank you!
Excellent video, enjoyed the walk through and explanations. Thanks for taking the time in creating your content
So nice to watch a professional!
Great job once again!
Yes I play guitar over 30years and I love tube amps but I watch this channel because I found it soothing :)
Another masterpiece of professional work. Thank you so much.
5 Watt tubes amps are my addiction. Love your channel!
Great video and nice repair. She sounds really good!
So happy to see someone that makes a mechanical connection before soldering and doesn't blow on it to cool down faster.
Really nice job and the amp has that cool old 50s grungy sound
Your presentation is detailed and informative. The amplifier (white) has an interesting story. 🎸🤘👍
Nice lighter action on the heat shrink. When I was a kid I was too broke to get wire strippers so I used my mullers - worked pretty good. I did use a lighter until someone felt bad for my fingers and got me a heat gun. I learned a few things also in 22 years in aerospace engineering designing mechanical devices like fuel flow meters and electronic packaging. I still use a lighter from time to time, but my mullers have all been replaced with crowns and don't work as well. So it goes.
I have done a few builds and lots of repairs. The scariest one was the 1951 Fender (I can't remember the model or schematic number right now). I put 20 microfarad film capacitors in it in place of the electrolytics. I got a great deal on them.
Thank you for the great videos and for what you add to the amp community!
Thanx Ms Fazio . I didn't understand anything you did but it was relaxing . you sure got the pro touch
Just an informative educational channel. Love all the history that is shared.
Thanks for explaining about the death cap. Was always a mystery to me.
Just so amazing, God Bless and Protect you!!!
Just came across lol, fantastic, it’s been a long time since I worked on equipment before during and after shows. I’d love to get back into it but don’t know anyone anymore lol. Take care and great repair/restore videos for sure. I seem to find a lot of ham radio gear that needs tlc. Thanks again.
Wow, nice! I worked on one of these a few years ago. A real treasure!
Your mains circuit of fuse, then switch, in that order, is spot on. As for the filter capacitors, there is nothing indicating that failure is imminent. A watchful eye and periodic testing will tell the owner when they need to be replaced. I agree with leaving the originals installed.
awesome, subscribed your doing really good work giving these vintage amps a new lease of life. cant wait till you get a 1960 bass man the holy grail of guitar tones.
It’s great to see younger people such as yourself delving into things such as this. I’m much older and only began learning it about a year or so ago, with a long way to go. Wish I would’ve started years ago. And understood more. But saying that, every time I see you use a lighter for the heat shrink I want to buy you a heat gun. Haha Sure, lighters work, but the heat gun works so much better. But seriously, keep up the great work. I know that Uncle Doug is proud!
Sounds great. Nice and quiet!
Colleen, you absolutely rock! You have a beautiful way of thoroughly explaining what you are doing and why? Your God given, soothing timbred vox is also a big plus. Love your 'less is more,' & 'if it ain't broke, then don't fix' approach. These are TLC units, and there is a balance as to the original parts relationship to one another; All modern parts sound different than the old ones and I just don't get why? But all the way down the line from mics to phono cartridges, you will find that vintage audio equipment, speaks a much better clear and present language. Cheers!😊
New 'subscriber' here.....nice job. Glad to see young people doing this type of work as us 'oldies' are getting rare working on our electronics.
It's good to watch new techs to this ever growing topic..this is a capacitor. This is a tube...now this could be a Pento or a tridode valve..let's not forget current and voltages that need to be worked out when building or restoring valve amps.
Keep up the learner thumbs up.
Nice job Colleen. Agreed on your power cord wiring. 👍
The camera loves you. I predict a bright future for your channel.
After 30 years of doing all kinds of mods and upgrades I've come to agree fully with you're "leave it alone if possible" philosophy. All kinds of effort to get the "best" sound only ended up with "different" sound really. Having the customer in on the choice is great.
Your subscriber number went up super fast. Congrats, you are pretty dang cool.
🙌🙌 on fusing the hot wire! Only difference on when I ground the 3 prong cord is that I give it it’s own grounding spot/screw/leg termination.
I like it when techs change original parts out for servicing. It makes the amps less desirable to collectors, which is good for people who buy them and actually intend to use the things.