What I tell people asking about original caps is that Leo Fender started out as a radio repairman. And the genius of his amp designs is that he made them easy to be serviced. *Because he expected them to be serviced.* He would view a 60 year old cap as a slap in the face to everything he was trying to do with his designs.
I am getting really sick of needing to go into an argument about it every time. I just decline those kinds of jobs these days. There are plenty of other local repairers who will entertain that philosophy.
@@BradsGuitarGarage It's got to all be original mate. I would never buy a vintage race car unless it had original tyres and brake pads ...... eeerrrrrrmm ;-)
I've had premature failures with CE can caps. I used another a few weeks ago, so fingers crossed on that, but I think I'm going to make a standard replacement board for Champs/Princetons so I don't have to use them in the future. A little FR4 board that will sit over the old cap and allow high quality radials.
Do your black face champs / vibrochamps over there have those 3 holes in the chassis like this one? Or was that an export only thing? They could potentially be used to mount a PCB / turret board without modifying the chassis.
Damnit. I guess I’ve just been very very lucky and haven’t had a CE multi-section fail yet…but now I’m more than a little concerned. What’s everyone’s thought about using a 30uf on the first node and 22uf at the other two? All 500VDC of course. Would solve the over-voltage at cold start and also add a bit of capacitance on the first stage to remove the small remaining ripple without exceeding max load of the 5Y3.
Totally in tune with your thoughts and experiences . Doing half a job is no good for the customer or our reputations . Yet still , once in a while a job can come back with another problem . A classic valve amp is like a classic car . It's going to need maintenance , and other things will still fail . It's naive for anyone to think otherwise . And those modern valve amp models that we don't want in our workshops are the car equivalent of high performance vehicles . They're going to need a lot more maintenance than a run-around , and it's going to cost the owner sooner or later .
Most of the time CE cans seem to work well. Certainly terminal strips work well for under chassis replacement. I always recommend all paper caps be replaced, as they are either bad or trouble waiting to happen. When I see an amp with just the filters replaced, I see a project half done. Most amplifiers don't use "magic" capacitors. You can bet that Fender and Gibson used whatever was the cheapest at the time...a good proof of this is the cheap little power switch. Also don't forget the bias resistor is too small...tube were cheap back then and they ran them hot. Fix this, you won't notice any difference in power, but the output tube will last a lot longer.
Damn straight. Trying to preserve a sound that didn't exist when the caps were new is super silly to me. Trying to preserve a "vintage" point on a rapid downward trajectory of decay is only going to result in headaches for the tech and the customer.
@@BradsGuitarGarage , NIN!? Better you than me! I prefer listening to the Dregs or the Steve Morse Band early in the morning. Take It Off the Top, Odyssey, or Cruise Missile are nearly as good as a couple cups of coffee for getting the brain and body in gear; or perhaps Night Meets Light if I need to ease into it gradually....
"The Doctor wheel sea ewe now". Someday I'll apply four Soc. Sec., hand send my VHT (designed) Chinese 'hand-wired' Special-6 out two sum lucky "tech", hurd that a guy named Lyle doze good work?😏 Consensus seams only snobs w/ Fender, Marshall or VOX actually get service, all udders just get shamed, mostly. Butt, wheel sea wont oui?🇺🇸✡️✝️
What I tell people asking about original caps is that Leo Fender started out as a radio repairman. And the genius of his amp designs is that he made them easy to be serviced.
*Because he expected them to be serviced.*
He would view a 60 year old cap as a slap in the face to everything he was trying to do with his designs.
I am getting really sick of needing to go into an argument about it every time.
I just decline those kinds of jobs these days. There are plenty of other local repairers who will entertain that philosophy.
@@BradsGuitarGarage It's got to all be original mate. I would never buy a vintage race car unless it had original tyres and brake pads ...... eeerrrrrrmm ;-)
I've had premature failures with CE can caps. I used another a few weeks ago, so fingers crossed on that, but I think I'm going to make a standard replacement board for Champs/Princetons so I don't have to use them in the future. A little FR4 board that will sit over the old cap and allow high quality radials.
Do your black face champs / vibrochamps over there have those 3 holes in the chassis like this one?
Or was that an export only thing? They could potentially be used to mount a PCB / turret board without modifying the chassis.
Damnit. I guess I’ve just been very very lucky and haven’t had a CE multi-section fail yet…but now I’m more than a little concerned. What’s everyone’s thought about using a 30uf on the first node and 22uf at the other two? All 500VDC of course. Would solve the over-voltage at cold start and also add a bit of capacitance on the first stage to remove the small remaining ripple without exceeding max load of the 5Y3.
Totally in tune with your thoughts and experiences . Doing half a job is no good for the customer or our reputations . Yet still , once in a while a job can come back with another problem . A classic valve amp is like a classic car . It's going to need maintenance , and other things will still fail . It's naive for anyone to think otherwise . And those modern valve amp models that we don't want in our workshops are the car equivalent of high performance vehicles . They're going to need a lot more maintenance than a run-around , and it's going to cost the owner sooner or later .
True words, mate!
Your knowledge of this stuff just blows my tiny mind.
DUFFMAN! Thanks for watching, mate!
Most of the time CE cans seem to work well. Certainly terminal strips work well for under chassis replacement. I always recommend all paper caps be replaced, as they are either bad or trouble waiting to happen. When I see an amp with just the filters replaced, I see a project half done. Most amplifiers don't use "magic" capacitors. You can bet that Fender and Gibson used whatever was the cheapest at the time...a good proof of this is the cheap little power switch. Also don't forget the bias resistor is too small...tube were cheap back then and they ran them hot. Fix this, you won't notice any difference in power, but the output tube will last a lot longer.
Great video from a retired amp tech. Cheers from the US and A..!
Thanks again for watching, mate!
Champions !!! I love it . Great Video Brad .
Thanks for watching, you dead-set CHAMPION!
New caps in an amp is a good thing.
Damn straight.
Trying to preserve a sound that didn't exist when the caps were new is super silly to me.
Trying to preserve a "vintage" point on a rapid downward trajectory of decay is only going to result in headaches for the tech and the customer.
Could you put an RC snubber across the HT secondary to reduce the power up surge?
Well done
Poke and hope wiring on that cap. Reports of those modern cap cans being really unreliable. Considering how expensive they are that sucks.
Is there ever a time of the morning when a square wave isn't *too aggressive*? 🤣
Sometimes I feel like listening to NIN. That's when.
@@BradsGuitarGarage , NIN!? Better you than me! I prefer listening to the Dregs or the Steve Morse Band early in the morning. Take It Off the Top, Odyssey, or Cruise Missile are nearly as good as a couple cups of coffee for getting the brain and body in gear; or perhaps Night Meets Light if I need to ease into it gradually....
@@goodun2974 NIN suits the morning run/walk/ride.
I’m to the point where I won’t look at an amp unless they agree to a $200+ possible budget.
The standard valve guitar amp clean, test & service fee is $220AU and that is before any parts or repairs have taken place.
@@BradsGuitarGarage that’s $165 US so we aren’t too far off from one another.
@@BradsGuitarGarage what would a total re cap cost ? + your mods ? [1977 Fender Vibro-Champ]
"The Doctor wheel sea ewe now". Someday I'll apply four Soc. Sec., hand send my VHT (designed) Chinese 'hand-wired' Special-6 out two sum lucky "tech", hurd that a guy named Lyle doze good work?😏 Consensus seams only snobs w/ Fender, Marshall or VOX actually get service, all udders just get shamed, mostly. Butt, wheel sea wont oui?🇺🇸✡️✝️