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Post subject: early 70's Deluxe Reverb Silverface
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:45 pm
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Hi,
I recently got a early 70's Deluxe Reverb Silverface. It's seen its better days, but it works and sounds pretty good. I replaced all of the tubes today with new ones and now I'm on a mission to get it sounding the best that I can. I have tons of questions so if anyone can help me out, I would really appreciate it!

What would be a good replacement speaker? The original one works but could definitely be improved.
I can hear a "crackling" noise when I turn any of the knobs. Is this just the pots? What is the best way to clean them? How do I know if they need to be replaced? Same with caps.
The reverb and the vibrato don't work at all. Does the vibrato not working have anything to do with the reverb not working or vice/versa? Should I just buy a new reverb tank anyway?

Ok, I know that's a lot to ask, but if anyone has any suggestions about any of it, it would really help me out.
Thanks!!!


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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 8:07 pm
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Hi Mike, nice amp. I've had the pleasure of rehabbing and tuning up these guys, for players and a collector. For the speaker, you might want to check out, www.tedweber.com . I get the feeling you want to work on this amp yourself. If that's the case, then I suggest you get an amp maintenance book ei. "Complete Guide to Guitar and Amp Maintenance" by Ritchie Fliegler. You must approach amp work safely!!!! Seems like most of the amp issues are not serious(dirty pots & filter caps). The vibrato needs a foot switch or a shorted RCA plug to function. The reverb may only need a twisting of the RCA plugs at the tank and the rear of the amp(to clean off any oxidation). If the amp is rocked, can you hear the springs? Did you spray the tube pins with contact cleaner before replacing? The Reverb and Vibrato functions are seperate, even without a footswitch the reverb works(move that reverb control knob back and forth).I can't advise removing the chassis, until you know how to discharge the filter caps. ART

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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 8:33 pm
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Hey thanks for the help!
No, I can't hear the springs at all when I rock the amp. I opened up the reverb tank and it looks fine to me. The reverb knob does nothing when I adjust it. Could you elaborate a little more on the RCA plugs? It has the "reverb input and reverb output RCA's" on the amp and the tank. The plugs were not connected when I got it and when I plugged them in, they were apparently backwards because it made a HORRIBLE noise and the fuse blew! :shock: I had a spare fuse and luckily no damage was done. As far as the RCA plugs themselves, I haven't tried doing anything to them yet. Maybe they are the problem, I'm not sure how I can tell. I did not use any contact cleaner before I put in the new tubes. I plan on getting some soon though. So the vibrato is only activated with a footswitch? Interesting. I don't have the original footswitch, but I have another Fender 2 button footswitch.

Thanks for responding and any other help you can offer would be great!!!
Mike


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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 11:02 pm
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Mike can you ask the previous owner about the amp? ei. Why was the reverb unplugged? Were there problems blowing fuses? That kind of info would help, know what I mean? As far as the RCA plugs goes, I meant, to just rotate the plug in the jack inorder to scrub off any dirt or oxidation, contact cleaner can be sprayed on the plugs first. For a vibrato test, you can take an old RCA cord and cut off the plug leaving a few inches of wire, then carefully strip the insulation. You'll find an outside conductor and another conductor in the center wire. These need to be twisted together and tapped up to complete the vib circuit. Plug it in the vib footswitch jack and give it a try. If you use another footswitch, the unshielded line(single wire-no braided covering) goes to the vib input. The reverb- can you hook up the tank now without blowing a fuse? ART

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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 11:18 pm
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Unfortunately, the previous owner knows nothing about the amp. If you can believe this- he thought the amp was broken and traded it to me for a six pack of beer!! The tubes were just blown and it works fine! :lol: I will try what you said about the RCA cable to the vibe circuit. At this point, the reverb is hooked up. It still doesn't work, but the amp is functioning fine without blowing the fuse. I will report back any results I get. Thanks again for helping me out!!! I need all the help I can get!! :D


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Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:24 pm
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Hey Mike, any luck with the vibrato function? That reverb scenario when the amp howled and blew the fuse, were the new tubes in the amp? Just reversing the tank leads should not harm anything nor blow the fuse. Can you swap the tank leads with any other good RCA cables? ei. VCR or stereo. This is just for testing the tank and amp. A new 12AT7 for V3 would also be a good idea if the new tubes were in the amp when the fuse blew. If, after all this testing, the reverb still doesn't work you could try a new tank and cables or have a tech check out the internal wiring and components for failure. ART

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Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:35 pm
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Hey ART,
nope, still no luck with the reverb or vibrato. When you were talking about testing the vibrato with an old RCA cord, how exactly did you mean? I cut off one of the plugs on an old one I had and stripped it and twisted the wires together, but what then? Did you mean just stick the bare wires in the vibrato switch jack? Is the other end supposed to be connected to something? Sorry, I got a bit lost there lol. I'm still learning as I go. Any further help would be great! Thanks for taking the time!


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Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 6:24 pm
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Mike, Sorry if I was too vague. So what you've got now is a RCA cable with the two internal conductors twisted together and tapped up ,right? Plug the RCA fitting into the Vib. footswitch jack on the rear amp panel. Turn up the intensity control and give it try. Nothing is connected to the tapped junction of the cable. It's taking the place of a switch. ART

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Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 6:37 pm
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Art, you mean a regular RCA cord right, with a red and white plug on each end? I cut off one of the plugs on one end, stripped the coved wire in the center and twisted it together with the rest of the outside wire. Did you mean to cut off both plugs on one end and twist them together? I tried it with the one wire twisted together and it didn't do anything. :( thoughts?


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Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 8:41 pm
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Yeah man , that's the idea. One plug at one end of the RCA cord and the two conductor wires twisted together at the other end. The outside wires are called the shielding and is one of the conductors I'm talking about. Sounds like you got that part correct. So what happens when you plug the RCA plug into the Vib. jack? ART

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Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:08 pm
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Okay, here is a summary of what i have tried so far. I took the cable (I only had one with the 3 plugs: red, white, and yellow.) I cut off the plugs on the red and white wires and peeled back the insulation wiring. I cut off the covering on each conductor wire and twisted them together. I don't get anything but "crackling" sounds when I put this unshielded wire into the vibrato switch jack in the back or either of the two front ones. Adjusting the knobs does nothing. On my amp, the reverb footswitch jack is an RCA style input, but the vibrato switch jack is a 1/4 size jack so I cant plug the RCA plug into the vibrato jack. :?


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Post subject:
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 9:57 am
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Didn't realize that jack was 1/4 inch, my bad. Now it's a matter of shorting a 1/4 inch plug for the test. You don't want to be cutting up good cables, so I'd get a plug or even a cheap patch cord from Radio Shack or any store. The patch cord might be the way to go because you already know the procedure. ART

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Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 10:12 am
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Well I've got a bunch of old amp cords that I never use. Will that work? I cut the plug off of one end and stripped the insulation and twisted up the wires. I have a 1/8 to 1/4 headphone adapter plug and I stuck the wire in there and then plugged it into the vibrato jack. Still nothing. Where should I go from here?


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Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 7:15 pm
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Mike, I think you've done all the testing possible, given my limited scope of knowledge and explaining abilities. I think you could either play the heck out of the amp and enjoy it, as is, or have a tech take a look at it. Seriously, if you want the amp up to it's potential, it will need some quality bench time. ART

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Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 8:52 pm
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Yeah, thanks for all of your help, but I think I have done all I can do for now. The amp still sounds good as is. I have reverb and vibrato pedals anyway, it would just be cool to have everything on the amp working as it should. I'll probably get someone to look at it soon. Either way, I'm pretty sure it was worth the $7 I got it for!!!!!! 8)


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