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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 10:29 am
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bluesky636 wrote:
The OP has been asked at least twice why this work was necessary. Still no response.


Obviously a troll.

A number of them seem to have migrated here of late......

:roll:

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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:05 pm
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This is the reason(s) why:

Tone Stack - Get rid of that farty bottom, honky mids, and lack of clarity. High Quality Sprague Orange Drop Caps with corrected values for the Bass and Mid Cap and corrected value for the $@!&# resistor. What about the Treble cap?replace the cheap ceramic cap with a high quality Silver Mica cap. The result is an amp that sounds huge and warm with nice top end sparkle,not dark and buried in the mix.

Twin Mod -Fix the mids on the amp and get rid of that flabby bottom. This mod enables you to take all the mids out of the tone allowing more flexibility and versatility. This is accomplished with just a short jumper wire but the result is far better control of your tone.

Brightness - Like to play at low volumes but find the amp too dark? The brightness mod adds sparkle to your tone at low volumes. As you turn your amp up the brightness mod loses its effect so the amp never sounds brittle at high volumes.

Power Stiffening - Doubles the capacitance in the first filter stage, this reduces hum and increases reserve power for solid bass and better transience for incisive picking, This mod gives the amp the extra torque it needs to push through strong when you are playing hard. This also takes some stress off the output transformer increasing its life span.

Lead Master Volume - Ever wonder why this amp gets extremely loud after you turn it up past 2. Fender uses a linear taper pot for the Master Volume in the reissue Blues Deluxe when it should be an audio taper. This mod gives you usable control of the drive channel so you can get good tone without playing at stadium volume.

Plate Load Resistors - Replace all the plate load resistors with 5% 1/2 Carbon Comp resistors. This amp can develop a loud crackle/static that is caused by the plate load resistors. This mod fixes or prevents this problem and using the same carbon comp resistors found in vintage and boutique amps you add rich harmonic overtones.

Reverb Mod - Why does the reverb in this amp become a complete wash after turning it up past 3 especially at low volumes? This mod makes the reverb more controllable,fuller, and more natural. This is an easy mod that is nothing more than clipping one wire and replacing one cap but the result is amazing.

Switchcraft Input Jacks-Your input jacks are soldered directly to the circuit board, apply some tension when the amp is plugged in and you could cause major damage to the circuit board in the amp. This mod gets rid of the wimpy plastic input jacks and replaces them with high quality metal switchcraft jacks that are panel mounted and NOT directly soldered to the circuit board.Included is a shoulder washer and isolation washer so the input jacks do not ground directly to the chassis and prevents ground loops. The jacks come pre-wired with high quality, Teflon Coated, Silver Plated Copper Core wire. The solder I use is Silver bearing. This is the same quality you will find in high end boutique amplifiers costing thousands of dollars. Newer Blues Deluxe amps have a better quality Neutrik input jack which are better than the older amps but they are still attached directly to the PCB.

Proper Lead Dress -Take a look inside a boutique tube amp and you will see all the wires carefully twisted and placed for greatest reduction in oscillation and noise. The Blues Deluxe has all the internal wires zip tied together. Igive clear instructions on dressing the leads inside the amp for optimal performance, this results in lower noise and less chance for oscillation.


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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:56 pm
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You REALLY have to support the board when doing this about of work. And support the new parts which are prolly bigger and heavier (and prone to damaging the board from vibration). You know for all this work... maybe it's better to get a good used Fender (like a BMR)? Just my opinion.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-Bandmast ... 1c2846f5ed


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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:59 pm
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BMW2002Ti wrote:
You know for all this work... maybe it's better to get a good used Fender (like a BMR)? Just my opinion.


Some folks simply must have a $1500 BDRI.

:lol:

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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 6:04 pm
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If I new how to do electronics it would have only cost $80 to beef it up. I think most people have missed the second post where the tech told me the newer boards were more stout. I mainly went for the kit to have better volume control and tone down the hiss.


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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 7:04 pm
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If the amp was that bad, why in the world did you keep it?
What a load of horseshit. A month old? :lol: I wouldn't do that many mods to ANY amp. I would keep looking. A double sided board is usually a good board and like Bil said and in my experience way easier to work on.
I don't like HRD amps at all and would never buy another one. Also a properly manufactured PCB will last decades. I have PCB stereo equipment that's over 40 years old.
Nonsense like this is why I don't come here as often as I used to. :roll:

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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 8:10 pm
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Ah, yes. The BDRI Fromel mods:

http://fromelelectronics.com/modificati ... ues-Deluxe

$200 plus about another $200 for installation labor. Half the cost of the amp.

wander02 wrote:
Tone Stack - Get rid of that farty bottom, honky mids, and lack of clarity. High Quality Sprague Orange Drop Caps with corrected values for the Bass and Mid Cap and corrected value for the $@!&# resistor. What about the Treble cap?replace the cheap ceramic cap with a high quality Silver Mica cap. The result is an amp that sounds huge and warm with nice top end sparkle,not dark and buried in the mix.


Corrected values? What values need correcting? For the record, the tone stack is identical to that used in the 59 Bassman Reissue, which is the same as the later versions of the original 5F6A tone stack.

wander02 wrote:
Twin Mod -Fix the mids on the amp and get rid of that flabby bottom. This mod enables you to take all the mids out of the tone allowing more flexibility and versatility. This is accomplished with just a short jumper wire but the result is far better control of your tone.


Again: the tone stack is modeled on the Tweed Bassman, not a Blackface Twin. No matter how you mod the tone stack, the amp will not sound like a Blackface amp.

wander02 wrote:
Brightness - Like to play at low volumes but find the amp too dark? The brightness mod adds sparkle to your tone at low volumes. As you turn your amp up the brightness mod loses its effect so the amp never sounds brittle at high volumes.


So the kit adds a bright cap across the volume control? Didn't the bright switch work on your amp? I only use the bright switch with humbuckers and have no complaints.

wander02 wrote:
Power Stiffening - Doubles the capacitance in the first filter stage, this reduces hum and increases reserve power for solid bass and better transience for incisive picking, This mod gives the amp the extra torque it needs to push through strong when you are playing hard. This also takes some stress off the output transformer increasing its life span.


No hum in my BDRI. Dead quiet.

wander02 wrote:
Lead Master Volume - Ever wonder why this amp gets extremely loud after you turn it up past 2. Fender uses a linear taper pot for the Master Volume in the reissue Blues Deluxe when it should be an audio taper. This mod gives you usable control of the drive channel so you can get good tone without playing at stadium volume.


The master volume correctly uses a linear pot. It's purpose is to set overall level with gain and preamp distortion controlled by the gain control. Replacing this control with an audio pot is something that has been pushed by those who do not understand the design of the master volume circuit. Both the clean volume and gain control are already audio taper pots.

wander02 wrote:
Plate Load Resistors - Replace all the plate load resistors with 5% 1/2 Carbon Comp resistors. This amp can develop a loud crackle/static that is caused by the plate load resistors. This mod fixes or prevents this problem and using the same carbon comp resistors found in vintage and boutique amps you add rich harmonic overtones.


The crackle/static is caused by poor solder joints, not the type of resistor used. If carbon comp resistors add "harmonic overtones" its because they are noisier than carbon or metal film resistors. Interestign how carbon comp resistors used in vintage amps are a good thing, but ceramic disc caps that were also used in vintage amps are bad things.

wander02 wrote:
Reverb Mod - Why does the reverb in this amp become a complete wash after turning it up past 3 especially at low volumes? This mod makes the reverb more controllable,fuller, and more natural. This is an easy mod that is nothing more than clipping one wire and replacing one cap but the result is amazing.


Yep. Did that mod myself. Except I did it the proper way and removed the resistor entirely. By the way, once you clip the resistor lead or remove it, the cap no longer functions so not sure what they are really doing here.

wander02 wrote:
Switchcraft Input Jacks-Your input jacks are soldered directly to the circuit board, apply some tension when the amp is plugged in and you could cause major damage to the circuit board in the amp. This mod gets rid of the wimpy plastic input jacks and replaces them with high quality metal switchcraft jacks that are panel mounted and NOT directly soldered to the circuit board.Included is a shoulder washer and isolation washer so the input jacks do not ground directly to the chassis and prevents ground loops. The jacks come pre-wired with high quality, Teflon Coated, Silver Plated Copper Core wire. The solder I use is Silver bearing. This is the same quality you will find in high end boutique amplifiers costing thousands of dollars. Newer Blues Deluxe amps have a better quality Neutrik input jack which are better than the older amps but they are still attached directly to the PCB.


Yes, this might be a useful change. Some people have done it. No problem with my input jacks, though.

wander02 wrote:
Proper Lead Dress -Take a look inside a boutique tube amp and you will see all the wires carefully twisted and placed for greatest reduction in oscillation and noise. The Blues Deluxe has all the internal wires zip tied together. I give clear instructions on dressing the leads inside the amp for optimal performance, this results in lower noise and less chance for oscillation.


Yeah. I redressed my leads. Took about 15 minutes. The stock amp does not have a noise or oscillation problem.

I gotta agree with 63 Supro and the others. If you found it necessary to do all these mods to get the sound you wanted, you bought the wrong amp. By the way, the best and cheapest mods you could have done to this amp that would have solved probably at least 90% of your "problems" would have been to replace the stock speaker with a better one (a popular choice is the Eminence Cannabis Rex) and a good set of tubes (I like JJs) to replace the crappy Groove Tubes. Even better would be to put a 5751 or 12AY7 in the V1 position.

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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 10:06 pm
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I guess all of this begs the question; do you like the sound of the amp now, wander02? Should be a killer amp! :)

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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 10:38 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
I guess all of this begs the question; do you like the sound of the amp now, wander02? Should be a killer amp! :)


Still probably has the stock speaker and cheap GTs in it, which negates any real value, if there is any, of the mods. Yes, I know you like GTs, shimmilou, but trust me, the one's Fender puts in the BDRI are real crap.

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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 10:49 pm
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bluesky636 wrote:
I gotta agree with 63 Supro and the others. If you found it necessary to do all these mods to get the sound you wanted, you bought the wrong amp.


Decades ago I bought a brand new '69 Pro Reverb that never sounded good. I tried every trick I knew (new tubes, bias tweaks, ditching the OEM Utahs and installing Concert Series Jensens). I even gave it over to my Dad and let him put it on his bench with an Eico signal generator and a Tektronics scope but he couldn't pinpoint why the amp sounded so crappy. After $300 spent on "lipstick" I cut my losses and dumped the amp. It's hard to admit when one buys a pig but that's what it was. I'll never repeat that mistake -- if it doesn't float my boat right there on the showroom floor then that's where I'll leave it.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:28 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
bluesky636 wrote:
I gotta agree with 63 Supro and the others. If you found it necessary to do all these mods to get the sound you wanted, you bought the wrong amp.


Decades ago I bought a brand new '69 Pro Reverb that never sounded good. I tried every trick I knew (new tubes, bias tweaks, ditching the OEM Utahs and installing Concert Series Jensens). I even gave it over to my Dad and let him put it on his bench with an Eico signal generator and a Tektronics scope but he couldn't pinpoint why the amp sounded so crappy. After $300 spent on "lipstick" I cut my losses and dumped the amp. It's hard to admit when one buys a pig but that's what it was. I'll never repeat that mistake -- if it doesn't float my boat right there on the showroom floor then that's where I'll leave it.

Arjay


The thing is, a BDRI can sound really good with just a speaker and tube change (properly biased). Yet there are several companies out there that sell kits to rebuild the amp so you end up spending almost the price of the new amp once you add up parts and labor. In my opinion, there is nothing inherently wrong with the BDRI that a few minor, relatively low cost tweeks can't improve. There are a few mods that I have considered doing, but since I can do them myself, the cost is minimal. But each time I think about doing them, I find a reason not to. I have my 5F6A clone set up to work with my Fender/Squire guitars with stacked humbuckers and the BDRI set up to work with my PAF/Filtertron type humbucker guitars. Works great. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:04 am
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Sounds like the Justin Holton files turned into a kit. Buy kit, do work and f up the work then a tech has to take over and bail you out! No wonder it cost you!
PCB are all crap?
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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:20 am
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If people would listen with their OWN ears instead of listening to everybody else telling them they NEED to mod their amps to sound good, they would save themselves a lot of headaches and cash too. :wink: I felt everything I did to my HRDlx accounted to nothing more than turd polish. I only went as far as tubes and bias, because all the repairs that had to be done to keep it working kept it out of my hands for quite a while. It wasn't being modded, it was being repaired. A lot of the guys that I know that mod the Blues jr and other HRD amps are mostly stay at home or bedroom players who never had to deal with the adverse conditions of gigging or even know what a great sounding amp sounds like because the HRD series amps were the only amps they ever had and thought they were the mutts nuts. But somebody like Fargen or Billm and others suggests they need to fix something that ain't broke to begin with. I find the power of suggestion very amusing.

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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:52 am
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All of these modifications remind me of when I first started working on guitar amps. Everyone had this-or-that "hot-rod" mod for the PR. To make it sound like Carlos Santana's. Which was prolly the basis for the first Mesa Boogie combo.

Needless to say, I've seen a TON of blown-up PR's :( in my life. Most modified beyond the current and voltage capabilties of the original PR's iron and power supply's specs. Luckily, most of these older amps can be restored to original specs, as it's not so hard to do with P2P tagboard and availability of good iron and other parts.

Not sure you can say the same for a modern BDRI.


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Post subject: Re: BDRI 2012 weak / fragile circuit board
Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 12:36 pm
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I have a USA Blues Deluxe in blonde tolex that I bought used about 15 years ago. It has never failed me and has been gigged regularly during that time. I recently stripped the plastic threads from the input jack and need to have that fixed before it does damage to the circuit board. Other than that, no issues and great sound!

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