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Post subject: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 7:44 am
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I did some upgrades and a few changes on my 1995 Blues Deluxe and since I acquired a lot of the knowledge about what and how by lurking on this forum, I thought I would share it, and thank you folks here :)

Tone stack upgraded - C6 (Bass: .1uf, 400V) and C7 – (Middle: .022uf, 400V) replaced by Orange Drops of same value but 600v. C5 (Treble: 250pf, 400V) replaced by Silver Mica of same value.
Not tone stack but in the signal chain, the three 100K plate resistors (R4, R9, R18) was replaced by Carbon Compound, 1W.

Tonestack changed:
39K resistor soldered between the wiper and the grounded terminal on the 25K Middle pot, changing it to a 15K pot.

Attempting to avoid known problems:
Replaced C45, & C46, power supply filter caps with 22uf, 500V TAD Gold caps.
Replaced the 350V 100uf caps C34, C35, C41 and C42 with 100uf, 350V TAD Gold caps.
Replaced the 16V power supply resistors R85 and R86 (470 ohm 5w), mounting them up, off the PC board a little to prevent heat from spreading to the board.

Added adjustable BIAS pot:
Replaced R87 to a 15K ohm resistor and added a 25K adjustable resistor in series (the pot for BDRI or HRD).

Improving Reverb:
Cut C50 on the Reverb pot to improve reverb to more classic style.

Blue Loctite automotive silicone (can take up 280 degress Celsius) was used to mount and stabilize large capacitors, and the cables between the main and tube boards :D

The tube configuration:
Preamp = Harma Retro ECC83
Poweramp= TAD 6L6 WGC.
BIAS 38mA @ 444V = 56.2% of max plate dissipation.

I'm pleased with the results.
Before I found the clean channel to be considerably more bass and mid heavy than the drive channel. Also the reverb was either washed out/mushy or too much of it.

Now the clean channel have that classic Fender chime. A little less reverb I think, but much clearer.
The EQ difference between the clean and the drive channel is less prominent.

So thanks to the users on this forum for all the great information and tips. No one mentioned, no one fotgotten - you know who :)

Oh a pics or it didn't happen :D

Before the upgrade:
Image

After the upgrade:
Image

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Post subject: Re: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 9:26 am
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Wow.......just wow! :!: Good job Johnny99, and great first post. Welcome to the forum.

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Post subject: Re: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 9:28 am
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shimmilou wrote:
Wow.......just wow! :!: Good job Johnny99, and great first post. Welcome to the forum.

Thank you very much :)

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Post subject: Re: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 11:19 am
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There's alot of great tips on this forum how to Fender-ify your Blues Deluxe.

Personally I also put a honking JBL D-130F with the huge bell in mine. It took alot of time figuring that rubik's cube out.

I have done it!.. I can upload a picture if you are in disbelief!

Welcome to the good side! - The fender side!


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Post subject: Re: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 2:05 pm
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Is that the stock speaker, Johnny?

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 9:04 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
Is that the stock speaker, Johnny?

Arjay

No - it's a Weber 12A150-T alnico speaker, that one of the previous owners put in.
No room for the magnet cover.

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Post subject: Re: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 10:22 pm
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A good choice for an upgrade. The teal color of the frame suggested it might have been a Jensen P12N sans the bell cover. I'm sure the Weber sounds much better.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 10:53 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
A good choice for an upgrade. The teal color of the frame suggested it might have been a Jensen P12N sans the bell cover. I'm sure the Weber sounds much better.

Arjay

It sure sounds great :)
The previous owner did mention that the speaker was not the stock one, when I inquired about the amp. He didn't know what it was, but assumed the owner before him, had replaced it to get another sound.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover it was a Weber alnico :)

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Post subject: Re: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 10:59 pm
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Feelyfeels wrote:
There's alot of great tips on this forum how to Fender-ify your Blues Deluxe.

Personally I also put a honking JBL D-130F with the huge bell in mine. It took alot of time figuring that rubik's cube out.

I have done it!.. I can upload a picture if you are in disbelief!

Welcome to the good side! - The fender side!

That's a mighty speaker upgrade.I can imagine it's kind of a Rubik's cube to fit.
Thanks for the welcome :)

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Post subject: Re: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 1:41 am
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Be carefull where to use silicon , some have capacitance/ resistance and you may have some problems if silicon touch conductive circuit


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Post subject: Re: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 8:06 am
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stratele52 wrote:
Be carefull where to use silicon , some have capacitance/ resistance and you may have some problems if silicon touch conductive circuit

I wasn't aware of that - thanks :)
I must have been lucky - at least I haven't discovered any problems yet.
So hot glue is the better option?

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Post subject: Re: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 10:45 am
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I have also never heard of silicone causing a problem...
But hot melt glue in a tube amp... Uhh, I have had it run all over the place. I do use it on input jacks to stabilize them though. Just keep it away from the heat.


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Post subject: Re: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 10:14 pm
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TimsAudio wrote:
I have also never heard of silicone causing a problem...
But hot melt glue in a tube amp... Uhh, I have had it run all over the place. I do use it on input jacks to stabilize them though. Just keep it away from the heat.

That was my reason for going with the high temperature resistant silicone - this amp get hot in some places :)

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Post subject: Re: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 10:47 pm
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stratele52 wrote:
Be carefull where to use silicon , some have capacitance/ resistance and you may have some problems if silicon touch conductive circuit


From what I've heard, the acetate solvent in the silicone glue maybe bad on the circuit board, while the glue is drying. More so on cardboard-made tagboards than fiber-plastic boards. Once dried --- silicone glue is a good insulator.

I like glue gun. Looks neater afterwards. FWIW...


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Post subject: Re: Upgraded my Blues Deluxe - thanks for tips!
Posted: Sat May 30, 2015 2:36 am
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TimsAudio wrote:
I have also never heard of silicone causing a problem...
t.


I never heard myself until I use it .... :(

I don't know if it is with any brand , but mine touch conductive circuit and I have trouble with the amp until I remove it .


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