Hey Folks,
Here is a good one I'll bet you can't help with....
On the older amps by Fender and others, they had ac outlets mounted on the rear of the chassis. These were straight blade 2-prong non-grounding..ouch!!
Amphenol made the grounding type in the size to fit the hole in the chassis. Hard to find.
For a short while Cooper Connectors were making/supplying these to places like Digi-Key
and some others and I think they would fit very easily.
Now they have stopped selling them. At the time they were going for $19 and up, OUCH!
Needless to say we should update these elder beauties and it's quite hard to find any type that will work without drilling/grinding the mounting hole.
I have found a surplus seller in California who has some and they are $15.00 each...ouch!
Any help or information would be very appreciated.
I would even send you a NOS Sprague Vitamin Q, paper in oil tone cap, if I have the value you would like to try.
Thanks for reading this lengthy note.
Tube Dude

Hey Tube Dude,

I am not sure if I understand your question correctly, how about just taking your amp to the tech for the proper electrical update. I heard from someone in the past that any decent tech could do it without the need to touch the transformer. I use modern amps and never had issue like this.

There's a vendor on Ebay offering 3-conductor AC convenience outlets for Fender amps for around twenty bucks. And in this era where folks eagerly pay six bucks and up for a lousy cup of coffee from Starbucks and three hundred bucks for a stinking phone, I don't think $20.00 to update a vintage Fender amp is too much to pay.

Time for a reality check.

(silverface Fenders built subsequent to 1971 already have the grounded outlet factory-installed)

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Arjay,
Thanks for your reply. I agree, $20 plus shipping isn't too costly.
I found one person on eBay with a pic of 9 or so. I contacted him and the measured dimensions will not fit without enlarging the hole and drilling new mounting holes.
I have a silver face AB165 Bassman, 1969 head and a Bandmaster AB763, 1968 with a mid sized cab with 2-12's.
I'm repairing and restoring the head and building a 2-15 cab for the bassman.
I had one of the BF in 65...AB165 circuit.. 2- 2X12 cabs very nice tone. This one I will keep.
May sell the Bandmaster. It has the 2-12 cab that size wise, is smaller than the showman cabs but larger than the 2-12 bassman cab of that era. I have new grill cloth and am ordering the Tolex for this original cab of the Bandmaster. It sounds very good!
I'll probably order a few from the folks in California. Those will fit correctly without modding. They were made by Amphenol from back then. Not made any more.
I was just asking to see if anyone knows of any that would work without the modding.
I repair and service amps, guitars, tube testing and caps testing, pedals etc.
I have a one man operation and so far so good.
I am about to fill out the request form to also be a service center for Fender.
I am setup with Peavey as well.
Arjay, Let me ask one last question...Did my post sound confusing to you?
I had a reply from one person who didn't understand my post and his reply caused me to re-read..sounds clear to me.
Sorry to go on and on.
Thanks very much for your time man!
I really appreciate your reply and all.
Take care!
Ron Thomas
Oklahoma

I knew what you were referring to -- can't speak for others though.

BTW, you have a PM inbound.

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

While on the subject of grounding, you might want to be sure that your 3 prong outlets are properly grounded.

My last house had 3 prong outlets, but apparently the ground was just for decoration -- we only discovered this when we saw the inspection report that was commissioned by the people that bought the place. For some reason, I had the silly idea that grounded outlets were actually grounded, especially in a house that had been owned by an electrician and his family.

Thanks to you!
Yes, when we first bought this house I checked them all.
I have a 12X20 shop in the back I built and wire and then hired A/C electricians to check my work and bring in 120 through my 50 amp 6 circuit breaker box.
Thanks much for the reply.
If i can be of any assistance with questions on amps and the like...let me know.
Take care and keep on playing....bass of course!
Ron
The Tube Dude

Where do you hang your hat Ron?

_________________
The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

Oklahoma City area!
How about you?
Tube Dude

Hey man,visit the vintage amp section here if you haven't already,some good stuff in there...honestly I haven't thought about upgrading the outlet on my old amps,I never use it but that doesn't mean somebody in the future wouldn't want to,I've rewired the cords to 3 prongs,I might have bypassed the outlet on a couple,can't remember.

Hi,
I can remember in 66' we were playing at a teen hop.
First song and I walked up to my mike, Shure sm 58 type,
touched my lips and I saw purple flashing thru my eyes and
got bit by the amount of current leakage.The purple looked
just like the purple glow of the 5881 power tubes of our pa amp.
Needless to say, from then on we made sure everything we plugged
in somewhere to play somehow had a common ground.
There were times I have used just a wire to make a connection
between the pa amp and our amps...
Yeah, one might never use this receptacle but it only takes once
to decide to do something about the bite!!
Thanks for the info.
I really like the old tube amps.
I have a 76' Ampeg SVT that I have repaired/restored, even to having the the two
main transformers rewound. My favorite bass amp is the SVT, then the Fender Dual Showman, Fender Bassman. The are also some of the early Sunns, solid state,that I like
as well.
Take care!
Tube Dude

HA! yep,all of us old guys have been bitten by the mic,good thing you didn't grab ahold of it,we both know guys have died under those conditions....I saw a spark about 1/2 long reach out and bite a friend on the lips,that's a healthy dose of current.
I've worked with electricity all my life and have learned that most people only know how to plug a cord in,I work for an electric utility....bottom line is safety is top priority in my mind,but still I know of at least two of my vintage Fenders still wired to the outlet,I'll look into changing either the outlet or bypass it for the future,I know under normal conditions,these amps will outlast me.

Rebel,
I readily agree. Safety first.
With the older amps they used on the 2 prong
outlets.
Finding the grounded type is very difficult.
I have found some I believe will work very well
with little modification to the chassis.
Go to www.electronicplus.com and look under electrical,
then plugs and jacks.
They are asking $15 for one and I think it is worth it.
I have 2 late 60's Fender amps I am updating.
I once worked for Baptist Hospital in OKC and my
specific duty was taking my cart filled with all
portable testing equipment from difib dumps to
current leakage tester. Wish I hadn't quit after
about 2 1/2 years. Went to play in a band..la la la.
Take care Rebelsoul.. We are on the same page.
Tube Dude

Thanks,I'll check those out...I love tinkering around on the amps,but I still have a lot to understand on how all the electronic components work together....I've played since the '60s like you but didn't start learning about the inside workings of the amps until about 10-12 years ago....Arjay is one of the resident amp specialists here that I listen to...there's several more with lots of knowledge.
BTW welcome to the forum!