new amp day: 68 super reverb

[cestlamort]

well, it finally arrived via ups and it looks to be in good shape, if a bit musty and dusty.  (a bit stinky old amp smell already).



The seller, unfortunately, packed the whole thing in peanuts (?!) so I'll be digging those out for a while.  I now know not to trust sellers who've said that they ship lots of amps... 

Goodness:
1. 67 transformers
2. blackline, drip edge, so I'm guessing it's still blackface inside


Weirdness:

1. what looks to be a master volume mod
2. 1 6l6 is microphonic (and a blackplate rca -- sigh), 1 6l6 is a ken-rad 6l6 GA (big ol' coke bottle)
3. needs new grounded plug
4. I'm sure it will need a cap job and the MV disengaged, if that's what it is, but I got it for fairly cheap and am willing to put a little bit of money into it.

Safe to plug into it for a minute?

[jop]

peanuts?

as in:



Nice amp btw. Silverfaces have something which I really really like. 

[cestlamort]

ha.  I meant these:

[øøøøøøø]

Good get!  Yes, get that MV out of there and get it recapped and 3-prong installed.  Probably OK to plug in for a minute, but if you notice anything weird or any funky smells, turn it off right away.  You're probably gonna want a good set of matched 6L6s in there, too.  Winged C and TAD 6L6s are decent new production 6L6s.  NOS 6L6GCs are prohibitively expensive.  Even a little microphonic, the old ones are probably worth something.

If the transformers are '67, then that amp should definitely be AB763 inside, provided, of course, that it hasn't been modded all to hell other than the MV.  Any chance of a gut shot?

Good work! 

[cestlamort]

thanks!  I hope it'll end up good.  It was below market, but obviously needs a little help.

The seller "didn't want to mess with opening up old amps" so I'll have to gut shot it myself.  The MV is a bit of a mystery: the original owner supposedly didn't do any mods to it, but this is obviously not stock. 

I still have a box of microphonic rca 6l6's from my last amp.  Maybe two out of the five will be worthwhile (or at least pay for new tubes).  Thanks for the tip.  I've used sovteks and JJs in my other amps and both have been serviceable to good. 

(edit: output transformer is a '68, not a big deal, I hope). 

Gut shots tomorrow (wife will be out of town). 

[BenHagerty]

Very nice amp! I want one so badly

[cestlamort]

slight update:
sounds lovely.  Reverb and vibrato need the switch to work (oops, things I overlook).  reverb seems to be wonked.

Also: the "master volume" seems more like a presence control (?).  Weird, weird, stupid idea.

I'm taking it to my excellent although curmudgeonly amp tech tomorrow.

[Jay]

Great looking Super.

If you want the reverb or trem always the opposite of whatever it is without the switch in, you can get and RCA cable, cut one end off just past the plug, and strip it down to short the two wires together. Then when you plug that into the back of the amp, the reverb or trem will be switched to the opposite of whatever the default is.

[cestlamort]

thanks!  It is a bit rougher than the pic shows, but just some minor scuffing on the tolex and the face panel, one snag in the grill, rusty corners, etc.  Didn't help that a 68 popped up on a local craigslist 10 minutes after receiving the box for (more than a little) more but it was in near pristine shape and just serviced.    But it was $1100, which breaks my imaginary line of "can I say how much I paid for this amp if anyone asks"  (maybe because I bought my first car for around that in high school, back when gas was <$1). 

Jay:
I'll try the rca trick -- man: those fender footswitches are pricey!  (I had thought about $20 and list is $60 or so).  I'll probably just leave the reverb on and use a regular footswitch for the trem.  (sorry: "vibrato")

Ben:
yeah, it's in a different class than what I've had before.  It gets gritty if you dig into it (I've never quite believed the pick attack = gain concept before now).  It reminds me of my vibro champ, honestly, more than my other amps (bandmaster, concert II, musicmaster bass). 

I thought it would be close to the concert (both are 410) but each amp is going down different paths, so to speak.  The concert might even be more like a twin in some regards (clean clean clean) with a OD channel (gain gain gain or accurately: gain, volume, master that all interact with each other in ways that I don't quite grasp).

My amp tech was pretty excited about it (between hilarious ramblings about SNL's political coverage and semi-dirty jokes) and had a suggestion I hadn't thought of before.  For blackfacing silverface amps, he will bypass parts, instead of removing them, just in case anyone wants to go back.  Go figure.

[Regan]

Nice score! Good luck in getting it up to snuff!

[luau]

Congrats!

Love it.

[cestlamort]

We'll see what my tech finds.

I'd forgotten that he's totally anti-grounded plug ("Leo knew what he was doing....").  I'll see if I can convince him otherwise, though. 

Also, more strangeness, there's what appears to be a lock mechanism (a keyhole) between the extra power socket and the power cord.  Weird. 

Luau:  Suit Up! 

[luau]

Luau:  Suit Up!   :D

Aloha

[cestlamort]

Thanks.  I agree with you for the most part.  He does great work but has a couple of eccentricities, the grounding being the only one of consequence. 

[panoramic]

nice!