2001 Fender Super Reverb

[sudgut]

Sorry for the newbie post but I got this amp cheap/free and want to get it going. I turn the thing on and nothing happens. When I turn switch to standby and plug in guitar I get a very low volume crackle when played,almost micrphonic. without guitar plugged in and i tap the 6l6's they crackle and make all sorts of racket. I changed 6l6's with brand new ones and no more crackle but the guitar is still VERY low volume. almost none.Anybody have any ideas or sites I can try for some help. Although I do not have an O-Scope I am electronically handy and am able to try most anything.

Thanks in advance

[Chuck H]

If you can find it...Randall Aiken has a tube amp debugging tutorial that is very good. Just punch "Aiken" and "debugging" into your search and you should find it.

There is alot to know about safety when working on tube amps. There are many large capacitors that can hold a charge even with the amp off and unplugged. The transformers are "step up" and multiply voltages on the order of 4x, 5x or more. You can honestly die if you do something wrong. So read up on safety measures when dealing with tube amps. That's the best place to start.

When you feel you can do it safely a signal trace would be a good place to start with your problem.

Chuck

[sudgut]

Thanks for the info. I will check it out. Also thanks for your concern about safety with electronics. I am all to familiar with the potential energy stored in caps and the voltages with a step up transformer. I am just fairly new to tube amps and am having a hard time finding troubleshooting guides and schematics on the super of that year. Fender is not very clear on their site with the newer amps and I guess most people are all about vintage stuff for all the obvious reasons

Thanks Again

[Chuck H]

If it's a "Super Reverb" from 2001 then I'm guessing it's a "re issue". If so then Fender Amp Heaven Schematics - Tweed Blackface Brownface Silverface Bassman Champ Deluxe Princeton Super Vibroverb Reissue has the original schem. As for a newer schem of the PCB amp with R#'s and all that kind of thing, I've never seen one.

Chuck

[Gunny]

The reissue Super Reverb schematic is on the Fender website, listed as 65 Super Reverb

http://www.fender.com/support/amp_sc..._Schematic.pdf

[sudgut]

thanks for the help...It seems someone has changed the rectifier and power tubes and sockets. There are small handwritten pinouts on the chasis by the sockets. Also something odd,,,when I put the amp into standby with a guitar I get extremly low distorted volume. So low I can hardly hear it and not in standby I get nothing. So I am assuming someone had there hands in this thing and miswired the switch or installed it upside down to the label.

P.S The "65 reissue super reverb" seems to be the right schematic on the above mentioned site. Thanks for the info. I also did not want to assume it is a reissue without any wording to that effect on the cabinet or amp. I did not know if fender might have put out some oddball. The amp says "MODEL PR 469" and this # does not come up on any fender site I can find.


Any ideas and what about biasing??
Thanks

[Enzo]

That number won;t come up, it is an engineering designation for Fender. The amp goes by its model name for all purposes.

[52 Bill]

The schematic that Gunny suppied is marked PR469 in the top revision legend, so it is the right schematic for your amp.

In general any Fender amp with a vintage name that is constructed with a printed circuit board is a re-issue.

As for the standby switch, when both switches are in the up position, the amp is in play mode.

First thing to check is the speaker condition and connection. Is the speaker plugged into the speaker or the extension speaker jack? Have you tried the amp with a different speaker connected?

If you turn up the reverb control and shake the amp, do you hear the springs in the tank making a loud noise through the speakers?

[TD_Madden]

"First thing to check is the speaker condition and connection. Is the speaker plugged into the speaker OR the extension speaker jack?"

This sounds like it might be the problem.....

[sudgut]

Thanks to all, Your help is greatly appreciated.
Here is where I am now.

1. The speakers are great. I plugged them into another head and the cabinet is a keeper for the speakers alone. Great voice.

2. The whole amp looks like someone got it, had problems, tried to fix and gave it away.

3. The tubes all light up. I even swapped the 6L6's with a matched pair, swapped out the AX7's and AT7's. The only tube I did not have is the 5AR4 to swap out.

4. GUNNY was right with the schematic.

5. I noticed that output transformer doesn't get the slightest bit warm to the touch while the others I can feel some heat after a while.

*Next I will check any voltages I can.
Does anybody have any ideas other than the schematic what voltages I should be getting and where???

Thanks in advance, JIM

[sudgut]

does anyone know how the 5AR4 should be wired. It seems to be wired different from schematic and I am curious if print is wrong or some type of mod was done?

Thanks

[pontiacpete]

zoom in on that schematic. It has the pin #'s and colors of wires written.,, yellows to pins 2 and 8 and reds to pins 4 and 6. There's a node where the gray wire is connect to the yellow to pin 8.

[sudgut]

Attatched are 1 picture of the 5AR4 base and the other is of one of the 6L6 bases.
I know my ignorance is showing here but what type of diode/zener/??(if that is what it is)is on the base and why is it not on the schematic, also the wires have the right colors but the reds are on the wrong pin.
Also on the 6L6 there seem to be a few wires extra than on the schematic.

Again, thanks in advance and patience to the question.

JIM

[sudgut]

Also to 52 BILL I can hear the springs in the tank but there is virtually no volume as with the whole amp itself and does not matter if any knob is on 1 or 10, all the same level. About .001 on a scale of 1 to 10

[52 Bill]

Also to 52 BILL I can hear the springs in the tank but there is virtually no volume as with the whole amp itself and does not matter if any knob is on 1 or 10, all the same level. About .001 on a scale of 1 to 10

The reason for that test was to find out if the power amp was working. Apparently it is not.

The added diodes are in series with the tube rectifier. Unless one or both of them is open circuit the circuit should work as is with a working tube installed.

As for the additional wires on the 6L6 sockets, where do they go to?