The things we find in amps

[Randall]

I have a Mesa F50 in the shop. I opened it up to find these curious two things:





I appreciate someone's sense of humor even if I don't get the good bait joke. The second one is 3.5" screw threaded thru a nut in the chassis and was jammed up into the top pf the cab, with an inch or so sticking out of the bottom of the chassis. It was most difficult to get the chassis out this way. And, get this, it was glued or stuck with wax or something. WTF?

[Jazz P Bass]

I found a metal kitchen fork in a powered speaker the other day.
And an Ace of Diamonds playing card.

Not too sure how they are related.......

[bob p]

When I saw this thread title I was expecting a picture of a dead rat inside of an amp...

[mozz]

I forget the amp brand name, but a old round pencil fell out of a amp i was working on. I knew it wasn't from my work bench. I emailed the owner and said "do you want the old pencil that fell out of the amp?". He asked "what are you talking about?" I said the pencil says " St John's elementary, woodville st". He told me he has no idea but he went to st john's school 50 years ago and he now lives on woodville st. Weird.

[minim]

That screw through the chassis was a factory workaround to prevent the chassis from flapping around and buzzing like hell at high volumes. I had a couple of Mesa Expresses. First one didn't have it and farted madly. Second one, under warranty, was issued with this fix-up.

[olddawg]

I could make a museum of crap I've pulled out of gear. Used to find lots of dope. A bag of $20 bills in a speaker once. And of course in the VCR days, anything a kid could get into the slot! The worst are the guys that cut lengths of 1/4" aluminum dowel to replace fuses. Years ago I had a friend ask me to look at his big Pioneer stereo that was ruining his speakers. I opened it up and realized that someone had pulled the covers off the relays and stuck them back on sideways to close the contacts. This was back it the bad diffamp days. The thing sounded like a gun shot. I said, "You're lucky you didn't blow all your speakers!" He opened his garage and there were 6 blown pairs! Stoner!

[Justin Thomas]

The worst are the guys that cut lengths of 1/4" aluminum dowel to replace fuses.

The prevalence of this particular anecdote raises serious questions. So, every fricking musician has no extra 2or 3A fuses on hand, but everyone has 1/4" aluminum rod and a saw to cut them at a gig? And if not, how much harder is it to go to the damn store and get the right damn fuse instead of aluminum?

I mean, I pulled a 20A fuse out of my Bassman when I bought it, but at least it was a FUSE!

Justin

[J M Fahey]

I forget the amp brand name, but a old round pencil fell out of a amp i was working on. I knew it wasn't from my work bench. I emailed the owner and said "do you want the old pencil that fell out of the amp?". He asked "what are you talking about?" I said the pencil says " St John's elementary, woodville st". He told me he has no idea but he went to st john's school 50 years ago and he now lives on woodville st. Weird.

Of course he does not remember it.
He was 4 or 5 whan he slipped that pencil through Dad´s amp input jack.
My own kids used to slip as many 5 1/4" flexible diskettes inside the VCR slot (as many as it would take) , once found a knife handle sticking out of a diskette slot , last Saturday a customer brought the 5" speaker out of a Roland Micro Cube with some 20 or 30 pencil holes, made by his 3 y.o. Son through the chrome plated grill, last Friday another traded in an Eminence Alpha 8 speaker as part payment for a 12" one, with dust dome pushed in by his Son ... the list is endless.

This said to avoid commenting on the truly disgusting stuff found inside amps, including the kind which swarms out in masses and hides under and behind all furniture.

[Randall]

That screw through the chassis was a factory workaround to prevent the chassis from flapping around and buzzing like hell at high volumes. I had a couple of Mesa Expresses. First one didn't have it and farted madly. Second one, under warranty, was issued with this fix-up.

Oh, Damn! If this is the case I guess I should put it back in?

[Enzo]

The idea of the long screw was you backed it down some, then installed the chassis and bolted it in, then run the screw up until it put a little pressure against the cab roof. This helped keep the chassis from vibrating against the top.

[Leo_Gnardo]

I appreciate someone's sense of humor even if I don't get the good bait joke. The second one is 3.5" screw threaded thru a nut in the chassis and was jammed up into the top pf the cab, with an inch or so sticking out of the bottom of the chassis. It was most difficult to get the chassis out this way. And, get this, it was glued or stuck with wax or something. WTF?

If you don't loosen that bolt, yes it's hell pulling out the chassis. Lots of Mesa amps have this feature, one more thing to frustrate the repairman. It's supposed to put some tension on the chassis, in a bid to minimize rattling with loud low notes.

Quotes on the circuit boards, you'll find those also in THD amps and I think I remember finding a couple in VHT's. Sumpin' to give us a smile whilst we work. I remember one of them was Miles Davis: "play the notes that aren't there."

[Mick Bailey]

Trace Elliot had plenty of quotes on their PCBs - mainly James Bond stuff for some reason.

I found a 'personal stimulator' stuffed in the reverb bag of an amp (and no, the owner wasn't complaining of the amp buzzing or vibrating!). Perhaps the worst was in a Peavey that was freshly imported from Singapore. The reverb wasn't working so I removed the tray and it looked like it was stuffed solid full of orange cotton-wool. It turned out to be large numbers of cocoons that has spun silk.

[cjenrick]

usually a roach stuck in the input jack, plenty of picks under the reverb pan, plenty of set lists, lyrics to failed originals,

it's the guitar techs that find the good stuff inside the acoustics.

[Valve Head]

Here's another Mesa joke, found inside a Studio 22+ combo.

[darkfenriz]

I bet somewhere over the Interwebs there's a surgeons' equivalent to this thread.