New (old) amp dilemma....??

[acorkos]

I just bought a sweet 1962 Fender Concert....the only things not original are the tubes and bias resistor. no other solder joints have been touched. the guy i bought it from (who changed the tubes and bias resistor) may have been the first one to pull the chassis since it was built, it's that clean. and it's super quiet, too.

my dilemma....i want to play this thing a lot, and gig with it, but i'm afraid of the 2-prong power cord. do i replace the original power cord (and store it to restore back to stock if and when i ever sell the amp), or can i somehow otherwise safely rig a ground wire?

all advice welcome...thanks!

[drewl]

HOLY F- that is sweeeet you lucky bastid!
Definitely put a 3 pronger on it, and keep the original cord.
You "could" run a ground wire to a 3prong adapter and attatch it to the chassis but just put a 3 prong safety cord on it.

[in a vacuum]

Man that is clean. Old vintage stuff that is super clean brings super high dollars. I would tend toward selling it (consign it to a high end vintage store) and buying another amp for gigging. Every scratch knocks $s off its value. It would drive me crazy trying to take care of it while gigging.

[Mars Amp Repair]

Unbelievable everytime I see an amp that old that is the 'under the bed, in the closet' sleeper!
I'd also definitely replace at the very least the filter caps under the pan on the top of the chassis.
No matter how 'new' or 'clean' looking, they will be degraded after 50yrs no matter what. If they are leaky, they can be adding undue current draw to the power supply.

I'd also suggest you leave the original polarity switch & 'death cap' intact for the possible occasion where you have no access to a good grounded system. You really can't kill yourself with the polarity switch in the 'wrong' position..it just bites you a bit.

With a grounded outlet, the death cap has no effect on the grounding of the amp, anyway.

I agree that unless you build a fortress around that amp, you'd be better not taking the chance tearing it up gigging. I'd keep it, tho ;-] g

[Phostenix]

Put a grounded cord on it and get something like this for it:

Buy Gator G-TOUR AMP 2430 - ATA-Style Combo Amp Road Case with Adjustable Foam Interior | 2-6 Space | Musician's Friend

[rmm]

1962 Concert

What A nice find. I own one and actually do gig with it even though it is not my main amp. I say take it to a gig every now and then, why not enjoy this jem? Mine, though otherwise original, was spry painted black by the original owner - yeah, nuts. He even changed the grill to silver. He didn't even cover the back while spraying because you can see overspray on some sections of the chassis. This thing has the best vibrato I've ever heard sounds more like an old univibe. Great in the studio, LOVE IT!

Like yours mine did also have the 2 prong cord, and it did bite me a lot if I didn't move the ground switch before going to the mic. I did add a grounded cord to mine and added a pot for bias. I haven't changed the filter caps because quite frankly I love it's sounds as is and it gives me no problems at all at this point. I am keeping all parts and everything in case I want to put it back to original, though I do not intend to ever getting rig of this thing. Ever.

Actually, I am re-telexing mine back to original just for kicks and have a question for anyone with an opinion on the matter. As you know these old fender amps have a wire mesh stapled inside the cabinet over the chassis. I am planning on leaving that as is but also wonder if I should remove it and do foil-tape like my super re-issue has. Any thoughts?

Thanks
-Ruben

[txstrat]

Congrats on purchasing an amp in that condition. Looks awesome.

@rmm
Wire mesh sounds good to me. Works like a Faraday cage.

[rmm]

Actually had to look up "Faraday", I'll admit. My concern was that foil might send the heat back down. The mesh will stay!

After all, why fix what's not broken right?

Thanks
-Ruben

[riz]

Wow that is gorgeous! I would have a hard time making that amp "work" without the 3-prong cord, filter caps being changed, and replacing the speakers with something I wasn't worried about blowing. Would be a real shame. There have been enough debates here about "if it ain't broke..." so suit yourself. Just don't complain to us if your caps pop and drag other stuff with it... I know how I feel about those issues with my own stuff, and I don't mess with old caps and old speakers, at least/especially in a gigging amp. That's a real museum piece, in that condition a blessing and a curse--enjoy! Dang I gotta find a combo cab for my brown Bandmaster one of these days... (would that be "blonde" if it has the white knobs...?)

[MWJB]

Sure it's not a '63?

Bias resistor has already been changed (why not change it again for resistor in series with a trim pot), so why not do other practical/safety work.

Fit a 3 prong cord AES have the wider strain relief. These are very popular with harp players...getting zapped in the mouth isn't funny, also a risk of this if you play guitar & sing into a PA mic. A cap job would be a good idea too (power supply, bias & cathode bypass E-caps, rewire the first 2 filter caps in series with 100uf/350vdc, each cap bypassed with a 220K 2W resistor, you need to remove one of the parallel jumpers under the board. 2 small 47uf/450vdc caps can be fitted, in series, on the board in place of the old 20uf screen supply filter cap, again each cap bypassed with a 220K. These things can run over 500vdc on the plates, so only use 500v rated caps at PI, preamp & vibrato nodes.

These are killer amps, they deserve to be heard. They are surprisingly not that valuable, usually go for $1000-$1500.

[rmm]

(why not change it again for resistor in series with a trim pot)

These are killer amps, they deserve to be heard.

Did just that on mine actually, and took care of the ground also. Haven't gotten to the filter caps but likely will soon.

I agree. These amps sound too good to not be heard.

Thanks.
-Ruben