65 Deluxe Reissue Tremolo Not functional

[Appaloosa]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and somewhat new to amp/electronic repair, but it looks like you guys can provide a lot of help.

I've got a 65 reissue deluxe reverb amp that the reverb and tremolo suddenly quite working. I found the reverb tank to be faulty with broken springs. I replaced the tank and now the reverb works fine, but I still have no tremolo. I tested the foot pedal, put new preamp tubes in, as well as a new opto-sensor, but still no luck.

I got a schematic from schematic heaven and have begun to test the amp following the test points on fender's schematic. at test point #6 I begin to get different readings than the schematic. I do not have a scope nor really know how to use one but the schematic looks like you can test the tremelo circuit with a scope? I have a fluke 27 with a bar graph could I use this?

Anyway just looking for some advice, is their maybe a common part that would fail when the reverb pan is damaged?

thanks a lot, any help is greatly appreciated!

[52 Bill]

Welcome to the place. This must be the week for tremolo questions. I can't think of any common elements that would cause the failure of the trem and the reverb tank. Just lucky I guess.

I don't have the schematic handy right now, but the basics are be sure the footswitch is working and the jack and the related wiring are all ok, as the oscillator will not run if the footswitch is not grounding the circuit.

Check the depth control and wiring as well.

[Appaloosa]

Thanks for the Tip 52 Bill, I've attached65_deluxe_reverb_manual.pdf65_deluxe_reverb_manual.pdf the schematic for this amp as well. I checked the foot switch, and the connections around the trem. circuit but still no luck. I don't seem to be getting any voltage at the osilator. The speed and depth pots seem to work fine. Is their a good spot to test for voltage in the trem. circuit to narrow down my search. again all help is greatly appreciated.

[52 Bill]

I usually test at the tube socket. You need to be careful not to short any two terminals together, but it works for me.

Check the plate voltage at pin 1 of V5 and the cathode voltage at pin 3. If the oscillator is running, you should find a fluctuating voltage at the plate that changes with the speed control.

[Appaloosa]

thanks for the tip, I'll try that.

[Enzo]

You do know that the amp REQUIRES the footswitch for the trem to operate? Grounding the footswitch input for reverb turns reverb off, but grounding the trem input from the footswitch turns the trem ON.


Voltages in the trem oscillator circuit vary a great deal between running and not running the trem.

[Appaloosa]

Thanks for the help you guys! I found the problem...I'm an idiot! the connection in the foot pedal jack was faulty/intermittent, After more testing I found the problem, and for some reason I did think the Vibrato worked like the reverb when the foot switch jack was removed, which is dumb cause I've owed fender amps for years! I think I just wanted to find a REAL problem and overlooked the obvious. thanks again for all the help and the time to reply to a newbie.