replacing 2 prong ac cord

[muscmp]

can someone provide me with a thread on replacing 2prong with 3 prong and properly grounding it?

i have a couple of old gibson amps-GA5T, GA79RTV and BR9 that i need to replace them as they are getting brittle.

i've done some small soldering jobs but i am no expert.

i'v heard that some people prefer to keep the 2 prong as it may create further issues with other equipment you use. i assume this means older effects that have 2 prong ac cords.

thanks in advance.

mikeB.

[tedmich]

Be careful, here is a Fender guide
Install - 3 Prong Power Cord on a Vintage Fender Amp | Guitar Files(TM)

But Fenders are (quite deservedly) more common than older Gibbie amps, others with similar amps will know about "death caps" and the like. There is a school of thought that polarized plugs and a correctly wired GFCI are better for old audio and grounding issues can pop up with rewires

[R.G.]

i've done some small soldering jobs but i am no expert.

Before you cut or solder even one wire, read everything involved, and if you're not absolutely sure you can do it safely, go get someone experienced with AC power wiring to help you, or refer it to a tech.

You're smart to be fixing them when the insulation turns brittle. That's a good way to die too.

i'v heard that some people prefer to keep the 2 prong as it may create further issues with other equipment you use. i assume this means older effects that have 2 prong ac cords.

Some people prefer to smoke and drive cars without seat/shoulder belts, too. The "further issues" is that not having the chassis floating from the AC safety ground lets some situations have less hum, as witness all of the "chassis lift" mythos. Yes, there are some situations where having an amp with no AC safety ground gives less hum. But those situations can rapidly turn deadly when you get any internal AC leakage in the amp's AC power wiring.

A little hum removed is not worth dying for. And if you do the wiring right, and take some care with the signal coming in, you won't have the hum anyway. Stay safe, convert to 3-wire and solve any annoyance problems that pop up; and keep living and playing music.

[muscmp]

thanks to both of you. i do appreciate it.
i have a schematic that i'll post of each amp as i prepare to do the conversions. i also have(or will have) images of each chassis. only one of the amps i'm converting has a ground switch, so that is the only one i really need suggestions. it is a gibson ga79rtv.

thanks again,
mikeB.