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Ampeg ET-2 no Reverb

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  • Ampeg ET-2 no Reverb

    This amp came to me with a 4AB3C1B reverb tank. But as you can see in the schematic this type of tank doesn't look like the right one. There is no impedence matching transformer like you would find in amps using this type of tank. It appears maybe that a '4FB...' style tank is needed like other Ampegs. I thought I was in luck to have a 4FB.....on hand, but I can't seem to get this going either.

    First some background, this amp came to me with a tube gone bad, white in the glass envelope. I also find the primary on that end has gone open. I also find there are 2 47K plate resistors opened on each of the phase inverters, that is on each channel.
    So I replace the output transformer with what I assume is the correct one from flip tops. THe original OT has a 3 wire on the secondary that the new does not have. In this respect I am not seeing a connection to the reverb circuit from the positive end of the OT to the 25uf/25 back to back with the same value cap and the 330 ohm resistor. When I clip that in the reverb still doesn't work.
    To complicate the issue, the owner recalls clearly that the reverb was work with the 4AB.... tank, but I can't trust my own recollection of whether it worked before the OT installation or not, but I thought it did too.
    One problem is the schematic doesn't match identically with the the amp at hand. The difference is that this particular one has the 7591s and a tube rectifier. Also there is a mix match of which channel is which.
    This amp clearly has the reverb connected to V5a and the voltages are looking good; plates at 170-180vdc, cathodes at 1.8v to 2.2v.
    Can anyone shed some light on this for me?
    I have read what Enzo has written on this amp about the reverb being 'speaker driven' like a Hammond reverbs but I'm not clear what that's about.

    Is there anyway that 4AB... tank could have work in this amp?
    Attached Files

  • #2
    Originally posted by pontiacpete View Post
    I have read what Enzo has written on this amp about the reverb being 'speaker driven' like a Hammond reverbs but I'm not clear what that's about.

    Is there anyway that 4AB... tank could have work in this amp?
    Back in the olden days when Enzo was just a pup, a lot of reverb tanks were driven directly from the speaker output of a guitar amp. Then the return signal was amplified either by the same amp or by a completely separate amp. Because it was driven by the low impedance speaker output, the low impedance input tank like a 4AB tank was used. The good thing about doing it this way was they didn't have to create a drive circuit, the bad thing is that the tank drive was controlled by the overall volume of the amp.

    This amp drives the tank from the speaker of the first channel and then is returned through the second channel. So straight signal in one speaker and reverb in the other speaker. Make sure that you are plugged into the correct drive channel and that the other channel is working well enough to amplify the reverb return signal.

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    • #3
      Thanks 52 for further explaining this type of reverb. And it, the 4AB... tank, does in fact work!!
      I needed to connect both the negative and the positive of the secondary because the new OT is not attached to the frame internally.
      I had tried it with both connected but silly me didn't realize that the primaries were reversed at the tube sockets and it was creating
      a severe oscillation.
      Once all was attached it works perfectly.

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