Ampeg SVT lll input

[mysterbluez]

My SVT lll input has been shorting out. The input seems to be connected directly to the circuit board (stupid,IMHO). Any ideas on how to fix this? My local repair shop wants to charge me in excess of $75 to fix it. I can solder and would like to do it myself. Anything I should know? Thanks everybody!

[PRNDL]

It's common for the input jack to be mounted on the PC board, although it does make it difficult to replace.

It's important to get the exact same part, so that everything fits correctly.
Removing it can be difficult since you have to heat all three solder joints at the same time.
It's a pain, but not that difficult. Sometimes it can be a bear, which will make you wonder if it might have been better to let a tech do it.

The most time consuming task is taking the PC board out and putting it back in.

[stokes]

Shorting out or is it a bad/loose solder joint? Should be simple enough to re-solder or just replace with a new jack. There should be 3 connections. Two of them are grounds and one is your "hot." If there is enough room, I would just replace it with a non-pcb mounted jack. Any resistors associated with the input should be on the board so all you should have to do is connect the shorting tip and the ground on the new jack to a ground and the hot tip to the pcb with a short piece of shielded wire. The shielding gets connected on one end only to ground.

[stokes]

Jus t saw PRNDL's response after I posted. I think you should be able to get the old one out without removing the board. I just heat and pry one connection at a time,often have to go back to each connection a second time to completely remove it, just go slow and don't use too much heat, those boards can be a PITA sometimes, kinda fragile when it comes to heat.

[PRNDL]

I agree with stokes.
In my post, I tried to convey that sometimes these can be real easy, and sometimes it's really difficult. It's hard to tell beforehand.

[mysterbluez]

Ahhhhh....... Listen, I really appreciate all of the quick responses guys! As a newbie to the forum, I can see that this will be a valuable resource for me. Thanks very much!