Trying to repair the tremolo in a Silvertone 1472

[rollo greb]

Well, I replaced all the caps in the tremolo circuit and now I've got beautiful tremolo that is very addictive. I ordered enough caps to do the rest of the amp too - but I have a quick question about the electrolytic cap between the two power tubes. It's a 10 uf 25V electrolytic capacitor ironically labelled a "mighty midget" - because it's huge! The nichicon I got to replace it is about 1/20th of the size, even though the value and voltage is the same. This kind of thing worries a beginner like me - is this because of improved capacitor technology, or have I got the wrong capacitor?

[Enzo]

Yes, caps have improved. A cap that 30 years ago was the size of a can of frozen orange juice would today be the size of my thumb.

[ohgoodthinking99]

1472 tremolo

Hi all, this is my first post.
I too have trouble with my 1472 tremolo (it basically doesn't do anything).
Should I start a new thread to see if anyone can help me along, or continue here?
I've done a little ground work. As best I can tell, all my resistors read about what they should.
My 1MEG speed pot with the power off reads 0kohms when fully up, and 980kohms when fully off.
When powered up however, it still reads 0kohms when fully up, but when decreasing the setting, I get to about 6 on the dial when it peaks out my meter beyond 2Mohms.
Is this normal or is my pot shot? Other than I'm down to caps, and I don't really know how to test those.
Thanks much

[52 Bill]

Should I start a new thread to see if anyone can help me along, or continue here?

Welcome to the board. I'd suggest staring a new thread as this one is already 2 pages deep.

As for your question, you can't read the resistance of the pot while the amp is on, because there is a voltage appiled to the pot from the circuit that will throw off your readings. In fact reading resistances while the amp is on can be very dangerous.

The things for you to check are the tubes and the caps. If you've already checked the tubes and resistors in the trem circuit, just order replacement caps for the trem circuit and replace them. 99% of the time, this will cure your problem.