Restoration work coming on Mike Campbell's vintage Fender, Gibson, Guild amps

[nevetslab]

CenterStaging's general manager Jimbo Neal checked in with me this past week on a clean-up, restoration work & repairs project on Mike Campbell's vintage Fender, Gibson, Guild amps that he's collected over the years in his travels with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. I don't yet have the list of gear, but it will be arriving soon, so looking forward to this adventure!!

Most are in the 40+ year old range. Lots of blonde Tolex, Oxblood grill cloth and blond fabric cabinets. I don't yet know the status on missing or broken knobs, which may be a challenge to track down, so I'll be looking for vintage knobs no doubt. I'm looking for recommendations on cleaning materials to clean up the Tolex as well as the blonde fabric coverings on the Fender amps, so I don't make any gross mistakes thinking I have it worked out.

I'll add a list to this thread once I get the information. One of the amps he has is an old Heathkit Combo amp, 2-12" cabinet, which I've never seen. So, if anyone has any ideas about that would be terrific. The aim, as I've been told, is to ship all this gear back to Reverb in Chicago to list for sale.

[xtian]

Fun! I want to play on those!! Be sure to Sharpie your name in large letters on each!

[glebert]

Might want to make sure it is cool with the owner before you post too much info on them. Some people are touchy about their stuff being put on public display.

[nevetslab]

Might want to make sure it is cool with the owner before you post too much info on them. Some people are touchy about their stuff being put on public display.

Good point!

[drewl]

Do it in code, so only we know!

I've worked on some famous gear or stuff that went to famous people, but nothing like you NY or LA guys.

[garytoosweet]

I saw a video a couple days ago where Meguiar's Convertible Top Cleaner was used to clean some deep seated dirt in Fender style tolex and it seemed to work quite well. Haven't tried it myself yet.

https://www.meguiars.com/automotive/...le-top-cleaner

[drewl]

That stuff works great on my Mustang leather seats!

[nevetslab]

While I was out with an ailing foot yesterday, the batch of gear from Mike Campbell came in. So far, it consists of:

Gibson L5 Lab Series 212 Combo with pair of JBL E120-8 spkrs, Gretsch Country Gentlman 212 Combo, Guild Thunderbird Combo, having a 12" main & 8" Reverb spkr, National ValPro 212 Combo, Magnatone M10 & Magnatone M10A 212 combo amps, Magnatone Custome 260 (looks like a Twilighter series), Fender Showman head (blonde), Fender SF Deluxe Reverb, Fender Vibrolux Reverb, Heathkit TA-16 212 Combo, Kustom 250 head and a Vox Beatle Super Reverb. I've added some images on this thread, then will add more on a few more following threads.

Gibson L5 Lab Series 212 Combo



Guild Thunderbird Combo.....12" main speaker plus 8" Reverb speaker



I'm assuming the 6BM8 Triode/Pentode tube used in the tube lineup is the Reverb speaker power tube:



More interesting amps to follow........

[nevetslab]

Next up is a Gretsch Country Gentleman 212 Combo, designed by Chet Atkins:



This amp has something called an Electronic Tuning System on the control panel....no idea what or how it works, not having yet put it up on the bench.



Top Panel controls:



More to follow.......

[nevetslab]

Next up is the National Valpro 212 Combo:



Rear panel controls, input and foot switch jacks.....



Front panel controls....



More to follow in the morning......

[Randall]

Oh I had one of those Lab Series give me fits. I never want to see another one. I never thought they sounded good either.

[DrGonz78]

Those are some nice amps! Must be a joy to work on amps that have been well cared for by the owner.

[drewl]

Re-furbed one of those Country Gentleman amps a few months ago.

This one dealer has been bringing me some really cool old Ampegs, Gretch, Valco etc. amps.

[nevetslab]

Those are some nice amps! Must be a joy to work on amps that have been well cared for by the owner.

Yes.....nice to be set up with excellent clients at CenterStaging, and have management who've been in the industry for decades. I never know from day to day what might show up (and with whom) while the clients are in using our rehearsal studios down the street. My only regrets is I'm no longer in my 30's where I'd still be out gigging and have staff handle all the heavy stuff. These days, if I can't lift it into the back seat of my car, I'm reluctant to buy it. But sure nice to be able to wheel out anything from our inventory to use!

Looking forward to digging into these. I spent all day yesterday taking photos of everything that has arrived so far...externally, and starting files on each amp to list what I see is needed...which will of course grow once I move each one to the bench to see what they tell me.

I'll post images of the the three Magnatone amps when I get in. One is quite crusty, and all of the knobs lack the metalic inserts, so i'll have to fabricate those inserts. Lots of loose knobs (Push-on type onto spline shafts) to deal with.

[nevetslab]

Oh I had one of those Lab Series give me fits. I never want to see another one. I never thought they sounded good either.

I've never seen one of these, and most of the amps that came in, I have no service doc's for. Do you have any schematics for the Lab 5?