Hot Rod Deville upgrade

[BuenaVenturaGuitars]

Hi... I own a made in us hot rod deville. I've seen there are alot of mods available for this amp, and I want to upgrade my amp so it's more reliable, but really the sound is perfect for me. Could anyone let me know of what resistors, caps I should replace to maximize reliability while altering the sound as little as possible. Thanks

[The Dude]

The only real reliability issues I've had with those amps is cracked solder joints on the output tube sockets. If you're just trying to make it more reliable, resolder those sockets. Other problems I've seen on these models are dead filter caps and open plate resistors on preamp tubes. I wouldn't call those problems "common" though. Otherwise, if you like the way it sounds, why screw with it?

[daz]

The only real reliability issues I've had with those amps is cracked solder joints on the output tube sockets. If you're just trying to make it more reliable, resolder those sockets. Other problems I've seen on these models are dead filter caps and open plate resistors on preamp tubes. I wouldn't call those problems "common" though. Otherwise, if you like the way it sounds, why screw with it?

+1. Thats exactly it. Those amps have a separate board for the power tube sockets that is extremely prone to heat related failure. The solder cracks, traces lift, so on. If you wanna bulletproof it for max reliability i'd remove the board and use chassis mounted sockets and wire the components to the tube sockets and terminal strips, however works best. But amps like this will never be very reliable unless you bulletproof many things including board mounted pots and jacks. That output board tho is a major reliability issue. Board mounted sockets are one of the worse ideas that ever happened to production amps. Too much heat for most boards that aren't top quality

[soundguruman]

Hi... I own a made in us hot rod deville. I've seen there are alot of mods available for this amp, and I want to upgrade my amp so it's more reliable, but really the sound is perfect for me. Could anyone let me know of what resistors, caps I should replace to maximize reliability while altering the sound as little as possible. Thanks

one of the best mods is the Fromel scenario.
Fromel Electronics
the quality of the parts are upgraded, some component values are changed for very good reasons.
the gain is better, the noise is better, etc...
And I recommend that you change all the filter caps to F&T.

The result is a much better sounding amp, as far as professional guitar player is concerned.
Amateur guitar player may not recognize or appreciate the difference in noise, gain, tone etc..

Without a doubt I was sceptical at first, but after I installed it, there really was a major improvement.
That is as far as guitar player is concerned.
The parts are all in one box, you don't have to shop and buy from 3 places.

Other things that were added:
Mercury transformers
Better speaker, i might have picked JBLs cause they sound good in open back cabinet.
but customer picked Swamp Thang and Bayou Blues, 2 different speakers in 1 cabinet.
and the damn thing weighed a ton. but it sounded really good.
major back strain lifting into your car, yikes.

I might have made a different baffle board and used 1 speaker.

Although, I did use Metal film resistors, for the input and first 2 stages.
I did not use the Fromel resistors for that. I was going for lower noise than carbon composition.

And Fromel might lead you to believe that "anybody" with a soldering iron can do the mods, I do not recommend that.
I strongly suggest you hire a professional tech, with professional tools.
The circuit board is quite easily damaged by an inexperienced person, without the right tools....you could really mess it up.

[km6xz]

Getting into it, unless you are really skilled with mechanical upgrades, will degrade both its reliability and resale value. And, change the sound in unpredictable ways. If you worry about the 5% output board change of failure, buy a replacement new output board and keep in a save place. There is no free lunch in mods, you lose something if you gain something, it would be a shame to lose the sound you like by following internet rumors about dubious "upgrades".