Eyelet

[Tonewood]

I'm about to remove/replace some caps in a 70's Vibro Champ and am wondering what I'll run into. Are the leads just pushed into the eyelet and soldered or are they bent or tied underneath the board?

Thanks
Scott

[akimball442]

It seems to vary. Some are just folded in and soldered, others are bent or hooked around the eyelet and then soldered. Likely the preference of whoever assembled it when it was built.

A vacuum type 'solder sucker' makes working on them quite a bit easier.

If you don't remove the old solder, adding new solder will cause big 'balls' of solder to form beneath the board, which could increase the chance of a short.

I just worked on my 68 Twin, and every single one of the resistors was tightly bent around the eyelets making removal very difficult But most don't seem to be that way.

[Kazooman]

I can't speak with authority about your specific amp, but I believe that you will find that the leads run through the eyelet and have a small bit of 90 degree bend to them. From an electronic point of view, you can just push your leads through the eyelet and solder them in place. From an aesthetic, want to do it right, don't want this to fail in the future, this is how to do it correctly, etc., point of view, I think that you should remove the hold down screws and lift the board off the chassis. Remove the old component(s) and remove the old solder. Install the replacement part (with a bit of a "hook" for mechanical stability) and solder it in.

You will NEVER regret doing a repair to the finest of standards. You may well regret cutting corners somewhere down the road. You have the amp opened up to the world and have paid the price for new caps. It makes good sense to do everything you can to install the parts in the best way possible.

[Kazooman]

Cross post at the same time. I agree with akimball442. A desoldering pump is a must. You need to own one of these. Heat up the joint and press the button. Poof! Solder gone! ................................... Well, almost. Some times it takes multiple sucks and sometimes it just plain fails. But..... it usually works and you will love the results. Suck out the solder, install the new caps, solder and you are good to go.

[Tonewood]

Thanks Kazooman and akimball442!

[Gibsonman63]

Once you remove the solder, you will probably find that the negative side of the cathode bypass capacitors go through the eyelet board and then to ground. On most of my Fenders, they just left the lead long enough to reach. Just suck all of the solder out and trim the capacitor lead off leaving the portion from the eyelet board to the ground intact and solder in your new capacitors.

FWIW, I would not remove the eyelett board unless you absolutely have to because you will disturb the lead dress and it will be a PITA to get everything back the way it is supposed to go. If nobody has gooped it up for you with an earlier repair/service, you shouldn't have any problem by just removing the solder that is there and resoldering.

[Baxtercat]

just another view; I have a '69 Showman w/ some component leads just layed on top of another [not even bent 90°], just tack-soldered to the glob on top of the eyelet...factory-stock connections.

[Kazooman]

Leo must have been having a bad day with the soldering iron

I have a 1961 Bandmaster (blonde tolex, oxblood grille cloth, 1X12 with tone ring). All of the wiring and component leads go into the eyelets.