1964 Fender Concert

[Leo_Gnardo]

What makes you think the orange drops are old?

Not orange drops. The 10 uF electrolytics in the bias department. Sprague quit using orange plastic outer wraps sometime in the 80's, and the type on yours looks like 70's ones I used to . . . install . . . geeze it's been a long time. Look around the corner, you may see date codes on 'em.

[Pdavis68]

Not orange drops. The 10 uF electrolytics in the bias department. Sprague quit using orange plastic outer wraps sometime in the 80's, and the type on yours looks like 70's ones I used to . . . install . . . geeze it's been a long time. Look around the corner, you may see date codes on 'em.

Ah, I see what you mean. Yeah, I thought those looked old. Thanks. I'll replace them.

So at this point, it looks like I need 7x22uF @500V F&Ts, 2x10uF @150V Sprague Atoms...

With as many grounds as there are in this thing, I don't know why it doesn't just hum like a banshee, but I can turn the thing up full blast and you wouldn't even know it was on. Crazy quiet.

[Leo_Gnardo]

2x10uF @150V Sprague Atoms...

With as many grounds as there are in this thing, I don't know why it doesn't just hum like a banshee, but I can turn the thing up full blast and you wouldn't even know it was on. Crazy quiet.

100V is plenty for the bias department. Funny thing, Leo F just put down grounds all over the place and got away with it. Saved him thinking about star grounds & variations. I'm not sure how it is on your Concert but on many Fenders there's a separate ground return lead for the hi voltage caps that serve the preamp, and it's attached to the brass bus behind the pots. So the ground scheme wasn't entirely random.

[Pdavis68]

Yeah, lots of ground returns to the brass bus, but they're bare wire running flat against the chassis (touching it in places). I counted at least 7 chassis grounds (not on the brass bus). Crazy...

The 150V Spragues on the bias is just what I found and happens to be what was there, so just seemed like a good match.

I can't wait to get it fixed up and play my strat through it. I had it full blast with my Les Paul all the way up and it just had a bit of growl to it. I bet it's clean as whistle with my strat. But man, that clean sound wasn't thin at all. Just thick and luscious. Oh my...

I'm not going to play it again until I come up with a matched pair of tubes. I'll test them all tomorrow for shorts (I suspect there's a bad one or two in there) and then try to match two. I might have to buy a new pair, though.

[Pdavis68]

Ended up replacing the power cord altogether. It wasn't in fantastic shape anyway. Death cap removed. Ground switch out of the circuit.




Ordered replacement caps. 7x 22uF @500V F&Ts for the doghouse, 2x10uF @150V Sprague Atoms for the bias board, and 2x.01uF @600V 715P Orange Drops to replace the power tube coupling caps.

[Pdavis68]

Well, I'm devastated. It turns out this amp was stolen from a local band. I turned it over to the police this morning. I'm working to get the money from the seller (of course, he's saying it's going to take a few weeks to get the money together.). Fortunately, the detective who I handed the amp over to asked me to keep in touch with him regarding getting paid back and said he'll apply any pressure he can (he can't really force the guy to pay me, unless I get a judgment against the guy).
Man this sucks... That amp just sounded so amazing.
Once I get my money back, I'm going to build one.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Ding DANG-A-LANG BLANGGIT! Ain't that a drag!!! How did you find out it was stolen?

If you're going to build from scratch why not save some $$$, build it as a single channel amp, also skip the multi speaker multi $$, go single 12, or single 15 to grab some extra low frequency response.

Oh well, I hope the real owner will appreciate his ol' Concert was well taken care of over the last couple days.

[Pdavis68]

The guy I bought it from texted me to tell me the police had come by looking for it after seeing his ad. It was stolen from someone local (actually a fairly popular local band). I called the detective this morning to tell him I had it and arranged for him to come pick it up while I was at work. He was a really cool guy.

Yes, I will build a single channel amp and I'm actually going to build it as a head. I don't build combos. Heads are lighter and I can plug them into whatever speakers I want... But I do need to build a 1x15 cab at some point...

[Leo_Gnardo]

Good plan on the head version. You oughta see that band in action sometime. Amp's proper owner owes you a beer, at least! I hope he appreciates your honesty.

[Justin Thomas]

I'll vouch for the Pro...

Build both channels - bridging them together and futzing is FUN! And potentially nauseating for listeners. Seriously - do both. Just like the schematic.

Justin

[Pdavis68]

Good plan on the head version. You oughta see that band in action sometime. Amp's proper owner owes you a beer, at least! I hope he appreciates your honesty.

Actually, he does an acoustic set at a local Italian restaurant every Tuesday night and he invited my family to come out for dinner. Just got an e-mail from him. Super guy...

So I've got capacitors on the way for my new Pete Davis Concert amp :-) I had already ordered the replacements yesterday.

Hopefully the guy who owes me the $600 can pay me half tomorrow (he said he might be able to). He said it's going to be a couple of weeks for the other half (waiting for a tax return). If he screws me on the money that's going to put a serious dent in my amp budget.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Hopefully the guy who owes me the $600 can pay me half tomorrow (he said he might be able to). He said it's going to be a couple of weeks for the other half (waiting for a tax return). If he screws me on the money that's going to put a serious dent in my amp budget.

Anything beats being hauled into court for possession of stolen property. Glad to see it's worked out so far so good, and it would be wonderful to get all your $$$ back.

Wonder how the guy who sold it to you, got his paws on it in the first place.

[Pdavis68]

Anything beats being hauled into court for possession of stolen property. Glad to see it's worked out so far so good, and it would be wonderful to get all your $$$ back.

Wonder how the guy who sold it to you, got his paws on it in the first place.

The amp was stolen 1/3/17. The detective said he thinks it's changed hands at least 3 times since then. The guy I got it from claims to have gotten it from his cousin. So who knows...

He seems to legitimately intend to pay me back. My concern is that I think he's one of those people who's just perpetually poor. He said he'll be able to pay me half this week and then the other half when he gets his tax refund back in a few weeks. I think I'm going to have to be calling him a couple times a week to make sure I get that tax refund money and he doesn't decide on a whim to buy a pound of weed instead. Know what I mean?

[The Dude]

Well, that totally sux. Maybe you can at least get a repair out of the deal. Have you told the original owner of the problems you found?

[Pdavis68]

Well, that totally sux. Maybe you can at least get a repair out of the deal. Have you told the original owner of the problems you found?

Yeah, he's a fairly well known local musician. He's got a tech he's taking it to. I'm not a professional. I'm not taking money for amp repairs. I'm not insured. If I get someone killed I'm screwed. lol.

But he's offered to buy my family dinner at the Italian restaurant plays every Tuesday night (good restaurant!!!) So that'll be cool. My cousin has actually known the guy for years... So it's all good (except for the money which will hopefully be good).