1962 Ampeg Reverberocket screws and foot switch

[Chuck H]

BTW a phillips screwdriver is made with vodka and phillips milk of magnesia.

No shit?

Ah! You caught the attention of the retired members with that one. Two birds with one stone

[mtlbasslad]

On the screwdriver theme, I recently learned (will it ever stop?) about another type...

Besides Phillips & Pozidriv, there is JIS (Japan Industry Standard) used on motorcycles like my Suzuki DL650 which has a slightly different shape - the end is ground flatter.

A mismatch can lead to messing up screwheads, so beware all you screwballs!

There, after 6 years I finally posted something that was not asking for help. Gotta say I get as much in giggles (& occasional snort) as tech advice on this forum

[Enzo]

Then look up Reed & Prince, also called Frearson, which is similar to phillips, but instead of the fillet between points, the tip is straight crosspoints.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives

[mtlbasslad]

Well, that was a fun read - thanks Enzo. I like the pentalobe...

And now to do something productive with my day

[Enzo]

I first saw the tri-wing holding trim strips in place on the Washington DC Metro (subway). I got some, and it seemed about impossible to stick anything in the hole and turn it. A lot of the other types you can find a size of flat screwdriver blade that will wedge into the hole and turn out the screw. The tri wouldn't let me get a grip.

I needed security screws in another industry, and found the spanners were the hardest to extract without the proper driver.

[Mick Bailey]

The JIS screws have a punched dot on the head. I didn't know this until about 18 months ago, when I watched a TV programme about a guy rebuilding a Japanese Strat copy and he used the screwdrivers he'd got for his Japanese bikes.

[Enzo]

I always used that dot when sorting mixed screws in a jar. I used the dot as an indicator the screw was metric.

[Mick Bailey]

I still need the construction details of the foot switch. Here's what it looks like, but I'm seeing double from looking for any pics that show the side and bottom. Does anyone out there have one of these? I'd hate to go to the trouble of fabricating one only to find it was just as easy to get it 100% with the correct info available.

[Enzo]

Are you trying to make a clone of the original? Because any box with two buttons will serve.

[Jazz P Bass]

I thought the FtSw looked like this:



https://www.fliptops.net/catalog/p-1...vintage-ampegs

Edit: the one that I have shown is from 1964.
The one in the OP's post is before '64.

1962 Ampeg R12-R

[g1]

1962 Ampeg R12-R
[ATTACH=CONFIG]47177[/ATTACH]

That seems to be the ticket.
Here's another pic:

[Mick Bailey]

Are you trying to make a clone of the original? Because any box with two buttons will serve.

Yes - I want it as close as I can get to the original. Out of all the pics that I can find though, I can't see how the top and bottom are folded and attached.

[Chuck H]

Yes - I want it as close as I can get to the original.

Then, revisiting the screws, maybe use square drive heads. They can be had in round head wood screws. Actually pan head, but some pan heads are rounder than others. The "look" would be more similar and square drive is common enough that it shouldn't be a problem for maintenance.

[Mick Bailey]

I'm now not certain about the screw type. This amp has the original handle screws and these are Phillips, as are the other screws inside the cabinet. Only the back panel screws are non-original. With all of the '62 amps I've looked at, they are either clutch-head or Phillips, not a mixture. Given that '62 was the transition year between the two types, it could be that this amp left the factory with Philips head. I had a '64 AC30 for restoration recently and it had features from '63. Again, a transition year where amps from March '64 could be a hybrid. Some more research is needed to clear this up.

[Jazz P Bass]

Here are some pics I grabbed for the ft sw.

The first pic shows rivets at the back.
My take is that the side panels have flaps and are separate & riveted in.



In the second two pics (could this amp be any cleaner? What a find!), you can see the construction of the upper shell.
It appears to be one piece and the upper rear part overlaps the lower rear.
(Good luck with all of those bends. Most probably special tooling was used.)

Ampeg R12-R.pdf
Ampeg Ft Sw.pdf