Vintage amp tech needed...

[Roguejim]

There are no amp techs where I live that I would trust. Are there any vintage amp techs here who know there way around Silvertone 1333s? I'll be receiving one of these amps, but want it gone through. Thanks.

[Helmholtz]

Wow! But where is "here"?

[Roguejim]

Wow! But where is "here"?

Sorry. Southern Oregon, USA...Grants Pass. There is one guy here who works on antique radios and supposedly works on tube amps. I'm not opposed to shipping the amp. Thanks.

[big_teee]

Sorry. Southern Oregon, USA...Grants Pass. There is one guy here who works on antique radios and supposedly works on tube amps. I'm not opposed to shipping the amp. Thanks.

It's a great time to update your profile, to include your area, or location!
T

[Roguejim]

It's a great time to update your profile, to include your area, or location!
T

I just tried updating my profile, but it says I don't have permission to access the page. Weird.

[big_teee]

I just tried updating my profile, but it says I don't have permission to access the page. Weird.

Sorry, yes, you may have to have more posts under your belt before you can do that.
Moral of the story, Keep posting!
T

[Tony Bones]

Are there any vintage amp techs here ...?

Many of us here are more vintage than we'd like to admit.

[HaroldBrooks]

I may be out of line here, but maybe you can try and service it yourself ?

That's how I got started just a few short years ago. Techs in my area are 'OK' but some made suggestions I thought were unnecessary, like replacing my old field coil speaker with a PM version. It's quite easy to find a recone for field coil speakers, so I decided from that point on I would fix my own amps. A leap ! but it's paid off in spades, and not in just monetary terms.

Here's the important High Voltage and other safety rules if you chose that route (if you are not sure about ANY of this, don't work on your own amps !) : Make sure amp is unplugged. Discharge ALL capacitors. Never plug amp back in until you are ready to test it. Use a bulb based current limiter to spot short circuits. Never put two hands into an amplifier. Never go back to working on an amp without unplugging the amp and discharging the capacitors. Use high voltage insulated tools. Wear Safety goggles and shock proof gloves at all times. Learn how to solder properly (vids on youtube for that) (anyone else, please feel free to add)


Sounds like A lot, but it get's to be a ritual like starting a car and pulling out of a driveway. You wouldn't start the car and immediately jump on the gas without checking a few things first ! Same with working on an amplifier.

Now watch these first few videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5SSKX74DKg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRFRwOnLsZI

and all the others in his series if you can. Honestly if you spend a week watching a couple of vids a night and paying absolute attention, you will already be up on a lot of what you need to test and fix at least the basics.

Your best friends are knowing how to solder correctly, understanding voltage and polarity, and learning how to Clean sockets and connection, and effectively Chopstick the entire circuit.

Hey, that may not be for you, but just wanted to throw that into the mix, incase you wanted to become more independent like I did.

This board by the way is your single GREATEST resource, and the guys hear collectively are super smart, helpful, and have umpteen years of real experience ! Worth it's weight in Gold !!!

[soundmasterg]

I haven't worked on the Silvertone 1333 specifically but have worked on a lot of 1484/1485's and other vintage amps. I'm a EE also, and am in Oregon also, though I'm in the Portland Oregon metro area. However I don't have time to work on anything right now since I am trying to get a car back together and also get my duplex up for sale. That said, there are some good techs in the Portland metro area. Brian Sours at Soursound is good (and busy), and charges a fair rate.There are many others around too. I don't know of any good techs in the Grants Pass area specifically, but Portland isn't that far of a drive if you were going up here for some other reason. Or you could try to learn and fix it yourself too. Tube amps aren't rocket science (today at least) but you do need to learn how to be safe to work on them without hurting yourself.

Greg

[Chuck H]

Grants Pass is a nice town. But you'll need to get into a metropolitan area to find what you're looking for. Portland is a metropolis. There will be someone there that services vintage amps. Familiarity with that particular model is not important for a competent tech. You could drive there in half a day. It's salmon season, make a fishing trip out of it