Got a 65 Super reverb today... BUT I NEED HELP!

[riz]

The "cap job" you need to get isn't going to affect your "sound reasons" in any way but a positive one. Leave your signal caps alone, unless they're bad, and replace all electrolytics filter and bypass caps. When I get amps like this (I own 3 Supers!), I change all the filters first, and then start looking for problems. Often that WAS most of the problem... I thought you went through all this with your Bassman?! Can't remember the whole story, I just remember you posting about it...

[Hella1hella]

No, my bassman never had any issues with it, it just needed a cap job and I got one soon after I got it. I just read online that the original caps sound better and to keep them in as long as possible, but then again most things online are a bunch of crap, that's why I consult this forum Im just praying there is nothing too wrong with the amp, I dont have a TON of money to spill into it but I want to give it the best stuff possible, and I want to get a 4x10 cabinet for it to make it look/sound like it should!

[riz]

The original SIGNAL caps (inter-stage coupling, etc.), yeah, maybe. The blue molded ones do have a good reputation, and there's no need to change them if they're not leaky or out of spec. When you hear/read "cap job", it doesn't mean EVERY single cap in the amp. It means primarily the big, cheap, electrolytics under the "dog house". Some folks say the original electrolytic bypass caps in the preamp stages should stay. They don't see a lot of voltage and a case can be made that it's o.k. to leave them in well past their usual life span. You see, they drift in value over time, and that can affect the response of your particular amp, more trebly, more bassy, etc., and you may like it that way. Note that these are NOT the blue molded caps I mentioned earlier, these are the brown paper ones on the the tagboard. You can try to test them and match their value, but I like to hear these amps as they were built, and just replace them, when I change the other electrolytics. Don't forget to change the BIAS SUPPLY CAP--very important to do this one, it sometimes gets overlooked.

[ThermionicScott]

This wasn't asked, but I'd personally get a 4x10" speaker cab and leave it in piggyback form.

[Fee]

It's a heater string problem, very common to old Fender amps, the heater string also runs the pilot light in this amp. Those light sockets are notorious trouble makers. The other issue - crackling could be DC voltage on the board, caused by either "leaky" coupling caps or moisture that has become impregnated in the board. The luckiest thing would be that it was just dirty pots, (maybe). These amps are often stored in moist basements and garages, which is fine in the southwest but not in most other places. Any qualified amp tech should have the heater string issue cleared up in no time. Please use Sprague Atoms to re-cap, don't "cheap out", it's a 65 Super Reverb after all. Best wishes.

[Gibsonman63]

Nice find. Don't let anyone talk you into changing out the transformers. It seems to be the black box that no one understands, so too many people want to change them before doing real troubleshooting. Change the electrolytics and keep the blue molded Mallory caps. Keep the originals in a little baggie if it makes you feel better. Since you are paying someone else to do the work, you will be a lot better off, just changing all of the electrolytics (don't forget the bias capacitor) at once and being done.

It looks to me that someone has twisted the heater wires tighter than factory. A good thing actually, but also a potential place for a bad solder connection.

It will be fairly heavy once you go back to the original configuration with the cabinet, but well worth it.

A while back, there were some guys parting out old Fender amps and selling the chassis, cabinets and speakers separately on eBay. A real shame to do that IMO, but if you can get a real 1965 cabinet and some period correct speakers the amp will be worth considerably more.

[Fee]

if you can't find an original cab, I'd like suggest JD Newell in Georgia. He's a great guy, has built many cabinets for the amps I build, doesn't jack up the shipping charges either. He will take good care of you. In fact if your planning to bring this amp out to gigs, you might be better off with an aftermarket cabinet. Then you can get an original cabinet whenever you may find it and not put any more wear and tear into. Preserving it's collector value should you ever decide to sell. I believe John's website is
www.newellamps.com
best wishes....

[Hella1hella]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the feedback! Anyone have some good speaker ideas? I would like originals but they are seeming to be hard to find, and when I CAN find them they are super overpriced, or need to be re-coned. I have looked at some Weber stuff, and some of the reissue Jensen but its hard to really pick anything without opinions on it. I am trying to keep the speakers as price conscious as possible because with their being four speakers, it could get REAL expensive REAL quick.

Fee- Is this issue usually expensive to fix? Its currently at the amp guy right now but I know hes been super busy lately so I am just waiting to hear back. Also, with the atom caps... I have heard these are great cabs but also have heard from some good sources that they are super hyped and you can get caps that are great quality for a little less price. I'm not saying I want to skimp on parts but are they really necessary?

--- Just checked out the Newell cabs. They look great! They are pretty much the same as everything I have found ( like the mojotone stuff) Pine with Plywood baffle. But they look to be awesome quality and they are a good price! I also think its great how he offers them with speakers. The prices he has for speakers is much less than it would be for me to buy them.

Anyone have an old Super reverb cab they would sell me for a good deal ?!

[Fee]

As much as I like JD Newells cabinets, I think he's only selling the new Italian Jensen speakers, am I right? I got a some and thought they were lifeless compared to some others. But I got twelves so who knows.......... I have found the Weber 10F 150T to be the closest thing to the vintage ceramic Chicago Jensen. But louder or more efficient. At $90 those could be considered expensive when buying four of them. Try to see if you can get any info on the new Jupiter 10 inch speakers, they are attempting to make a "vintage Chicago Jensen" type speaker. They have both AlNiCo and ceramic versions and the price (to me, not retail) is quite good. I just haven't had the chance to order them yet. The Eminence legends are very authentic sounding tens, both the AlNiCo and the ceramic versions and are low priced. They tend not to be as loud as the Webers, but you've got a Super so you'll be too loud all the time anyway. As far as the Sprague Atoms caps are concerned, yes I think that's the only way to go, a few bucks more but if you spread that out over the ten years they're likely to be in there it's really negligible. Some people like F&T caps, I'm sticking with the Spragues. Keep clear of the Illinois caps sold at music stores, and make sure your tech doesn't use them in your amp, yes they will save everyone money, no they don't make music. Best wishes......

[olddawg]

It really depends on if you want to repair or restore the amp. Personally I would buy a used 4x10 or a 2x12 extension cabinet at 4 ohms or something that could be rewired to 2 ohms. Then I would just use it and take my time to find a period cab or a reproduction and appropriate speakers on eBay, etc. No hurry, the amp will sound fine. You might find old bandmaster, showman, etc for cheap if you look.

[Gtr_tech]

Screw Sprague. There's plenty of other caps out there that perform as well or better and don't cost as much. I have a feeling they aren't gonna last much longer before production is halted. Another case of "they don't make 'em like they used to"...

[Fee]

In my opinion the Sprague Atoms are the closest thing in sound and performance to the Mallory Caps that were original in his 65 Super. I'm giving my suggestions based on the concept that he'd like the sound and performance of a vintage blackface amp. Lot's of caps could out perform them, you could re-cap with Solen Fast Caps and realize a tremendous jump in performance (from an engineer's point of view) but it makes for a jumpy overly aggressive guitar amp that nearly no one would prefer to a period correct Super Reverb. I don't know how much he would be paying for parts so I can't say for sure but for me the difference in cost between recapping the power supply with F&T versus Sprague Atoms is only around $10. If that $10 is that critical so be it. Best wishes......

[JoeM]

I believe there's some reports here on problems with the recent Spraques.

[Fee]

I'll stick with the advice I've given, thanks very much.

[akimball442]

Power supply caps don't have tone...

Power supply caps can affect tone, or response, or 'feel,' but only with a change in the value of the cap. Increasing the 8uF or 16uF PS caps in a Tweed for example, to 40uF, is really going to stiffen up the power supply, reduce sag, and affect the feel of the amp.

It's pretty doubtful the OP is going to change the values of any of the caps, since it's fairly obvious he'd like to keep the original circuit. Any good quality, correctly rated caps will suffice.

It always amuses me how people will use carbon comp resistors in the PS section for that 'boutique' tone. I'd prefer safe, reliable, stable, etc any day. The power supply doesn't generate any tone by itself. Voltages affect tone, but as long as the components are of the correct (original) values, then the PS will be just fine.

I recently did a build and had a brand new Sprague cap explode, running 150+V below the specified rating. I exclusively used them for their good reputation. I spent hours looking for mistakes, over and over again, and found none. I replaced the cap with an old used one I had lying around, and it worked perfectly. I subsequently replaced it with a new one, for obvious reasons. There was no reason whatsoever for that cap to fail, and the lightning bolt that resulted scared the hell out of me. A large cap with 100's of volts across it shorting out is not a good thing- and when they do let go, you better hope that's all that lets go in the amp. A short might take out a tube recto and save the tranny or not, with diodes, you could definitely lose the transformer.

So Fee, whatever you've been told about the PS caps sounding better or being close to the originals- it just doesn't really matter. The only original caps are the original caps. Any replacements are still replacements. I was not aware of a problem with the Sprague caps, I thought I was the only one. Evidently not. Replacing PS caps is OK. Any sane person planning to use the amp will be happy that it's done if it were ever going to be for sale. Much like the amp should have a 3 wire grounded cord. It's just a must. All old guitars, cars, amps, etc were designed and built to be used, not as decorations.

Congrats to the OP for getting this great amp so inexpensively. I thought my $125.00 68 Bassman head was a bargain... 15 years ago.... You'll love it once you get it sorted.