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Once again, caught by Fender’s Bear Trap…needing to remove a chassis from their combo amp, and it won’t come out. This time, it was a Vibrolux Reverb Combo amp. Removed the rear chassis flange screws, then removed the top pairs of chassis screws thru the metal straps, and went to slide in my thin piece of aluminum between the chassis & cabinet to prevent the sloped front from chiseling off & then rolling up the adhesive-backed aluminum grounding plate on the inside top of the cabinet.
Not a chance. This time, no gap at the front of the chassis & cabinet, besides I could see thru the rear gap the adhesive-backed ground foil was already rolled back inside the chassis cavity. The Bear Trap. So, had to remove the speaker baffle, thinking once again the baffle was preventing the chassis from dropping down in front. Wrong! There was no clearance at all between the baffle mounting cleats and the chassis . NONE! Chassis completely stuck.
Only thing to do was to cut a small slice of the cleats out up at the top. But, pem nuts protruding out the bottom of the chassis, so I gave it 3/16”, and carefully cut down thru the wood & tolex, stopped before getting to the sides, so I could slice away the Tolex and not bugger the inside edges of the cabinet. At this point, the baffle is out, the reverb tank is out (had to come out anyway, as the Vibrolux Reverb amp as a fixed tank cable), the handle is off. Knocked out the slices, so now there's a gap.
Still couldn’t slide the chassis out….due to the rolled-up grounding foil that got buggered by a previous tech? No clue how they even got the chassis into place! Had no choice but to battle with it in tiny increments until I got the front past the baffle cleats, then was able to finally remove it from the cabinet.
Turned the cabinet over onto it’s top. Ground foil was just ripped to shreds, with large rolled-up batches of foil from some prior servicing.
I had found suitable replacement material for this, having to deal with it on a regular basis. Aluminum flashing, sold for roofing applications, 0.012” thick, found it in 25ft x 8” wide rolls. Got mine thru Home Depot, stk # 421037, made by Construction Metals Inc. Paid $21 & change for it.
On Fender Twins, the 8” width fits, though on the smaller amps, it’s too wide. I have both a large shear & a Beselar Roto-Trim from my photo lab, so cutting it to size isn’t an ordeal. Without, you can cut your hands up good. I had made some templates, so I’d be able to locate the mounting holes and punch them out (Whitney punch). I use Arrow 9/16” staples to staple the material to the inside of the cabinet top, once I’ve peeled off the former wreckage. Still have to hammer the staples the rest of the way down. No template made for this cabinet, though, so one more to make.
What a total pain!
Not a chance. This time, no gap at the front of the chassis & cabinet, besides I could see thru the rear gap the adhesive-backed ground foil was already rolled back inside the chassis cavity. The Bear Trap. So, had to remove the speaker baffle, thinking once again the baffle was preventing the chassis from dropping down in front. Wrong! There was no clearance at all between the baffle mounting cleats and the chassis . NONE! Chassis completely stuck.
Only thing to do was to cut a small slice of the cleats out up at the top. But, pem nuts protruding out the bottom of the chassis, so I gave it 3/16”, and carefully cut down thru the wood & tolex, stopped before getting to the sides, so I could slice away the Tolex and not bugger the inside edges of the cabinet. At this point, the baffle is out, the reverb tank is out (had to come out anyway, as the Vibrolux Reverb amp as a fixed tank cable), the handle is off. Knocked out the slices, so now there's a gap.
Still couldn’t slide the chassis out….due to the rolled-up grounding foil that got buggered by a previous tech? No clue how they even got the chassis into place! Had no choice but to battle with it in tiny increments until I got the front past the baffle cleats, then was able to finally remove it from the cabinet.
Turned the cabinet over onto it’s top. Ground foil was just ripped to shreds, with large rolled-up batches of foil from some prior servicing.
I had found suitable replacement material for this, having to deal with it on a regular basis. Aluminum flashing, sold for roofing applications, 0.012” thick, found it in 25ft x 8” wide rolls. Got mine thru Home Depot, stk # 421037, made by Construction Metals Inc. Paid $21 & change for it.
On Fender Twins, the 8” width fits, though on the smaller amps, it’s too wide. I have both a large shear & a Beselar Roto-Trim from my photo lab, so cutting it to size isn’t an ordeal. Without, you can cut your hands up good. I had made some templates, so I’d be able to locate the mounting holes and punch them out (Whitney punch). I use Arrow 9/16” staples to staple the material to the inside of the cabinet top, once I’ve peeled off the former wreckage. Still have to hammer the staples the rest of the way down. No template made for this cabinet, though, so one more to make.
What a total pain!
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