Replace PCB in deluxe reverb reissue?

[chipaudette]

Hi All,

After butchering my Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue (and having good fun at it!), I think that I may have reached the limits of the PCB's tolerance to my soldering iron. It has an intermittent buzzing that comes and goes at random. When I tap on the PCB a few times (with an insulated tapping stick), it tends to go away. It sounds like a 60Hz-related buzz...so an intermittent ground is always the first thought. I've really monkey'd with this amp, so I think that my over-eager soldering experiments have finally pushed this PCB into the land of sadness.

So, I can either pour over the PCB to find the intermittent solder/pad/trace, or I can buy a new board. Since my PCB is so thoroughly ugly from all my experiments, I think that my odds of finding the problem are not great. And, I'm just as likely to develop a new problem in a month or two. Therefore, I'm thinking about replacing the board. There are two options: buy one from Fender or buy an aftermarket board. Here are my questions for you all...

(1) Has anyone tried to buy a populated PCB directly from Fender for the 65 DRRI? Do they do that? How much is it?

(2) Aftermarket point-to-point boards (ie Hoffman) are available for the AB763 from people such as TheAirtightGarage ($245) and RevolverAmps ($199). Has anyone used these people before? Are they reasonable drop-in replacements for my reissue amp, or will it take serious rework to fit in my chassis with my other (major) supporting components (transformers, reverb, front controls, filter caps, etc)? For example, my reissue amp has Molex connectors for connecting the PCB with the pots to the PCB with all the main circuitry...what do I need to do to make these work with the Hoffman boards? Cut and split out each wire individually? How about the reverb? Same thing? I'm certainly able to cut, strip, and solder...I just want to know what I'm getting into if I choose this path.

(3) Does anyone sell an aftermarket kit that has the board and the components? I'm hoping that such a kit might save me $$$ because the board is not yet populated. I'm thinking that the kit would have to total only $100-140 to make me choose it over the already-populated board. Does such a kit exist?

All thoughts and comments are welcome!

Chip

[tubeswell]

I thought the Hoffman-type boards for Fender amps were turret boards for original Fender amps, not the RIs. The RIs are all pc-board based as far as I am aware. So you'll have to go to Fender, unless you can repair/salvage the existing pc board(s)

[chipaudette]

Yes, the Hoffman boards are turret boards. Does that preclude their use in a re-issue? Are they too tall or something?

Thanks,

Chip

[MWJB]

Hoffman style board will work fine in a RI (if properly installed, recently saw an RI bassman that was actually worse than a stock RI due to poor installation!), the kits typically come with all pots & jacks.

Buy the populated board...if you didn't hear me the first time...buy the populated board.

If you're hard of hearing, or a masochist, Turretboards.com have unpopulated boards for AB763, you can choose between eyelets, turrets etc. There are also the original paper style boards available from Mojotone, Weber, TAD etc.

I have tried to order parts from Fender, maybe because I'm in the UK I don't have a representative idea of their parts supply capabilities, but how does a year's waiting time for an OT sound? I jest not, cancelled the order after a few months to be told that they will never get the part to me within 6 months, one year is typical! That's after confirming when ordering, that the part was "in stock, ready to ship" in their hub in Holland!

[PRNDL]

Here's some photos of exactly what you're talking about: A Super Reverb rebuilt like a vintage one. The circuit board replaced with an eyelet board loaded with new capacitors and carbon comp resistors, new pots, and all new wiring.

http://www.naturdoctor.com/Chapters/Rodgers/ReWire.html

Fortunately, Fender transformers are very high quality, which is a big part of their sound.

[chipaudette]

Hey, Thanks for this link. It was good to see.

My next question as to do with the AB763 circuit itself...which supposedly my 65 DRRI mimics. Do all AB763 boards have all the features of a deluxe reverb? Can I expect an aftermarket AB763 board to have both reverb and tremolo?

Thanks,

Chip

[PRNDL]

My next question as to do with the AB763 circuit itself...which supposedly my 65 DRRI mimics. Do all AB763 boards have all the features of a deluxe reverb? Can I expect an aftermarket AB763 board to have both reverb and tremolo

The answer is yes.
You can get a loaded board from Turretboards.com

I'd recommend a very close inspection of Larry Rodgers board - he built it himself and really knows his stuff. Check out where he used yellow mallory and orange drop caps.

You'll also need to get all new pots and jacks, since the old ones are on the board.

[MWJB]

I seem to remember the Hoffman boards are based on the Tremolux/6G16 Vibroverb bias trem, otherwise, yes...they have all the features.

[Steve A.]

The answer is yes.
You can get a loaded board from Turretboards.com

I'd recommend a very close inspection of Larry Rodgers board - he built it himself and really knows his stuff. Check out where he used yellow mallory and orange drop caps.

You'll also need to get all new pots and jacks, since the old ones are on the board.

Do you have any idea how much Larry charges to do a job like that? It looks very expensive but undoubtedly worth every penny...

Steve Ahola

P.S. A note to Chip: you might want to go through R.G.'s troubleshooting guide to help narrow down the problem with your amp. For starters it might be a good idea to clean any flux or other crap from the copper side of the board. Clean the pots with Caig De-Oxit and treat them with Caig ProGold. Ohm out everything while looking at the schematic. Once you find and repair the problem it's not like its automatically going to break again in a month or two. Many modern amps survive years with no problems at all- it is just a matter of putting the amp back into a stable condition. (And yes, I have to do exactly that with the Crate V18 I've been modding. I had it in a really good place on Friday night only I screwed up the reverb pot by soldering to the rivets in the terminals, but after repairing that there is now something weird going on in there... darn! So close but so far...)

EDIT: the old chopstick test indicated that there was a problem with the bass and mid caps mounted adjacent to one of the pots. I think I better resolder those puppies, since everything is working okay now but Murphy's Law tells me that it will screw up again later- whenever it is most inconvenient for me. Whew! And I was starting to think that I ruined it for good...