CW Guitar Audio

Fender Blues Jr was not powering up as a result of a shorted power tube and blown fuse. The amp was previously modified with new filter caps, output transformer, speaker, 6V6 power tubes, and a list of other associated mods. Not my preferred quality of work but good parts were used and solder work was ok so left that all alone.

Vox Kensington 1241 bass amp was in need of rehab but instead of a 13 step program this one got 13 new electrolytic caps that were all original to the amp from the late 60’s. The 15” Jensen was also swapped for a new Eminence much improved over stock. The 2 prong power cord was replaced with a grounded 3 prong, death cap removed, and mains rewired correctly. Some broken wires leading to the back panel were identified and reattached which allows the onboard tuner sample tone to work.

Ampeg SVT 7 Pro would not power on. The amp was previously repaired by a prominent local tech who I assume left the resistor tacked onto an IC chip floating and touching the lid along with the cooling fan unplugged. Being a switch mode power supply driving a class D power amp, repair of these is often temporary without chasing cascading failures of parts. So a brand new main board with all the revisions to make it reliable without ongoing issues and spending more money. Now essentially a new amp that will serve more years reliably.

90’s Fender 59 Bassman 410 reissue had random crackling and volume drops. The previous owner had replaced the stock PCB with a Hoffman turret board setup. In theory seems like an upgrade but the work was poor with lots of bad solder, the original problematic IC brand filters caps were kept when they were the only thing that really needed to ever go, just poor overall ex*****on. So all offending noisy carbon comp resistors were replaced, all electrolytic caps replaced, solder touched up, new power tubes, some rewiring of the input jacks that was a mess, and the speaker jacks were rewired correctly to keep from losing neutral connection. Always be weary when buying an amp that was someone’s learning tool. For those wanting to learn it’s always best to start with pedals and if you sell your project then be honest with what you’re passing off to someone.

1964 Fender Deluxe Reverb in for a checkup. Previously had a recap, new power cord, new plate resistors, new mixing resistors installed. The filter caps were low quality and not installed to a high standard so they were replaced with quality F&T caps. Some cathode caps were retained and some cheap ones swapped out to match the others. Bias supply rebuilt, new power tubes, a couple new preamp tubes, tremolo circuit repaired, all k***s replaced with right type, power cord rewired correctly, new B+ dropping resistors, grid stoppers, screen grid resistors, and bias. Another one like new again.

Ampeg VL-1002 had a loose intermittently working input jack that was fatigued from age. The amp just came back from Lee Jackson himself so was partially recapped. So nothing else needed done besides some solder work and a new jack.

1967 Fender Bassman came in for a checkup. Was almost all original despite being portrayed as “serviced” to the new owner. The extent of the service was a new power cord and a mod to the bias supply. So the 59 year old leaking electrolytic capacitors were replaced, B+ dropping resistors, plate resistors, mixing resistors, screen grid resistors, grid stoppers replaced, death cap removed, power cord/fuse/power switch/transformer rewired correctly, bias supply rebuilt, and new rectifier diodes installed. Now it’s serviced and ready to service many more years reliably.

Another CW Guitar Audio Studio Switcher out the door on it’s way to Missouri. This time an 8 channel unit with switchable -20dB attenuation. Shout out to Scott for doing pro work creating the CAD layout and CNC machining of the entire enclosure including engraving. Came out even better than my previous vendor who dropped the ball on delivering another enclosure in time. Scott did an even better job and delivered on time. Thanks to Bradley Schultz for the idea and promoting my finished product

Hard Truckers JG1 2X12 cabinet got a speaker swap from a Tone Tubby Alnico to a Celestion G12H-75. Nice upgrade and both speakers compliment each other much better.

68 Fender Bandmaster was blowing mains fuses caused by shorted original filter caps. Was all original minus tubes. It also had a dead power tube, burned screen-grid resistor, random loss of power tube bias, a couple bad preamp tubes, noisy plate resistors, 2 prong plug. So it got the usual treatment of all new electrolytic caps throughout, new B+ dropping resistors, balance resistors, screen-grid resistors, grid stoppers, rectifier diodes, rebuilt bias supply, bad cap in the tremolo replaced, reflow of all solder, plate resistors, power tubes, power cord, a couple preamp tubes, a bias, new tremolo LDR, anti tick mod to the tremolo.