new amp project day (burnt super reverb content)

[Jimbilly]

just brought this home, I feel a little bit like the dog who caught the car "now what do I do with it!?".   It says 'musical instruments, so 65 or newer, the guy I got if from said it is a 65. I haven't pulled the chassis out yet (it's been a busy weekend). 3 of the speakers might be ok, all the knobs turn, and the switches 'switch'. It still has a 2 prong cord (melted, up near the chassis), and small 5881 power tubes.  This might take a while, and I'm going to need a lot of Q tips.  

[Jimbilly]

and the other end

[Cboss]

4x10? Do the originals amps, like this, sound pretty fantastic? 

Edited June 23, 2024 by Cboss

[beezerboy]

mt first thoughts are don't wreck those vintage spider webs

[donner]

Would be the perfect fit for Uncle Larrys latest story here:

 

[bubs_42]

Good Luck, I like a good project and a challenge, but even I would have walked away from that one. 

[hamerhead]

I would restore it - or rather, have it restored - functionally but leave it alone cosmetically. Nothing says 'Rock'n'Roll' like a finely torched amp!

[mrjamiam]

Seems more toasted than truly burnt.  A worthy project.  When it's working you can set it on 6 and have that "Super 6" sound without having to buy a Lovepedal.

[Jimbilly]

On 6/23/2024 at 6:16 AM, hamerhead said:

I would restore it - or rather, have it restored - functionally but leave it alone cosmetically. Nothing says 'Rock'n'Roll' like a finely torched amp!

that's looking like the direction it's heading!

[crunchee]

If it was mine, I'd be tempted to call it Christine...or maybe not:

 

Just make sure that it's electrically sound and grounded before playing it.  Having a fire extinguisher rated for electrical fires at the ready can't hurt, either.

Edited June 25, 2024 by crunchee

[The Shark]

I don't know.  You would have to pay me to take it.  Good luck.  It's going to be miraculous, if you get it back in shape.  

[kizanski]

I can smell those pictures. 

[tbonesullivan]

Oh jeez. How long has it been sitting since it got torched? Definitely looks like it it's had a while to corrode further after the fire.

[Jimbilly]

I've actually decided to pass it along to a local friend who can handle it a whole lot better than I can, he can do everything except speaker recones. It would probably be worth buying a new repro cabinet, getting speakers reconed as needed, new faceplate etc (then it's pretty far from original), but lugging around another 4x10 combo (I already have two different 410 combos) doesn't sound as fun as it did 30 years ago.  It was fun to chase it down and beat the other CL hunters to it. 

[crunchee]

Problem with lugging around 4x10 combos, is that they're a real pain to lug around, literally.  They're just the right size to smack me in the shins when toting it by the handle anywhere, and trying to avoid that while schlepping it does my back no favors.  

[Jimbilly]

5 hours ago, crunchee said:

Problem with lugging around 4x10 combos, is that they're a real pain to lug around, literally.  They're just the right size to smack me in the shins when toting it by the handle anywhere, and trying to avoid that while schlepping it does my back no favors.  

My first real amp is/was a '72 Ampeg VT-40, I bought it in '85. Cool amp, but it's bad enough carrying it around when there aren't any stairs to deal with.  My two most recent amp purchases are Univox U45s (u45b?), standby while I put one on the scale... just over 21 pounds.  

[crunchee]

18 hours ago, Jimbilly said:

My first real amp is/was a '72 Ampeg VT-40, I bought it in '85. Cool amp, but it's bad enough carrying it around when there aren't any stairs to deal with.  My two most recent amp purchases are Univox U45s (u45b?), standby while I put one on the scale... just over 21 pounds.  

Yet another reason why I don't own an amp anymore that (a) isn't in head form, and (b) bigger than 18 watts.

[Dutchman]

If it has the original blue tone caps in it test them as they are tough as heck. They are the secret sauce. They make new face plates and knobs. So no biggie there. I would replace all of the tube sockets, on fire resto's I've done in the past they where problomatic with small noises until they got replaced. 

Take your time and have fun

[hamerican gigolo]

Seems like it may be more trouble than it's worth. That's a lot of resto work. If the power cord melted,  chances are the innards of the chassis is toast, also. It may prove to be a truly total rebuild. 😞

[geoff_hartwell]

Now THATS a Phoenix 😎

The Super Reverb can be the best amp in the world or a complete boat anchor. Hope you resurrect it with a master volume! GL

[DaveH]

What a way to get a Blackface.

[crunchee]

On 7/1/2024 at 5:36 PM, hamerican gigolo said:

Seems like it may be more trouble than it's worth. That's a lot of resto work. If the power cord melted,  chances are the innards of the chassis is toast, also. It may prove to be a truly total rebuild. 😞

Pre-wired circuit boards might be available through a kit-builder (like possibly Mojotone) if the originals are trashed, repro transformers too; and I would suspect that all other parts are probably available 'off the shelf' and easily found; but then, you'd have to get someone to put it all together and make sure it works properly.  It'd be a definite project, unless you already know how to do all that.  Thing is, how much of the original amp could be salvaged in the first place, and would it be worth the effort?