Restoration Services
BASIC TUNE-UP
A basic tune-up includes a thorough chassis cleaning of all oils
and gunk, cleaning of all pots and jacks for residue and smoke,
lubricating of pots, jacks and switches and tightening of all
bolts, screws, jacks and all tube socket pins. Old tubes will be
tested, marked and returned to the owner. All transformers will
be ohmed out and documented. A complete visual, pulling and
poking of all components and wires will be performed and again
documented. A DC and AC analysis is performed which will evaluate
the performance of the amp and its reliability. New output tubes
will be installed and biased using the current shunt method. New
preamp tubes will be installed and checked for microphonics.
Tubes will then be burned in while observing the amp's operation
on an oscilloscope. Bias will be re-checked. And oh yeah, I'll
play every Stevie Ray lick I know through the amp to be sure it's
up to gig level performance.
Here's a tune up example for a Super Reverb:
In this example, new production JJ/Telsa and Sovtek tubes are used exclusively, except for one NOS 12AT7 in the phase inverter position, but any tube(s) can be substituted from my current inventory of new production and NOS tubes. Cost will be adjusted based on tube selection.
Note:
If your amp is more then twenty years old, in addition to the above tune up, it
likely needs replacement of all electrolytic capacitors, grid and screen
resistors, maybe preamp load resistors and a new 3 prong AC power cord. Below
are descriptions of other common restoration services. Several more
comprehensive restoration service examples for Fender amps is also listed here and in the main
menu contents page.
SUPPLY CAP REPLACEMENT
A cap job is not just for reliability, it's also for tone and
power. An electrolytic's shelf life runs about 15 year's max. So
if your amp is more then 10-15yrs old, you probably need a cap
job. Weak caps will reduce the over-all power, bass will start to
sound flabby, highs will be dull. So if you observe any of the
above, you may need a cap job. I use nothing but USA made Sprague
Atom "Blue Can" electrolytics compared to some that use
cheap cheesy Illinois Japanese caps. Once the new electrolytics
have been installed, the amp is then brought up slowly on a
Variac to insure caps have been properly formed.
$180 parts and labor.
Cap job Link
TUBE SOCKET REPLACEMENT
Occasionally tube sockets can not be restored but need to be
replaced because of a previous fire, arcing, cracking due to
vibrations and heat or repeated soldering of pins.
$53.00 for 2 tubes, $106.00 for 4 tubes parts and labor.
SCREEN AND GRID RESISTORS REPLACEMENT
Screen and grid resistors take a real beating and don't last
forever. They are soldered directly to the output tube sockets
and take a beating from speaker vibrations and heat. Four output
tube amps like Twins and Showman's run especially hot and thus
are even harder on these resistors. Smoking screens resistors are
very common and can take its power tube with it. So if your amp
is 10+ years old and/or you have re-tubed with expensive NOS
tubes, I highly recommend replacing screen and grid resistors
with 2% flameproof resistors. Cheap insurance!
$12.85 for 2 tubes, $25.70 for 4 tubes parts and labor.
Screen & Grid
resistor Link
PREAMP LOAD RESISTORS REPLACEMENT
Again if your amp is much older then 15yrs, it probably makes
some "snap crackle and pop" noise while idling. Your
100K ohm pre-amp resistors need to be replaced. Cheap service for
a quiet amp once again!
$46.80 parts and
labor.
AC POWER CORD REPLACEMENT
Aren't you tired of shocking yourself yet? And what about noise?
Do you like a noisy amp? Do you like having to move your amp
around to just the right spot? Heck no! Let's get it fixed! If
anything should go wrong inside your amp that causes a short to
the chassis, you really want the current to be shunted through
the grounded green wire and not you. So replace that 2-prong AC
cord with a high quality grounded 3-prong AC cord.
$41.75 parts and labor.
COSMETIC RESTORATIONS
These are required for the spouse, so you can keep your amp in
the living room. The cost to re-tolex assumes original Fender
factory tolex. If an amp has been re-tolexed by someone using the
wrong adhesive, this requires more prep time and the cost to
re-tolex increases by 2 hours. I carry replacement tolex and
grill cloth for Blonde, Brown, Black and early Silverface
Fenders. I also carry some really cool "Aged" Blackface
grill cloth that has that "20 year aged" appearance.
Call or e-mail for more details.
I'm currently not accepting any cosmetic restoration work due to an abundant amount of electrical restoration work. I would still be glad to discuss any cosmetic restoration questions you might have, but for now, I'll have to refer all cosmetic restoration work to Gregg Hopkins or Larry Rodgers.
Fender amp tolex tips and tricks link