Good news = I got a 71 Bandmaster for $40! (Clips added)

[infiniteposse]

I have a few questions I was hoping you guys might be able to answer.

This would be my first full overhaul on an amp if I strip this thing down. If I go to the trouble of doing that I'm not sure I'd want to just make it a Bandmaster Reverb since I just bought and serviced a 66 Super Reverb that's now running perfectly.

How does one determine the feasibility of what an amp can be converted into? By this, I'm wondering what I'm looking at to determine what the possibilities are for conversion. Is the primary factor what transformers are in it? If so, what aspects of the transformers should I be taking note of? I'm trying to get more experience looking at schematics and "getting" what I'm seeing, so if I do a rebuild, that'll be one of my primary goals.

In terms of what I'd like to own amp-wise, I don't have any proper brown/blonde amps and I really like the sound of them. Is that something that might work with this complement of transformers?

I'm also open to any other suggestions of amps that might be a good fit. I've got a decent selection of amps for my studio, but I'm always looking to fill out the selection.

Thanks again for all of the assistance. Sorry for all of the newb questions. I've come a billion miles in the last year, technically speaking. I've just got a long way to go to get where I want to be.

Appreciated.

[jjman]

Considering it's current state, I would be stripping it down and thinking outside the "chassis." I was actually looking for a similar non-original-condition Fender head to use for a build but had to go from scratch since I was seeing only original units with high prices.

Bandmaster Reverb is pretty close to a Super Reverb circuit wise. If your power tranny is original it's going to yield a fairly high plate voltage on the output tubes unless measures are taken on that.

Go crazy and build whatever you’ve always wanted to have.

[dynaman]

Yeah, after looking into making some boards for DC supplies, I'll admit to entertaining the thought of dropping in a cheap and compact wall wart to save the aggravation.

FYI Dynaman

http://www.welbornelabs.com/ps6.htm
http://www.welbornelabs.com/lowvolt.htm

I've dealt w/ Welborne a couple times over 20 years every time ok and fast ship. But I've read some negative posts about bad service, so this is not an unqualified endorsement. These boards are what I would try if I wanted DC filaments.

Wow, I've seen some heinous things today on this post, from big names too. What would make Zinky go totally apeshit with a whole tube of silicon! It boggles the mind. 50 years of Marshall, Hiwatt Fenders, hyped up, drunk, stoned rockers, Townsend, Hendrix, Kossoff, Punks, Metal, world tours, stadiums, thousands of dbs, bad roads, ocean freight, and all those countless road weary 50 year old amps still going strong and never a drop of hot glue or silicon to keep it together. Overwhelming proof you can do fine without gobs of muck, to me anyway.

I feel bad for the bit of butchery I did in the past but I was clean!

Skip Henderson used to refer to this sort of work as Reptile Dentistry. That would be a good name for a site dedicated to amp abominations. Or an archive here.

That said, cutting the prongs off a wall wart is genius!

-rp

Yeah, I looked at those supplies a while back but never wound up pulling the trigger. Welborne seems like a decent outfit. I ordered an upscale Dynaco ST70 driver kit from them years ago but never wound up using it. Their delivery was speedy and they were highly regarded in the DIY hifi circuit when I was into that stuff.

[Gibsonman63]

The super reverb output transformer is set up to drive into 2 ohms, (4 - 8 Ohm speakers in parallel). Other than that, you should be able to build any circuit you want with a similar tube configuration and you can still drive four speakers in series/parallel configuration.

Personally, If I was going to gut it, I would rewire it with some wire that stays where you put it. That was another difference between the BF and SF Fenders. Most of the BF amps I have been in have better lead dress because of this.

[infiniteposse]

OK. I have a game plan now.

I've decided to gut the chassis and make it a 6G16 Vibroclone. I don't really care for SRV-angle so much, but I do love Brown Fender's, so this will be a fun project that'll yield an amp that I'll enjoy. It seems like my choice of the Allen OT will work out well, too.

Any recommendations for the following?

- Boards? Marsh amplification has a fiber-board for $25 and Turretboards.com has a more robust board for more $$$. The fender fiberboards have help up forever, so I guess there's no reason to think a new one won't last another 50 years... I'm open to suggestions though.

- Faceplate - This thing is so fugly I think a Vibroclone faceplate will spruce it up a bit. Any suggestions for sourcing a Brownface one?

- Wire - How much should I get? Color suggestions? I was thinking of going with cloth covered and trying to really make things tidy in the amp...

- Easier to read layout and schematic? Often Fender schematics and layout are well scanned and easy to read. The 6G16 layout is brutal and blurry. Any other sources for this kind of thing you might suggest?

That's all that's come to mind at the moment. If it would be more appropriate/effective to start a new thread, let me know and I'll do so accordingly.

Thanks!

[Bear]

I've always wondered about this: for the small transformer twin 6L6 blackface and silverface Fenders, people seem to only like the Vibrolux and maybe the Tremolux. The Pro and Bandmaster get no respect. People like the big iron in the Super and Bassman head a lot more. I've always understood that the major difference was whether there was headroom and bandwidth or early transformer saturation and smoother highs (at the expense of low definition). I've even observed that Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo used a combo of Super and Vibrolux, presumably for the different qualities.

Is there something about the Vibrolux Reverb that is objectively better than the Pro Reverb or Bandmaster Reverb? Maybe do the 10's work better for that sound?

[sidneystreet]

...Is there something about the Vibrolux Reverb that is objectively better than the Pro Reverb or Bandmaster Reverb? Maybe do the 10's work better for that sound?

I've often wondered the same thing.

I'd like to convert a Bandmaster Reverb into a BF Vibrolux Reverb. Is this redundant? Would a cab and speaker change alone pretty much accomplish this?

[Bear]

I haven't looked at the schematics head to head, but once "blackfaced" (oxymoronic for the Bandmaster Reverb, but . . . ) they should be close. The Bandmaster has a mid pot rather than a fixed resistor, but otherwise not much difference.