Tweed Twin and who's the guy

[Reeltarded]

Maybe one of you?

I have a friend with a tattered tweedy that needs a resoration, also electronically. Probably not the same guy for both jobs (?) but looking on some consensus of who to ship it to.

Needs to be someone with original replacements for things.

My idea is that the amp looks and works as original when it's done. That kind of thing. It was previously an amazing amplifier. Wicked with his SGLP and making some heat. Wild even.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Needs to be someone with original replacements for things.

1950's filter caps? Big yellow Astron film caps that don't leak? Selenium diode that's guaranteed never to emit poison gas? Just what compromises is he willing to make? (Guess I put myself out of the competition right there. )

Excellent results on cab/cover work from Bob Fusco in New Rochelle NY.

OTOH Miles, you're on the ball with this stuff, why farm out the electrics? Some good box shops not too far away in North Carolina.

[Reeltarded]

I was going to PM you but thought I would ask in the open first.

Safe stuff that works in all the power places and back to original is the idea. I am not the Fender museum guy. This sounds like a job for someone like yourself.



I need to get the amp so we can take a peek at whatsthetrouble.

[Leo_Gnardo]

I need to get the amp so we can take a peek at whatsthetrouble.

That's best, first.

Thanks for thinking of me. There's a dozen guys on here I'm sure could also do it, probably more. And I've got confidence you could handle it too.

One thing bugs me a bit about so called "authentic" rebuilds, often I see 450V or 475V caps, now the line voltage is up and it only makes sense to go 500V. Some of the TAGmeisters have made their own line-bucking transformer boxes to deliver more authentic 110-117 VAC to their collector-item amps, also an excellent idea.

Well, have a look at 'er and tell us whatcha find. Have a good Labor Day. Don't forget to not work, for an hour or 2 anyway. It's s'posed to be a holiday.

[ampgeek]

Take a look at Rogers Amplification.

http://www.rodgersamplifiers.com/

He did my 64' Blackface Deluxe cabinet restoration and I couldn't have been more pleased. Killer job! My understanding is that Tweed is one of their specialties.

Good luck!

Dave O.

[Firestorm]

Electronically, it's either going to look right, or it's going to play right. Leo said it: Unleaky Astrons = two words you can't use together. Trannies can be rewound, electros made to look right, coupling caps not so good. Depending on the year, resistors are a bitch, too.  

[Reeltarded]

It might be as simple as bad tube taking the fuse and absolutely needs caps.

We'll see. It will be fun when I find the time anyhow.

[Cliff Schecht]

Start there Miles. With old amps like these I pull the tubes and get the power supply in spec first and foremost. Once that is in spec you can see if it's passing signal (with a known good set of tubes) and if there's any anomalies in the sound. Farty distortion usually means there is a leaky cap which can either be easy to trace or a bitch depending on the location in the circuit. Bad transformers can be hard to diagnose at times but IME are relatively uncommon compared to other more basic issues. Depends on how hard the amp was run and what conditions it grew up in. Is this guy the amps second owner?

[ampmike]

Take a look at Rogers Amplification.

http://www.rodgersamplifiers.com/

He did my 64' Blackface Deluxe cabinet restoration and I couldn't have been more pleased. Killer job! My understanding is that Tweed is one of their specialties.

Good luck!

Dave O.

Had a bit of time to kill and checked out this site.Pretty cool.This might be your guy Miles,Mikey

[billyz]

For cabinet work John Mergili is the best i have ever known. If the tweed is still on i would leave it however bad it looks,it can be touched up frayed edges reglued etc, same with the grill. Most guys use the wrong glue and it hampers the tone and does not look right either.
Hi power or low? What exactly is wrong? Transformers should be rewound. Power supply caps need replaced , not many choices and none exact. Cosmetically you can slip the old covers onto new caps. If hi powered then leave the selenium in place disconnected , install a silicon diode discretely.
I have restored many tweed amps and find the yellow astrons to be ok in most, a little off is part of the magic . Nice vintage tubes and original speakers sound authentic. Tubes sockets usually need attention. Resistors on a case by case basis and always carbon comp. AB, Stackpole, IRC , etc . Not xicon .
Good luck and post pics.

Z

[Firestorm]

Billy, I can't believe your luck with the Astrons. I'll let 'em leak a little, but SO MANY have turned into resistors. I saw one of those giant 0.25 ones in a 6G6-B passing 60VDC.

[billyz]

Billy, I can't believe your luck with the Astrons. I'll let 'em leak a little, but SO MANY have turned into resistors. I saw one of those giant 0.25 ones in a 6G6-B passing 60VDC.

Im lucky in somethings and not others .

I find a few bad ones in the older tweeds, bad resistors too, the bigger crayon looking ones. Anyway, test, don't assume.

[Firestorm]

Just for anyone else (Billy knows already): When you test those caps with one end disconnected, they'll show a little DC at first (cause they're caps discharging into a a big load - the meter -). Doesn't mean they're bad.

[Reeltarded]

Talked to Larry Rodgers. What a bastard!! My kind of guy!!

He is the man for my bandmaster back panels recover. I bought a matching strat case for a material donor. Uhh maybe the most expensive way to buy tolex. omg if you go looking try to find a jazzy mastery case if you can. Half price hah

I can't wait to see what it sounds like all fixed up! It's been almost 20 years since I heard it with mojo speakers. Yay. Jensens and nice back panels.

[passfan]

I sent an older Hiwatt lead 30 head to Rodgers that had a motor boating problem. 5 minutes into playing it the volume would drop and she would putter for a few minutes and then come back and forth. Heat up , cool down , heat up , cool down. This was back before I got into tube circuits and building amps. He called me and told me it played fine and he couldn't get it to do it. Shipping down and back and when I get it back up here from Naples it does the same crap. Some local guy fixed it for 45 bucks and Rodgers charged me 75 plus for nothing.