Vintage 1963 AC30

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andresound
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Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by andresound »

Hi Guys,
Thought I would share. I was asked by my son to help repair this old amp that belonged to his pastor. Naturally I said yes. Always wanted to get inside and also play one of these vintage specimens. The amp was in bad shape. After emitting smoke, it was boxed and lay in a store room for years. Obviously, the amp had been repaired/serviced by a stupid tech prior to its demise. I believe the amp was donated to the church.
IMG_0830.JPG
The amp was filtered with this.. 100, 100, 100, 47 & 47uf !!!!

Replaced with this (JJ 40, 20, 20) and 2 x 10uf (Rubycon)
IMG_0819.JPG
No wonder the GZ34 was toast!!
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If it sounds good, it is good! Trust your ears
andresound
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Re: Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by andresound »

The Blues needed some attention! One of them was in very bad shape and will need a recone (had a hole right through it and a bad previous patch job.
IMG_0716.JPG
IMG_0717.JPG
After replacing the output tubes, 1x GZ34 and a pre amp tube, replace a bad Cathode resistor (was 2 x 2w!!)... The amp sounds incredible. These are great sounding amps. This is the non top boost version.
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If it sounds good, it is good! Trust your ears
telentubes
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Re: Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by telentubes »

What a great opportunity. Thanks for posting.
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xtian
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Re: Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by xtian »

Hey! Where's the photo of the components ? You holding out on us?
I build and repair tube amps. http://amps.monkeymatic.com
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rp
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Re: Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by rp »

Hey! Where's the photo of the components ? You holding out on us?
+1

Nice! Does it still belong to the church? Do they know what it's worth? If it's still theirs you might want to do the most non-invasive restore, get the recone done, and then sell it for them. They could buy a used off craigslist: HRD or BFDR-RI, BFTR-RI or even a Chinese CC2 AC30 and spend the rest of the money on God's work... or gilding the ceiling with Putti, or a new limo for the pastor...
Last edited by rp on Mon Apr 03, 2017 5:02 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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rp
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Re: Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by rp »

...unless this guy is the pastor, in which case they should keep it.
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Last edited by rp on Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:37 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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rp
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Re: Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by rp »

double post
Last edited by rp on Mon Apr 03, 2017 4:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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rp
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Re: Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by rp »

double post - i kept hitting quote for edit. sorry!
andresound
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Re: Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by andresound »

SORRY, for some reason, pics are poorly oriented!
IMG_0833.JPG
Gut shots.... WIMA polystyrene' (voodoo cap) ๐Ÿ˜Ž๐Ÿ˜Ž
IMG_0829.JPG
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pdf64
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Re: Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by pdf64 »

They look cool but it's a good idea to check those Wima Tropyfols for dc leakage.
It looks as if one of those between the LTP and power tube grids may have failed and been replaced?
Have fun!
andresound
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Re: Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by andresound »

Pastor has collected the amp and is happy.๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘
If it sounds good, it is good! Trust your ears
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Mr. dB
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Re: Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by Mr. dB »

andresound wrote: โ†‘Tue Apr 04, 2017 5:16 am
Gut shots.... WIMA polystyrene' (voodoo cap) ๐Ÿ˜Ž๐Ÿ˜Ž
I'm pretty sure the WIMA Tropyfol F caps are polyester film/foil types?
tubeswell
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Re: Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by tubeswell »

andresound wrote: โ†‘Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:18 am The Blues needed some attention! One of them was in very bad shape and will need a recone (had a hole right through it and a bad previous patch job.
IMG_0716.JPGIMG_0717.JPG
If the coil isn't rubbing, I'd be tempted to repatch that hole with some layers of heavy duty tissue applied with weak cement or dope just to see what it sounds like with a patch (before re-coning that is)
He who dies with the most tubes... wins
andresound
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Re: Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by andresound »

Hole was patched as you described (tissue paper with diluted wood glue). Sounds great, but obviously not as perfect.
If it sounds good, it is good! Trust your ears
andresound
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Re: Vintage 1963 AC30

Post by andresound »

Mr. dB wrote: โ†‘Mon Apr 10, 2017 7:08 pm
andresound wrote: โ†‘Tue Apr 04, 2017 5:16 am
Gut shots.... WIMA polystyrene' (voodoo cap) ๐Ÿ˜Ž๐Ÿ˜Ž
I'm pretty sure the WIMA Tropyfol F caps are polyester film/foil types?
Not sure... above my pay grade ๐Ÿ˜€
If it sounds good, it is good! Trust your ears
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