Hide the new electrolytics?

[rooster]

Most of us here are building/repairing amps so your responses will be a mixed bag I'm sure. This said, I was reading a Vintage Guitar mag the other day where they were presenting a somewhat rare Fender Concert amp covered in factory TWEED, not the typical brown tolex we've all seen. Somewhat interesting, but eventually replaced by the BFSR. Anyway, they showed pics of the guts and the repair guy had replaced at least one preamp cathode cap. These were aluminum lineal capacitors covered in glossy brown paper and contained two 25uf/25V caps with two positive leads exiting on the positive side and one common ground exiting the other - you know what I'm taking about.

To my point, the repair guy had pulled the brown paper sleeve off this dual cap and hidden the two individual replacement caps inside the sleeve. Ppl have brought me amps where this was done before so it's not that I haven't seen this before, but it suddenly occurred to me that this practice is a rather worthless cork-sniffing deal. I mean, who pulls the back off their amp (tweed amp) or pulls the chassis (BF amp) to stare at the guts? I don't think it's an attempt to hide the fact that a repair has been done (for top dollar 'original' amp price?) because any amp guy would notice this, so how has it come to this?

Who of you does this and, if so, why? Do you think it presents a better repair job?

[sluckey]

Damn! I thought we were gonna be invited to an Easter egg hunt.

The only examples I've seen are done by people that own the amp. Any yes, they pull the back off of their amps and stare at the guts all the time. I suppose if a customer wants to preserve that original look and will pay for it, then go for it. But the poor tech that makes his living fixing amps ain't gonna waste his time for nothing. Me, I'm just a hobbyist and don't have customers. I did stuff a can on this old jukebox amp just to see if I could (Hey, I'm retired!). Guess which one.

http://sluckeyamps.com/rocky/rocky.htm

[drew]

it suddenly occurred to me that this practice is a rather worthless cork-sniffing deal.

It's more like looking at a picture of a cork and pretending to smell it.

[drew]

I did stuff a can on this old jukebox amp just to see if I could (Hey, I'm retired!). Guess which one.

http://sluckeyamps.com/rocky/rocky.htm

The smaller one? The crimp around the base looks a little uneven.

[sluckey]

You're right. But you would have been right if you had chosen the big one too. I did'em both! I practiced on the little one. Got a little better on the big one.

[rooster]

Cool project there. My folks bought a Seeberg Jukebox that had an RCA input in the back of it that would put out a bit of volume with a guitar, but nothing like a Fender Super Amp I had at the time. However I think these Jukeboxes were a testimony to tube amp's longevity. Imagine how many hours they were on in the course of a day and how loud they might have been played in clubs and burger joints of the day? The Seeberg had two Alnico 12s in it and some 6X9s. It sounded great.

[tony hunt]

I plead guilty.
But I don't remember which old blond or tweed Fender amp I did it on.
New FTs caps slid into the old sleeves perfectly, so why not?
Was it very naughty?

[thetragichero]

having received bad feedback (and harrassment via reverb messages for MONTHS) for a 68 vibrochamp i installed screen resistor and replaced the electro caps in along with replacing the 8ohm speaker with a 4ohm weber, the "vintage amp collectors are a crazy breed. i did all these to make the amp safe and playable as i used it at church for several months before building my own take with better filtering, bigger power section (6l6g), and 10" speaker. i'm of the opinion that preventative maintenance (just like i change our oil before the engine siezes) is much better than having an issue at a gig

[professormudd]

Saw Uncle Doug do it on one of his videos on a pristine 1955 vibrochamp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsI2x2FRTSw

[maxkracht]

People tend to hear with their eyes and assume old is better and magic. I get the, please fix my amp, but try not to change anything, routine somewhat regularly. Stuffing old cans is sometimes the best option if you’re working on something really tight and complicated, but it’s a last resort unless someone requests it.

I will do my best to keep stuff looking original if it’s going to be visible. I rebuilt this thing last week, inside is regular yellow film caps, but I stuffed and rewaxed the tone cap because it is visible when changing tubes. I didn’t take a closeup, but you get the idea.