63 Blackface Deluxe ideas

[ampgeek]

A dear old friend is downsizing his abode and has offered subject (and his 62 Jaguar!) to me for $1300. Here are a couple of pics of the amp:

http://i32.tinypic.com/14lo49d.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/2yudogp.jpg
http://i28.tinypic.com/1z1sbrq.jpg

Unfortunately, in his quest for more volume, he cut down the combo and turned it into a head cab which he plugged into a 2 X 12" cabinet. The speaker cab is long gone.

I am going to scoop it up, re-do the 'lytics, add a 3-prong plug, etc...to get it up to snuff.

Soliciting thoughts and ideas on how to package it all up.

Return it to as close to original as possible? If so, any suggestions on cabinet vendors and speaker type/vendor?

I love hardwood cabinets of curley maple and other species and have done a few combos like this in the past. So...part of me is leaning toward that approach.

As you can tell, I am not sure what the ultimate disposition of the finished product will actually be. If I really like it, I will keep it in the "stable". Thinking that the Jag/Deluxe combo might make a killer slide guitar rig.

If it doesn't tickle my tonal pallate, I will probably sell it.

Really interested in everyones stream of consciouness thoughts and experiences to get my creative juices flowing.

TIA,
Dave O.

[Structo]

Any pics of the Jag?
I have a 63 that is awaiting a restoration.
I've had it for years, since around 73.
I did the strip it, ,motor oil stain sin on it when I was young and dumb.
I'm going to refinish it in a sunburst like it was.

[Johnhenry]

Very Clean Chassis, Shame you don't have the Orig. cab, to a collector the amp has great value, and the guitar also, at that price i think you should come out Smellin like a Rose !
could you tell me the brand and size of the 2 red looking coupling caps coming from V1 & V2 ?
Congrat's
Johnhenry

[Tubetwang]

nice catch geek...

Them Deluxe i like...

I'd build a nice little hardwood combo...

Or order one from Dart...

[leaveitalone84]

Jeff Swanson at DST Engineering/Swanson Custom sound makes great cabinets and can do Hardwood style fender combos.

[muchxs]

A dear old friend is downsizing his abode and has offered subject:

Unfortunately, in his quest for more volume, he cut down the combo and turned it into a head cab which he plugged into a 2 X 12" cabinet. The speaker cab is long gone.

Soliciting thoughts and ideas on how to package it all up.

Return it to as close to original as possible? If so, any suggestions on cabinet vendors and speaker type/vendor?

If you want a very close replica of the original cab PM me.

[RHGraham]

I suppose this might be seen as heresy, but personally I might get it all fixed up and keep it as a head... since the original cabinet/speaker is gone already I'd take advantage of it. I loved the deluxe I had dearly, a '66, cranked up the tone was simply beautiful, but it was even better when I plugged it into an extention cabinet. (2X12) I played it alot, pretty hard, in it's combo form, the vibes were hard on it.

In any case, great score, I'd be suprised if you didn't dig it a bunch. Great amp.

[ampgeek]

Great stuff as usual guys. Thank you very much! Please keep 'em coming if anything else comes to mind.

Yep...none of has a crystal ball so it is very hard to criticize any equipment mods that occured 3 or 4 decades ago.

Unfortunately, the gear is currently located in the Salt Lake City area and I am in San Diego so I can't respond to the detailed questions yet. But...as soon as it is in my grubby little mitts...I will post up answers to those, and any other, questions.

No pictures of the Jag. Sorry. I do know that the sunburst finish (aside from a few dings and dents along the edges) was exceptional. Must be that high, dry "desert" air that keeps things clean and oxide free. I also know that the soft items (e.g., mute pad) are pretty dry and crumbly so a little work will be required to make it playable. The frets looked nearly brand new.

I will definitely shake it out with a 2 X 12" hardwood cab and a 1 X 12" cab that I have on hand to get the lay of the land before committing to anything permanently.

Anybody know which current production speaker (e.g., Weber, Emminence, other?) comes the closest to what originally accompanied the Deluxe way back when?

Thanks again,
Dave O.

[Structo]

Yeah my mute pad disintegrated years ago.
Happily these are still available aftermarket.
Also they use a similar rubber foam for the pickup adjustment cushion.

[RHGraham]

My '66 had a Jenson... I personally wasn't entirely attached to it, the 2X12 with emi's sounded better to my ears, wish I could recall more specifics. All the original Jensons are available as repros now, I didn't look at em close but I saw the whole lineup on US Speaker's website.

[ampgeek]

Well....I haven't even sent the check yet and there were a couple of big boxes on my doorstep this evening.

Check these out:

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=llj0h&s=3

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=mbrbrc&s=3

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=35d9tvn&s=3

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2vx2lbm&s=3

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2zi60kp&s=3

Looks like the Jag is a 1964. I did learn that my friend ordered it from the factory with a Jazz Master neck. Sez his short, stubby fingers couldn't squeeze the fatter Jag neck. Cool that the factory put the Jag decal on it!

The Deluxe is housed in it's original "cab" only it has been cut short and re-bottomed. Someone did a really good job as it looks factory made and recovered.

Didn't have time (or proper bench space) to tear into the amp and check those caps. I will get to that as soon as I can.

Cheers,
Dave O.

[RHGraham]

It was a nice job of re-building the cabinet, I kinda like it.
Nice axe too, good score.

[Structo]

I'm no expert but a Jag is shortscale and a Jazzmaster is 25.5" so I wonder how that neck would work on a body disigned for a 24" neck?

[ampgeek]

Hey Structo,
Yep...I am no expert either! In fact, I am woefully ignorant about Fender guitars in general.

You are correct about this Jag's configuration. It definitely has a short scale neck. However, the neck profile is of the "flat'ish" variety ("D"?).

I wonder if my friend really meant a Jag neck with a Jazzmaster profile?

I am under the (un-educated) assumption that the stock mid 60's Jags had a more rounded ("C"?) profile.

Does anybody know if the JMs of that period had a flatter profile?

Thanks for the input!

Dave O.

[ampgeek]

JohnHenry,
I am in the process of bringing the amp up with a variac to avoid "shocking" those unused for 4 decade filter caps.

I looked closely at the red "domino" caps and learned that they are manufactured by Cornell Dubilier. The possess a color code (dots...like a domino) that I have yet to decipher but will give you a shout once I have cracked the code.

Of course, this assumes that the device is a cap. Each one has a ceramic cap after it in series which I assume is the treble cap. Could it be any other type of device?

Funny...I took a look at every Fender blackface amp schemo/layout that I could find and haven't yet seen one that shows a cap (or anything else for that matter) in this position.

I am relying primarily on the reference material here:

http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/

Specifically the Blackface Deluxe AB763. Strange, mine is "labeled" as an AA763 but it doesn't have a reverb circuit.

Cheers,
Dave O.