1972 Fender Bandmaster Reverb AA270 TFL 5005D

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xtian
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Re: 1972 Fender Bandmaster Reverb AA270 TFL 5005D

Post by xtian »

Cleaned up the cab. Utah speakers, date codes say 1968. One cone totally torn, so I set those aside. Huge cabinet, man. 39" x 29" x 11". Pine sides, particle-board baffle and back.
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Leo_Gnardo
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Re: 1972 Fender Bandmaster Reverb AA270 TFL 5005D

Post by Leo_Gnardo »

xtian wrote: Hoping to hear from Leo or someone on building an LED-based opto bug replacement.
Had my nose in a '57 Silvertone all day, then typing up invoices, then the feedbag.

I use a superbrite orange or yellow LED (Mouser, about a buck) and photocell sold as a Morley replacement by CE/Antique. Just put 'em in an inch of black HST. Long LED lead goes to the 100K & bobsyeruncle. I used to worry "high voltage" but these have lasted years so far, no breakdowns & no other mods. :cool:

Fender bugs, aging as they do, often the photocell becomes weak or one of the leads breaks loose. At the other end, the neon darkens with age, sometimes becomes weak, and often injects a tick into the audio.
down technical blind alleys . . .
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xtian
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Re: 1972 Fender Bandmaster Reverb AA270 TFL 5005D

Post by xtian »

Awesome. Imma do it.
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norburybrook
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Re: 1972 Fender Bandmaster Reverb AA270 TFL 5005D

Post by norburybrook »

I have exactly the same amp, mine's 1970 , has 'Torrez' hand written on the chassis inside.

Re-capping it is what whet my appetite for amps and got me started on this path a few years ago. It's a great amp, classic fender pe amp, spring verb and Trem . MY original trem isn't to bad actually. Moving a few wires solved the ticking.

The lead dress inside is a complete rats nest but it's quiet as a mouse ands sounds perfect.

Marcus
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xtian
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Re: 1972 Fender Bandmaster Reverb AA270 TFL 5005D

Post by xtian »

I put a pair of Jensen C8R speakers in the valence. Sounds nice! Makes a cool, portable practice amp! This requires moving the reverb tank to the floor. Still works well, no hum from transformers.

Next, I'm recapping. You can see in the photo that the old caps are starting to breach. But notice a couple of weird things! The middle 20uF cap is installed correctly, but its cardboard jacket is labeled with incorrect polarity!

Also, notice that the dropping string resistors are 2K2, 10K. Most similar Fender circuits use 1K, 4K7. I think I'll go back to spec. I was thinking the amp sounded a bit under powered...though that could be the tired caps.
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Phil_S
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Re: 1972 Fender Bandmaster Reverb AA270 TFL 5005D

Post by Phil_S »

xtian wrote:...though inside of chassis is stamped "RICHARD HAND, JAN 4, 1972." So, do we call this a 1972?
This is quite the find! Looking at the doghouse caps, Mallory (235) 7145 makes them November 1971, so, yes, 1972 is probably right.
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xtian
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Re: 1972 Fender Bandmaster Reverb AA270 TFL 5005D

Post by xtian »

Thanks, Phil. I got to dime it for a bit today--very much louder and punchier than before new caps and 1K/4K7 dropping resistors. Measured 35 watts clean, using Russian 6P3S power tubes.
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Baddog01
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Re: 1972 Fender Bandmaster Reverb AA270 TFL 5005D

Post by Baddog01 »

nice score....
scooter_trasher
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Re: 1972 Fender Bandmaster Reverb AA270 TFL 5005D

Post by scooter_trasher »

oops
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