HELP!!! Amp chassis stuck in the box - what to do?

[Darkbluemurder]

I have just given up on prying the chassis of my Fender 75 from the cab for one hour - I couldn't pull it off. It looks like the foil shield lifted so the chassis cannot slide out. The lift is on the input side probably near the input.

Has anybody ever encountered such a thing? The only thing - of course apart from sawing the cab - I can think of now is to unscrew all the front panel jacks and try to pull down the shield.

This is a real bummer - the amp must get out of the box - otherwise it would be irrepairable should it ever break.

Thanks for your input.
Stephan

[Funkalicousgroove]

If you can push the chassis back to it's original position then you'll be in good shape, I find that these snags are usually caused by some part of the chassis catching the tolex. If that is not possible your options are:

1. as you said, remove the front panel controls and nuts and remove the faceplate.

2. remove the baffle; should only be held on with 4 maybe 6 screws. That gives you the option of removing either way.

Be sure that all your speaker cables, reverb cables, trem cables are disconnected, as well as unscrewing the plastic power cord restraint inside the cabinet(I'm sure you knew all this, but we gotta be sure, no need for repairs to take extra long!).

Funk

[Darkbluemurder]

Funk,

I could put it together again and it works. At least I am not in a position where it neither moves fro or back.

Yes I had removed all the cables and all screws but no luck.

It doesn't appear that the tolex is snatched. It looks like some internal wire bent up the shield but without looking from the other side I cannot see what is below the shield.

Thanks for the tip with the baffle board. I'll check where the screws are.

Cheers Stephan

[jaysg]

You might look around for an icing spreader. They're very thin, long, and not sharp.

[heisthl]

I've ran into this a lot with old Fenders - the sheilding material (usually screen) is stapled to the top of the cabinet and the chassis catches on it as you try to slide it out. There are a couple of things you can try, if the speaker board unscrews take it out, that always works. If the speaker board is glued in the alternate is push the chassis as far forward as you can and insert a thin piece of material at a downward angle that is strong enough to push the sheilding out of the way when you push the chassis backwards. A set of cheap steak knives works fairly well if you position them right.

[Funkalicousgroove]

I may suggest a Chopstick or something plastic for this application, assuming that the other hand is likeley somewhere on the amp itself, Discharging filtercaps leave NASTY white burns!!!!

[heisthl]

Yeah - don't touch the shiny surfaces of whatever "implement" your using to fish around blindly in an amp chassis, but it could be worse, ever get the nice little black hole that goes from the surface skin to the bone when working on the old tube TVs(the 14 to 22kv 2nd anode voltage)? Takes forever to heal. Those were the days of the "back pocket" method - always keep one hand in your back pocket when working on a TV chassis.

[Smitty]

The chassis is definitely caught on the aluminum shielding. The 75s don't have removable baffles, so you can't go that route. Stay away from the steak knives. Two putty knives is what will get the job done. With the amp unplugged and turned on (not in standy mode) the caps should drain down so no risk of shorting anything.

[Darkbluemurder]

Well the baffle in principle is removable - the cabinet is not original. I see the 6 screws but the problem is that I cannot get at the one beside the power transformer. The clearance is only an inch or so.

What is a "putty knife" (sorry I am no native speaker)?

Thanks a lot for your input so far.

Stephan

[skyboltone]

What is a "putty knife" (sorry I am no native speaker)?

Here's nome putty knives:

http://cgi.ebay.com/lot-of-12-Painter-D ... dZViewItem

Dan

[Noel Grassy]

What is a "putty knife" (sorry I am no native speaker)?

Here's nome putty knives:

http://cgi.ebay.com/lot-of-12-Painter-D ... dZViewItem

Dan

The icing spreader was the tip of the day! Perhaps you can pull up a picture of one of those. That way he can approach said object from either front or back. Keeping the blade flat against the cabinet top it will presumably never touch anything 'lectricical.Don't you hate these kinda things that prevent you from your real objective?

[Darkbluemurder]

Aaah! Thanks a lot - I should be able to get these in a hobby or tools shop. I guess for the icing spreader the household shop is the best address.

Thinking about the next step once I hopefully get the chassis out - how do I get the foil to stick where it belongs for good - I am certainly not willing to go through this again. The question is glue, staple or screw?
If glue what kind of glue?
If staple how do I get them in?

Once again thanks for all your help - I really appreciate it.

Stephan

[Noel Grassy]

Aaah! Thanks a lot - I should be able to get these in a hobby or tools shop. I guess for the icing spreader the household shop is the best address.

Thinking about the next step once I hopefully get the chassis out - how do I get the foil to stick where it belongs for good - I am certainly not willing to go through this again. The question is glue, staple or screw?
If glue what kind of glue?
If staple how do I get them in?

Once again thanks for all your help - I really appreciate it.

Stephan

I'd say contact cement though the stuff in the spray can will require you to mask off everything you don't want hideously mucked up. The same adhesive that the factory used to apply the Tolex is probably what was used on the shield foil. Staples will be there long after the foil has torn away being as foil is so thin. Be sure to give a coating to both surfaces, [foil & cabinet] keep them separated until they both dry before sticking them together. I use metal screen fabric in my builds but that's just me.

[DiademRoyale]

Just opened this thread- A common problem with Fenders, Music-Man , etc.. A wide piece of thin (16 or 18 guage) sheet metal of any kind can usually be inserted front to rear whilr being kept fairlyu flat to the top of the cabinet and then worked back and forth slowly as the chassis is removed. I have a piece specially made for doing this which has seen the "nice parts" of many, many amps... Just my $.02..... MDW

[DiademRoyale]

Just opened this thread- A common problem with Fenders, Music-Man , etc.. A wide piece of thin (16 or 18 guage) sheet metal of any kind can usually be inserted front to rear while being kept fairly flat to the top of the cabinet and then worked back and forth slowly as the chassis is removed. I have a piece specially made for doing this which has seen the "nice parts" of many, many amps... Just my $.02..... MDW