5B3 deluxe refurb- advice needed

[Firestorm]

Here is a gut shot, FWIW. You can't see it in the pic, but there is only one heater wire going from tube to tube, not a twisted pair.

[img764]http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn20 ... 69ccd7.jpg[/img]

You can sort of see that from the way the lamp is wired. It looks like the center tap of the HT is soldered to the lamp housing instead at the solder blob at the left of the chassis where it used to be. That may not be a solid ground.

[martin manning]

...and for sure if it has only one heater wire between sockets there are multiple grounds. You'll have to rewire it to do the artificial CT thing, but I'll bet it will be an improvement.

[Aaron Smith]

Thanks guys-think I've got the right direction here.

This amp does not have original transformers or speaker, and about 1/3 of the components on the board needed to be changed. The original push-back cloth wiring looks pretty deteriorated. I'm also in the process of replacing the long-gone tweed and backplates.

The temptation is strong to strip out all the wiring, pull the board, and wire this thing back up in a sensible fashion. Twisted pair heater wiring with DC elevation, star or bus grounding, shielded input wire, etc. I don't plan on selling it, it is for my personal use.

I'm starting to feel like I'd rather have a great player with nice vintage enclosure, chassis and transformers than a halfway-vintage amp that's unreliable and noisy.

It's funny... I have a Rickenbacker M11 that is virtually the same circuit, and 100% original. It is 10 times the amp this Fender is (at least until I rebuild it).

[Aaron Smith]

Got done with the cab work last night. First time I've ever done tweed; it's not perfect, but it came out better than I expected. Seeing a somewhat finished product has energized me to finish dealing with the cruddy electronics that are inside. I also need to figure out how to hit it with some amber tinted lacquer. Before and after:

[img:768:1024]http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn20 ... 0ea0b5.jpg[/img]

[img:768:1024]http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn20 ... d43bea.jpg[/img]

[img764]http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn20 ... 9723c7.jpg[/img]

[img768]http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn20 ... e62cb7.jpg[/img]

[img768]http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn20 ... 6a72f8.jpg[/img]

[img768]http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn20 ... 5b45d8.jpg[/img]

[Structo]

Wow!
Nice job on the tweed.

A lot of guys use Bullseye amber shellac to tint the tweed.

To my eye it looks a bit on the brown side so I would cut it more than 50% with denatured alcohol and try to sneak up on the desired tint.

Also, you can go over shellac with lacquer if you want a more durable finish.

[Aaron Smith]

Wow!
Nice job on the tweed.

A lot of guys use Bullseye amber shellac to tint the tweed.

To my eye it looks a bit on the brown side so I would cut it more than 50% with denatured alcohol and try to sneak up on the desired tint.

Also, you can go over shellac with lacquer if you want a more durable finish.

Thanks Tom! Will have to give that a try. I also had a friend with tweed experience recommend using oak or pecan Minwax poly finish, and dry-brushing a few coats. Need to decide which direction I'm going to go.

[Structo]

Just so you know I used some of that Minwax polyshade on my amp cradle and it took forever to dry and stayed gummy for about a week.

I'll never use that stuff again.

I like shellac and lacquer, bad VOC's but dry fast and you can repeat coats with little drying time.
Just do it outdoors or wear a respirator.

Also be aware that shellac is not alcohol proof.
While in most cases that is not a problem, but it can cause problems if a drink is ever spilled on it or any other solutions that contain alcohol.

If you have some scraps of tweed left over you can do some color testing on it before you commit to finishing the tweed on the amp.