I recently purchased an ampeg reverberocket for cheap. I bought it with a few bugs but in general sounding decent. Got some amperex bugle boy ecc83's and the other original tubes 6SN7 power tubes and the 6U10 phase inverter.
First the tremolo doesnt work. with the tremolo intensity knob switched off I get lower volume, as I turn it clockwise I get more and more volume out of the amp. the bass control doesnt work at all either.
Before I get into these things, I just want to make sure I am removing the death cap and installing a 3 prong power cord correctly as I've never done this.
Can anyone help me out with this? I'd really appreciate it!
Also going to add a speaker jack to the chassis (instead of going directly from output transformer to speaker with wires. is there any particular place I should locate this jack on the chassis to avoid problems or noise?
I was going to write more about what I thought about what I'm supposed to do with the power cord replacement but I think itll just add confusion at this point. Once I get it safe and grounded I'll have no problem fooling around replacing stuff
Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
Moderators: pompeiisneaks, Colossal
Re: Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
Welcome to TAG.
Here is a place to start. http://www.rru.com/~meo/Guitar/Amps/Kal ... /safe.html This covers the 3-prong cord and the death cap.
Sign up for a login at ax84.com. There is a great deal of excellent basic amp material posted there. This includes safety and theory.
Also check the sticky here for other good reading ("reading material on steroids") that should be done before you dive into this.
If this is your first amp, you have bit off a big bite. I suggest slow going is in order. Like any project, 80% planning and 20% doing will give you the desired result.
Here is a place to start. http://www.rru.com/~meo/Guitar/Amps/Kal ... /safe.html This covers the 3-prong cord and the death cap.
Sign up for a login at ax84.com. There is a great deal of excellent basic amp material posted there. This includes safety and theory.
Also check the sticky here for other good reading ("reading material on steroids") that should be done before you dive into this.
If this is your first amp, you have bit off a big bite. I suggest slow going is in order. Like any project, 80% planning and 20% doing will give you the desired result.
-
gui_tarzan
- Posts: 607
- Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2014 3:10 am
- Location: The 26th State
Re: Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
Pay close attention to the information about draining the high voltage capacitors, they can kill you even if you don't touch them directly. Touch a connection on a part somewhere else on the chassis they're connected to and it will result in the same outcome unless they're drained.
Once you're up to speed on the safety issues get a copy of the schematic for that amp. I worked on one a few months ago and it will make your troubleshooting easier. Oh, and the chassis is a bugger to get out of that amp with the shock mounting.
Once you're up to speed on the safety issues get a copy of the schematic for that amp. I worked on one a few months ago and it will make your troubleshooting easier. Oh, and the chassis is a bugger to get out of that amp with the shock mounting.
--Jim
"He's like a new set of strings, he just needs to be stretched a bit."
"He's like a new set of strings, he just needs to be stretched a bit."
-
goldenmonkeycolor
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 4:32 am
Re: Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
Sorry for the super basic post. I was overwhelmed by the kind of terrible layout in the reverberocket. I am not a total newb to amps though. I do know how to discharge filter caps and i did get the three prong power cord installed safely. After cleaning the amp it is sounding pretty darn good.
The tremolo is still only slightly working. I can hear some tremolo on certain settinfs with the intensity knob but the intenisity knob acts more as a sort of volume control. I suppose, in my limited experience, that it is a grounding issue with the pot. Im windering if i can hear a faint trem if i can rule out the optical unit as the problem? Yay or nay?
Also... the reverb has an extremely bright tone to it... wondering if anyone familiar with these amps can tell me maybe how to mod the tone of the decay on the reverb on this thing.
Thanks!
The tremolo is still only slightly working. I can hear some tremolo on certain settinfs with the intensity knob but the intenisity knob acts more as a sort of volume control. I suppose, in my limited experience, that it is a grounding issue with the pot. Im windering if i can hear a faint trem if i can rule out the optical unit as the problem? Yay or nay?
Also... the reverb has an extremely bright tone to it... wondering if anyone familiar with these amps can tell me maybe how to mod the tone of the decay on the reverb on this thing.
Thanks!
-
Stevem
- Posts: 5144
- Joined: Fri Jan 24, 2014 3:01 pm
- Location: 1/3rd the way out one of the arms of the Milkyway.
Re: Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
All the caps in the tremolo circuit need to be checked for changed values and or shorts.
In regards to the brite reverb that's what I tend to love about these amps compared to most fender amps, but that being said you can change that.
If you look at the amps schematic you will see .47 blocking cap feeding the input to the pan and before that cap you will see a .02 going to ground.
To fatten up the reverb add another .02 across the one that's there and see where that gets ya.
In regards to the brite reverb that's what I tend to love about these amps compared to most fender amps, but that being said you can change that.
If you look at the amps schematic you will see .47 blocking cap feeding the input to the pan and before that cap you will see a .02 going to ground.
To fatten up the reverb add another .02 across the one that's there and see where that gets ya.
When I die, I want to go like my Grandfather did, peacefully in his sleep.
Not screaming like the passengers in his car!
Cutting out a man's tongue does not mean he’s a liar, but it does show that you fear the truth he might speak about you!
Not screaming like the passengers in his car!
Cutting out a man's tongue does not mean he’s a liar, but it does show that you fear the truth he might speak about you!
-
goldenmonkeycolor
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 4:32 am
Re: Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
Thanks for the SteveM!
Noting the capacitors in the tremolo circuit. It looks as if all the .05uf tremolo capacitors have been changed out of this amp already. They are still older looking CDE caps but they are different than the rest of the coupling caps in the amp. and the other gut shots ive seen of this amp all feature the yellow CDE caps.
Anyways, i changed out all the .05 caps in the trem circuit, measured resistors.
Maybe this will give someone more knowledgable than me a clue...
As I turn the intensity knob clockwise (which is actually increasing intensity in most amps) I amp gets quieter and I begin to be able to hear some tremolo effect- i can hear a clicking' sound too that is controlled by the speed knob on the trem circuit. clicking off the switched pot on the intensity pot does not remove the trem that i can hear- in fact it is most noticeable when i have it all the clockwise and clicked off. as I turn the knob counter clockwise i hear less trem (which is barely audible at any position) and I get more gain and volume.
i really cant find anything shorting, I still havent replaced most of the capacitors, but i have measured them in the circuit and they all test good.
Noting the capacitors in the tremolo circuit. It looks as if all the .05uf tremolo capacitors have been changed out of this amp already. They are still older looking CDE caps but they are different than the rest of the coupling caps in the amp. and the other gut shots ive seen of this amp all feature the yellow CDE caps.
Anyways, i changed out all the .05 caps in the trem circuit, measured resistors.
Maybe this will give someone more knowledgable than me a clue...
As I turn the intensity knob clockwise (which is actually increasing intensity in most amps) I amp gets quieter and I begin to be able to hear some tremolo effect- i can hear a clicking' sound too that is controlled by the speed knob on the trem circuit. clicking off the switched pot on the intensity pot does not remove the trem that i can hear- in fact it is most noticeable when i have it all the clockwise and clicked off. as I turn the knob counter clockwise i hear less trem (which is barely audible at any position) and I get more gain and volume.
i really cant find anything shorting, I still havent replaced most of the capacitors, but i have measured them in the circuit and they all test good.
-
goldenmonkeycolor
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 4:32 am
Re: Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
after about 4 hours of looking into this amp checking grounds replacing every cap and testing every resistor in the tremolo section. i guess i'm back to one of my original thoughts. could the weak tremolo and strange intensity pot functioning be a result of the optocoupler being old and not functioning properly? if so, is there a drop in replacement?
i really appreciate any direction here, this amp sounds amazing if i could just get this trem working id be in heaven!
i really appreciate any direction here, this amp sounds amazing if i could just get this trem working id be in heaven!
-
Stevem
- Posts: 5144
- Joined: Fri Jan 24, 2014 3:01 pm
- Location: 1/3rd the way out one of the arms of the Milkyway.
Re: Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
refresh my 59 year old mind if you would, does that use a neon lamp and a LDR?
When I die, I want to go like my Grandfather did, peacefully in his sleep.
Not screaming like the passengers in his car!
Cutting out a man's tongue does not mean he’s a liar, but it does show that you fear the truth he might speak about you!
Not screaming like the passengers in his car!
Cutting out a man's tongue does not mean he’s a liar, but it does show that you fear the truth he might speak about you!
-
goldenmonkeycolor
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 4:32 am
Re: Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
[quote="Stevem"]refresh my 59 year old mind if you would, does that use a neon lamp and a LDR?[/quote
i believe so, it's listed on the schematic as a TM-1. it's a self enclosed box (ill try to add an image) apparently someone was making them for replacements for a while.
this guy used to sell em
http://www.fliptops.net/catalog/p-10008 ... age-ampegs
I have the Reverberocket 2 GS 12-R
i believe so, it's listed on the schematic as a TM-1. it's a self enclosed box (ill try to add an image) apparently someone was making them for replacements for a while.
this guy used to sell em
http://www.fliptops.net/catalog/p-10008 ... age-ampegs
I have the Reverberocket 2 GS 12-R
-
Stevem
- Posts: 5144
- Joined: Fri Jan 24, 2014 3:01 pm
- Location: 1/3rd the way out one of the arms of the Milkyway.
Re: Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
Yeah I see on there site where they are out of the tremolo bug you need, but I did read in there tech section that your volume drop is a side issue to the bug being bad!
When I die, I want to go like my Grandfather did, peacefully in his sleep.
Not screaming like the passengers in his car!
Cutting out a man's tongue does not mean he’s a liar, but it does show that you fear the truth he might speak about you!
Not screaming like the passengers in his car!
Cutting out a man's tongue does not mean he’s a liar, but it does show that you fear the truth he might speak about you!
-
goldenmonkeycolor
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 4:32 am
Re: Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
i'm not sure of your wording here...Stevem wrote:Yeah I see on there site where they are out of the tremolo bug you need, but I did read in there tech section that your volume drop is a side issue to the bug being bad!
my volume drop isnt really a volume drop as I understand it- i got plenty of total volume with the amp as long as i have my tremolo intensity knob turned all the way counter clockwise (which i believe is full depth on these amps) or jumpered out of the circuit.
so are you saying this phenomenon is a product of the bug being bad?
or are you saying it's something else completely?
Thanks
-
Stevem
- Posts: 5144
- Joined: Fri Jan 24, 2014 3:01 pm
- Location: 1/3rd the way out one of the arms of the Milkyway.
Re: Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
Yes, the notes on the flip tops site seems to say that a bad bug will make for your issue.
When I die, I want to go like my Grandfather did, peacefully in his sleep.
Not screaming like the passengers in his car!
Cutting out a man's tongue does not mean he’s a liar, but it does show that you fear the truth he might speak about you!
Not screaming like the passengers in his car!
Cutting out a man's tongue does not mean he’s a liar, but it does show that you fear the truth he might speak about you!
Re: Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
Do you have any pictures?
Can you verify if the oscillator is working?
Also, have you tried removing the bug from the amp?
You should take a look at the schematic, and measure voltages with the associated tubes.
It sounds like the oscillator is good, since you can hear ticking, but it doesn't hurt to have voltages.
There is a way to make your own TM-1 Module, but I can't remember where I read about that. You can do some googling and find it.
They can also be extremely light sensitive.
Can you verify if the oscillator is working?
Also, have you tried removing the bug from the amp?
You should take a look at the schematic, and measure voltages with the associated tubes.
It sounds like the oscillator is good, since you can hear ticking, but it doesn't hurt to have voltages.
There is a way to make your own TM-1 Module, but I can't remember where I read about that. You can do some googling and find it.
They can also be extremely light sensitive.
-
goldenmonkeycolor
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 4:32 am
Re: Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
I really appreciate your alls input. I was just about to take some voltages and order a bug from fliptop as he started selling them again!!
But dang! These are the toughest amps in the world to get into! I've gotten the chassis in and out, but I'm having a helluva time. Does anyone have any tips for these ampeg reverberocket ii combos with the shock mount chassis.
Also, I have no idea how to access the front of the speaker. I was contemplating replacing the speaker, because this amp does sound fantastic regardless of its problems. But I cannot figure out for the life of me how to access the front of the speaker so I can get to the heads of the bolts!
Anything is much appreciated dudes! if I can get inside this thing I'll take some pictures and post some voltages. Also have some questions regarding adjusting the power tube section.
But dang! These are the toughest amps in the world to get into! I've gotten the chassis in and out, but I'm having a helluva time. Does anyone have any tips for these ampeg reverberocket ii combos with the shock mount chassis.
Also, I have no idea how to access the front of the speaker. I was contemplating replacing the speaker, because this amp does sound fantastic regardless of its problems. But I cannot figure out for the life of me how to access the front of the speaker so I can get to the heads of the bolts!
Anything is much appreciated dudes! if I can get inside this thing I'll take some pictures and post some voltages. Also have some questions regarding adjusting the power tube section.
-
Stevem
- Posts: 5144
- Joined: Fri Jan 24, 2014 3:01 pm
- Location: 1/3rd the way out one of the arms of the Milkyway.
Re: Ampeg Reverberocket GS 12
Yes, they are a full on pain in the Butt to get the chassis in and out of!
Sometimes I have sat the cabinet on its top to get it in, or out, but just take your time and buy a straight tip screw driver that is over all 1 inch wider than those dam Ampeg clutch head screws they use every where and grind its head down to fit in those screws and get them in or out.
I do not understand what you mean about getting at the front of the speaker, are you in need of replacing the screw studs that the speaker bolts up to?
Sometimes I have sat the cabinet on its top to get it in, or out, but just take your time and buy a straight tip screw driver that is over all 1 inch wider than those dam Ampeg clutch head screws they use every where and grind its head down to fit in those screws and get them in or out.
I do not understand what you mean about getting at the front of the speaker, are you in need of replacing the screw studs that the speaker bolts up to?
When I die, I want to go like my Grandfather did, peacefully in his sleep.
Not screaming like the passengers in his car!
Cutting out a man's tongue does not mean he’s a liar, but it does show that you fear the truth he might speak about you!
Not screaming like the passengers in his car!
Cutting out a man's tongue does not mean he’s a liar, but it does show that you fear the truth he might speak about you!