Tweakers and amps don't mix

[selloutrr]

I met a fender twin reverb silver face chassis today that had been tinkered with by a tweaker a few years back wires moved around at random extra ground bus wires run to no where pots moved around etc. All of which were soldered with a quality less then professional. It was left in a bad place as all the caps were blistering or waxing. The sockets and jacks rusting and the iron was giving readings for possible shorts. The preamp tubes were about dead and the output tubes were the wrong type.
Total restoration on a silverface hardley worth it. Over $600 in aftermarket generic parts and 10hrs in labor.

Advice to all who tweak and get the urge to open an amp... I see this all to often... Do yourself a favor and take the cap can off wash your hands don't bother drying them and touch the big rectangle looking things "filter caps" and the chassis.
Sweet dreams

[Cliff Schecht]

Are we talking about the drug users? I wouldn't touch an amp if I knew a meth-head has been inside it .

[selloutrr]

The one and the same! Yes I agree the wiring was a lot like when you go fishing with an open spoon real and get a birds nest. It was a rewire the second the chassis was flipped like... Ummm woah WTF is that wire for?

[Richie]

now think about it, if people didn't tweak fenders, you'd have no Marshalls, Dumbles,Trainwrecks, Boogies..well ok forget boogies..lol
But yes, i have seen many myself over the years destroyed. Things you look at and shake your head,knowing someone didn't have a clue what they were doing. But,nothing wrong with tweaking,if done right.
I remeber one, i pulled the chassis [super reverb] every part was changed,and mods added. I couldn't believe it. It was a nightmare.
Also got a twin reverb, someone cathode biased it and put EL34s in it,they put the white plastic bypass caps right on top of the resistors, the caps had melted!

You can make any fender better than what it is. I wouldn't do it to a classic amp,but some silverface probably need it. Marshall amps, you'll see more destroyed than fenders. Not many survive the drill to the back panel.
Oh, i forgot, sometimes tweaking is what an amp needs. Most overlook a Traynor YGL3,pretty much very much like a twin reverb,but using EL34s,and a 6bq5 for the reverb. The amp is the loudest clean amp going,with a small handfull of parts put in the right section,that amp becomes a firebreather.

[selloutrr]

This was not tweaking as in mods it was more like.... I know there must be more tweak in here.. If I just find it. Maybe if I move this wire and add this wire ummm it doesn't matter where they go it'll still work right!? Oh fuck I'm high.... Yeah I'm awesome... Woah no drugs or music... Bummer.

Tweak a fender for tone til your heart is content. Tweak and tweak a fender go fuck your neck!

[Andy Le Blanc]

God is tweaked

modded man

made woman

left man with brain and penis

and only enough blood to
use one at a time

[rfgordon]

Not every monkey who swings a soldering iron is an amp tech. For many years there was a "tech" who did service for several area music stores. Could he fix amps? Yes. However, he was fond of going way beyond what the customer requested, and had little respect for the original topology of the amp--particularly vintage amps. There are "signature" aspects of his work that you can recognize, and I've been in amps he's worked on. Sometimes it's very difficult to determine how the amp now works.

On the other hand, it's good for my cash flow to get jobs unscrewing-up other peoples work!

[Andy Le Blanc]

I've been doing the same "clean up". It's always a fun moment, when you
dig into a repair and after a good long look it strikes you, .

fenders were made for tweaking, not that long ago before the vintage prices
took off and heathkit had been gone a long while, there was nothing, no kits.
So.... you scraped up a little cash and bought a piece o junk used amp and went for it.
cbs fender was crap and was cheap at the pawn or the bone yard of the radio and tv shop.

I'm a tweaker, your a tweaker , he's a tweaker too, the current market your
enjoying wouldn't be here if it weren't for tweakers.

[Firestorm]

You'd think any self-respecting crack-head tweaker would have the common sense to goop his work so no one would even attempt to fix it.

[Andy Le Blanc]

That cant be a Dumble reference ....

[Firestorm]

Nah. I was actually thinking of someone else. I once had to degoop and restore a 50-watt Plexi. Still makes me mad...

[CaseyJones]

It comes down to this: Some people have a clue, hate to say it but most don't. There's nothing like reading through the forums (those other forums), sometimes a complete cacophony of Website Wonders. Some neophyte will propose a Bad Idea, before someone can say, "DON'T DO THAT!!" 20 other "experts" chime in about what a brilliant and innovative concept it is.

First there was Fender. Marshall copied Fender so then there was Marshall. If it ain't a Fender or a Marshall I don't need to know about it. I can squint my eyes, a Wreck or a Dumble is close enough (to a Fender or a Marshall).

Can't squint my eyes tight enough to ignore the mess some people make. Must be there was a sale on wire that week, they sure used a lot of it. I award points for style, I just love it when an artistically inclined tweaker replaces every damn wire in the thing including the filaments with a monochrome scheme, all wires the same color. Extra credit for soldering iron burns everywhere. No child left behind, wouldn't want to harm the retard's fragile ego.