I just picked up this early '68 Super Reverb. This amp is surprisingly clean, and it sounds awesome, no hum or ghost noting, bass is tight. It's all original except for the nice orange line cord , reverb cables and 2 screen resistors.
I 've heard people say "recap it if its over X years old" and others say "I've got a bunch of vintage amps with the original caps and I 'm leaving 'em alone" My gut is telling me to recap it, but I can't bring myself to do it. I guess it's the whole "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" thing, and leaving the original parts be.
As long as there is no buldging or leaking on the caps, no white crap and the amp sounds good no funny off note thing going on, no need to recap.
You will be able to see bad caps and hear them. Just my two cents. In the past I always replaced them but now days I like to hold on to the old components a while longer.
M Fowler wrote:Mark very nice looks just like mine.
As long as there is no buldging or leaking on the caps, no white crap and the amp sounds good no funny off note thing going on, no need to recap.
You will be able to see bad caps and hear them. Just my two cents. In the past I always replaced them but now days I like to hold on to the old components a while longer.
Mark
Thanks Mark. I got lucky on this one. I knew from the picture on craigslist it was a '68 from the aluminum trim around the speaker grill. When I got to see it in person, I saw the infamous "blacklines" on the faceplate which is supposedly an indicator of an early '68. When I got it home and opened it up, the pots and trannies were all mostly dated '66 and '67, and the speakers date to 4th week of '68. So this was one of the first silver panel Super's, with identical circuitry to the blackface models. What year is yours? I'd guess '74 from the master volume. Looks like it's in great shape.
I agree with you on the caps. I guess I'm just paranoid about a cap blowing and frying the OT or something.
Nice score!
It might be orange but at least it's a three prong.
Yeah Tom, I'm glad about that, but it's like 15ft long! I'm gonna change it to a black cord.
Mark
Last edited by Blindog on Fri Jun 26, 2009 3:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
"- Yeah, can we have everything louder than everything else? Right!"- Ian Gillan
Structo wrote:Isn't that what they call the drip edge amp?
Doesn't appear that the caps in the cap can are leaking anything.
I'll bet it does sound glorious!
Isn't it funny how we obsess about lead dress then you open one of these up and the wires are running everywhere!
Yeah Tom, I have heard the trim refered to as drip edge. I think it was gone by '69. The caps under the can look brand new. The bypass caps were unusual to me in that they were dual 25uf's. I hear ya on the lead dress. All that cloth covered wire seemingly strewn about. The Fender boys knew what they were doing, ay?
MArk
"- Yeah, can we have everything louder than everything else? Right!"- Ian Gillan
The real question is why would you not replace them? Your amp is 40 years old. You have it open, the caps are past their "expected" lifespan. You and everybody else in the world has gotten their monies worth out of them. Unless money is an issue, spend $60.00 dollars to replace all the electrolytic's on that amp. 40 years from now when we are all dead, or close to it, somebody else can ponder this same question.
Good Luck
I compare it to changing the oil on car after the recommended 3,000 miles. Right now you're at about 8,000 miles, and the exhaust might not be blowing smoke, but you could just be a short drive away from a seized engine.
Just because a filter cap looks okay from the outside doesn't mean it's not about to blow.
In my opinion it's not worth the gamble. Just replace them. What do you have to lose?
tweedeluxe wrote:In my opinion it's not worth the gamble. Just replace them. What do you have to lose?
I just went through this with the bass player in my band. He uses a 71 Ampeg V-4 and I was after him to replace the filters, but he said "if it ain't broke..."
About halfway through a gig.... poof... smoke... crackle. I was smart enough to have a spare amp head in the car, but once I fixed up the V-4 he was thrilled, never sounded so good.
tweedeluxe wrote:In my opinion it's not worth the gamble. Just replace them. What do you have to lose?
I just went through this with the bass player in my band. He uses a 71 Ampeg V-4 and I was after him to replace the filters, but he said "if it ain't broke..."
About halfway through a gig.... poof... smoke... crackle. I was smart enough to have a spare amp head in the car, but once I fixed up the V-4 he was thrilled, never sounded so good.
Oh trust me, I know I should repalce 'em, it's just that the originals look so cool. I know that's stupid thinking, but I like to keep things looking original. I guess I could try and salvage the cardboard tubes from the old Mallory's and try and fit them over the new caps. I'm goint to change 'em because sure as shit 'ol Murphy is gonna creep up on me
Thanks for talking me off the ledge guys
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention a bonus find. I was inspecting the tubes found a Philips branded Mullard ECC83, and original Telefunken & Tung Sol 12AT7's Also the output tubes are stamped "The New Tube" and are marked 6L6GC USA. So they must have been NOS. They loook like RCA's to me. I googled them and they look ike they are a tube reseller. Anybody deal with them?
Mark
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"- Yeah, can we have everything louder than everything else? Right!"- Ian Gillan
Yeah, I remember NewTube. Nice tubes you found!
Those filters sure are shiny....weird. I had a '68 SR too. In the early '80s the rect. tube started goin' and ended up shutting down the amp after a few months taking one or two of the old filters with it [coulda been vice versa...I didn't know anything then].
Not that I know anything now either. I used to assemble these things all day long in Fullerton.
FYI: Us dudes would screw in the preloaded, prewired grommet boards [along w/ other parts] then wheel the chasses over to the gals who soldered up the connections.
If you are going to gig the amp. Change them. But I would leave the Cathode caps alone, unless you know for certain they are leaking. Those are sealed on your amp and probably will outlast you. Change the Bias Electrolytic and the power supply caps. If you want the original look, then push out the cans from the cardboard covers and slip them over the new caps. Leave all the Blue molded caps unless they test bad or leaky. Those and the Carbon comp resistors are where the MOJO resides.
billyz wrote:If you are going to gig the amp. Change them. But I would leave the Cathode caps alone, unless you know for certain they are leaking. Those are sealed on your amp and probably will outlast you. Change the Bias Electrolytic and the power supply caps. If you want the original look, then push out the cans from the cardboard covers and slip them over the new caps. Leave all the Blue molded caps unless they test bad or leaky. Those and the Carbon comp resistors are where the MOJO resides.
My thoughts exactly
Yeah, I remember NewTube. Nice tubes you found!
Those filters sure are shiny....weird. I had a '68 SR too. In the early '80s the rect. tube started goin' and ended up shutting down the amp after a few months taking one or two of the old filters with it [coulda been vice versa...I didn't know anything then].
Not that I know anything now either. I used to assemble these things all day long in Fullerton.
FYI: Us dudes would screw in the preloaded, prewired grommet boards [along w/ other parts] then wheel the chasses over to the gals who soldered up the connections.
That's a great story Bob. Glad you are here on the forum!
MArk
"- Yeah, can we have everything louder than everything else? Right!"- Ian Gillan
, reverb cables and 2 screen resistors. 
