various amp tech questions

[Smokebreak]

I have an Ampeg Jet II J12R here.

I'm wondering how you guys deal with the goop . Is there any finesse to this effort, or does one just cut away at it, and make a crumbly mess?

[tubeswell]

Try heating it up with a hot air gun, whilst pulling it away with a pair of vice grips (after you have snipped the leads) (Laziest, sloppiest kind of fastening solution IMO)

[Stevem]

Grab it with a needle nose and you can brake most of it all !

[Leo_Gnardo]

Grab it with a needle nose and you can brake most of it all !

Plus a scalpel, razor or x-acto. For stuff like this I use the Hakko n n pliers with deep sharp teeth.

Haven't tried the heat treatment but it should help, long as you don't melt other things nearby. One of those pencil butane torches might be the move instead of the big hair-dryer style heat gun.

[Smokebreak]

Ok great well I wasn't too off base then with a box cutter and flathead

As far as removing components, and not the pad, I tried to solder suck the pad exposing the hole but couldn't get it all out, and feared lifting the pad by trying too many times, so I just heated the pad while I slipped the new lead in, then applied fresh solder to the pad/lead.

Is there a better way to do this?

Also, out of curiosity, do you always completely take the board(s) out, or just finagle it to some position that can be worked on?

[Leo_Gnardo]

Is there a better way to do this?

Also, out of curiosity, do you always completely take the board(s) out, or just finagle it to some position that can be worked on?

That's what ya gotta do, fiddle faddle with the board, prop it into a position you can get at the parts & pads. What a hassle. At the end of it all, those newer Ampegs can sound pretty good. I hear they're all out of prodution now. They were a nice alternative to the Fenders.

[Smokebreak]

Thanks Leo. It does sound pretty good! Kinda a mid-forward clean. Probably the smallest footprint 1x12 combo I've come across too.

[Smokebreak]

I had a friend call and ask "Can you look at my Deluxe, it sounds bad."
I've all but stopped asking "what kind of Deluxe", as it seems everyone has the reissue.
He brings it over and doh! It's a HotRod Deluxe. Apart from the fact that I don't care for these amps when they're tiptop, this might be the worst sounding amp I've ever heard, in it's current state.
I haven't cracked it open yet, and won't for a few days, but I'm fairly certain it's never been serviced. Low output, distorted, super-farty, just a mess of a sound...and that's the clean channel.
I'll start with tubes and caps, but I'm wondering if there are known issues with this amp that I should look out for.

Thanks, Jeremy

[billyz]

Check the PI plate resistors. one often fails. Fender must have had gotten a bad batch. The PI coupling cap is too large along with the excessive cathode bypass caps (47uf? ) causes much fart.

[thejaf]

Poor connections due to bad solder joints?

[Firestorm]

Google hot rod deluxe known issues and you'll find a bunch. Caps, power resistors burning the board, and wrong resistors in the PI. Then you've got the ribbon cables that lose connection and even when "perfect" have to be positioned just right to avoid crosstalk. Nightmare. Good luck.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Poor connections due to bad solder joints?

Yes, that too. Mostly on the tube socket connexions to PC board.

Much of this amp series, if not all, have 130K slope R's in the EQ. One fast cheap way to partially tame them is tack on a parallel resistor to damp shrill high frequency response. Depending on how dark the amp owner wants to go, 470K down to 47K give good results. Still plenty bright even with the lowest value. Less annoying hi frequencies help bring out mids & lows, a much more useful palette of amp tones for most players.

[Smokebreak]

Good grief! Thanks for the input fellas. I quoted him for new tubes and caps, and he just decided he'd put the $$ towards a new amp, which works great for me

[Firestorm]

That's the best fix. Build that new amp for him.

[Smokebreak]

Exactly. So now he's asking if I'll keep the amp for $100 trade in on one of mine. These trannies worth a darn?