Ever Replace a Reverb Unit?
 

I have a German amplifier I bought in Germany in 1969. It stall works quite well, except the reverb unit is easily overdriven and needs replacing. I was digging around on the internet and found a source for reverb replacement units. I haven’t dug deep enough to see I I can find the replacement unit for the make and model, but assuming I can find it, is it worth the trouble to change it?

If you have a tube driven reverb tank it may be the tube is bad.

Thanks for the comment Song!

No, this one is a little too new to be tube type. It is all solid state. I think the reverb unit is a spring. I will be away for a few days and then I think I will get inside and see what I find when I get back home.

When I play hard or have the volume turned up, the reverb gets real ragged as if the spring is slapping on its case or something.

All reverb tanks have codes. Check with Mojotone for the proper replacement.
http://www.mojotone.com/Pickups_x?search=reverb+tank

This explains the codes.
https://www.amplifiedparts.com/tech-...specifications

first check the connector cables. pull them off, spray some deoxit and push them on and off a couple of times. if there are connectors to the amp, check those too. also check the pots for the reverb. there may be more than one.

transducers could go bad too, but usually not. possibly a transistor.

did this just begin? has the amp been moved recently?

play music!

Great suggestions and comments! I appreciate them very much.

I just brought it out of a closet where it has been since my son left it there when he went off to college in 1998. I have never opened it up in the almost fifty years I have owned it. I hope to get to the circuitry this weekend and do some cleaning and inspection. For the meantime I think I am going to buy a small practice amp. It will fit better into the sun room I am making into my man cave. Kind of Sunny for a cave, but you know what I mean.:)

I recently replaced the spring reverb on an SS Fender Champion 110 with MOD 3 spring unit. It was a relatively easy job to install and the unit was about 20 bucks delivered. The challenge was to find out the correct replacement unit and grounding required. All in all a very worthwhile upgrade.

I am back home where the amp is for a few days, but I have decided to wait before taking it apart to find what reverb unit to order. What I am going to do is play it for a few days while I look for and buy a small practice amp to use while it is down and for the man cave I am putting together.

So, I am now trying to determine what would be an economical. Small, lightweight practice amp. I found a and upgrade the speaker.

Thanks again for the great advice offered in this thread!

Okay, I now know for sure, or at least, I am convinced, that the problem is the reverb unit. I was getting in some practice this morning and I had the idea to give the amp a bump. I bumped it enough to make the reverb crash like it does when I play it hard enough to get that sound. I am going to try to get some time tonight to take it apart to get the reverb code.

Thanks VERY much for the help here!

Well, this being a vintage German amp, none of the standard type reverb units are a match. It is an odd size and spring quantity. I have it out and will try to determine input and output impedance so I can fashion something in place. I think an ohmmeter will get me close.

Thanks very much for the reverb unit sources. I should have waited a few days before taking it apart. My new amp should be here Tuesday or so, and l am without an amp until then.

Which amp did you get?

Funny you should ask.:). I just got through posting my choice in the thread I opened for,the purpose of seeking recommendations. I ordered the Bugera that Steve recommended so highly. I won’t be to the city to listen to amps for weeks, so if it doesn’t work out it will keep me playing until I can make it over there.

With the amp and the Les Paul both due to be here early next week, it will be Christmas before Thanksgiving at my house.:D

Thanks for your interest and input.

I had to replace the spring unit on my 1966 Fender Deluxe Reverb. It had spent the majority of its life deep in Mississippi, where the humidity just degraded the springs. Fortunately, it was a common replacement part, so I was able to order the correct unit off Mojotone and just swap it in.

Hopefully you can find something close enough to spec that you can get back up and running.

Yeah, that’s what I had to do MiG. The amp is German made in 1969 and is not made like an American amp. The reverb tank connections were soldered in and was smaller than the smallest of standard replacements. I ordered the closest I could get to physical size and input/output impedance. I will solder in some cables with RCA connectors and plug into the new tank. While in there I will clean all the pots and check the switches. The two reverb switches don’t want to turn off and I expect they would be hard to find as a replacement.

I taped off the reverb cables and slipped the back on it so I have something to practice with until my new amp arrives. Once I get the new amp, I will start working on this relic and go through it as best I can. I would like to have it in good shape. Right now with no internal reverb connected, I am using a Boss RV 6 for reverb since I can put it through the clean amp. It actually sounds pretty good that way.

Once back together, if I can’t make the German reverb switches work, I will add a switch accessible from the back to disconnect the reverb and use the pedal board. I am not into lots of effects, but a Hall reverb is kind of necessary for the sixties and seventies stuff I play.

In a way the amp is not worth fooling with, but I think I can make it into an interesting sixties solid state amp. Since I have had it for almost 50 years, it is kind of hard to let go of.

My small amp is a 1966 Fender Vibro Champ, which doesn't have reverb, and my main amps are Sovtek Mig 50s, so I use a reverb pedal on my pedalboard. I use a Line 6 Verbzilla (flame away, haters) which has all the standard flavors on board.

Good call on putting RCA ends on those cables. Makes it much easier to work with, standardized and modular.