The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Electric Guitars

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 11-07-2017, 09:58 PM
MBDiagMan MBDiagMan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: NE Texas
Posts: 162
Default 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?
__________________
1969 Framus Solid Body Electric
1969 Schaller KV25 Amplifier
1997 Mexican Strat
2017 Les Paul Tribute Model
Bugera V22 Tube Amplifier
1969 Oscar Teller Classical
Martin DRS2
Yamaha FG700S
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-07-2017, 10:24 PM
Song Song is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Boston Texas
Posts: 2,064
Default

If you have a tube driven reverb tank it may be the tube is bad.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11-07-2017, 10:40 PM
MBDiagMan MBDiagMan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: NE Texas
Posts: 162
Default

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.
__________________
1969 Framus Solid Body Electric
1969 Schaller KV25 Amplifier
1997 Mexican Strat
2017 Les Paul Tribute Model
Bugera V22 Tube Amplifier
1969 Oscar Teller Classical
Martin DRS2
Yamaha FG700S
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 11-08-2017, 06:06 AM
canerod canerod is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Wilmington, NC
Posts: 219
Default

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
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-08-2017, 05:27 PM
muscmp muscmp is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: socal
Posts: 8,123
Default

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!
__________________

2014 Martin 00015M
2009 Martin 0015M
2008 Martin HD28
2007 Martin 000-18GE
2006 Taylor 712
2006 Fender Parlor GDP100
1978 Fender F65
1968 Gibson B25-12N
Various Electrics
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-09-2017, 10:05 AM
MBDiagMan MBDiagMan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: NE Texas
Posts: 162
Default

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.
__________________
1969 Framus Solid Body Electric
1969 Schaller KV25 Amplifier
1997 Mexican Strat
2017 Les Paul Tribute Model
Bugera V22 Tube Amplifier
1969 Oscar Teller Classical
Martin DRS2
Yamaha FG700S
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11-09-2017, 10:37 AM
Dadzmad Dadzmad is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 419
Default

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.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 11-09-2017, 08:28 PM
MBDiagMan MBDiagMan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: NE Texas
Posts: 162
Default

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!
__________________
1969 Framus Solid Body Electric
1969 Schaller KV25 Amplifier
1997 Mexican Strat
2017 Les Paul Tribute Model
Bugera V22 Tube Amplifier
1969 Oscar Teller Classical
Martin DRS2
Yamaha FG700S
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 11-10-2017, 07:54 AM
MBDiagMan MBDiagMan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: NE Texas
Posts: 162
Default

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!
__________________
1969 Framus Solid Body Electric
1969 Schaller KV25 Amplifier
1997 Mexican Strat
2017 Les Paul Tribute Model
Bugera V22 Tube Amplifier
1969 Oscar Teller Classical
Martin DRS2
Yamaha FG700S
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 11-10-2017, 06:44 PM
MBDiagMan MBDiagMan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: NE Texas
Posts: 162
Default

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.
__________________
1969 Framus Solid Body Electric
1969 Schaller KV25 Amplifier
1997 Mexican Strat
2017 Les Paul Tribute Model
Bugera V22 Tube Amplifier
1969 Oscar Teller Classical
Martin DRS2
Yamaha FG700S
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 11-10-2017, 06:56 PM
Gmountain Gmountain is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Florida Central East Coast
Posts: 2,395
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by MBDiagMan View Post
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?
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 11-10-2017, 07:47 PM
MBDiagMan MBDiagMan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: NE Texas
Posts: 162
Default

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.

Thanks for your interest and input.
__________________
1969 Framus Solid Body Electric
1969 Schaller KV25 Amplifier
1997 Mexican Strat
2017 Les Paul Tribute Model
Bugera V22 Tube Amplifier
1969 Oscar Teller Classical
Martin DRS2
Yamaha FG700S
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 11-13-2017, 12:24 PM
MiG50 MiG50 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 347
Default

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.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 11-13-2017, 02:18 PM
MBDiagMan MBDiagMan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: NE Texas
Posts: 162
Default

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.
__________________
1969 Framus Solid Body Electric
1969 Schaller KV25 Amplifier
1997 Mexican Strat
2017 Les Paul Tribute Model
Bugera V22 Tube Amplifier
1969 Oscar Teller Classical
Martin DRS2
Yamaha FG700S
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 11-13-2017, 09:33 PM
MiG50 MiG50 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 347
Default

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.
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Electric Guitars

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:19 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=