spoonbender

Hi folks, My name is Bruce and I've bitten off more than I can chew. As a wedding present for my fiancé, I have promised to rebuild her a complete tube amp driven stereo system. What do I know about tubes? Doodly squat. However, I have restored several Hammond organs and guitar tube amps. When I was a kid and a tube amp would blow up, I'd take the burnt part out and run to RadioShack and ask what is this? They would say "that's a 10 ohm resistor", I'd run home and solder it back in. Voila. Fourty years later and I'm only slightly more sophisticated. So where do I start with this thing? I figure it's somewhat like the modular synth I built; signal goes in through an appropriate pair of jacks, I wire in a power switch and a volume pot, the electricity follows a magical path inside, and I make some connectors to go to my speakers. After that, I powder coat the chassis, build a cool curly maple cabinet, fix the KLH 20s, and my then wife will love me forever. Forgive me in advance for my philistinism, and I will not be offended by your eye rolling. We're there different models of 175, and how do I identify mine? Someone said replace the electrolytics right away. How to I check my output transformer, and what's a good source for parts? And someone please explain all the arcane vernaculars you guys use! Lol Thanks in Advance.