spoonbender Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 (edited) 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. Edited June 30, 2017 by spoonbender Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stump Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Welcome to the forum. I would start by getting a copy of the schematic and learning as much about the amp as possible. Electrolytics typically need replacement in old gear, so that's a good place to start, then start checking the resistors to see if they are still in spec, then touch up all solder joints. I do this stuff as a hobby, so I'm not really a tech, but I fix and build guitar amps pretty regularly. Make sure you know how to work on this stuff safely, Google is a great resource and YouTube has a ton of how to videos. Hopefully, one of the more experienced members will chime in here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 use wood or plastic sticks to poke around in the amp and always, always observe the one hand in pocket rule. 450V going from one hand to the other right through your heart, no good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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