Sometimes you just have to get down and dirty and do a repair that ain’t pretty but is definitely functional. Who knows what will go wrong next. Circuit boards can be great. This ain’t one of them. Fender should be ashamed. A great job Lyle.
Lyle, I’m not a customer of yours, but I really appreciate your approach to these things. The consideration for the owners/customers that you have is invaluable. Merry Christmas to you and your wife!
why? great workhorse amp. I gigged mine hard for 15 years before I had any problems. Just changed out a couple of caps and lifted the resistors. Got my moneys worth out of it for sure and it's still rocking.
I’ve had my blues deluxe for over 10 years with absolutely zero issues. I’ve done nothing to it. It still has the original tubes. It probably has 500 gigs on it. I guess I’m lucky. It’s a good amp. There is a reason why you see them in stages along with the other hot rods frequently. Are they the best? No. Are they work horses? Yes. Get one. If it breaks fix it. And it will last a lifetime.
@@peanutavalon I actually bought that amp after running into a few more people with gig experience like you. Everyone praises that amp and so do I now. Holy smokes that's a bad boy amp! Not just a work horse but you can get anything you want out of it. No mods! Sitting next to it right now! 🤣😎👍
Great video and thank you. With your entertaining help, I've been able to fix the drive channel not switching on my 1993. Clearly someone had attempted to do some of what you do in this video, and now it's got new resistors and caps at C38/39. Only now I'm seeing around +/-20v not 16v on R85/86 and 19v sat TP32.
@@PsionicAudio I also wanted to add that I had two different amp techs look at my 93 Blues Deluxe in the past and they either didn’t fix the issue, and the last one complained at me about how he hated them and was essentially telling me he didn’t want to fix it. But you’re not that guy and I appreciate you going the extra mile to fix them and build in some resilience.
I bought mine in 2010. Zero issues. I’ve tried so many other different amplifiers but something about the way the blues deluxe sounds. It’s got a perfect brightness that I love with humbuckers. It cuts.
For a double sided board the traces are rather close and small for real voltage IMHO . Would guess 1 oz copper on a good day. From some time with those voltages to I would not use less than 3 oz copper and ground plain or balanced line design for the signal traces is not your best choose. Must agree on your evaluation of the PCB >
Well, damn, Lyle. If I didn't already make the decision not to buy a Fender amp unless it's a black panel reissue (I feel like calling them "blackface" is quite a bit wrong) Twin or Deluxe. Wish they had a '64 Vibroverb reissue....
Funny, I have a Blues Deluxe Reissue 2012 and I did some mods on this amp and it does sound fantastic and the “dirty” channel is amazing. But, before the mods the dirty channel was worthless. And now I have a noise that needs fixed.
@@inertiallychallengedI purchased a mod kit from Fromel Electronics I think from Seattle for maybe $85-$110. It’s a replacement instal kit. This changed the amp for the better for me. My original was way too loud at “4”. The Drive Channel was horrible. Now it has head room and gain and the Drive Channel has dirty grit that sounds as good as any pedal. I also installed a new Weber speaker, from Indiana. I called them, they asked what I liked and they made a recommendation. Finally, the tubes. I can’t afford $$$. I have JJ tubes….6L6’s in V4-V5. I use Tung Sol 12AX7 in V1 and sometimes V2 or I’ll use JJ Electronics ECC83 tubes. In V3 I do use an RCA 12AT7. I play a variety of styles kind of loud with some reverb and at break up or the Drive Channel. This was my project. Hope that helps.
Do tube dampeners actually help with microphonics or is it best not to have them? Never had a tech’s perspective on it but I’ve heard it’s a snake oil product
Someone I respect in the industry likes them. I find that sometimes they help, sometimes they don't. Don't overpay for "audiophile" dampeners. But if you can find some that are reasonably priced, it won't hurt to try them.
@@PsionicAudio Those thick Eurotubes dampeners seen here have been quite effective for taming rattles on my old 7 notch Mullard GZ34. Ain't perfect, but they certainly help. Relatively inexpensive and worth a shot.
@@dwaynedelario , years ago I bought some Sorbothane tube dampers from a company that sells audiophile products and put them on the driver and output tubes of a Dynaco Stereo 70 hifi amp. They were fine for the drivers but quickly melted on the EL34 outputs (It didn't take much of a stretch to get them to fit onto skinny bottle EL34's). I was a bit ticked off that the company that sold them to me refused to refund my money even though *they never specified in their advertising literature that their tube dampers were only to be used on preamp or driver tubes* and not on the output tubes. Modern silicone rubber can obviously handle higher heat than Sorbothane can, but how long will even high-temp silicone last on a hot GZ34?
@@dwaynedelario , interesting. By cintrast, Sorbothane has a consistency similar to human flesh and is an excellent vibration damping material ---- I've used sorbothane feet the size of hockey pucks underneath DJ turntables in nightclubs to prevent feedback from big subwoofers ---- but it can't handle high heat like you'd find radiating from a rectifier or output tube.
I love your work Sir but you should use a real good caulking gun with a small straight cut opening and do a small clean bead instead of a nasty looking blob. You could get a good gun , the non dripping one that stops when you release the trigger. Watching you squirt that tube was painful , you had no control with it and it was impossible to do a neat job .
I didn’t want a small bead. I wanted a big glob to fill the space between the components and the board. IME if I put the tapered tip on the tube of silicone and cut it like I was doing beading for kitchen/bath the silicone cures in the tip and is useless. I’m only using small amounts at once, and usually the silicone is hidden behind a component.
