Fender 67 Deluxe Reverb amp in bad condition. A few tech's in the past left their mark. My mission, return it to stock condition and sound. This poor amp has seen better days. I will do my best to bring it back into specs.
4:50 in defense of the repairs, 30 years ago, when most of the "repairs" were performed, I doubt that the amp shop, or even the customer, were thinking about future value. They were thinking at the time that the parts they had available would return the amp to a serviceable condition and the owner could get back to playing. As far as Sharpie on the inside, I don't think it would take a whole lot to remove it. A little acetone and it's gone.
100 percent nobody thought they would be worth big money nobody , had a early gold top the neck was round sold it for same price I got it and fender Amps nobody really cared back then a lot of people didn’t want the same amp as their friend had just to be different we all changed stuff. Etc we thought the would be worth less as it got older
Sharpie marker can be removed from non porous surfaces with rubbing alcohol. Try a little solvent (brake cleaner, acetone, lacquer thinner) if alcohol doesn't work.
Standard practice for most techs is if considerable effort is put into a task, it will end up on the bill. Terry has enough happening to this amp without adding un-necessary labor. I imagine cleaning up the marker would be more than a 5 minute job. Why charge the customer for something they could safely do themselves?
@@timmooney7528 Some of that marker is under the hood near the eyelet board so easier for a tech to access. Then again it all lives in a case so the writing isn’t that big of a deal to me and acetone or isopropyl alcohol should nuke it pretty easily.
I'd say that back when the guy did that work, no one was collecting these 'old' amps ...I got my 2 70s era Fender Deluxe Reverb & Twin Reverb for near nothing back in '95. The guy I got them off of was getting rid of his junk to make way for something that was relevant in '95 ...I can't remember what the amp was, lol ...but I'm a happy camper for sure!
exactly, worst case scenario put some light solvant on a que tip and it will make it easy in minutes everything will be fine. as for the transformer it is also probably fine, if the VA power is the same or higher and the voltages are correct there is absolutely no reason to overpay for the "original". as for the sockets, imo these ceramics are even better than original, i use them a lot and i even have them on my own high-fi for about a decade, clean as new and they can also help the power tubes cool off a bit. maybe he has seen some which would be 100pcs for 5$ free shipping, but normaly they are great.
The chances are slim that invoices and other paperwork will be saved and conveyed to the new owners every time the amp is sold. When I worked as a mechanic, I appreciated getting information about previous service from the techs who did the work. Most owners never save receipts, and if they do those receipts will almost certainly be crumpled in a pile somewhere. Far better to have concise service notes written directly on the components than to have to hunt through a messy glovebox hoping to find previous documentation.
I dunno. I personally wouldn't mind getting an amp with tech signatures and details of what work has been done over the years. That's part of its history and could be useful info to have.
I got this Amp in 85. The other guitar player in my band hated the amp I had and cut me a deal. It was a used amp and a tool. This amp was with me in LA in the late 80s. It was gigged by me and borrowed by roommates and friends and gigged by them. In the early 90s it toured the US.. I sold it after that to a friend with the caveat if I ever wanted it back I could have it back. I had quit playing guitar by that time. He'd let it go for awhile and it passed through a couple different owners. He got it back in the early 2ks. He resold it and I got it back a couple years ago. All the mods were done in that in between time. As far as the graffiti it doesn't bother me. Also I know that one of the names in there was a past owner. D-LAB offered to clean it and I said spend the time making it great sounding. The amp has no collectable value because it's not for sale and never will be. I told D-LAB do what you need to make it a great sounding Fender Deluxe. I'm thrilled that D-LAB is able to take this project on and a Final Note I would be honored to have Terry's name in my amp.
One more comment D-LAB offered wise counsel with this statement, "usually the best way to get these amps sounding great again, is by taking them back to spec."
Great story! I wouldn’t care about the sharpie myself…even if I was buying the amp. It’s inside, mostly hidden, nobody looks at the chassis on a regular basis, and it’s just a unique part of its history. 🎸👌
OMG, there are so many products out there that will remove the magic marker without messing with the electrical part inside. It's not like the person that did that stamped it into the metal.
These are wonderful amplifiers. Perhaps the most articulate amp Fender ever made. As a player of 60 years ... I recommend a FULL RESTORATION! I WILL also recommend that all amp techs TYPE a list of what they do to an amp, thus ensuring that people can read it, and not have to struggle to read their poor, hurried handwriting!
I got one of these in the shop about four months ago. It needed a cap job in the worst way. I replaced only the filter caps and nothing else, and it sounded absolutely beautiful.
I feel your pain. That was definitely an extreme case, but I’ve seen a lot of ugly fixes and mods. My thought with something like that is whether the transformers really needed to be changed or was it a shotgun fix... or someone thinking they were going to “improve” something. I’m sure you’ll come to a reasonable balance between the owners desire and making it right.
Love all your videos! Do you have any opinions on the quality and reliability of the new handwired 64 Custom Deluxe Reverb? Are there any problems from the factory or any modifications that need to be done to make them bulletproof? Thanks.
Great video, but I can see the concern in your face about the defacing of such a precious amp..! I suppose back then, the amp wouldn't have be considered to be sought after in the future. Great lesson from master Terry, don't draw on legends..😥 Cool Vid..Ed..UK..😁
I agree with Scott below. I have cleaned all sorts of Sharpie love notes off, on equipment with either Isopropyl or Acetone. I agree with Terry 100%, write the love notes on your invoice. Chicken writing on the chassis looks very unprofessional and sub-highschoolish. . I do use small labels with a label maker for denoting tube ID's on a chassis as did the OEM. Black on Clear, looks very professional and helps. I do this to keep me straight while I'm working. They can be easily removed but for future service the tube labels are helpful.
Heck .. Half the fun of tube amps is modifying them :-) The problem with "collecting" is that it removes the most desirable equipment from circulation and out of the hands of musicians :-)
love your vids( so ya know) … as a repair tech myself ( moderate level); mek will remove any felt pen . and surprisingly, the deluxe rev/6v6 twin does not sound that good… based on the * few i have repaired… even new ones . what type socket would you suggest? i thought ceramic or mycylex would be better than bakelite . the princeton (imo) is better than the dlx and the 5e3 is better for a 6v6 rig. … all subjective of course. what cap brand/s do you suggest for an open check book restoration?
Old Sharpie marker writing usually can be removed with IPA ( 91 % isopropyl alcohol) or Acetone ( don't use it on plastics). It isn't permanent as it claims. Horrible soldering job with cheap components. Hacked and wacked.
I have a 1959 Princeton that looks like it has the original tubes and it looks like it has never been touched and I don’t want it destroy the value but the owner before me did remove the tweed and did a sorry job of black tolex I guess on it and the fuse holder is broken and it still has the “death “ circuit in it . I just want to use it and I don’t know what to do with it to keep any collector value if it has any . I am located in Charlotte NC and I was wondering if you have any suggestions on who I could call to help on this project
Totally agree with you, and that doesn't just apply to amps, with that said, it is there now and it should be dealt with. Could you not buff all that crap off with a wire brush wheel, I know the process will bring it back down to the steel, however, the underside is starting to rust out, might be worth the investment in time to completely strip it out, take care of those scribbles and get the rust under control, put quality components back in it, so it can shine like a gem for another 50 years.
IMO, the collectible value basically went out the window as soon as the original transformers were changed and tube sockets removed. The chassis has a significant amount of corrosion. It must have been stored in a damp environment. A phosphoric acid based rust converter would at least neutralize the rust and give it some protection. I would only recommend spot treatment since it can damage the plating. The only real way to bring the chassis back is to have it replated.There are still a few places around that do cadmium plating but I would imagine that that process would be cost prohibitive. You may be able to use solvents such as xylene or MEK to remove that nasty black marker. I wonder what Tony thinks of it.
I personally use a labeler to document repairs and affix the stickers to the inside of the equipment on a panel or cover, where it is out of sight and also removable.
Terry, lacquer thinner will take off the permanent marker, it might take a couple tries. Use in a well ventilated area! Blue paper shop towels work well with the thinner!
I’ve had a couple doozies 20 years ago. One was a BF Showman with an incorrect output transformer (gray Triad; wrong impedence). Another was a hacked BF Bassman that had a “nuke a Marshall” mod with high gain.
Don’t mean to go off topic…. But I would love to see the build of the D-LAB dummy head box! I think it would be a cool project… I’ve scanned most of your videos and have yet to come across it till now…. Thanks for all the education!
Hazards off history. Totally agree with you Terry. Mechanics still do this today with cars writing directly on engines... even if you don't like to use the receipt, what's wrong with a small label put on a corner which can be easily removed without damages and put all your notes onto it?
Hey bro, to get that sharpy off the chassis, give a blast of caig d5, rub off with a microfiber. If that doesnt do it, repeat with denatured alcohol. That will remove it, but can wipe off some of the patina so work quick. Its worked for me. Cool vid!
Vintage Ceramic sockets are supposed to tolerate heat better than bakelite. I upgraded a lot of output tube sockets in the 1980's. It's a shame people are selling cheap ceramic sockets today.
CSA = Canadian Standards Association I feel if youre gonna sign and date it do it under the chassis where its not visible unless youre a technician. Sucks most of the components were changed!
Terry! My heart is broken!!! So very sad to see the vandalism done to that wonderful amp! If it were mine, I would at the very least insist on a new board to replace the moldy old one and recap it, etc. You may have saved me from a sad fate as well...those ceramic tube sockets...are they made in China? Is the reason/source of the corrosion known? I thought being ceramic that there would be higher quality and had planned to purchase some in the future. Are there good ceramic sockets?
In the early days of PC gamers water cooling their cpus, the combination of copper fittings and aluminum heatsinks and water would cause pathways in the heatsinks to fill up with oxidized crystals. Not sure if galvanic effect is the right term, but in a way it was like long term anodizing. The ceramic parts by themselves are ok. It's the metal pin retainers in the Chinese sockets that are made with a dissimilar metal or plating is what's causing the problem.
For stationary electronics quality ceramic sockets are supposed to be the best. However, in electronics subjected to being hauled, bumped, shaken, or vibrated around the MICANOL sockets are preferred. Ceramic sockets are thermally better but ceramic is hard & brittle which doesn’t play out well with much vibration. That’s why Leo and USAF and NASA use military grade plastic sockets like “Cinch” sockets
I have a mid 70's silver face. i would love to have it alive again. I have never soldered in it. It has some busted knob holders on the pots. I took the reverb unit out but those are plug and play. I gave it to my band mate that relied on it. I used a an effectron. for verb and slap back delay.I'm sure it needs cleaned well and new tubes and a new spring reverb unit. How much to fix it for me? I can just send you the actual amp. i can put a reverb in it. they are about 26 bucks. Best amp ever and i can't believe how much they cost today. It does light up. It works and buzzes a bit. It has the old 2 prong power cord on it. There is a power tube missing. It once again has never been worked on. Just used a lot.
Hi Terry ,You should be able to remove the graffiti with nail polish remover ,it's worked for me . Or good old fashioned paint thinner . Good luck on trying to get good money on this one. Maybe Id be willing to pay about $700 but with all the changes done to it maybe less . It's a shame the idiots decided to tell a story about all they did to it . Keep those videos coming , I love em .
I think the transformer on my G100B-212 had been replaced at some time, it doesn't look original. I may remove the chassis again to show you in a video on my channel. There's a couple small hack jobs from a service at some point I'm hoping to fix.
Well your owner said "make it work" not "make it right". Prior repair shops probably had the same orders. The current value of a future "antique" vs what someone who needed their amp working for their next job could spend is a big factor some times. As for the markings, sometimes the "next guy" likes to know what was done and what they may need to look out for. For the modified circuits that is important as someone may not notice the change. In a given area there are a limited number of guys who work on amps, they often know one another and how they do things. Being able to pick up the phone and ask the prior tech what the story of the amp is, was a real thing.
Lacquer thinner will remove the sharpie "artwork". That said, it's not the worst thing in the world to have historical tech service written on chassis. It can save lots of time for future repairs.
even in something like a guitar there's usually writing in the pickup cavity and neck pocket from the factory. It not something I would do but writing inside devices and such really isn't, or wasn't, all that uncommon. when I used to work on computers in the early 90s you'd see names and dates inside the BAT files or inside the chassis as well.
This comment by the amp owner is key IMO: "The amp has no collectable value because it's not for sale and never will be. I told D-LAB do what you need to make it a great sounding Fender Deluxe." I find it frustrating that people get so damn fixated on the collectible value of amps. Its a musical instrument! Fix what it takes to make it sound great again. That can be done and I'm sure that is what D-Lab will do. I find it amusing that it is considered acceptable to change parts in a vintage Fender guitar and not in amps. I've had people tell me that they will not change filter caps in an old Fender as it hurts the value - BS. And don't get me started on "reliced" guitars - dumbest trend ever; old amps are supposed to look brand new and guitars are supposed to look like they were trashed by a drunken gorilla in a smoky barroom. Five years from now Fender may be producing amps with torn tweed, cigarette burns, and scribbles on the chassis for all we know. And, hey you kids, get off my lawn!
If a potential customer were to come to me with an amp in need of work telling me they didn't want old electrolytics and paper capactors replaced (or worse yet, wanted me to restuff them) I'd just send them elsewhere. I don't want to be the last one to have touched something, and be the one that gets blamed, when some old electrolytic cap bites the dust and takes out an expensive power transformer. Complete BS when someone claims that installing new (quality) parts destroys the tone of the amp. An amp's tone is determined by its design, an old paper cap doesn't sound any better than a modern film one, even when the cap was new.
This is what happens when you let a hack work on valuable sought after vintage gear. Thank god its not a blonde twin or a brown deluxe or worse yet a tweed deluxe or bassman, it was still a great amp at one time. The Deluxe is one of Leos best designs and one of the amps least changed by the CBS bean counters when they decided that it could be done better and cheaper ! To restore that amp back to former glory would cost more than its worth. to replace the transformers and choke with original schumacher's would cost you a fortune if you can source them at all. Add on the blue molded caps original C12 Jensen or even the crappy Utah speaker and Allan Bradley CC resistors all hard to come by. When you then figure in the labor of a competent tech like Terry that amp becomes a ridiculously expensive proposition even if you found someone who felt bad for you and wanted a real challenge. The cost of parts alone would be unrealistic. I bet Terry gets that amp sounding great though and with little more than he has to work with now. Those ceramic tube sockets have to go even the cheap brown micalex sockets would out live those and never fall apart like those chinese ceramic ones do, those are 100 % pure crap. Just an FYI... I have some of the NOS parts to bring that back amp to life if the owner opts for a full electronic restoration, so if you find yourself in need Terry please feel free to contact me. 👍🤘👌
That black “permanent” marker is EASY to remove. I know it sounds crazy but if you color over it with a dry erase marker and just erase the dry erase marker the “permanent” marker will come right off.
I think they went overboard and ugly with the notes here, but I'd much rather the history as part of the amp than on an invoice that inevitably gets lost. Personally, I've have tried to secure a note in the cabinet or something.
The sharpie all over it really sucks. The rest is remove and replace. Alcohol and acetone will clean up most sharpie, as almost everyone else is mentioning.
I gotta look at the ceramic socket video...but i have one burning question in that regard. I repaired and restored old organs for about ten years... And every part i could salvage, i saved...so i have quite a few old phenolic sockets- I was under the impression that they were inferior technology, but i know that made in USA ANYTHING is better than the new imported stuff. These have been pissed on by rats, and all kinds of nightmare situations...barn finds, etc..so its NOT N.O.S., but after seeing this im thinking i should definitely clean them up and use them in something else. And all that graffitti can be removed with solvents...xylene maybe...acetone, or laquer thinner... Something similar...just do it outside...and dont smoke. 'Permanent' isnt always true...that stuff rubs off on contact a lot of times... Either way youve got a LOT of work to do.
If you restore it one would think that you would clean the chassis so just wipe the permanent marker of with acetone. alternatively strip it down completely and re anodise the chassis and transformer cases no big deal. I suppose someone out there would say that if you re anodise it it would change the sound.🤪
With the replacement transformer and the unfortunate orange cap replacements, you don't have to worry about it being a collectable anymore. Restore it electronically and let her rip for another 40 years.
Say, do you have the time to fix my amp? I think I have a bad switch. Here is a demonstration of how I turn my amp on these days: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-f9QyOsegVII.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CXUKl0Duffw.html
Furthermore, the NEW 9 pin sockets used in current production Fender amps (like Princeton) are inexcusably poor quality. So you need to come up with an alternative before you trash everything that is available....it's simple: we don't have any really good sockets anywhere; if we did we would use them !
Well at least they didn’t use black spray paint on a blonde 63 Bassman! Why would anyone want blonde tolex to have black crap all over it? The sharpie can definitely be removed and I would enjoy erasing that graffiti from that chassis. Still why would someone start their personal diary on an old vintage chassis?
Poor amp. You make it sound like it's garbage. The worst thing that could happen to this amp IS that a collector got a hold of it. Never to be played again. That would be a shame. BTW, permanent marker can easily be removed from the chassis. It's not going to degrade it. I would be more concerned with the rust I see on the inside of the chassis.
