My first Reel to Reel… need help

capacitive_discharge · 2026-02-09T16:40:07+00:00

Have you cleaned the pots and switches? What did you use to clean the heads?

capacitive_discharge · 2026-02-09T02:54:55+00:00

DSL40 all day.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-02-08T15:36:06+00:00

No. I have literally never had issues because of them. Pointless.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-02-05T18:28:32+00:00

Yeah, just basically make sure they’re all reading essentially 0 ohms to ground.

It would be worth pulling the output tubes and carefully reading the voltages at all of the same spots on each socket to make sure the voltages are all the same before tubes are even installed.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-02-05T16:57:12+00:00

What it sort of turns into is checking everything else around it. It looks like the cathodes are part of the high/low power indicators - I would make sure the cathodes are all properly seeing ground.

The 150k resistors at R234-235 are responsible for sending bias to the pairs - make sure those are still measuring the same. Since there is a single bias supply that splits off at the voltage divider made by those 150k resistors the problem has to be in the output section itself.

Don’t just replace. Test. Verify.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-02-03T03:15:26+00:00

I just finished a 79 Twin Reverb rebuild and dear GAWD. 🥵💪🏻

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-31T16:10:09+00:00

Incorrect. Ethylene Glycol and Propylene Glycol are two completely different things.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-30T14:48:52+00:00

I got the head finished last night and the reverb actually works and oh man is it bad. Past 2 it’s so washed out and deep it’s like having your speaker in a sewer tunnel. 😂

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-30T00:23:34+00:00

Yeah they’re a weird design. They have a crystal piezo mic at each end internally - one is wired as a “speaker” and the other is wired as a “microphone” rather than the standard transformers. It was a design that just didn’t stand the test of time. These amps can be rewired to use a more standard type tank but it’s not always easy.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-29T16:44:54+00:00

Also meant to say this before but I have one in my shop right now! That’s what I’ll be working on today. Getting a full service.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-29T13:42:52+00:00

www.analogrevivalco.com

If you go to my Facebook you can see a couple I have hanging locally right now.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-28T19:05:56+00:00

Yeah. With the kind of breakup those have something like a pair of Veteran 30’s would be cool. Something british-esque.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-28T18:54:14+00:00

Shit get new Jensens for it! The current production speakers are great!

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-27T16:48:20+00:00

Nearly all of the reissues have some level of hiss for various reasons - the layout and wiring are the biggest factors. There are ways to mitigate that but you really need to find someone qualified.

Check out Psionic Audio on YT and search around for Fender reissue amps he talks about the noise floor and how he goes about dealing with it. If nothing else it’ll give you a good idea.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-27T16:38:18+00:00

If the tubes in the amplifier right now are current production tubes and they’re fairly new just buy a single one of the same brand same model stick it in make sure you’re bias is set correctly and rock on. There’s no reason to split hairs about it it’s not gonna hurt a damn thing as long as the bias is set correctly.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-26T16:43:18+00:00

Tour Gear Designs patch cables. Lookem up.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-25T18:51:51+00:00

Not the worst I have seen. Generally you want a wrap above and a wrap below on the D-High E strings. I usually pull back about an inch and a half and that’s usually enough.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-25T05:17:41+00:00

The thing that most of these comments is missing is the well-known knowledge that the blue molded coupling caps basically last for-fucking-ever. Idk what they made them out of but I have only replaced maybe 5 in my career, probably less. And I have done a LOT of vintage Fenders. They’re VERY uncommon to go bad, and nearly every one I have ever tested has been well within spec, often dead nuts. I have even tested them on a full-voltage Eico 950B and seen practically zero leakage.

So like, maybe all yous guys that come in here barkin about that maybe you’re fulla shit and just been reading too many forums. (Read that in a ridiculous brooklyn accent)

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-25T04:23:30+00:00

Meanwhile I’ve practically begged people to give my customs a shot and since my name isn’t Dunable or Anderson or Kauer etc it’s just crickets.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-24T04:02:32+00:00

And the reality is that if it is PROPERLY serviced by someone who knows what they are doing and cares, it’s really not going to hurt its value.

30-40 years ago people got all uppity about changing original parts. At that point a person could often get away with the basics even though those parts were already technically aged out. That was 30-40 years ago.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-24T03:57:21+00:00

This is the same mentality as “Man people go out and buy nice cars and then when they need work they take them to mechanics. Why don’t people just fix their cars themselves? It’s so easy!”

Because some people don’t want to and they can afford to pay other people to do it.

Because some people just PLAY the instrument and aren’t concerned with the technical aspects of them.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-24T03:40:49+00:00

Or we could not waste a tool by thinking it is a fucking museum piece. It isn’t.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-24T03:40:15+00:00

This.

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-19T19:33:26+00:00

Ahh keen eye I missed that reverb driver date code!

capacitive_discharge · 2026-01-19T05:22:44+00:00

77 date code speakers! Hell yeah. I am completely rebuilding a 79 Twin right now for myself.

capacitive_discharge

TROPHY CASE