Dave Vader Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Okay, as an occasional tinkerer with soldering irons and drills and things, I was wondering if this was doable or a waste of time and energy. I have an old Peavey 115TNT at home that barely works. Is it possible to rip out all the unnecessary pots and gubbinry, refit it into a new box, and stick what I have created into the top of a 10" cab to make a lovely portable combo? If I could get it down to just a gain and master control and bypass all the rest I would be very happy. Anyone ever tried anything like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 [quote name='Dave Vader' post='1286568' date='Jun 29 2011, 04:07 PM']Okay, as an occasional tinkerer with soldering irons and drills and things, I was wondering if this was doable or a waste of time and energy. I have an old Peavey 115TNT at home that barely works. Is it possible to rip out all the unnecessary pots and gubbinry, refit it into a new box, and stick what I have created into the top of a 10" cab to make a lovely portable combo? If I could get it down to just a gain and master control and bypass all the rest I would be very happy. Anyone ever tried anything like this?[/quote] It would work from an electronics point of view but the catch is likely to be trying to fit a 20" circuit board into a 10" cabinet. Ripping out controls probably isn't going to save you any space as they are generally mounted directly to the PCB to make assembly quicker and more reliable. If you really want to have a go I suppose you could saw the PCB in half, stack one bit on top of the other and rejoin the tracks using a length of ribbon cable. As for the excess pots, best to just trim the shafts down and use them as presets or else you will have to muck about making little resistor bridges to replace them with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
escholl Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 icastle is correct, trying to modify it as such is probably more trouble than it's worth. The amp itself should just slide out of the combo all on one chassis, which would then be simple to re-house in something else, another combo or even just as a head -- this is probably why I would do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 Shame, most of the pots are knackered and crackly, and have to be in one position to even get a sound out of it. Was hoping it would be easy enough to cherry pick the useful bits and make something a little more basic and small. Will keep using it as a table, and carry on using my usual head into the 1x10, ta for the advice chaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
escholl Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 [quote name='Dave Vader' post='1287438' date='Jun 30 2011, 10:52 AM']Shame, most of the pots are knackered and crackly, and have to be in one position to even get a sound out of it.[/quote] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380180866806"]Caig Deoxit[/url] will sort you out. Kind of expensive but very worth it. Slightly cheaper, I think Servisol does something as well. Very easy to use. Barring that, just turn the pots back and forth vigorously for a minute or two -- can sometimes be a cheap fix to making them work correctly again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 [quote name='escholl' post='1287440' date='Jun 30 2011, 10:56 AM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380180866806"]Caig Deoxit[/url] will sort you out. Kind of expensive but very worth it. Slightly cheaper, I think Servisol does something as well. Very easy to use. Barring that, just turn the pots back and forth vigorously for a minute or two -- can sometimes be a cheap fix to making them work correctly again.[/quote] It's beyond that, several of them have actually snapped off, it got loaned to a punk band for a while by it's last owner, they did not take care of it. He gave it to me as it took up space in his house, now it takes up space in mine. Thought it would be a handy home practice rig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
escholl Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 [quote name='Dave Vader' post='1287458' date='Jun 30 2011, 11:12 AM']It's beyond that, several of them have actually snapped off, it got loaned to a punk band for a while by it's last owner, they did not take care of it. He gave it to me as it took up space in his house, now it takes up space in mine. Thought it would be a handy home practice rig.[/quote] snapped off? as in, the pot shaft is broken, or the pot has come off the board? if it's the latter, you can hold the pot at mid value (or any other value you like) by placing two resistors where it was, forming a voltage divider. i can help you with that if you like. to be honest, I don't see any major difficulties in turning this into just a little home rig if you want to, better than letting it go to waste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 [quote name='escholl' post='1287509' date='Jun 30 2011, 11:45 AM']snapped off? as in, the pot shaft is broken, or the pot has come off the board? if it's the latter, you can hold the pot at mid value (or any other value you like) by placing two resistors where it was, forming a voltage divider. i can help you with that if you like. to be honest, I don't see any major difficulties in turning this into just a little home rig if you want to, better than letting it go to waste. [/quote] Shaft has snapped off from the front. It is a pretty metal circle in the face of the amp now. Few of them have done this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
escholl Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 [quote name='Dave Vader' post='1287516' date='Jun 30 2011, 11:54 AM']Shaft has snapped off from the front. It is a pretty metal circle in the face of the amp now. Few of them have done this.[/quote] using some pliers or other small tool, you should be able to adjust them at least to where you want, and then just leave them. unless it was the gain or volume ones which broke? these can be fixed easily too but if you want to be able to adjust them, you'll need a new pot. it's totally up to you though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 [quote name='escholl' post='1287530' date='Jun 30 2011, 12:06 PM']using some pliers or other small tool, you should be able to adjust them at least to where you want, and then just leave them. unless it was the gain or volume ones which broke? these can be fixed easily too but if you want to be able to adjust them, you'll need a new pot. it's totally up to you though.[/quote] May have a go at this. See if I can get it to run at least. Thanks for your help Escholl, I think it's about 4th or 5th on the "Projects to try and finish" list. Which keeps re-ordering itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
escholl Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 [quote name='Dave Vader' post='1287537' date='Jun 30 2011, 12:13 PM']May have a go at this. See if I can get it to run at least. Thanks for your help Escholl, I think it's about 4th or 5th on the "Projects to try and finish" list. Which keeps re-ordering itself. [/quote] haha, i know the feeling! well, good luck, if you run into any issues whenever you get round to it just post back here and I (or someone, I'm sure) will try to help you through it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 [quote name='Dave Vader' post='1287516' date='Jun 30 2011, 11:54 AM']Shaft has snapped off from the front. It is a pretty metal circle in the face of the amp now. Few of them have done this.[/quote] Well if you're handy with a soldering iron, why not just change the offending pots? Peavey have a UK service centre and are always happy to sell spare parts or you could take an educated guess and order similar pots from RS or Farnell. A couple of hours work with a soldering iron would have that old TNT back into usable condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 [quote name='icastle' post='1287775' date='Jun 30 2011, 02:25 PM']Well if you're handy with a soldering iron, why not just change the offending pots? Peavey have a UK service centre and are always happy to sell spare parts or you could take an educated guess and order similar pots from RS or Farnell. A couple of hours work with a soldering iron would have that old TNT back into usable condition. [/quote] That was my first thought to be honest. Then I went a bit nuts with the imaginary amp in my head (again...) also a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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