Twincam Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 Frightened myself the other night reading up on vintage tube electrics as I fancied doing a little maintenance on my new old amp. Tubes slightly lose so simple retention of the sockets. It's all original inside (I was told) tubes seem to be original too (1972), and was just thinking of all those big old caps in there that can potentially explode. I was again told it had been looked at by a tech and given the ok, who knows if that's actually true. Being honest due to the lose tubes I'm thinking it hasn't. Especially as one of the inputs needs looking at an easy fix for anyone. It does work fine but I'm thinking is this thing safe! And I'm second guessing my mortality every time I switch it on haha. I am going to send it too a tech for piece of mind, but that will be at least a month away. What's the likelihood of this thing going bang? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 Personally, I would get it seen to before I switched it on again. Excrutiating though it may be to wait a month it doesn't sound like it's in tip-top shape, and it doesn't sound to me like you trust it. It may be absolutely fine, but it may kill you, and if there's any doubt, I'd get it checked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 Send it to a tech, he knows how to safely give it the love it needs. Dont risk harming yourself. If you think that waiting a month is bad then think about if you get a shock or the amp blows... that month starts to look a bit [i]shorter[/i] isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 Another vote for a qualified amp tech, who'll have the right kit to safely get your amp up and running. If it's just the input socket going wobbly, then the likelihood of it releasing the magic blue smoke isn't very high; were it the speaker socket then I'd be less inclined to believe that. While it;'s in it might be worth getting a recap done, as the tolerances on old capacitors can waver over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted July 31, 2015 Author Share Posted July 31, 2015 Well call me stupid but I opened it up. Followed correct procedure for draining the caps. Yeah all original not sure how old the valves are but there Philips gt Britain. The caps had no leakage however think will get them replaced for piece of mind. Fixed the no1 jack socket. Tried to retention the valve sockets, slightly better but the actual plastic while in good nik seems loose and I'm not 100% how to fix it. Turned on everything lit up no sound at all. Checked speaker connection I had been messing with and wobbled the tubes. Whatever I did fixed it, has less noise than before, sounds great. DONT WORRY!. Taking it to a tech asap within the next few days, will try resist playing through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivansc Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Realistically, even if those big old electrolytic caps DO explode, unless you have your face directly over one when it goes, you are not in any danger. If ti is inside its casing, you risk nothing apart from an amp repair. And while it may indeed be a good idea to get the electrolytics replaced, if the amp has not been powered up for a while just having it switched on for several hours can restore a certain amount of life to those venerable components. But yeah - Amp tech. But make sure you get a GOOD and HONEST one. I dont know anyone up your way, but someone local to you is bound to have a recommendation. Or you could ask on SoundOnSound dot com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pentode Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 (edited) It'd be good to get those caps done and have a nice stable power supply If you get time, would you post some photo's so we can have an oggle? What amp is it btw? All the best G Edited August 1, 2015 by Pentode Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share Posted August 1, 2015 It's just a 70s traynor bass mate nothing too special, although I really love it. All original I think, tubes date to the 60s however so wonder if it's had nos at some point. Fantastic tone only a home practice, recording amp. I hear guitar players really rate them. [URL=http://s330.photobucket.com/user/Twincam2008/media/image.jpg1_zpstmbfp6xn.jpg.html][IMG]http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l415/Twincam2008/image.jpg1_zpstmbfp6xn.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pentode Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Oh nice one, thanks for that! Loads of room inside too making it a doddle to work on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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