Convert a vintage Reel to Reel to a Guitar Tube Amp
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 เม.ย. 2022
- I picked up a Vintage Webcor Model 210-1B Reel to Reel Analog Tape Recorder from 1953. I paid $29 dollars for it. It was full of old tubes circa the 1950s. It wasn’t hard to find a schematic for a guitar amp that used the 6SC7 preamp tube. The old Fender Princeton 5C2 used the same preamp tube as the Webcor reel to reel. I just took the preamp section of the Princeton 5C2 and used the rest of the amp schematic from a Fender Champ 5F1. The Webcor came with a 6K6 power tube. The 6K6 has an identical pinout to the ubiquitous 6V6. The only difference is the 6K6 has lower wattage. The Webcor was using a 6X5 as the rectifier tube. The 6X5s are notorious for shortening out. The benefit however is that it used the same 6.3 voltage for the heaters as the rest of the octal tubes. The Webcore also came with a 6SL7, 6SN7 and a Magic Eye tube. I can totally use the rest of those tubes in other amp builds in the future. This was super fun. I’m totally hooked on building tube amps.
I recommend for new amp builders to dive into a conversion instead of buying a tube amp kit. The reason is the kits are very paint-by-numbers and don’t offer any education or knowledge into HOW amps work. By converting a reel-to-reel, it forces you to educate yourself and truly understand the signal and power paths.
#diytubeamp #tubeampconversion #tubeamps
All Music Composed by Mark Gutierrez
Merch
who-wants-honey.creator-sprin...
Let's be friends.
www.buymeacoffee.com/markguti... - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Had an old tandberg reel to reel that was a great guitar amp, had bass and treble controls and built-in speaker, and had a great sound.
Awesome job on this project!
Wow! This is exactly the project that I have stumbled into. Found a 1950s Webcor reel to reel and I'm about to steal the amp from it. So glad you posted this project.
Such a cool video, Mark! I love all the electronics content!
Wow, thats a very cool conversion !
I love this! I don't know how to do any of this and I really want to but it's elusive. Your video provides an interesting look. Thanks for sharing.
Having the cab with the latch / hinge from the reel to reel is excellent.
Really enjoyed your video...And dig the guitar too.
Seriously awesome video, I have an old tube silvertone reel to reel and this is the plan for it.
new favorite channel
Well done!
You’re a mad scientist!
And your sludge riffs are mighty!
nice work
Thank you Mark. I have an old radio, from the '50's, it has a nice big amp section, however I know nothing about electronics, so I'm looking for someone with the knowledge to help/direct me to make a guitar amp out of it. What I need is to find an electronics buff/nerd who loves this stuff and is happy to show/teach me, I suspect it will take me some time!
Hi Owen. Start by researching the Fender Champ schematic. It's the easiest circuit to deep dive into and begin building your amp.
Sweet man!!
Very cool project. I’m slowly working my way up to a project like this. I’m honestly nervous about working with mains power connections. ❤
Simply fantastic!
I just purchased a Sony 500a reel to reel from around 1964 for 40$ at my local thrift
Everything is just Beautiful
Like you say
The hardware
Wire
Tubes
Case!
I'll let you know how it goes
You are wicked smart bro
Thanks!
Nice to know someone else appreciates the ingenuity and effort that went into building these old reel to reels. Good luck!
Fascinating
I have a film projector (that I don't want to canabalize), and it sounds amazing bone stock.
Awesome! Thnx!!
I have two of these Reel to Reel players right now. Am taking the two to make one good working unit. It is a little sad to see the clean unit you have, broken up for parts. Take care, Mike
I have two amps built from hammond organs that I bought for nothing. They sound awesome. I have one more hammond and the hardware and tubes from my old Lowrey organ as well. Last week, I picked up an Akai 1710W at an estate sale for $10. I think it's a stereo tube amp, so I don't know if I should try and use it as a receiver to play music off my phone, or get another guitar amp build.
So Coool!
goddamnit this is a rabbit i hole I did not need to stick my foot in.
Sounds awesome! I wish I knew how to do this ?
BTW rewatching, CBS made Hytron tubes.
reelly nice : )
Ever hear of a Knight KN 4400? I found it for $40 just because of the inputs. It turns into a very primal warm amp with a gruff overdrive when record is selected
Are there tone controls on this ? My father built a "Jensen" Amp (And FM reciever) for his record player. Eventually we took the amp out and fitted it to a cabinet made from old plywood cupbord doors. Though vol and tone are in the circuit they are fixed using the guitar controls instead. It is pretty handy - though prob needs a recap and service by now. Otherwise my father also built (in a way- he worked for the company) a Vortexion WVA tape recorder- the deck is wearite dropped in but the amp design in part was his and he wound the power transformer, again it works well as a guitar amp (though I blew the internal speaker cone so pure tone is impossible)
How would something like this function as a mic preamp for a studio? If that's doable I would love to see a video converting something like this into a mic pre!! 👍🏻😁
Could I get a schematic for this? I want to reuse the old components are well but the values are different for the schematics I found and I don’t want to ruin the xformer or burn out the old tubes
I've been doing this with a 1956 Tapeomatic reel to reel, I haven't been through it to take everything out I'm trying to keep it as original as possible and just remove what's unnecessary, just ordered the new power tube new old stock! Wish me luck 🤞
good luck!
Cool! What backing sound you got going to your vid? it’s Really relaxing
I compose all the little backing tracks for all my vids.
Wow! I'm so glad I stumbled across your channel. I just purchased this same recorder yesterday for 10 bucks at a thrift store with the exact same intention of making a guitar amp out of it! I knew nothing about it, but it was so heavy that I thought it must have a great transformer in it, why not? Do you think there's any way to incorporate the green "magic eye" recording level tube tube for aesthetics? Thank you for this. Subscribed!
Hi Ron, there is a way to incorporate the magic eye. Google "hammonator amp conversion". Someone did a Hammond organ conversion that incorporated the magic eye and drew up a schematic. Looking at the schematic it seems fairly easy. It's hooked up to the secondary of the output transformer. There are a few more components necessary to make it work, like a trim pot to adjust the sensitivity, etc. Thanks for watching and thanks for the sub.
@@MarkGutierrez Very cool. Thanks you!
Hey Mark, thanks for the video. Inspired me to get a custom conversion made. I have found a Webcor and on the backing plate it written that's its a 95 watt. I noticed in your video you mention that the amp you used was a 5 watt. I am correct in assuming the Webcor is in fact a 95 watt? Many thanks for you help. Cheers
Mine was definitely a 5watt. Those tubes don't output more than that.
No tone stack? Cool video
I cant help but notice the background tones from the very beginning of the video. Are they binaural tones?
I was given an old valve 4track. One day I’ll convert it. Need to learn some things first so I don’t kill myself though.
Awesome video, I just picked up a Revere T-100 for $20 on my way into work the other day. It’s very similar to yours in this video and seems to be in very good shape with the actual Microphone that came with the unit however when I plug it in and turn it on one of the tubes (I think the 6XS-GT tube) looks like a lightning storm is happening inside of it and the big black transformer starts smoking so I just turned it of. Any ideas on how I should go about troubleshooting this thing or would you recommend just getting another transformer altogether. I’m going to order another 6XS-GT tube as well. Also the other tubes this model uses are 2 6J7 with the wire attached on the top of the tubes, 1 6SJ7, 1 6V6-GT, 1 6K6-GT, and the 1 6XS-GT. I’m hopeful I can still use this unit and build a tube amp. Anyways, any info in much appreciated.
Most folks would first suspect the transformer or tubes on these old recorders are to blame. But it's more than likely leaky caps and out-of-spec resistors. Usually the transformers are in great shape. I can't say what is going on with yours. even in vintage guitar tube amps you'd want to replace all the capacitors and ensure the resistors aren't bad.
6X5 GT
4:50 "What are you doing Dave?......Daisy, Daisy......."
there is seemingly no end to your ingenuity, got any plans for the reel to reel motors?? 😀
Thanks! I flipped the mechanical portion of the reel-to-reel on eBay. I sold all the motors and stuff for more than I paid for the entire unit. Made a very small profit. I have way too many AC motors sitting around the shop already. I'm kinda scared of them.
@@MarkGutierrez Ah fair enough lol! happy to see they found another life then :D
Love the music. Your playing sounds like a record I have by Chris Stamey and Kirk Ross. Check that out. Any video about making music?
I checked them out. Great soundscapes. Thanks.
Was that usaisamantra?
Did the same thing with a Webcor 333 1950s record player. The player was trashed so I didn't destroy a good record player as a result.
8 : 25 A.M....perfect !! for Mass !!! ( kidding !) What would it 'all' sound like with 4 ohms instead of 8 ? Would the components need bigger magnets , et al ? Nicely done , as always... thanks !!!
LOL. The speaker plays a giant role in the tone of the amp. It would be very easy to have separate jacks for 4, 8 and 16 ohm speakers. I just went with what the original reel-to-reel load was which was 8 ohms. Thanks for watching!
The droning music with the close up disassembly watches like a suspenseful movie. Im waiting to hear the high gain part of this amp as Ive just acquired a Webcor 2107-1 from the sixties; My acoustic drum kit sounds great through it though plugging a guitar into it, the high gain breaks ups in a not so pleasing way...Not sure if I'm expecting too much from it or if there might be an issue as this has many tubes in it also.
maybe i'm silly or something, but couldn't you have left the tape part and made it into an amp with actual tape delay?
if the machine was working sure. a lot of these really old ones are impossible to find parts for
Is there any way a complete beginner can do this safely? If not, where would one start to learn in order to build up to a project like this?
Start by studying the simplest circuit (fender champ 5F1) on a screen. No danger there. Rob's site breaks down the safety and circuit. robrobinette.com/How_Amps_Work.htm Then find an old reel to reel. Salvage the chasis, power transformer, output transformer, tubes, jacks, and wire. Those parts must be salvaged together so we know the transformer powers the tubes properly. Then build a champ circuit with new capacitors and resistors. Find the pin diagrams on google for the tubes and wire them to your circuit using the salvaged wire. I didn't even bias my tubes. You can if you want them to run efficiently.
Mark do you have a schematic for this build?
I used a combination of schematics. The actual board is a straight up Champ/Princeton circuit. It doesn't get any simpler than that. I just used slightly different tubes so the hardest part was figuring out the 1:1 relationship between the tubes for a champ and the tubes I had on hand from the reel-to-reel. So to answer your question, I worked off the Champ circuit. I think it was the Champ 5C1 and the Princeton 5D2 that I referenced to build the circuit.
You should/could have used the 6SL7 instead of the 6SC7, it is the same tube except the 6SC7 has a common cathode for both triodes which is a limitation because you could have biased the individual triodes differently. You could have gotten more volume and grit if you had added a gain stage I have used the 6SJ7's for this but you could have also added that 6SN7 or 6SL7 depending on what you were looking for. I get that you were just getting into this hobby of building tube amps and are just following schematics at this point. If you decided to get deeper into it you will get to the point where you can start with a schematic and tweek it to your taste then you can start experimenting with your own ideas. It is very fun and rewarding. I have that same R2R as well as several more tube ones from the 50's and have converted several in a similar fashion to what you have done here.
Wow, cool suggestions. I'll keep that in mind for the next build. thanks!
Interesting points.
Btw, do you ever convert an R2R and keep most of the circuitry intact? Not taking away from Mark, he did a great job, but 90% of the guys are taking a vintage device, ripping everything out, and building a Champ or something in the chassis. Even if you use a few of the parts, there is nothing interesting about the resultant sound. I’d be interested to see someone modify what’s already there and see how it sounds. I’m no pro but I’ve been experimenting with this as a learning tool. Why not service the parts that you’ll use and change values in the signal path to tweak it. I have several recorders and some of them (like V-M’s) have 5Y3 and basically guitar amp tubes.
Anyway, I was curious if you do that and have any thoughts about it.
@@2tallB That's basically what I do mostly. I look at the schematic and modify only what needs to be changed to make a great sounding guitar amp. Sometimes it is as little as modifying the input section . Such was the case when I found a 1950's Kodak projector at my apprenticeship school when I was studying to be a journeyman electrician. The amp had a 5y3, 2-6L6gb's and two 12AX7's. The amp was designed to amplify the audio which was encoded on the edge of the film as well as accept a microphone so that the teacher could use it as a PA system. I basically just disconnected the input coming from the projector part and modified the input section because of impedance issues plus there was just a lot of junk on the input that caused low volume and muffled tone. I basically reworked the input like a standard guitar amp. The rest of the amp was almost identical to a mid 50s Fender deluxe except it had 6L6s and actually had an extra gain stage because on a deluxe V1 has 2 channels and they share a 12AX7 one triode per channel. This amp had them one after another followed by a vol, treble and bass control, another gain stage and a cathodyne PI just like a 5E3 deluxe except instead of 6V6s it had more powerful 6L6s. It is a great amp and sounds fantastic. I also changed the electrolytic caps and coupling caps. I have gutted things too if the circuit won't make a great sounding amp. The vast majority of the 50s consumer grade R2Rs are not good quality recording devices and rather than them be redundant it is better to re-purpose the components so they are useful rather than in a landfill. I have encountered many times circuits that are just not conducive to a guitar circuit.But I never build clones of other amps, I am advanced enough to build my own designs although sometimes that means grafting together ideas from other amps to make them do and sound like what I want them to sound like.
@@skullheadwater9839 very cool. Yeah, that seems to be the ticket - bypass almost everything prior to V1 and change the resistors/ cap. They usually have some complex switching there anyway. And step one - disconnect the motor of course, which some of them are nice and can be sold. For me, I’m still figuring out how many gain stages to use and how that will sound exactly, with modifications. I find it’s fun to mess around with these instead to fooling with a vintage guitar amp. The 50’s R2R’s have a wide range: I find the Wilcox-Gay have an excellent build quality, the Silvertones are junk except they can have great tubes, and the V-M have a guitar amp type build, including volume and tone after V1, which many don’t have. Anyway, thanks for the reply.
@@2tallB unfortunately all the caps were no longer any good and most of the resistors were out of spec. I did try a version with the some original components but it was too noisy.
schematic????
hi super job
some time's to save tape decks we have to jazz up old tape decks cassette to 2 inch tape decks
alot of the tape decks i have had been jazzed up in some way
i know a man who has a web site he sells parts for tape decks the thing is he said tape deck fans are very picky
turning reel to reel in to a amp is ok with me i know the tape fan are not happy one bit
to all out there the best using of old mono is to turn them into stereo play back decks as it's a lot easyer to use
far east low cost parts
Why aren’t we making these? Because we’re not all technicians and don’t know how amps work inside and out. Converting to a guitar amp to me is connecting to the recording head wires and using the amp the way it is, in the recorder. I’ve done that, that’s converting, not building. You’re building, a bit too technical for slugs like me….😮😮😮😂😂😂
Give me back my mother's reel to reel recorder.....(jk !)
Never understand why people do this when they can do the same thing and leave the tape deck in it's original form. I have an Akai M8 tube amped reel to reel from the 60's in great working condition. Tapes sound amazing on it but it's one of the most popular decks for people hack apart in order to make it into an ugly little guitar amp. Can't stand seeing such a nice deck destroyed.
(*whyarewewhisperinghere?*)
ASMRk Gutierrez
...to bad you couldn't hv just plugged into it, played guitar, without destroying that cool old reel to reel in the process...
DONT buy Roberts or Akai reel to reels. They’re HORRIBLE. Send them to me if you have one and I’ll get it out of your hair no charge!
LOL. I literally search eBay every day for the Roberts reel to reels.
This is so fake you can't use the power transformer again in that amp haha the power transformer was running motors and more valves you think we are that stupid.
The schematic for the Webcor is online. It clearly shows the power transformer has multiple wires coming out of it to power all the necessary components, including the tube heater elements and the rectifier. I simply just used the wires for the tubes. Works great.
The motors in these things run on line AC, not the PT. It’s already got an amp in it so you can clearly use that amp after servicing or put another simple build in there.
@@2tallB you can buy new kits that are cheaper and safer
@@theprogrammerrolandmc3039 thanks for your valuable input.