Vox AC30 Birch Stolec Era 1971 - 1973 Can we Restore This Amp?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ค. 2024
- Vox AC30 Birch Stolec Era. These guitar amplifiers were made from 1971 to 1973. The two years that Birch Stolec owned Vox, they changed the layout of the AC30 inside and outside. The PC boards are the obvious appearance on the inside. On the cabinet there is more grills in the top and a different control layout. This amp is in bad shape. It's had some really bad repairs done. The PC boards are badly damaged. Can it be restored to it's former glory?
- เพลง
I think I must agree with the sentiment that it's probably too costly for a professional tech to properly restore. It might be a good challenge for an experienced hobbyist who could plug away at it for weeks.
Hello Michael. There will be an update video coming soon. Take care.
As far as selfish entertainment value goes, I would love nothing more than to watch you pour hours of frustration and cursing into a full restore of this amp. Realistically, I think you should only consider it if the owner is a close friend, and you really have the time to sink into it. That is a ton of work.
Given that the reverb pot was replaced with an input (output?) jack, I would venture to guess that the components tacked onto the top of the board are a mod of some sort.
Hello Mark. You may be in luck. I think we are going to hand wire it. That's a good spot on the Reverb. I never thought of that. Thanks Mark and take care.
Seeing that thing made me sad because originally Vox AC30 amps (non-PCB models) were made to be "throw downstairs proof".
There is of course many ways to repair that wreck to be a pretty realiable gig amp, including replacing one or both PCBs with new ones, or removing PCBs alltogether and installing tube sockets to chassis or metal plates and installing eyelet boards etc. However the time and sweat consumed would be enormous.
If that thing was mine, I would just try to fix it using duct tape method for home use without any major alterations.
Hello. There will be an update video on this one. I think we have a plan. Take care.
@@vintageguitaramp_guitarteacher I can't wait to see! 👍
It looks as if someone had a severe head cold and had no tissue....but I feel confident you can make this snotty mess a proper amplifier once again. Cheers
Hello Ron. There will be a update video soon on this one. Take care.
As a viewer I would like to see it gets a proper repair. In my humble opinion, this must be done right, for safety and for your reputation. It depends on, if the customer is willing to pay for the repair. If the board is not conductive, it should be salvagable. I would drill out the carbonized parts of it and put in new connections with turrets or eylets. But you are a way better tech than me and you know what to do for sure. Cheers.
Hello. Some good ideas there. Plans are a foot for this one. Video will be coming soon. Take care.
Wow, what a basket case! She deserves a restore, but, it's probably a job for a hobbyist - not a tech. I imagine the cost in labor is going to be prohibitive. Hoping you take on the challenge though anyway. May the force be with you!
Hello , thank you. Watch this space!!!!!!!!
This fiber board doesn't look too bad actually. The carbonization is pretty localized and could be just cut out. PCB should be removed, unsoldered and inspected for hair cracks with the microscope. Fixing points in burnt parts made elsewhere with riveted solder tags. Traces recoated with solder - or replaced with wires if too questionable.
But there remains the question of preamp board.
Hello Jernej. There will be an update soon on this one. Thanks for watching and take care.
It looks like somebody probably resoldered most of the unit with lead-free solder and the lead-free didn't alloy well with the original leaded solder; either that or they used solder that didn't have a flux core and so they applied a separate flux to the board. Plumbing solder perhaps? It also looks like the temperature of the soldering iron was too low. What a mess!
Yep, a right mess. A little bit of knowledge is Dangerous thing.
I don't have much hope for those boards. Given all the damage and bad soldering, I suppose it is more work to keep them, than a complete rebuild. I would go down that road, had they any particular historical value, but it's rather the opposite. For the sake of a long life and any future service, gut it.
Hello, thank you. There will be an update video soon on this one. Thanks for watching and take care.
If it were me doing the assessment I'd offer the dealer £50 for it then over time rebuild it into a Jennings AC-30 in order to justify all those original Mullards and no doubt the as yet unseen original cabinetry. At least that way you'd get the opportunity to own & gig an AC-30 ..
Hello Pete. There will be an update video soon. Take care.
I don`t think this would be viable to repair ,unless you could get board replacements(most unlikely imho)but even then would it be worth it,it would be enormously time consuming.Converting it to eyelet or tag boards would also be very time consuming,its been bodged so much and as other viewers have pointed out it would better used as a donor for something else probably?Good luck,don`t envy you .
Update video coming soon on this . Take care.
It is a parts donor IMO . I've restored one in similar condition for a customer , but it cost as much as the amp was worth .
Hello, thank you. Was it a Birch Stolec era one same as this? The problem I have with restoring PCBs is that they just seem crappy, even when they were new. What a come down in design. A million miles from the early AC30s. We are going to rip the PCBs out and rewire on turrets or tag boards depending what will fit in. The cut outs will need plating and the tubes mounting on the plates. But thankfully I am not doing that work as my metal work skills are crap. I have been on you FB page. Some cracking repairs on there. Respect! Thanks for watching and take care.
Hi . Well thank you for sharing all your informative videos and highest quality repair work , it is very inspirational .Yes was the same crappy pcb . I used M3 bolts and nylon washers to secure new EL84 valve sockets to the pcb . Did lots of track repair caused by heat damage. As well as all the usual caps and resistors .I think your amp is worse condition though because of all the mods .I seem to recall at least three days work and a lot more time in thinking through the solutions .
@@vintageguitaramp_guitarteacher
It looked to me that D2 was split in two which, if true, would cut the HT power in half. The burnt bits could be dremmeled out, it's a fibreglass board so unlikely to crack. If it was mine ,I would do my best to put it back to stock and pass it on. I do not know what the amp is worth but I would guess that proper repairs to make it reliable may be prohibitively expensive. Whether it's worth repairig could hinge on whether all of the Mullard EL84s are good. Good luck with this one, it's quite a mess.
Hello Steve, thanks you. There will be an update video coming soon on this one. Take care.
I have no experience at working on Vox amps, though i do have lots of experience at fixing badly bodged PC boards. If somebody gave this to me for free I might have a go at trying to get it operating reasonably well, to a safety standard I was comfortable with; but if asked to fix it for somebody else, i'd say *no*.
The boards are shot, no doubt about it but plans are a foot!!!!!!!!!!!!
I sometimes get asked to repair amps - I don't make a living from it - I'm a tinkerer not a professional amp tech - but if someone brought this to my door it would be a solid "No thanks!" from me - that amp is junk, and frankly not worth the effort/cost! I would save the cabinet and front panel and build a hand-wired AC30 circuit on peg-board. A far better use of your time and your customer's money (in my opinion, of course!) 👍
Hello. Update is coming soon on this one. Thanks for watching and take care.
Buggered..
Yes, that's what I thought when I opened it up. Take care.
I hope I never have a Vox come across my bench.
Hello. Even the tag board ones from the early 60s are a pain to work on. Thanks for watching. Take care.
Maybe thats not flux. The last tech might have retched on it haha
Ha ha. It could well be.
Don't ever endanger your reputation by trying to help someone out, it never works.
Hello. Yes, you are right there. Thanks for watching and take care.
You might want to pass on this.
Hello Zack. I probably should but plans are a foot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Scrap it and start with a new build. It's a waste of time to repair.
Hello Rodger, thank you. That's what we are going to do. Take care.
@@vintageguitaramp_guitarteacher - It looks like a time and money pit.
Charge a bench fee then move on, I say. It's junk.
It's a parts-donor at this point; good for transformers, tubes, pots and knobs.
Yep, there is some parts on it.
@@vintageguitaramp_guitarteacher , Here's proof of the superiority of turret or eyelet board construction, because amps built with those are invariably repairable, no matter how badly botched by an unskilled tech, unless they've been underwater or suffered a massive fire ---- but one bad repair attempt on a PCB amp and it might be toast for good.