Wow man! I’m so thankful for you and your patience. Thanks so much for figuring this out. Sorry for all the trouble it’s been, but I hope it also helped provide a “hey I’ve dealt with this before” entry in the repair Rolodex for future reference and fixes. Unboxed and immediately put it back in the cabinet, and had a play. I’ll have extended play time this weekend I hope! Again thanks so much! side notes: the Vibrato definitely sounds more … there. More powerful and like it’s definitely doing something. Definitely the new Vishays fixed that. I DO miss the bottom end of the Astrons… I could hear that immediately, even after telling myself there’d be no difference. I think I’m convinced the Astrons sound better… but to what degree? Doubtful anyone else would be able to tell. I’m excited… thanks again!
My custom eyelet stuffing poker will serve many needs. It’s carbon steel music wire, so feel free to grind and shape it to your needs. I’m relieved that you got this amp straightened out. Great job man!
Wow , man I been racking my head over this with you and asking around they all said what you have already replaced, but whew again you have solved the problem and she sounds beautiful. High five 🙏
You weren't measuring any significant voltage on the top side of the board, so it must have been conductive on the underside, or perhaps the backer board. Glad you stuck with it long enough to solve the problem!
@@MichaelSmith-rn1qw that's what I initially thought too, but whenever you see the board not screwed down in this video it's floating above the backing board not touching anywhere near. I didn't do a good job explaining that in the video, I cut a ton because it was so long 😵💫 Definitely on the underside of the top board.
Sounds glorious, well done for getting it to lay down. I remember Uncle Doug saying how that bias-wiggle trem is hard on 6L6 style tubes, so getting it right has to be good.
I've got a sketched blackface Champ alike with a tube buffered loop on the bench right now that gives me brain cramps everytime I go at it, you've had my sympathies since the last video 👍👍👍
My previous comment got deleted probably because of a link. Keystone 11216 insulated pin to turret. Buy a few of those. You can trim the pin side and solder it into the bias eyelet for structure. Now you have an insulated turret to attach your bias voltage and bias leak resistors. Still best to clean the board to minimize the extent of the leakage, but when they're particularly stubborn these can be a life/time saver. Plus the problem will never happen again.
Must have been YT, I don't delete anything 🙂 Interesting, so how does it connect on the board / eyelet side? Do you solder in one side then it's insolated on the other side?
@@YeatzeeGuitar, The OP is describing an insulated turret that has a bolt-on base (probably a 2-56 or 4-40 thread size) and a turret on top with ceramic or high- temperature-safe plastic as an insulator inbetween. They're moderately expensive for what they are, but usefull.
No. Just search the name and model number I referenced instead of guessing. You'll find the datasheet. They run just north of $1. It's a double ended component electrically insulated by PTFE. One end is a turret (hook your components up here) and the other the is a pin that will solder into the eyelet like a component lead. You'll need to trim the pin down a bit and tin it. Work hot and you can get it rather flush. The threaded ones' diameters aren't suitable for the eyelet hole size and require access to the back side of the board for the nut. I haven't tried partially filling the eyelet with solder then screwing the 2-56 version directly into the solder. That would hold but wouldn't be the most secure fastening.
Just found your channel. Love how you went through your whole trouble shooting process. I'm just a hobbyist but it's really hard to find people having these "inexplicable" issues and actually show how they solve them, which helps people like me a lot. Sometimes other TH-cam techs will mention one and briefly explain how they troubleshooted but this amount of detail was great. I do kind of wonder if your wire insulation was conductive, and in the process of desoldering and resoldering you may have heated them enough to cure it. I've experienced that once on a pre-cbs bassman. I was wondering if you used the same wire from underneath the board up top, or if you used new wire. Either way seems very stable now. Also, by chance, I recently made myself a tool exactly like the one that you showed for some other purpose, and then found myself using it exactly as you did haha. I actually find myself reaching for it all the time now that I have it. It's great after heating up a terminal, then sticking the end in to create a hole for a new lead, if you're unable to suck all the solder out for some reason. Or those old fender terminals that have 5-6 leads in them and it's hard to get the new one in.
@@hoagieman37 thanks! I swapped new cloth covered wire in place of the old and still had the issues so it was really just that conductive board but on the underside of the top layer. What a pain!
Wow - great effort and troubleshooting! So it was essentially just in need of an extreme drying? Hope i won't come across something like that. I'm trying to rescue a 66 Vibrochamp that was exposed to water ( some rust on chassis) . i wonder if the insulator board can become an issue too; I'm hoping I wont have to completely disconnect the board to get underneath
More or less, extreme moisture removal from the board in a couple critical areas. I've run into conductive boards many times now, but none have come close to this one which was all original when it came to me originally and had no signs of any spill damage.... just a weird exception to the norm I think. I bet the champ will be fine! Good news, it's much easy to take apart and much less complex if it is a problem 🙌
Wow man! I’m so thankful for you and your patience. Thanks so much for figuring this out. Sorry for all the trouble it’s been, but I hope it also helped provide a “hey I’ve dealt with this before” entry in the repair Rolodex for future reference and fixes.
Unboxed and immediately put it back in the cabinet, and had a play. I’ll have extended play time this weekend I hope!
Again thanks so much!
side notes: the Vibrato definitely sounds more … there. More powerful and like it’s definitely doing something. Definitely the new Vishays fixed that. I DO miss the bottom end of the Astrons… I could hear that immediately, even after telling myself there’d be no difference. I think I’m convinced the Astrons sound better… but to what degree? Doubtful anyone else would be able to tell.
I’m excited… thanks again!
My custom eyelet stuffing poker will serve many needs. It’s carbon steel music wire, so feel free to grind and shape it to your needs.
I’m relieved that you got this amp straightened out. Great job man!
Wow , man I been racking my head over this with you and asking around they all said what you have already replaced, but whew again you have solved the problem and she sounds beautiful. High five 🙏
I applaud your patience and professionalism.
The amp looks and sounds amazing.
Well done.
Appreciate it!
Beautiful work as usual
You weren't measuring any significant voltage on the top side of the board, so it must have been conductive on the underside, or perhaps the backer board. Glad you stuck with it long enough to solve the problem!
@@MichaelSmith-rn1qw that's what I initially thought too, but whenever you see the board not screwed down in this video it's floating above the backing board not touching anywhere near. I didn't do a good job explaining that in the video, I cut a ton because it was so long 😵💫 Definitely on the underside of the top board.
Sounds glorious, well done for getting it to lay down. I remember Uncle Doug saying how that bias-wiggle trem is hard on 6L6 style tubes, so getting it right has to be good.
Thanks! The harmonic trem on these can be very fickle, I actually think it improved a bit with the astron swap
I've got a sketched blackface Champ alike with a tube buffered loop on the bench right now that gives me brain cramps everytime I go at it, you've had my sympathies since the last video 👍👍👍
Oh boy, sounds fun!
My previous comment got deleted probably because of a link.
Keystone 11216 insulated pin to turret. Buy a few of those. You can trim the pin side and solder it into the bias eyelet for structure. Now you have an insulated turret to attach your bias voltage and bias leak resistors. Still best to clean the board to minimize the extent of the leakage, but when they're particularly stubborn these can be a life/time saver. Plus the problem will never happen again.
Must have been YT, I don't delete anything 🙂 Interesting, so how does it connect on the board / eyelet side? Do you solder in one side then it's insolated on the other side?
@@YeatzeeGuitar, The OP is describing an insulated turret that has a bolt-on base (probably a 2-56 or 4-40 thread size) and a turret on top with ceramic or high- temperature-safe plastic as an insulator inbetween. They're moderately expensive for what they are, but usefull.
No. Just search the name and model number I referenced instead of guessing. You'll find the datasheet. They run just north of $1.
It's a double ended component electrically insulated by PTFE. One end is a turret (hook your components up here) and the other the is a pin that will solder into the eyelet like a component lead. You'll need to trim the pin down a bit and tin it. Work hot and you can get it rather flush.
The threaded ones' diameters aren't suitable for the eyelet hole size and require access to the back side of the board for the nut. I haven't tried partially filling the eyelet with solder then screwing the 2-56 version directly into the solder. That would hold but wouldn't be the most secure fastening.
Way to stick with it and grind it out! These old conductive boards will drive us nuts.
@@rosslunato8111 thanks! Yeah never had one this bad before, took dozens of cleaning sessions with iso and a heat gun and soldering iron to eyelets
Just found your channel. Love how you went through your whole trouble shooting process. I'm just a hobbyist but it's really hard to find people having these "inexplicable" issues and actually show how they solve them, which helps people like me a lot. Sometimes other TH-cam techs will mention one and briefly explain how they troubleshooted but this amount of detail was great.
I do kind of wonder if your wire insulation was conductive, and in the process of desoldering and resoldering you may have heated them enough to cure it. I've experienced that once on a pre-cbs bassman. I was wondering if you used the same wire from underneath the board up top, or if you used new wire. Either way seems very stable now.
Also, by chance, I recently made myself a tool exactly like the one that you showed for some other purpose, and then found myself using it exactly as you did haha. I actually find myself reaching for it all the time now that I have it. It's great after heating up a terminal, then sticking the end in to create a hole for a new lead, if you're unable to suck all the solder out for some reason. Or those old fender terminals that have 5-6 leads in them and it's hard to get the new one in.
@@hoagieman37 thanks! I swapped new cloth covered wire in place of the old and still had the issues so it was really just that conductive board but on the underside of the top layer. What a pain!
@@YeatzeeGuitar Man that's crazy, good job on it. Excited to dig in to your other videos.
Maybe the jumping around of the voltages has something to do with the tremolo? :)
Wow - great effort and troubleshooting! So it was essentially just in need of an extreme drying? Hope i won't come across something like that. I'm trying to rescue a 66 Vibrochamp that was exposed to water ( some rust on chassis) . i wonder if the insulator board can become an issue too; I'm hoping I wont have to completely disconnect the board to get underneath
More or less, extreme moisture removal from the board in a couple critical areas. I've run into conductive boards many times now, but none have come close to this one which was all original when it came to me originally and had no signs of any spill damage.... just a weird exception to the norm I think. I bet the champ will be fine! Good news, it's much easy to take apart and much less complex if it is a problem 🙌
🤌🏽🤌🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽
First?? Second?
My videos aren't popular enough for you to have to do that 🤣