Neat little amp! WOW speaker! I played weekends for 35 years. Always used Fender amps. Never had a single one let me down on stage.Thank the Lord there are still some transformers available for us!
Ken Fischer worked at Ampeg in the days before 1967, when Everett Hull owned the company, and according to Fischer, Everett Hull hated and loathed distortion with all his heart and soul. He wanted all of his amps to sound clean with accordions. (apparently he hated rock and roll). Under his direction, Ampegs were never supposed to distort... Ever. This made them popular with the country and the jazz guys, but not so much with rockers. That changed after the company was sold, and they came out with bigger louder amps like the V4 and the V22. Keith Richards discovered that the V4 and a Tweed Twin together makes a great "clean and dirty at the same time" thing that cuts through and is crunchy too.
There is nothing wrong with my Ampeg VT40 loudest 60watts you will ever hear, It's worth between 4 or 5 grand. As an added note they were the first musical instrument amplifier built for double bass the name Ampeg comes from Amplified Peg where they would have a mic on the peg that runs up inside the bass.
@@Antony_Jenner All true and accurate. Ampegs have the quality and workmanship that makes them last. I love the clean thing, and my version of Keith's clean and dirty thing was to use a Tweed Princeton and a J 12D. I got a really 3 dimensional sound that way, but sadly the J12 uses really weird pre-amp tubes (6BK11) that are nearly impossible to find. If I want to use it again, I have to modify the sockets to accept a more common tube like a 12AX7.
These old amps still have a place in today's music space. One of my favorites to record with is a Rheem from the late 50s. When hit with distortion it turns into metalhead's dream.
Nice repair Terry !!! If you want, send me the burnt transformer.. I'll rewire it and send it back to you for stock ( assuming the inside is not completely fried)
D LABS< can you explain how adding a center tap that it lowers the noise reduction? Its a common mod is to never use the standby switch and add in thermistors to prevent the amplifier from IN Rush current. I have never seen you measure the IN rush current on amplifiers which is damaging the filter caps over time.
I can’t tell you, how many of their amps over the years I have seen at him fest and in use music stores, kind of weird. But they are an awesome amplifier and I love the way they sound
I bought myself a nice 50/100W temperature-controlled soldering iron with a large bit a few years ago, I nicknamed it "Big Bertha" really handy for re-soldering earth-wire bonds to amp chassis, I found that out while doing some work on my mid 70's Fender Super Twin amp (the one without the reverb circuit).
Dam I have one of those amplifier with Jensen speaker,was told that transformer was problematic,my panel has accordion printed? Good amp,not fender either! I almost want to send chassis to you to update!
Terry there is audio glitching in your videos. It happens for example at 0:04 when the text appears. It may be something going wrong with the video editing software during rendering.
Snozzeramus reminds me of the large bladed soldering iron that appeared in some of the Heathkit Education videos. When I first saw it on your videos, I wondered if it somehow made it up I-94 to you?
Terry, at 5:35 you mention adding a center tap. Did you add a center tap for the 6.3VAC secondary? The reason I ask is that I just built a 5F2 and the Hammond transformer has a center tapped 6.3VAC secondary. What's the best thing to do with that center tap?
Use the two 100ohm resistors to ground (artificial center tap) for better noise reduction. Then shrink rap and tie down the end of the 6.3v center tap wire not in use. As long as it’s not connected or touching anything it’ll be fine.
I do like your videos very informative. I have a Laney lc15r valve amp and its power transformer gets very hot after around 40 minutes, i can touch it but only for two to three seconds. What can make it heat up so much.?.. i was told if i turned the bias down a fraction it may help but alas it still gets too hot. regards
I don't understand people who insist on strict originality. If I saw an ad for a 67 camero and the seller advertised "original oil and filter" I wouldn't think "oh good, it's original." I'd think "oh God 55 year old oil. That thing is wrecked."
Not soldering the tabs on the electrolytic can to the chassis was responsible for killing the now unobtainable tweeters in many Ampex AA-620 powered speakers. Bad mistake by the big boys.
It's not a Fender, indeed - it sounds BETTER than Fender tweed amps, as most Ampeg amps from that era do. Everette Hull, unlike Leo Fender, was a musician who tuned the amps to sound as good as possible for jazz guitar players, who have the most discriminating taste in tone. Leo Fender, however, made amps to be easy to work on, and inexpensive as possible to build for maximum profit. I collected Gibson and Ampeg "golden era" amps because Fender was too expensive, but over 20 years later having had experience with many Fender amps too, I've decided my Gibson and Ampeg amps sound BETTER than Fender amps, and many guitar players agree with that assessment. I have a great sounding Deluxe Reverb clone of the 1964 circuit with a Weber 12F150 - it sounds as good as any DR I've heard, but I rarely use it because my Ampeg and Gibson amps sound better to me. As for value: Gibson has been going up, and now Ampeg is starting to go up. A Mercury like that sells for ~$1,000USD, depending on year and condition. I see a Mercury listed for $1,500USD, another one for $999USD. The M15 or "Big M" is even louder, with larger transformers and 15" speaker, 6L6 power tubes. I think the Mercury, Jet, and Rocket amps sound better then a Fender Deluxe from that era. My Gibson tweed amps are Fender slayers too, not in volume - in great tone!
Never underestimate the power of electricity. Our governments are starting to feel the effects of doing just that with the huge push for electric everything.
It's not a Fender, It's not an Ampeg reverberocket, but still it deserved to live again. Great job Terry
👍👍👍
Neat little amp! WOW speaker! I played weekends for 35 years. Always used Fender amps. Never had a single one let me down on stage.Thank the Lord there are still some transformers available for us!
So happy to see an Ameg repair. I never understood why they are valued less than other tube amps. They have great sound! Great video Terry.
Ken Fischer worked at Ampeg in the days before 1967, when Everett Hull owned the company, and according to Fischer, Everett Hull hated and loathed distortion with all his heart and soul. He wanted all of his amps to sound clean with accordions. (apparently he hated rock and roll).
Under his direction, Ampegs were never supposed to distort... Ever. This made them popular with the country and the jazz guys, but not so much with rockers. That changed after the company was sold, and they came out with bigger louder amps like the V4 and the V22.
Keith Richards discovered that the V4 and a Tweed Twin together makes a great "clean and dirty at the same time" thing that cuts through and is crunchy too.
There is nothing wrong with my Ampeg VT40 loudest 60watts you will ever hear, It's worth between 4 or 5 grand. As an added note they were the first musical instrument amplifier built for double bass the name Ampeg comes from Amplified Peg where they would have a mic on the peg that runs up inside the bass.
@@Antony_Jenner All true and accurate. Ampegs have the quality and workmanship that makes them last. I love the clean thing, and my version of Keith's clean and dirty thing was to use a Tweed Princeton and a J 12D. I got a really 3 dimensional sound that way, but sadly the J12 uses really weird pre-amp tubes (6BK11) that are nearly impossible to find. If I want to use it again, I have to modify the sockets to accept a more common tube like a 12AX7.
Awesome video. Thanks for sharing. Great to see Old Schnozzeramous in action.
D lab Electronics your utube videos are awesome
Great fix Terry.. Nice walk thru and tech info..Snozzeramous to the rescue..! Take care..Ed..UK..😁
Great repair Terry. Looking forward to part 2 on this. :)
Very interesting, lots to think about here...thanks for sharing.
These old amps still have a place in today's music space. One of my favorites to record with is a Rheem from the late 50s. When hit with distortion it turns into metalhead's dream.
Nice repair Terry !!! If you want, send me the burnt transformer.. I'll rewire it and send it back to you for stock ( assuming the inside is not completely fried)
Were you at Ron?
Nice repair.
D LABS< can you explain how adding a center tap that it lowers the noise reduction? Its a common mod is to never use the standby switch and add in thermistors to prevent the amplifier from IN Rush current. I have never seen you measure the IN rush current on amplifiers which is damaging the filter caps over time.
Great repair, surprised there was a replacement power transformer available.
Hammond makes just about every combination of PT you can imagine
I can’t tell you, how many of their amps over the years I have seen at him fest and in use music stores, kind of weird. But they are an awesome amplifier and I love the way they sound
I bought myself a nice 50/100W temperature-controlled soldering iron with a large bit a few years ago, I nicknamed it "Big Bertha" really handy for re-soldering earth-wire bonds to amp chassis, I found that out while doing some work on my mid 70's Fender Super Twin amp (the one without the reverb circuit).
Beauty.
Thas looks like a fairly nice amp to me, thanks for saving it
G'day Snozz ol' pal.
Dam I have one of those amplifier with Jensen speaker,was told that transformer was problematic,my panel has accordion printed? Good amp,not fender either! I almost want to send chassis to you to update!
Terry there is audio glitching in your videos. It happens for example at 0:04 when the text appears. It may be something going wrong with the video editing software during rendering.
Yep, I have seen that on a few videos. May be time to upgrade
@@d-labelectronics It may just be some setting gone awry, maybe the sample rate in the program not matching your computer
🤘🏼Snozzaramus in Action again 😂
What an interesting circuit Ampeg designed in this model...who woulda thought to use crayons instead of capacitors...
Good job
Snozzeramous in the house!
Cool.
Snozzeramus reminds me of the large bladed soldering iron that appeared in some of the Heathkit Education videos. When I first saw it on your videos, I wondered if it somehow made it up I-94 to you?
Great job Terry! Who did the recone? I have an old AlNiCo Jensen from 1959 that needs a proper recone.
Terry, at 5:35 you mention adding a center tap. Did you add a center tap for the 6.3VAC secondary? The reason I ask is that I just built a 5F2 and the Hammond transformer has a center tapped 6.3VAC secondary. What's the best thing to do with that center tap?
Use the two 100ohm resistors to ground (artificial center tap) for better noise reduction. Then shrink rap and tie down the end of the 6.3v center tap wire not in use. As long as it’s not connected or touching anything it’ll be fine.
@@BCEpedals that’s exactly what i’ve done. thanks for the info. still curious what Terry has done though…
Not a cheap amp at all. It was definitely worth repairing using a new PT.
Looks like all the magic smoke escaped...
I do like your videos very informative. I have a Laney lc15r valve amp and its power transformer gets very hot after around 40 minutes, i can touch it but only for two to three seconds. What can make it heat up so much.?.. i was told if i turned the bias down a fraction it may help but alas it still gets too hot. regards
I don't understand people who insist on strict originality. If I saw an ad for a 67 camero and the seller advertised "original oil and filter" I wouldn't think "oh good, it's original." I'd think "oh God 55 year old oil. That thing is wrecked."
Not soldering the tabs on the electrolytic can to the chassis was responsible for killing the now unobtainable tweeters in many Ampex AA-620 powered speakers. Bad mistake by the big boys.
Not very valuable? I see several online close to a grand.
sup D-lab
My dad has a bigger soldering iron that's small 😂
It's not a Fender, indeed - it sounds BETTER than Fender tweed amps, as most Ampeg amps from that era do. Everette Hull, unlike Leo Fender, was a musician who tuned the amps to sound as good as possible for jazz guitar players, who have the most discriminating taste in tone. Leo Fender, however, made amps to be easy to work on, and inexpensive as possible to build for maximum profit. I collected Gibson and Ampeg "golden era" amps because Fender was too expensive, but over 20 years later having had experience with many Fender amps too, I've decided my Gibson and Ampeg amps sound BETTER than Fender amps, and many guitar players agree with that assessment. I have a great sounding Deluxe Reverb clone of the 1964 circuit with a Weber 12F150 - it sounds as good as any DR I've heard, but I rarely use it because my Ampeg and Gibson amps sound better to me. As for value: Gibson has been going up, and now Ampeg is starting to go up. A Mercury like that sells for ~$1,000USD, depending on year and condition. I see a Mercury listed for $1,500USD, another one for $999USD. The M15 or "Big M" is even louder, with larger transformers and 15" speaker, 6L6 power tubes. I think the Mercury, Jet, and Rocket amps sound better then a Fender Deluxe from that era. My Gibson tweed amps are Fender slayers too, not in volume - in great tone!
Never underestimate the power of electricity. Our governments are starting to feel the effects of doing just that with the huge push for electric everything.