Recent string of bad gear luck...

  • Thread starter Thread starter BlueParfait
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BlueParfait

BlueParfait

Well-known member
Earlier this year I was gonna send my 90s ESP partscaster to my usual tech, a local boutique luthier who makes high end guitars here. His schedule was full. I sent it to a tech I used to visit for some routing and refinishing job, and receiving it 4 months later, found out he absolutely mangled it, fucked both the body and neck.

Got a refund for that and a replacement guitar. Sent the newer (well older, this one is from the 80s) guitar to my usual guy and two days later him and his family caught COVID, slowing his schedule

Last month I ordered a Ceriatone kit w/ Hammond trannies. Now the tech I'm having assembling it for me has to go to hospital for an internal operation.

Now the point of that entire rant is..

Should I just assemble this thing myself? I have all the parts except for the head cab and a smaller internal transformer for the relays (the Hammond PT doesn't have the secondary taps for turn)

I've never done anything like this before, but I'm not too horrible with a soldering iron and I do build PC cases, so I think I can try make the internals tidy...
 
You wrote: "I've never done anything like this before."

DO NOT DO IT. TUBE AMPS CONTAIN LETHAL VOLTAGE LEVELS. DO NOT DO IT.

Please understand, it is NOT my intention to insult or offend you.

I HAVE NO DOUBT OF YOUR SOLDERING SKILLS, BUT WORKING ON TUBE AMPS IS DANGEROUS. I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH!

PLEASE...DO NOT DO IT.
 
JohnnyGtar said:
You wrote: "I've never done anything like this before."

DO NOT DO IT. TUBE AMPS CONTAIN LETHAL VOLTAGE LEVELS. DO NOT DO IT.
Please understand, it is NOT my intention to insult or offend you.

I HAVE NO DOUBT OF YOUR SOLDERING SKILLS, BUT WORKING ON TUBE AMPS IS DANGEROUS. I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH!

PLEASE...DO NOT DO IT.
Click to expand...


I understand that. I've modded, biased and generally opened up and replaced components in tube amps before, so I am aware of the dangers.
But yeah the fact that I just have never actually piece one up from a blank turret board... Looking at the gut shots, I actually feel a bit intimidated.
 
BlueParfait said:
I understand that. I've modded, biased and generally opened up and replaced components in tube amps before, so I am aware of the dangers.
But yeah the fact that I just have never actually piece one up from a blank turret board... Looking at the gut shots, I actually feel a bit intimidated.
Click to expand...

Good!

Apologies if I offended you.

Sounds like it could be a very rewarding experience to build one.

All the best!
 
griff10672 said:
if you have a diagram / schematic to go by ..... and you know how to check the amp for voltage to make sure you're safe ....

why not ?? I'd go for it ....
Click to expand...
The biggest source of my concern are these IC and relays in the amp

If this were a simple dinosaur one-channel amp, I'd go for it without hesitation.

But I have unsteady hands sometimes and I'm really afraid of melting them
 

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BlueParfait said:
The biggest source of my concern are these IC and relays in the amp

If this were a simple dinosaur one-channel amp, I'd go for it without hesitation.

But I have unsteady hands sometimes and I'm really afraid of melting them
Click to expand...
yeah .... there's a few mini PCB's in there carrying the relays eh ?? and you have the effects loop board ... there is a lot going on in there compared to a straight 800 ....
I would just take it slow ... double check everything you're about to hit with the iron ...
and if you're worried about the smaller components ... just only apply heat for maybe 3 seconds or so ... if the solder isnt doing it's thing ... back off .... give the spot 30 seconds .... and try again ... spots that are hitting ground on PCB's usually take a second or two longer because they are touching the ground plane on the PCB that has a lot more mass
 
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Yeah. My Masters midterms are coming up end of Sep/first week of Oct.

After I'm done with those I'll probably try working on the easier parts first.
 
BlueParfait said:
Earlier this year I was gonna send my 90s ESP partscaster to my usual tech, a local boutique luthier who makes high end guitars here. His schedule was full. I sent it to a tech I used to visit for some routing and refinishing job, and receiving it 4 months later, found out he absolutely mangled it, fucked both the body and neck.

Got a refund for that and a replacement guitar. Sent the newer (well older, this one is from the 80s) guitar to my usual guy and two days later him and his family caught COVID, slowing his schedule

Last month I ordered a Ceriatone kit w/ Hammond trannies. Now the tech I'm having assembling it for me has to go to hospital for an internal operation.

Now the point of that entire rant is..

Should I just assemble this thing myself? I have all the parts except for the head cab and a smaller internal transformer for the relays (the Hammond PT doesn't have the secondary taps for turn)

I've never done anything like this before, but I'm not too horrible with a soldering iron and I do build PC cases, so I think I can try make the internals tidy...
Click to expand...
I would say don’t rush, as rush always caused unlucky shit to me 😂
 
BlueParfait said:
That is probably very true, yes...

Yeah I should take this slow.
Click to expand...
Also, there are some intricacies to that process too i believe, it might come out working but look like mess inside.

If it was me, OCD from that alone would not let me sleep at night 😂
 
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BlueParfait said:
Earlier this year I was gonna send my 90s ESP partscaster to my usual tech, a local boutique luthier who makes high end guitars here. His schedule was full. I sent it to a tech I used to visit for some routing and refinishing job, and receiving it 4 months later, found out he absolutely mangled it, fucked both the body and neck.

Got a refund for that and a replacement guitar. Sent the newer (well older, this one is from the 80s) guitar to my usual guy and two days later him and his family caught COVID, slowing his schedule

Last month I ordered a Ceriatone kit w/ Hammond trannies. Now the tech I'm having assembling it for me has to go to hospital for an internal operation.

Now the point of that entire rant is..

Should I just assemble this thing myself? I have all the parts except for the head cab and a smaller internal transformer for the relays (the Hammond PT doesn't have the secondary taps for turn)

I've never done anything like this before, but I'm not too horrible with a soldering iron and I do build PC cases, so I think I can try make the internals tidy...
Click to expand...
Just buy an amp. You can find a used ceriatone for cheap with good transformers.
 
mooncobra said:
Just buy an amp. You can find a used ceriatone for cheap with good transformers.
Click to expand...

Okay, and what do I do with the kit and the trannies that are already here? What would I do with the extra amp after the kit's assembled? Surely I'm not going to use it because it's not what I wanted (otherwise I'd have bought that kit instead). What does it matter if it's also a ceriatone? I even looked at some listings overseas (the only "used ceriatone" I can find locally are the Klones. Don't need one). A super bass, an ODS a Leviathan or a JJ aren't what I'm looking for. That makes as much sense as buying a used Fender Jaguar because my strat is stuck at the tech's just because it says "Fender" on the headstock.

I'm also not buying a used one from Europe or the Americas (who knows what mileage has been put on the amp) and paying through the nose for shipping and import taxes for almost exactly what I could have gotten straight from Nik for, like $80 in shipping. That's just economically unsound.
 
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JohnnyGtar said:
You wrote: "I've never done anything like this before."

DO NOT DO IT. TUBE AMPS CONTAIN LETHAL VOLTAGE LEVELS. DO NOT DO IT.

Please understand, it is NOT my intention to insult or offend you.

I HAVE NO DOUBT OF YOUR SOLDERING SKILLS, BUT WORKING ON TUBE AMPS IS DANGEROUS. I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH!

PLEASE...DO NOT DO IT.
Click to expand...


No.... 100% DO IT.


Don't let these dudes talk you out of experimenting if you want to unless they verify how many people they know who have died from working on a tube amp. When I first started as a young lad I was probing around inside a live peavey ultra plus 120 head...

I got jolted hard enough that my throat hurt for a few hours afterwards 🤣🤣

But you know, that was because I was being a bit careless with my bare hands and no grounding from me to the chassis which can also help.

Plastic tools and also if you're unsure what's hot or not... before touching around test the components with a multi meter. It will tell you if you're fucking with 500 volts or not.

Don't touch filter caps without discharging for a couple hours.

You should be fine.
doit-ben-stiller.gif


The forum emergency room doctors need to chill. Like you never experimented or started somewhere.

Again, list of people who have died from working on a tube amp, still waiting on that 🤏
 
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