Fender Blues Deluxe upgrade/point to point? Advice sought.

[dogfish]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum. Someone pointed me towards it from the madbean pedal board.

I know very little about tube amps, so I'm sure that some of you can help me out here!

I have a '93 Fender Blues deluxe which is a fine amp with some well documented, though not unsurmountable issues. I went in two days ago and resoldered some cracked soldering around the tube sockets. That solved a noise issue, but now something else is on the fritz--dirty channel goes on and off when you have it on. The problem is really that the amp is a bunch of brittle pcb garbage on the inside. I'm fine to keep fixing it, but it's just going to keep breaking.

Here's my question: What would I need to do to just replace the PCB part? Could I essentially keep the cab/speaker/transformer etc. and just get some kind of point to point amp to "pop in" instead of the brittle PCB stuff?

I have no idea what is involved with this and even if it would be a good idea when time/expense is taken into account.

Any guidance/advice would be appreciated.

[EL34]

Hi and welcome,

Yes it's possible and many people do that to PCB amps
All you need is a solid carcass and go from there


It's not a job for someone just starting out


I sell boards and parts to people who do that sort of thing but you need to have some experience under your belt before tacking a big project like that
Hanging around here and reading will get you going in the right direction

[dogfish]

Thanks! I'll definitely hang around and see what's going on here. I've built a lot of effects pedals and a few guitars, so I'm not totally starting out, but I have a lot to learn. Just thought I'd ask to see what advice people have.

[jjasilli]

"dirty channel goes on and off"

Had the same or similar problem in my Hot Rod Deluxe.  Finally discovered that there was no solder in the joints where the Channel Change panel switch connects to the board.

That amp is on the fritz again & I suspect tube sockets.

[dogfish]

"dirty channel goes on and off"

Had the same or similar problem in my Hot Rod Deluxe.  Finally discovered that there was no solder in the joints where the Channel Change panel switch connects to the board.

That amp is on the fritz again & I suspect tube sockets.

I'll bet I somehow bumped the socket when putting the board back in the chasis and broke the solder. The amp needs some other work, I just wanted to get it up and running to start. I also need to replace the input jacks, replace the power chord (the third prong broke off), fix the reverb (can't tell what's wrong with that-- may need a new tank), and upgrade with a new speaker.

What's your tube socket issue? That was what was initially wrong for me. I'd just get some "cracking" sounds when playing that were caused by broken solder on the tube jacks.

[EL34]

I suggest putting on a pair of good magnifying glasses and examine all solder joints up close

A joint that may look ok with the naked eye van look much different when magnified

It does not hurt to reflow a bunch of joints that look suspect

[jjasilli]

What's your tube socket issue?   Don't know yet.  Just bought a bunch of replacement sockets form Doug.  I'm working on a VHT Special 6 Ultra.  It's making intermittent "windy, crackling" sounds.  The cheap Chinese power tube socket pin holes each have a pair of flat metal wings to contact the tube pins -- not the good old springy, tubular receptacles which firmly grab the tube pins.  The power tube is not held firmly in that socket; it can be rocked around like a joystick! This reproduces the bad noises.

I suspect the same issue affects my HRD and Ampeg Reverberocket RI.

[jjasilli]

   A new tube socket was an incremental improvement; but the noise problem persists. 

[Jack1962]

I see at least 1 of these amps "every" week , they can be fixed (as anything can ) . all of the issue's with these amps are well documented , many forums have the solutions to them (and some of them work(some don't)) . Basically if it's a Fender with the word HotRod following it it has a poorly made board in it and a worst soldering job done on that board. My advice , if you like the tone of this amp , reflow just about every solder joint on this thing. Also there is a resistor between the control panel and ground remove this , I have done this a few times and it always helps with the noise issue. As far as gutting this thing and doing a point to point conversion with the same features , brother that is a advanced project , that I wouldn't want to take on myself.