Silvertone 1482 tremolo a no-go

[Platefire]

Great! Glad you found it.

On my two 1482's, one is bone stock and the other I modded to give a lot of options such as:
1-Mic Channel add a switchable 22/25 uf cathode bypass cap and changed the tone stack to a Fender 5E3 type.
2-Instr Channel I have switchable cathode bypass caps 22/25 and 47/25 with a DPDT center off switch where the center off is original 1482 operation.

3-I added negative feedback(NFB) on a DPDT center off switch where there is two NFB settings(resistors) and center off is original 1482 operation.
4-I added a standby switch.
5-Installed 3/8" plywood speaker baffle with an Eminence Cannabis Rex speaker. Had to switch OT taps from 4 Ohm to 8 Ohm. Also installed old speaker grill cloth on new baffle.

6-Build an open back back panel for more brightness and also allow stash of cord and tremolo foot-switch.
7-Installed new input jacks with a switch to ground out the jack when unplugged.
8-New Filter caps, coupling caps, grid resistors, power rail resistors and new 3 conductor cord.

All the crazy attention to 1482's is it was my first amp way back in the 60's--so I've kind of carried it to the hilt in my old age:>) Platefire
 BTW-Here is the schematic to the modded one

[Apexelectric]

Platefire, This one was a repair for a friend so I couldn’t do all of that to it but I have an Airline 9013A that is the same circuit that I might do what you did to it. I did a lot of research on the Silvertone while trying to fix this one and saw some documentation on the forum about your mods. Thanks!

[Platefire]

Ok, I see, a repair. Ever since I found out that the Airline 9013A was the same circuit as the 1482, I've been interested in them. I also love the way they look, cool amps. The main deterant from me getting one is the price and off course I got too many amps already. It's hard to believe an amp that once sold for $68.59 is now from $300 to $600 depending on condition.

Since you now have experience with both the 1482 and 9013A, is it really the identical circuit with identical components, tubes and transformers other than the different layout? I have noticed from pictures, the control layout is identical only horizontal:>) Platefire 

[Apexelectric]

Ok, I see, a repair. Ever since I found out that the Airline 9013A was the same circuit as the 1482, I've been interested in them. I also love the way they look, cool amps. The main deterant from me getting one is the price and off course I got too many amps already. It's hard to believe an amp that once sold for $68.59 is now from $300 to $600 depending on condition.

Since you now have experience with both the 1482 and 9013A, is it really the identical circuit with identical components, tubes and transformers other than the different layout? I have noticed from pictures, the control layout is identical only horizontal:>) Platefire 

Funny story:

I found the Airline amp on eBay from a seller close by to where I live, thus, eliminating the freight charges. He didn’t know anything about the amp and the name badge was broken so all it said was “line” instead of Airline. So he sold it as a Line 6 amp. Wound up getting it for 100 bucks. All original in good working condition.

You get lucky every now and then.

[Platefire]

That was a deal! I have to say I did pretty good on my 1482s also. The first one that I call #1 that's all original stock one I got from Mobees Music on trade for a 70's Univox Tape Delay. #2 the modded one was given to me by my high school guitar picking buddy when he found out I was into building and repairing tube amps. I think he said he picked it up somewhere for $15

So does your 9013A pretty much sound same as a 1482? Platefire

[Apexelectric]

That was a deal! I have to say I did pretty good on my 1482s also. The first one that I call #1 that's all original stock one I got from Mobees Music on trade for a 70's Univox Tape Delay. #2 the modded one was given to me by my high school guitar picking buddy when he found out I was into building and repairing tube amps. I think he said he picked it up somewhere for $15

So does your 9013A pretty much sound same as a 1482? Platefire

Yeah they’re pretty much identical. It seems like you can find a better deal on the airline then you can on the silver tone. Let me know if you want some more info on it.

[Apexelectric]

Well I decided to take a closer look at the Airline VS the Silvertone and there are some minor differences in the chassis design and layout. The work on the inside actually looks a little nicer and they used shielded wire for the input leads to the tube. Inputs pairs are labeled A And B instead of instrument and microphone. All 4 inputs use 68K grid stoppers but I can’t tell if the the tone caps are the same value due to being wrapped up with tape to each other. .  All of the input jacks are switching jacks although relying on the connection to the chassis for the ground path. Output transformer is mounted in the chassis. The cathode resistor is 220R instead of 270R. There is a mix of ceramic, brown molded Chicago and Sangamo caps. Mostly Chicago and ceramic in the Silvertone.

Preamp is on one side of the chassis then the power supply filter cap can then PT, then the rectifier, output tubes and tremolo tube at the other end of the chassis. OT is near the output tubes on the inside so it’s an odd layout. PT seems to be putting out quite a bit less voltage. I’m getting 295 at node 1 instead of 355 on the Silvertone.

Same 12” speaker as the Silvertone with a more open back and deeper cabinet.

Other than that the circuit seems the same.

[jjasilli]

FWIW:  I just had to have a 1482, after reading a Tonequest article about Ry Cooder.  But I thought it sounded too dark and grungy so modded it. Schematic below.

[Platefire]

The 1482 is definitely Dark when compared to a Deluxe Reverb which many call the 1482 a poor mans Deluxe.I do believe the Dark 1482 does complement some guitars especially a classic type tele and strat with vintage single coils. I reference Led Zeps first album done with a classic type tele and a Supro amp(comparable to a 1482). When it comes to Humbuckers like a LP, 335 or PRS type the 1482 definitely needs some brightness help. That's why I put the 5E3 tone stack on the mic channel on mine. I dare say I can even get twang from my humbuckers guitars with that tone stack. The open back rear panel helps also. jjasilli, I see you put some bright caps in yours too! I tried to make all my mods switchable so I could revert back to the original 1482 sound because I think it does have its beauty for certain applications--especially a bright tele:>)
Thanks Apexelectric for pointing out the differences between the 9013A and the 1482. What really surprised me was the plate voltage. It appears to be more in line with the 1472, the 1482's older brother before they upgraded the transformers and cosmetics and called it a 1482.

I thought I would throw this in, even though it's totally uncalled for I once did a comparison sheet listing the differences between the 1472 and 1482 circuits. So I've attached a pdf of that if anyone wants to take a look.I get carried away with this stuff Platefire

[jjasilli]

Yes, I left Ch 1 mostly stock to preserve the original tone; and made Ch 2 brighter.  I also tend to plug the guitar into Ch 2 and jumper Ch2 > Ch 1 at the input jacks. 

[Apexelectric]

The 1482 is definitely Dark when compared to a Deluxe Reverb which many call the 1482 a poor mans Deluxe.I do believe the Dark 1482 does complement some guitars especially a classic type tele and strat with vintage single coils. I reference Led Zeps first album done with a classic type tele and a Supro amp(comparable to a 1482). When it comes to Humbuckers like a LP, 335 or PRS type the 1482 definitely needs some brightness help. That's why I put the 5E3 tone stack on the mic channel on mine. I dare say I can even get twang from my humbuckers guitars with that tone stack. The open back rear panel helps also. jjasilli, I see you put some bright caps in yours too! I tried to make all my mods switchable so I could revert back to the original 1482 sound because I think it does have its beauty for certain applications--especially a bright tele:>)
Thanks Apexelectric for pointing out the differences between the 9013A and the 1482. What really surprised me was the plate voltage. It appears to be more in line with the 1472, the 1482's older brother before they upgraded the transformers and cosmetics and called it a 1482.

I thought I would throw this in, even though it's totally uncalled for I once did a comparison sheet listing the differences between the 1472 and 1482 circuits. So I've attached a pdf of that if anyone wants to take a look.I get carried away with this stuff Platefire

The one thing that was really throwing me off was the voltage drop shown on the two available schematics for the 1482 on the Hoffman site. The values were consistent but it seemed as though one dissipated more than the other.  Well it seems like there might have been two different PTs used operating at different voltages. The 1482 I just worked on was dropping 23V across the cathode resistor where as the schematic I was using indicated more like 16V for the same 270R value. Must have been a PT change in the model production.

[Apexelectric]

FWIW:  I just had to have a 1482, after reading a Tonequest article about Ry Cooder.  But I thought it sounded too dark and grungy so modded it. Schematic below.

What prompted you to add the filament transformer? Noise?

[sluckey]

Schematic says the original filament winding was dead.

[Apexelectric]

Schematic says the original filament winding was dead.

Guess I interpreted it as just not being used, not as being unuseable.