Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue Repair and Documentation
Vložit
- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- This is an amplifier that was brought to me recently with an intermittent buzz while being played. The video describes the problem found and the fix and then documents the power output as measured across an 8 ohm load. I also stated it was May 11, 2011 but it was made on April 11, 2011.
I just modded my Blues Deluxe Reverb Reissue, taking the circuit boards out of the amp to work on the bench. While desoldering and adding new components three of the four ribbon cables broke and had to be reattached. Cheap parts on an otherwise excellent amp. Interesting video.
Yes, indeed. I believe the best solution it to replace the flat ribbon cables that are made with solid wire to individual stranded wire and be careful not to "wick" solder into the strands of the wire and then a dab of RTV or Goop on each wire. Solid wire in any instrument that takes physical vibration and abuse is going to fail and break off. We would like to think Fender would care enough to send a stranded wire cable to those that ask for it for a better repair but in reality they, like all the other musical instrument manufacturers, don't care about the customer.
Some possible suggestions - the plate resistors R57 and R58, 82K and 100K are notorious for going bad - also, C5, C6, and C7, 0.1uF, 0.022uF and 250pF cause terrible crackling and popping noise if they become intermittent. Won't cost much to replace these five parts and Maybe... luck will be on your side and it will take care of it. Hope this helps.
saved me a bundle of time and effort--I'm having this problem and it's as I thought--it's in the design--the side mounted elements are under stress from vibration--Thanks again
Vaughn
Good work resolving the buzz. There are several factors that could make that a one off problem. Either the ribbon cable stripping process caused damage at assembly, the cabinet has been opened many times and flexure caused stress or there is a resonance at that length of wire ( this is where staking, or RTV can dampen the effects). A 7x loupe should be able to tell if there is an fracture or a nick. I'll be giving mine a once over to look for any signs of degradation. Thanks!
Thanks for posting, I'm having a similar problem
so it's back to the dealer, your insight is really
helpful.
Superb my Friend you help me out!!!
The same Relais work for the "Reverb, Drive, Volume and Master Volume!"
So when i switch on the Amp, he directly goes on Max Volume and you can
turn'em down ...and there is no Reverb... but when i make the SkrewDriver Trick,
Plock, Plock on the Relais...than it work suddenly!
So ok, i must Buy a new one ...or better two, two Relais are inside so when i work on that,
better i change directly all of them, as one of it. So one Month later the other one makes Trouble...i think so!
Thank you Sir!!!
I don't think you watched the whole video. I thought it was the relays in the beginning but it was actually broken wires in the flat grey cables that go between the boards. Watch the video again and make sure you see it all the way to the end and then you can fix it for free without having to order any parts.
Yes, I agree and if you let them press against the back board that covers them they break even easier as I suppose the vibration of the cabinet weakens them. It is pretty scary to remove the chassis as you may break one or more of them.
That’s a first for me. Someone during production in the factory had to have been troubleshooting the unit and flexing the ribbon cables a lot.
Thank you - good information about the 330 ohm resistors - I will check out your videos.
A friend of mine seems to be having the exact same problem with his. It is the same model Fender, but bought new in the last several months. I don't want to void his warranty by working on it for him. Though I do vintage amp (and radio) repair and restoration work, I am not an authorized Fender tech. On the other hand, it is going to cost him a considerable amount of time and money to crate up and ship this heavy beast about 200 miles to the nearest authorized repair outlet. I may sneak a peek at his ribbon cable connections if he wants me to.
having worked on several of these.. i always resolder all of the cable connections. the supply resistor (if 470ohm) should be 330 ohm... and proper bend radiused to avoid internal fracturing when hot. common mod done on the hot rod series equipped stock with 470s....PLUS : raise the 1n5353B zener diodes off the board or replace with new and raised.. eliminates scorching/carbonizing of the PCB
I bought one of the originals, in 1994. LOVED the sound of the reverb, even though it was solid state, and really liked the sound of the amp ... especially with a Les Paul Deluxe run through it to overdrive. But the first time I opened it up and looked inside, I was crushed. I could not believe the junk I was looking at ... looked more like a computer than an amplifier. I am a LONG-TIME Fender guitar and amp player (from around 1960), so stuff like this just makes me shudder. Fender has done the same thing to guitar players, that KODAK did to people, back in the '70s with those crummy little pocket Instamatics and 110 film ... what a foist. I have a real hard time believing Fender cannot come up with a method of making hand-wired amplifiers without them costing a man's reputation and all his children ...
When I first got the amp, it had a buzzy rattle. Took forever to figure out that the chincy little potentiometers were rattling and vibrating.
Flipping the board on these amps to address issues with those cement power resistors getting too hot and becoming unsoldered from the board leads to those cheap ribbon cables breaking. I've also read that the nearby bias trim pot can become desoldered(!!!) from the board too as a result of the heat from the power resistors.
No, this has not been a common problem with others that I have worked on. The most common problem is the 82K (R57) and 100K (R58) on V3 - the driver for the 6L6's. Another good upgrade is to change C5 (0.1uF), C6 (0.022uF), to Orange Drops and C7 (250 pF) to a quality silver mica. I have made this upgrade for several of my clients and they swear it makes it Much quieter.
Thank you for this!
Every time I work on one of these amps with the stiff ribbon cables I get concerned I will induce a problem - bad design in my opinion and also they transfer signal over these wires with no shield - a great way to pick up noise. I have tried standing the resistors off the board by 1/4 inch and putting a blob of high temp RTV under them for physical support. That may be better than their design in the long run.
Thinks for the tip, my super sonic 22 has flex wire with a connector two both ends where it fits on the boards hopefully a better connection
wow you're a genius sir! Great work!
Ok. Thanks. It seems to be a good amp and no too expensive.
Wow that some serious equipment
nice work! I used to service vacuum tube amplifiers for many years and I really enjoyed it. I have a Fender Twin Supersonic I purchased used with automatic bias problems. Fender gave me the schematics but they are so protective of this circuit. I have trouble shoot it down to the Automatic Bias PCB which contains surface mount microcontroller with embedded memory which even if you can buy the chip from someone like Mouser Electronics and are crazy enough to solder it in it wont have the programming to work properly. I was wondering if you would know where I could locate this board. Appreciate your help Best Regards
superb video
Thanks, that is a great help. Do you think the manufacturer could use thise clip-in type connections instead of those brittle ribbons?
I have seen those brittle ribbon connections cause havoc more than once. It has been a good while since I have done this kind of work but I do remember that. I suppose they do it because it is cheap and fast and if they never get moved, they seem to be OK but they do break off easily moving the boards around. I am pleased it helped you.
!! wish i had your bench set up!
Nice video. I have the same issue in my BDRI. I got the hum to stop by molding the shape of the grey ribbon that was causing the problems. I'm no tech, this was just a shot in the dark attempt. I'm lucky it worked, for now, but I'm pretty sure that there is at least one broken wire in the problematic ribbon. Do you think I should add a little solder to the connections? The amp is holding up for now, but I'm afraid it's a matter of time before the hum comes back.
Sam - Not much doubt that it will cause problems "whenever" if the solder joint is broken and the wire is just pressed against the PC board. It is not too difficult to completely remove the cable, clean out the holes and re-install it as all new connections. Afterwards, form the cable so it does not press against the back panel and it should last a long time - If you know which wire is broken, maybe you can very carefully trim back 1/8 inch or so of insulation and re-solder it - you can also remove the cable and run individual wires - nothing special about the grey cable - hope this helps.
This is the reason, among others, why I ripped the guts out of my original Blues Deluxe and made a turret board Fender Pro...when you try to do the direct wire connection, the traces peel up, although it did last 2 years...
Enjoy your videos !
I know this is an older vid but i would have loved to hear what the amp was doing while playing... I have a rattle and pop noise from my amp (original usa built blues deluxe) Ive had it at 3 amp shops dropped alot of money and no place can find the problem...
i have one of these amps its been in the same spot for 3 yeas and one night i was jamming and when finished i turned it off--next day turned it on and it lit up everything gets hot but has no sound any ideas on what may be the problem..i dig this amp and its been a great one but it;s down and i sure could use it ! thanx Don
good vid mate, tell you what these amps in uk have a dry joint prob thats with loads of them. a real pain
Very helpfull video. Did you tell Fender about this problem?
Love your videos - thanks a ton. A question please sir !! Toward the end of this video - you start to say how you just use a loose capacitor to test capacitors in circuit when troubleshooting amps. Based on the context - it didn't seem that you were going to actually replace the capacitor as a testing method. But you moved off to another topic (about ESR meters) and didn't finish the thought about capacitor testing. Can you please comment on how you use an external capacitor to test an in-circuit capacitor please ??
Donald Filbert Hi Donald - There are a number of videos on how to check capacitors on YT. Some people just blindly replace capacitors but I don't think that is necessarily a good idea. Speaking strictly of electrolytic capacitors, particularly in the HV power supply section, I will often times just connect another capacitor parallel with the one in the circuit to see if it reduces hum (assuming hum or squealing is a problem). Electrolytic capacitors may short or open. If they short, it blows the fuse and is pretty easy to find. If they open and the capacitance goes to zero then simply connecting another capacitor in place with clip leads will likely stop the hum and identify the problem. After the capacitors are completely drained of all voltage, using an ESR meter will tell you what the equivalent series resistance value is and if it is within specs, the capacitor is probably good. A last check is a capacitance meter. If the capacitor measures equal to or better than the stated capacitance then that is a good sign. So, with all this said, if I measure the ESR good and the capacitance value is good and putting another capacitor across the one in question changes nothing, I assume that capacitor is good and move on and I do not replace it. The approach of placing another capacitor parallel is not going to work in the audio signal path DC blocking capacitors but the ESR and capacitance value tests are valuable there. Hope this helps.
ElPaso TubeAmps That's great !! I do the other two steps - but never considered just temporarily bridging another capacitor to see if it changes anything. Thanks for all the great info !!!
Hi, hope you can help me. My Blues Deluxe (RI) doesnt work properly. As I am playing, it starts switching channel on its own (even without the pedal plugged in) then goes to zero sound. I've been reading about some resistor troubles because of super heat, weak solder joints, etc. The solution I've found was swapping a resistor connected to the channel switching relay, but this resistor doesn't appear in the Reissue schematic. Can you help me? Please! I'm losing it! Thanks.
Thanks a lot. I have that same amp. It's been very interesting info.
Does anybody know what is the eq setting that gets closer to a flat eq on this amp. I mean no boost or cut in bass, treble or mid. Thanks again, have a nice day everyone.
Hey how do you use an osciliscope? by any chance do you have a tutorial on how to use the test equipment?
hello thanks for helping musicians find amp problems, i have i hod road deluxe it i have a overheat problem sounds awsome the first 2 hrs but after that sounds distorted and very abrasive,hopefully you can help me .thanks
I had the same problem, look at the heaters in your output tubes (6L6). I had one intermittent tube where the heater would go dim, then I was getting 1 half of the push pull AC wave, thus the distortion. I changed out the "new" Russian Electro Harmonix 6L6 pair with the original "Groove Tube" 6L6s and problem solved. In the future I will get another set of 6L6s but I am past the warranty period for the set with the bad heater. I suggest a 12 hr burn in for new tubes that way you catch a bad tube early and get it exchanged.
Please, do you know if this amp has 1 meg treb pot ? Can you verify, please ?
This video was long ago and I sure don't know. You may be able to get a schematic on the Internet.
Hi i would like to know , how much you would charge to do what you just did (fix the problem)i dont wanna get ripped off. Thanks!! :)
Hello, ELPASO TUBE AMPS through your videos I was able to repair an excessive noise in my AMERICAN BLUES DELUXE , but now I have another problem, there is a small hum with a very high frequency and also my DRIVE channel does not do its job it is almost a clean sound, you think that You can guide me to see if I can repair it at home since here in Mexico nobody has been able to repair my amplifier, that time I had the problem with another noise I managed to identify that it was the bulbs, but now that buzz and the Drive channel without CRUNCHing me got sad.
I am truly pleased my video helped. That is the purpose of my efforts in posting these videos. A small hum with a high frequency... what about trying a 12AU7 or 12AT7 in place of any 12AX7. I suggest that because the lower gain of these tubes over the 12AX7 either might cure your problem or help point you in the direction of the problem. You might also try a zobel network on the output of the amplifier. A zobel network is simply a series RC circuit across the speaker terminals. I would start with a 47 ohm resistor in series with a .05 uF capacitor or maybe a 0.1 uF capacitor.
The first stage in guitar amplifiers are very high gain, that is why I would try the lower gain 12AU7 or 12AT7.
As for the zobel network across the speaker terminals, mounted right at the amplifier output terminals on the amplifieer, there could easily be a parasitic oscillation because of excessive negative feedback (NFB) in the amplifier. These are just guesses without having the amplifier connected to real diagnostic equipment. I hope this helps... :-) Please let me know.
@@ElPasoTubeAmps THANK YOU SO MUCH IM GONNA TRY, REALLY IM NEW LEARNING ABOUT ELECTRONICS, BUT YOUR ANSWER HELP ME SO MUCH TO START THE PROCESS, I WILL LET YOU KNOW ABOUT THE PROGRESS.
Hello, I've been using my BDRI 15 years with no problems until a week ago the reverb stopped working. The rest of the amp works correctly, just zero reverb. The reverb 12AX7 tube checked good and I swapped another good one in with no affect. Anyone have any ideas? They'd be greatly appreciated.
I would start by checking for broken wires to and from the reverb tank with an ohm meter. Also for continuity of the reverb coils with the ohm meter. Likely a broken wire or a open pickup. The flat ribbon cables are very stiff and can break (especially if moved) and be hard to see so once again, ohm out the conductors of the ribbon cable(s) that are used with the reverb tank. My guess is a broken wire.
Those ribbon cables are terrible. I broke them by doing a mod to the amp. They are very hard and stiff. I'm going to remove all the ribbon cables and replace with soft flexable wire.
My fender blues deluxe reissue cuts out, then comes on again, but no crackle, just cuts the sound then comes on after a few seconds. Cannot find anyone with that problem on the Internet. It is intermittent, and driving me crazy. Please help. Jason
It could sure be a lot of things but probably noting particular to a Fender amp just the nature of electronic equipment..Any experienced amp tech cleans pots and switches and plugs with spray cleaners (maybe even removing each tube one at a time and sparingly spray the tube socket and reinsert the tube) before tediously troubleshooting intermittent problems as actually pinpointing the issue can be very time consuming and difficult. Substitution of the cable from the guitar to the amp would be one place to start. Can you swap guitars? After that I would start with the 1/4 inch plugs in the amp from input to speaker output making sure they are clean and making good physical/electrical contact. Is there still a connection between the amp and speaker when it stops, i.e. can you still hear anything coming out of the speakers? Does wiggling any cables make it come and go? Many problems occur at interfaces, i.e. connections between one unit/section and another. Anywhere there is a physical/electrical connection there is a potential problem. It is probably something really simple and may be easy to fix once found. Good luck - stay patient and methodical.
ElPaso TubeAmps thank you so much......i tried different guitar and lead......still doing it.......thankyou for helping. ......jason
Fairly common problem with these amps. I hard wire them.
It is obvious that someone was in there flexing the flat cables. Like this guy did, look for the obvious first, like broken things and then go right to measuring the supplies. I find about 80-90% of all failures in this fashion.
Those IC fil caps in the Hot Rod and Blues Deluxe line of amps are garbage!!
Fender junk