1950s Phonograph Record Player Guitar Amp Conversion
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- čas přidán 25. 01. 2016
- This started life as a 1954 Trav-Ler Model 9052 portable record player. It had a bad turntable when I got it, but it also had two 6" AlNiCo speakers and a series filament tube amp inside. In this video, we'll modify and re-purpose it for guitar use!
First, we modify the cabinet, then we tackle the circuit - new signal caps, new power caps, replaced selenium rectifier, 3-prong cord, fuse added, etc. - Věda a technologie
That amp sounds soooo sweet with you playing through it. I love your guitar playing. After watching you put new life into that old record player, I just sit back, close my eyes and listen to you play. 'Very nice indeed.
Coolest thing I've seen all week. It's project time! Immaculate work, Sir!
Sounds amazing. This cabinet will likely avoid the scrap heap in its current permutation much longer than it would have as a record player. I say: “Well Done Sir!”
Beautiful guitar work as well.
Brad, i know this video is 7 years old, but i just love these kinds of video.
Man, I just love the tones you get out of all these unusual conversions. So freaking awesome!
Cruising through your old stuff!! Tons of jems like this just make my heart happy!!!
by the way your little amplifier sounds awesome as I would never doubt you keep up the good work I love you videos really I have learned a lot.
Pretty sweet sounding. I liked your modification to the record player to make the amp. Thumbs up
I really like this little amp. I'm now looking for one of my own.
hey,brad!
you do a great work!
in this times of plastic crap and waste.!
greetings from vienna!
Thanks, Francis. Say hello to the ghost of Beethoven for me.
I love this. Been eyeballing the portables laying in the basement - time to convert:)
Wow! I wish I had your skill!! Even though I'm an American, I live in Germany. My wife is German. There is sooooo much of this stuff still around over here. Once they buy something like this, they hold on to it forever. Passed down from one generation to the next. You'd be in pack rat heaven over here Brad!! Bob in Germany
Love it Brad! What great recycled use of gear that would no doubt have ended up in landfill somewhere. Sounds sweet as too. Top Notch buddy.
+Dan79istheman Thanks Dan. I think giving stuff like this a second life is even more rewarding than building something from scratch.
+Dan79istheman also, I gave the phono to a local repair shop, so hopefully that gets a second life as well. It didn't go to landfill either.
+The Guitologist GOLD! Well done.. loving your channel.
+Dan79istheman Thanks, bro. I'm having fun with it. I was about to say 'everyone needs a CZcams channel, but thought better of it. :)
+The Guitologist haha indeed.
I recently got an old webster chicago record changer from the 40s for a couple bucks and converted it to a suitcase amp. Big ol speaker and an old aa5 amp replaced the existing parts.
Looks really cool, burgandy vinyl.
Would love to come and try all your kit out. Cutting an album with this lot would be awesome.
Brad, you are the conversion-master. I enjoy geeking-out over the conversion's. I've done a few myself. Keep up the good work.
Thanks. This one really needs a boost pedal on the input to really rock, but it's cool.
Hey Brad, really enjoyed this video that came across my feed today. I have a similar record player amp that my father in-law made a long time ago. Is there a way that I can get in touch with you about it? I have some questions about using it like you have.
Thank you .
Great ideas! Very clear too. I picked up a similar phono yesterday, except this one is a "Dormiphone" designed for "nocturnal education" it has a clock and alarm system so you can learn while you sleep. Cool lil' 4 tube amp and 8" alnico-12 ax7 35C5 x 2 and 35W4. I'd like to bypass the motor switch and motor transformer, but it seems like the motor/trans also heats the tubes. Any ideas?
Quite an impressive project. I have a similar amp from a Zenith console. I would like to make it into a guitar amp as well. The chassis is from 1957, has more tubes but it appears to have no "on switch". I am not sure how to modify it. Any advice? Like your amp, it has an RCA in. I have already wired up a 1/4" input jack...
sounds great, really sparkling, maybe because of that tweeter. it would really cut through in a mix I'm thinking. A lot of these little Repurposed amps are great for recording....
This amp was originally made to go with a crystal record player cartridge, so it's relatively low output, but a boost pedal in the front end and it would sing.
Great clean sound! Would do great for pedals!
i think i have one of these...the cabinet slides out and houses a cast record player. it might be a different model, but its definitely the same company! where can i get that Schematic? i haven't had any luck getting models or names (barn find), all the paper diagrams are gone, but the amp seems to have survived the elements and i want to turn it into an amp as well.
did you have to do anything with the wires going to the turntable motor or is it ok to just disconnect that altogether
I think I know what it sounds like, sans the natural reverb of the room, so ,its pretty bright, obviously due to the speakers sizes and all, but ya, overall a very nice conversionand project for a hobbyist like yourself. I`d be pretty darn proud had I done this myself.If I ever found the time and had the wherewithal to do a project like this, I bought an old 1940`s Zenith entertainment console (AM radio with turntable) at a garage sale years ago really as a cool looking old vintage piece of furniture. I`ve never even plugged it in to see if it works but, sure it needs all new caps at the very minimum. Anyway, I just love it to just look at it but it would be super cool to use the amp part for a guitar hookup.
+August Lyons Dude, go for it! Make that sucker work!
I think it sounds pretty good. A 10 or 12 inch speaker would probably sound even better. Does a pair of those 50L6 tubes in push-pull put out about 10 watts?
Those wall speakers were the PA in our school in the 60's.
I had a similar idea to you with the back to back transformers. I have two 120 to 12 volt transformers but they're different so as you said they wouldn't work. I was going to use them on a stereo amplifier I got which has a pair of 50LG tubes and a pair of 7025's. I also wanted to convert it to push pull rather than two single ended amps in stereo but I don't know what kind of output transformer that would need since each output tube had its own transformer originally. I figured it would be easier to leave it series filament and just isolate it rather than trying to find a more traditional power transformer that would be able to supply 50 volt heaters. I originally got those two transformers with the intent of doing a project Uncle Doug did a while back where he built a tube based boost/tremolo unit.
I plan to do the same thing! I'm glad i found this. I found a Philip C1347. Unfortunately it has 17 bad Bumblebee caps and 5 electrolytic caps. Why did you replace the selenium rectifiers?
Standard to replace those selenium rectifiers. They can fail spectacularly and lose voltage output over time.
I have a old RCA Tube Record player starting to do the same thing with it. I want to ask you how did you wire the on/off switch. Mine use to use the record player on switch, it has 3 wires. not sure how to wire it to a new type switch. it looks very much like the 3 prong on yours.
Joe Carcaramo I have the same question!!
I wired up the power switch like they are wired in a series filament amp of the time. Google "series-filament amp schematics" and you should find something.
NICE!!!!
I have an 80's gorilla amp with pots that SUCK I've cleaned them 20 times they just don't work. Do you know how I can find replacement pots?
Man I just picked up 30 1960 and older tube radios and the guy tossed in a 1966 AC100 vox picked all of it up for 50 bucks the vox powers up but no sound so that's def going to a professional to get fixed, but I build cigarbox guitars and want to convert all of these over I've been researching most of them and they vary from 5 to 30watts all of them need new wires and all the old caps and other paper parts replaced with newer style components. My problem is I'm not dumb I can solder and replace all of the parts but removing the shit I dont need to free up space that's a little intimidating to me, I just want to bring it to its basic needed components that all power up to smoked as soon as i plugged them in one was a paper cap the other one of the tubes got super brite and popped i replaced it with the exact one and it didnt fair any better so got a short somewhere , so any suggestions on a site that could freshen my memory up a little steer me in a good direction?? Great stuff and thanks for any help
I usually won't try to salvage something without a power transformer. Even with the grounded cord and fuse installed it doesn't seem safe to me.
Way cool thanks
I have a little tube powered record player to perform the same hack on, is there anything special I need to do to hook up a quarter inch instrument cable?
Thanks for the comments, Ron. Nothing special, but you might have to run the input jack a ways, so be sure to use shielded cabling. The thing about these 50s units is they used crystal cartridges which are like 3V output. A guitar pickup is much less output, so the amps are not very powerful. You might want to modify it more than just installing a jack if it's a crystal cart unit.
Great thanks, it is a 3 volt low power, onward and forward I go.
Yep another cool conversion. Better than going to the landfill and hopefully you make some money on it when you sell it.
I doubt it will be any goldmine if/when I sell it. This was more about salvaging something useful from something past its sell by date. I am extremely conservative when it comes to throwing things out needlessly.
I have a ami tube jukebox amp laying around. Do you think i could convert that to a guitar amp?
Yes, you may be able to, but why bother
It must be fun to have the knowledge to do stuff like this. Did you go an electronics school or did you teach yourself how to do this thru curiosity and tinkering?
No school, just books and internet reading mostly. My stepdad is an electronics engineer, so I learned soldering and basic stuff when I was younger.
I am wanting to do this myself with a old record player / radio. Any pointers on how to do this?
If you are unfamiliar with electronics or if this is your first experience withe tube gear, I don't recommend a conversion like this. You're better off cutting your teeth on something more straightforward like a Champ clone scratch build or kit. These conversions require you be able to sort of engineer solutions to problems as you go, not conducive to casual first timers, particularly if your equipment has a radio built in also.
....thanks for the question, Bryce!
this is grate Brad but you could of added a light indicator to now when its on.
it was really sad that you mutilated this vintage piece of great audio electronics but as long as you did not toss the turntable and you can sell it . I do not normally like destroying vintage gear but I think you did a great job .
The world's only TraV-Ler guitar amp !
He'll forget the demo of the amp, let's get some guitar lessons going that sounds awesome.
you could have probably rewound the one with the blue windings to be 2 primaries pretty easily
Hey Guitologist - I really appreciate what you're doing. Huge help. I have a Columbia 360 that's very similar to this record player. I am goig to attempt a similar project (great idea for repurposing the case). Per the schematic, I need two 80uf 150v axial caps, two 25uf 25v axials, and 3 25uf 100v non-polarized. Any suggestions on replacement types or sources would be appreciated.
this is really a shame to destroy a vintage stereo to alter it into a guitar amp but it is creative thank you for sharing this
Wish youd use a fine tip pointer when u ask us to look at tiny capacitors
I just picked up an old tube amp from a musical voice record player for free. The lady was converting the console into a furniture piece and didnt want to dump the amp or record player. Now I need to find someone who knows how to do this conversion. Hopefully for cheap🤞. I know I cant, I dont want to die⚰. I told the lady to be careful next time when she pulls amps out. She was unaware if the amp had been recently plugged in and turned on. That could've been her demise.
That's fine and all, but does it go up to 11?
Unfortunately no, I've just made 10 louder and made that the highest number.
I love that movie.
What about using High Voltage Polypropylene Capacitors so you never have to replace capacitors again.
These are rated at 600V. They'll outlast me probably.
how about some guitar lesson videos?
"Mike Hunt please come to the office"..
i like this old stuff brad.... i hope SPF has a shining hope or a feel good story at the end, because i know this censorsp,......................... "USER HAS BEEN BLOCKED"
Power is on the bass knob, LOL.
hi picked up a EMI btr4 hell was it i had to re work a'll the caps in side i was after the tape transport parts i have it running ace now for 1/8 tape for real time cassette
tapes leave it on all night recording cassette pancakes for cassettes i will make a video some time once i get the right say so
this gave me a a great idea, I have an old 40s Gibson amp that I can reperpose into a bird feeder and an old statocaster guitar that I can convert into a fishing rod.
so you do have nude pics huh? hahaha
+Camilo Pasin hahaha...well, you never know. There were some times that are pretty hazy. :)
I can't stand it when people take perfectly restorable antiques like this and turn them into something stupid. If you want a tube guitar amp, BUY a tube guitar amp instead of ruining a valuable collectable.
+justsomeguytoyou I assure you, this phonograph was neither 'valuable' nor 'perfectly restorable' in the condition in which I found it. The turntable needed specialty parts which were not economical, so I did the best I could and donated that part to a shop that repairs vintage turntables. Now they'll use that table to restore other turntables and I get to use the rest for a different purpose for which there are enough people interested to legitimize the work and ensure the thing stays out of the landfill or recycle bin.
justsomeguytoyou
Please don't view Jimi Hendrix Live at Monterey Pop. Jimi's stage wasn't a safe space for vintage gear. But a timelessly beautiful performance did ensue.