Meh | Fender '64 Custom Hand-Wired Deluxe Reverb Pt 1
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- čas přidán 3. 01. 2024
- People keep asking about this amp. Here's a detailed tour of the insides.
Note: at one point I said Randall Smith when I obviously meant to say Don Randall. Sorry, heat of battle thing.
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These are things I get asked about a lot :
Amp Tech Gear Used :
Hakko FX-951 soldering station
Weller SPG 80L soldering iron (chassis work)
Rigol DS1054Z digital oscilloscope
Thsinde 18B+ digital multimeters
Kester 60/40 solder
Techspray #4 No-Clean Desoldering Braid
Below are things that make this channel possible that people don’t usually think about. If any of these companies want to send me new and wonderful toys, I’m open to that. I can’t take free stuff when it comes to the amps I review, etc, but for the stuff below, bribe away!
Microphones/Audio Equipment :
Guitar Amps : Royer R-10 Hot Rod and/or Shure SM57 (noted in videos)
Voiceover Bench : sE Audio sE8 (small diaphragm condenser)
Voiceover Streaming : Shure SM57 with shockmount and windscreen
Voiceover Mic Arms : Elgato Wave Mic arms
Guitar Mic Stand : Gator Frameworks short weighted base stand with boom
Mic Cables and Guitar Cables : Mogami/Neutrik
Mic pre : MOTU M2
DAW : Logic Pro X on MacBook Pro 16 running Sonoma 14.0
Plugins : No effects other than level matching/normalization unless a recording
specifically has reverb etc added in post (rare, various Waves plugins)
Monitors : Yamaha HS7s
Monitor Stands : Gator Frameworks Desktop Clamp-On Stands
Monitor Isolation Mounts : IsoAcoustics Iso-Puck Minis
Headphones : Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (main)
Headphones : Sony MDR-7506 (alternate)
Video Equipment :
Camera : Sony ZVE-10 with SmallRig Cage (main)
Lens : Sigma f2.8 18-50mm (main)
Lens : Sony ZVE10 kit lens (rarely used)
B Camera : Apple iPhone 13 Pro (rarely used)
Tripod : SmallRig 71” with SmallRig Fluid Video Head
Streaming Mount : Elgato Master Mount S with SmallRig Ballhead
Bench Light : SmallRig RC 120D
Bench Light Diffusor : SmallRig Lantern Softbox
Bench C-Stands (light and overhead camera) : Neewer Pro SS Heavy Duty
Streaming Light : SmallRig RC 120B
Streaming Diffusor : SmallRig Parabolic Softbox
Streaming Light Mount : SmallRig 148CM Wall Mount Boom with Triangle Base
Various Other Lights : Neewer LED Panels with Neewer Softboxes
Video Software :
Davinci Resolve 18.6
Paul Leeming LUTs
Adobe Illustrator 28.0
Adobe Photoshop 25.0
Ecamm Live (streaming software) - Hudba
Correction : what I said was an inline HT fuse is an inline 5V rectiifer tube fuse (sorry, the camera was between me and it when I did that part of the voiceover).
And at 13:24 I meant Don Randall, not Randall Smith. Sorry.
Gear head 👍👌
Yeah, Randall Smith would put his initials on a job like that one. I have seen proof of that in lots of MkIs & MkIIs.
I knew you meant Randall Smith.
Another reason I knew you weren't talking about Randall Smith: No one who knows anything would utter that name without derision in his voice. lol
Really enjoy your videos 👍🏼 thanks!
Just wondering if you’ve done a video on the Fender tweed 57 custom deluxe reissue hand wired amp ? I’m wondering if they have similar issues as the 64 hand wired deluxe reverb?
Thanks,
Al
I rarely understand the technical info that this man shares, but I find these videos utterly fascinating. Passion and knowledge are intrinsically entertaining, no matter the subject or level of comprehension.
It's the technical stuff that I love best :) i.e. hearing him say, "Make sure we don't have DC on the grid of V2B" just taught me something about servicing tube amps I didn't know yesterday!
Kind of reminds me of people at NASA working on the shuttle lol
This man is a genius. Between Lyle and Uncle Doug, I have gained a wealth of knowledge I would’ve never dreamed possible
@@Joe_Hunt_Music My two favorite as well. edit: the only two I'll even watch.
@@PerryCodes Colleen Fazio’s channel is very good as well. She knows her stuff
I love the dissection and analysis. Thanks for bringing us along.
I once bought one of these. …and sent it back.
It was noisy - the pots felt like the cheapest of cheap pots. It went into overdrive at 4 -5. The overdrive sound started at one point instead of increasing smoothly and had a harsh quality.
The look of the amp was fantastic and I really wanted to like it. But I could not overcome how bad it sounded.
I eventually bought a 65 Deluxe RI and had a good amp builder put a handwired blackface circuit in it and never looked back 👍🏻
As per usual, a brilliant chunk of marvelous/amazing teaching crammed into a 25 minute vid...
Lyle, you're a Prince in the world of amp tech's and watching/listening to your brain work/
analyze/appraise is ALWAZE a joy to digest... SO... THANX Teach, and here's
hoping all is well with you and yours... Cheerios (but not the cereal)
Thanks Lyle for this awesome video.As an amateur amp builder/enthusiast,I appreciate the wealth of experience you share. Fascinating stuff 👍!
For the price they want for these amps there should be absolutely no issues at all!!
Agreed! I bought a very slightly used '64 Custom Hand-Wired DR from a fellow on Reverb about six months ago. It's perfect and has had no issues whatsoever. I also saved well over $1K by buying a used one. I'm shocked by what is being represented here. This particular one must have been made by someone having a bad day. These issues should have been caught by Fender's QA ppl and never made it out of production w/o the req'd fixes.
Awesome video Lyle!
As an experienced electronics tech, (albeit with mostly solid state experience), and tube amp hobbyist, I appreciate the time you take to explain things along the way! Watching your videos is like working with a mentor! Thanks!!
The review we've all been waiting for!
I bought one a couple years ago and was never happy with the noisefloor. Heard your review of it and sold it for a late 60's Twin and am sooo much happier!
I play the heck out of my vintage 60’s and 70’s Fenders and almost never have issues.
Most are not so fortunate.
@@Da_PublickThat’s a shame. It’s still pretty reasonable to get an old Champ. I play one of those nearly every day. Perfect for practicing and recording. I’ve got a 72 (even though it’s a silver face, the circuit is unchanged from blackface). I put a celestion in mine and some Tung Sol tubes. My favorite amp. Beautiful and versatile. Simple circuit, fewer parts. Also There are a bunch of nice sounding hand wired Champ clones out there too; combos and head form. Hope you get the chance to play some hand wired tube amps.🖖🏻
@@uponcripplecreek1 I won't rule it out.
Always wondered what the insides of these factory hand wired new Fender's looked like. Great review - thanks Lyle!
Looks totally crap
@@Arkoudeides. Lmao true
The explanations given are excellent for those of us learning. I am old as tish, and I blew up a few amps in my lifetime, sometimes intentionally. (Idiocy is real) I spent a career in hardware design in the aerospace industry. I worked extensively in aircraft power systems and understand grounding more than anyone should have to in a lifetime. Bonding is another area that is critical - most electronics are not passing a lightning strike, for instance. It does hit airplanes from time to time - shhhhh, don't tell anyone.
I am to the point where I can build tube amps and have a few under my belt, but this is giving me the whys things are a certain way, and I cannot thank you enough. I just subscribed.
Thanks again, man. (The seventies were not kind, don't let anyone fool you into thinking otherwise.) We did have fun as long as you kept your head in the right place. Some didn't.
I have learned so much from your channel. Thank you for doing these!
I am one of the lucky one who bought one of these here in Australia and i run it with a mesa boogie lone star special wet dry and I’m pleased to say i have yet to have ant issues with it love the sound and it handles the dry side of my tone extremely well. Great video
This video came at the perfect time for me... had been looking at one of these as an alternative to buying a RI or rolling the dice on a vintage... looks like you saved me a lot of pain and hassle. Thanks!
There’s always a 3rd option (and always my go-to one): buying a high quality kit. Like Mojotone in the US or TAD in Europe. If you can’t or don’t want to build yourself, there’s always the possibility to get them built for you). They can compete with the vintage ones without coming with their flaws
The 65 RI is quieter but has poor PCB build quality. Better off saving for a vintage. The 64 hardwired is just a mess stock after wanting to like the amp. If you like noisy/consistent hum even at low volumes then this amp is not for you. Go boutique, or vintage. I’d recommend testing the amp in person so you don’t got though the hassle of buying/returning online. Especially for a heavy item such as an amp
I wish I knew more about component circuitry like you do.
I have wired a few studios and done some tech work in my day.
It’s 2024 I can’t believe what I’m seeing inside there.
My motto is precision and elegance…
Thank you for the information as always.
Its great to know that an amp guy is honest and truth is not a problem love your show
Awesome videos. I bought An AC15 a year ago after watching your reviews n repairs. I put a blue in it. Thanks for the recommendation.
Nice video Lyle! Those Headstrong amps do indeed look super nice!
Thanks for making this video. Makes it easy to ignore the fender handwired series as a possibility for future purchase… big time and thought saver 🙏
I LOVE THIS AMP!! It's one of my favorite amps I have in rotation.
Same
The dude abides. Thanks for pointing out the channel mixing fix for this layout. It makes much more sense to me know having seen it this way instead of on the PCB.
‘Point of failure’ would make a great punk rock band name.
As at least 5 others have stated, it's amazing to watch your diagnostic mind work IN SECONDS. As an aside, it has never occured to me that people would simply remove tubes for channels they never use. Clearly, circuit-wise, it doesn't upset the balance in the power supply to other things that remain working but that never would have occurred to me. I guess if the tube isn't there, the tube can't fail doing nothing then take something else out that IS being used. Probably a vital strategy for all those Mesa-Boogie owners out there... LOL
I’ve had my Fender 68 Deluxe Reverb since 2015 and it has not let me down. It has been to countless gig & rehearsals.
The 68 lineup are the ones too get frankly if you absolutly want to go Fender
Does it hiss like this one? Would you tell me if it did?
When the Fender 68 came out it got a lot of complaints about hissing. Mine is actually dead silent.
Amazing technical presentation ! Thank You. 👍👍
Was waiting for this one for a long time as it's been my main amp for almost 6 years now. Can't wait to see if you managed to make the amp quiet. Also interesting to see F&Ts filter caps in it as they are Sprague in mine. Anyway awesome vid as usual, looking forward to part 2 !
Sprague are not constructed the way they were back in the 60s and 70s. F&T are my electrolytic of choice today and much better IMO.
You actually paid for a compromise in quality while PCB actually was designed to mitigate noise and increase reliability
I just bought a new 65 DRRI and got $400 off because the reverb had the same feedback. It was exactly the same problem: Ruby assembled the tank with both locator pins grounding out. Thanks Ruby! You guys got me a $1300 brand new 65 DRRI...with a 5 minute repair job. (Which isn't bad in Spring of 2024!)
You are very right. I went “Headstrong” instead of Fender custom. Very very happy I did.
Fascinating video! I'm only a guitarist, but I really enjoy this stuff.
You are really skilled dude. Nice to see someone who knows his stuff and also likes to post on youtube. Really helpful.
Another great video. Like some others have mentioned, I rarely understand any of the technical terminology but I still find these so fascinating. Would love to see you open up a Headstrong one of these days. I had my ‘Lil King Reverb in for new tubes last year and the tech said that it was built exactly like an original 64 Princeton “to a fault”.
You're doing God's work with these videos. Thank you.
i don't repair amps, but i find this thoroughly interesting...
The "Amp Curmudgeon" versus the Fender Mega Monolith Marketing Monster. Great stuff, thanks!
Yeah, I recently adopted a twin ri, it was cheap because it had issues. I went to check it, it had a bad V2 tube, I told the owner, he still wanted to sell so I bought it "cheap", switched the v2 to v5(orv4) not sure, but it has the exact same squeeeeeel when reverb is turned up.
Will fixer when I have time. Thanks to this channel! Cheers!
When I have
Wow! Thanks so much for pulling back the curtain. It’s so crazy that these companies can get away with this crap.
Someday, all this info I have gleamed from your videos will lead me to my dream amp. So far, it's pointing towards a suhr hombre or Dr. Z but my vox will do for now 😊
Suhrs and most Zs are very good amps. I have a fondness for the Vox Custom series 15 and 30 too.
Good information about fine tuning the reverb on any Fender-ish amp.
For the price, there are better "Hand Wired" amps on the market, today. If you're looking for that sound, look at similar output tubes. It seems to me, Fender has become "too big for their britches". Meaning they've spread themselves out so much, that their quality for reliability has gone down on their amplification over the last decade or two.
Marshall is no different. With so many kits and repros out there, there's just no reason to get a factory made amp these days
At least Fender still makes a good guitar. My '57 American Vintage ii is very well made, plays and sounds great.
@joeltunnah Marshall are much better than this crap.
@@Arkoudeides.no, they are worse now!
@mohamedtlass3842 I bought a jvm and it's superb
Nice rundown Lyle!
I was actually thinking about picking one of these up, either this or the 57 Custom hand wired. Not now. Thank you, Psionic!
The 57 champ is actually good but overpriced
This just showed up on my feed. Subscribed immediately. I am checking out your hot rod deluxe vids.
Thank you for this info, Lyle!
Less than 2 minutes into the wiring inspection and I had to sub. I'm a guitarist/jack of all trades master of a few who does almost all of my tech work and you sir are my new best friend. Love the no bs approach with important details like which parts are great and which is crap.
Very informative. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks again for another great video.
Love this ... amazing talk through. Interestingly you mention an early '70's Deluxe would be better for the money. I still use an early 70's deluxe (bought new) and it is amazing. Been "blackfaced" and "maintained" over the years but I think you are right. Money better spent!
it's frustrating for me - I'm a long time tech but mostly a computer guy - so I follow about 75% of what you are saying. I really wish I had gotten my EE or at least worked at a repair shop apprenticing. Fascinating stuff.
I have this amp as well and it’s a hissy one. Luckily my reverb does not do that. I wish i would have had this channel before i bought it and i would have taken your advice and went with a 70’s model.
It’s all good, especially if you bought used. There’s some good stuff in this amp and they do sound good. Plus, with the Fender name, it’d be easy to move along. For better or worse, you’re actually paying some for the convenience of being able to quickly sell this amp with its name brand. Fender is like the other big companies in that regard. Gibson’s full of problems, as is the recent Martins. Even the high end Martins have been having binding issues and such. But if you turn gear over, it’s a heck of a lot easier to flip with these names.
I get so much enjoyment from you calling them like you see them. Your understated delivery just makes it that much better. Kudos.
So utterly true. 😎
Always enjoy your videos, watching as an old retired tech and a guitarist still doing gigs. A bit sad that for the money they are asking for an amp like this, that the quality just seems ordinary.
I would love to see you compare the inside of a vintage example. I know what the inside of my 71 Twin Reverb looks like, and it’s a lot cleaner than this looks.
Ah yes a $2’500 white noise machine.
Actually it is $3000.00 now. Yikes!
Fine china 😆
White noise is mojo, man! /s
😂 for real.
My $2500 Magnatone Varsity Reverb is dead silent. Do research and buy the better amp.
Totally agree, Lyle on getting a silverface model and getting it up to par. Fender is clueless on how to correctly design and wire an amp. Their lead/dress is ugly and the white noise is unacceptable to any player! Thanks for the video! Your sharing knowledge is making us much smarter.
Thanks for the info. I got one on discount and think it sounds great. I don’t pretend to think it’s as good as an original, but it at least has a factory warranty and I don’t have to deal with the hassles of a vintage amp. I have a sf twin reverb to fill that need. Honestly I play my new pro jr way more. I will go headstrong next but that pro jr is pretty darn capable for the price.
The hassles of well kept originals are nothing compared to hassles with modern stuff
Looking forward to a video like this on the ‘62 Princeton Chris Stapleton!
Hi Lyle , great video . I don't know how after spending good money only to ,change the amp to a one channel wonder . I would have spent the money on an Allen Amplification kit or the finished amp by them . Then you have a amp that does what it designed for . But that's my opinion .There are plenty of kit companies that make really good amps. Have a ,Happy New Years..We need to see what improvements you make on this one . 👍🇺🇸🎸
Fender ‘64 Meatball Spaghoot!
I chased a little hum in my DR build, but it was NOTHING like this. An extra bias cap on the trim pot solved it.
I have half of the cost of this amp invested in mine, including nice old glass and cork sniffer parts. Now, to order that repro chassis from Thailand……
Greetings Sir. Part 1 means there are more to come. Yes, I like it.
I love @PsionicAudio's videos, and like others, have loads of respect for his EE expertise. The silverface Deluxe recommendation is strange to me, however, and not because they aren't great amps; rather, they're different enough sounding that I'm not sure a majority of players would find them "interchangeable."
Yeah, I tried every which way to put reverb on both channels and concluded that after the caps was best, with the 220K mixing resistors. Many players like to pull tube 2 for more gain. I like the sound of that too, so will put another 820 ohm resistor in parallel to hot bias both channels
As usual, chock full of great tips that apply to almost all guitar amps. Thanks for sharing your expertise!
I have this amp and it is my overall favorite. It doesn’t have an unusual amount of hiss, the knobs don’t make sounds when I turn them, and the reverb does not feed back when I turn it up all the way. It seems that the author, in the video and in some of the comments, is taking the position that every one of these amps are bad. From the perspective of me, the user, mine is not only not bad, but is my favorite.
Do you think Fender build these amps to annoy Lyle on purpose 🤔🤔🤔
Great info, thanks.
Imagine if Marshall and Fender decided not to prioritize $$$, marketing, lifestyle and profit and just build boutique quality amps again. Don't hold your breath.
Owners' decide what's prioritized. So, if you invest your own money in some company, do you want it to make more money for you or no profit and better products for customers? Umm... yeah. Not gonna happen with publicly traded companies (unless there's fierce competition).
Could have been fine from factory and shipping caused the reverb damage. Shipping is tough on amps. Most companies prioritize money…its how they stay in busy. Pretty sure you are loyal to companies that prioritize money. PRS is usually thought of as a great company…they prioritize money too
Marshall are much better than this crap.
I had one. Couldn't stand it. I thought it was the perfect answer to my quest for vintage tone with modern reliability, but it had this harshness that I could not get rid of, even with speaker changes and tube rolling. At the time I also had a '67, a DRRI, and a Tonemaster. Kept the '67 and sold the rest. Sold the '67 eventually, but I now have the most marvelous '64 clone built by a friend of mine. Best of the lot.
I owned a 64 Custom Deluxe Reverb and never had any problems like this. Something wrong with that particular amp. I loved it. Great amp! Best “Fender” sound I ever had. Unfortunately I had to sell it pay off some debt. But hope to get another one when times are better.
I have a 64 Custom Deluxe Reverb and it is fantastic. No noise whatsoever.
Very frustrating, I own one of these and have liked it. Until now.
Looking forward to part two.
Had one of these for a few weeks. Got it in a trade. Sounded good enough but not worth the $$$. Got a Suhr Bella that I liked way more.
I hear those are fantastic … and loud! Would love to try one some day but I’d need an attenuator I guess for home use.
V2-Schneider...
Actually, you should consider trademarking "The Amp Curmudgeon". Fecking brilliant.
The line smoothing cap is probably a good thing given the sheer amount of RF interference today that did not exist in the 60s.
The current limiter is also a good thing to prolong the life of tubes/transformers/caps
The reason the HT fuse is not outside the chassis is to prevent an unwitting owner from tossing in a 5A fuse or wrapping fuse in foil and defeating it.-it definitely needs service if that fuse is blowing.
Nothing like high quality tools. Not everyone uses Cutco cake knifes.
Thanks for the parts and workmanship review....I had considered buying one of these...but Not anymore...😬🤯😟
The leaves returned to the embrace of the earth, you should also return to my embrace.
All those extra components and wires make good noise antennas
Ya know, with inflation still going crazy, I have more important things on my mind than music gear, but it feels particularly offensive to me that big music companies are asking so much more for their products while offering less quality. Its not like the problem with acoustic guitars where there's no more old growth left to build them, the quality parts are right there and cheap as hell, they just don't put in the effort.
Thank you!🙏
As the Bob Ross of amps….”beat the devil out of it”. Your brush is a soldering iron. Lol
Would love to see a roundtable “discussion” with a Fender engineering rep responding. I man can dream… Maybe you can get a former engineer who is willing to discuss?
Over 60 years of researches and technology to not be able to reproduce a hand wired amp is baffling...Thank you for all the videos you put out it helps the musicians who care about their sound....Unfortunately it appears that $3000 is the minimum price of a good amp nowadays....so sad!
There are many much superior amps out there for less money. Fender are totally crap.
@@Arkoudeides.you can get a great 70s fender for a few hundred bucks
I own one and love it!
The Dude abides!
You want "hand wired?" We'll give you hand wired... I've seen videos of handbuilt MojoTone or TubeDepot clones of the Deluxe Reverb built by amateurs that look better wired than this. To your larger point about fusing, etc... This type of design and manufacturing seems to reflect what you would get by hiring EEs who know Ohm's law and may understand UL / Euro safety regulations etc. but have never BUILT an amp or never repaired one or talked to a repair tech about failure modes, design for fixability, etc. Just more examples of what an ART it is to design mass-manufactured products that meet functional goals and safety / reliability goals.
Excellent video. With the high dollar cost of the amp, the sloppy spaghetti wiring rat's nest is totally unacceptable.
I like to work on these and would definitely get a early SF amp and get it working like its supposed. to.
yeah, this one’s got issues but I have the hand wired 64 custom Princeton-I play it every single evening-it sounds amazing and I have played it loud and it has no issues. I love it.
i paid open box price for i so got a good deal.
I had a vintage Princeton that was in good shape owned by people I knew and it was nothing but problems right out of the gate I had to spend hundreds of dollars just to get it “meh” so I sold it back to the guy and bought the hand Wired Princeton, and never looked back. I also tried some other Princeton clones that were very nice but in the end, they just weren’t the Princeton. so, in conclusion, my 64 hand, Wired, Princeton is anything but “meh.” 😉
well said brother. what bugs me is based on lyles dissection these hw fenders are clearly in need of better QC at the factory. 🤔
@@PPJ9274 agree.
👍
No doubt. I LOVE THIS AMP!! I purchased one of these in mint condition for $1600.
This video is on the HW Deluxe. I’m not speculating about the HW Princeton. If one comes in then we’ll see. Until then, I have no opinion other than it seems radically overpriced.
@@PsionicAudio agree. tho i got an “open box” discount it was still north of 2 grand. but as i said in my original post-i bought a real 65 from a friend-it was an amp i knew well prior to it seeing a ton of sessions at my friends studio. by the time i went back to buy it it had been ridden hard and put away wet. And it was a mess.
so far the hw custom has given me zero issues after several years of constant use at reasonable volume.
that said, I am concerned about the build quality after watching the deluxe video…after all, why would it be any better unless the guy who built mine three benches down, cared a lot more about his quality of work? which is entirely possible I suppose. having said all this, after watching your video, I went and checked all the pots on my hand wired Princeton- cranking them all up, and I did notice noise and artifacts from the verb tank that I had not before, so it might be time to bring it into a tech and see if it’s made of the same questionable stuff as the one you dissected!
Also....objectively informative 👌
Mine sounds great / just needed a tuneup once. And sounds better than the so-called boutique amps I've tried.
see my post re: the hw princeton. but this one obviously has issues.
I remember growing up my parents got suckered buying a super expensive knife set from CUTCO 😂!! Great knifes though !
SM strikes AGAIN!!
Aesthetically resembles the insides of a Kalamazoo Reverb 12 I once had, but with beefier spaghetti.
I’ve just run into a short stream of bad SM caps. Replaced them with Sozo micas(expensive but they ARE good) and the problems go bye bye. Strange because the SM’s measure fine ,no DC, but just they cause noise sometimes.
Embarrassed to say, I own one of these…thank you for the expert evaluation Kyle, even though not thrilled about the bad news I believe you and thank you for being honest, now days thats so rare, you are one of he good guys Kyle!!!
Lyle*
Thank you!
Reverb circuits on these hardwired amps are extremely noisy, and generally more hum/hiss. The cheaper PCB I tried didn’t have this issue.
if anyone wants to upgrade these 2 channel blackface amps i highly recommend putting better (vintage) and different tubes in v1 and v2 for better tone and versatility. ive been working with 2 twins on live gigs in the last ten years with many players from different genres, all sorts of guitars all with great results.
on v2 i use GE 12ax7wa (150$ nos) for maximum clean headroom later breakup cool mids crisp highs, works great with humbuckers for cleans.
on v1 the normal channel i use a mullard i63 (200$ nos) which reminds me of a bassman tone. more low mids less highs, the ultimate cure for bright guitars strats and sgs on the bridge pickup all day long, it's also the best pedal platform for drive, it will never get fizzy.
enjoy!
Artificial center tap made by 2 resistors (connected to anywhere out of a floating heater circuit) does not work as a heater circuit fuse. If you short the heater wires together, it will eventually burn the heater winding of PT, or heater wires without a fuse. A shorted heater wire current bypasses those resistors, it does not burn them.
(But yes, of course, when some high voltage part of B+ circuit shorts to the heater circuit using artificial ground, those resistors act as a fuse.)
Heater to heater shorts are extremely rare. B+ to heater is much more common and the resistors will fuse in that scenario.
Heater fuses are more likely to fail from normal inrush current when there is no actual issue with the heater supply.
@@PsionicAudio True.
I have used tube amps for 35 years and never witnessed a heater to heater short in my own amps. But it is possible. But I have not witnessed a blown artificial ground resistors either. And I have for over 20 years used two amps using both heater and rectifier heater fuses and those fuses have never blown at cold start either. 😁
But I still think that a properly valued fuse is better than no fuse, especially if the blown fuse is easy to replace, because usually it is much easier to get and install a new fuse than a new power transformer. 😄
I would think they would want to use shorter length wire to save money. It would look a lot neater. Hoping for a part 2.
My guess is that it's more difficult for the fender techs to wire these amps with every wire trimmed with minimal excess. It requires additional manual dexterity to manage wiring that doesn't have any excess... High Labor cost, especially in the US (California) will far eclipse the cost of wiring. Also, I suspect that people would complain about insufficient excess left for repairs if prioritized wire length minimization. My question is, other than being unsightly, what is the functional draw backs of having excess in the wires if any?
@@JeremiahL Original black panel Fender amps all used solid core cloth covered wire and is much easier to form and look nice than the stranded plastic covered wire which should have been at least tyrapped together in the reissues, if not installing solid wire.
@@JeremiahL Excess wire leads to noise. How the different wires are positioned matters, too. If you've ever heard the term "chopsticking," that's where you hear this first hand: you use a non-conductive tool like a chopstick or plastic pointer like Lyle uses in the video and move wires around to minimize noise. Lead dress on an amp isn't just for aesthetics, and the higher the gain, the more important it is.
It's also a hell of a lot easier to work on an amp that isn't just a rats nest of excess wire.
@@ianjamesevans Thanks you for the explain. I guess in comparison to what Im used to seeing in modern electronics, I wouldn't describe the wiring shown on the reissue as being a rats nest per se. With that said, I did compare some photos of an original AB763 circuit board, and it is a significantly more tidy than the reissue.. It looks like the reissue uses more connection blocks and spade terminal connectors that also consume a lot of real estate inside the box which probably contributes to the lack of integration space inside the board...