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Ace Tone Rockey tube amp rebuild in pictures
Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2019 10:08 pm
by laurie
An amp from 1970 picked up at the local pawn store for USD $90. I believe it is essentially a vintage Vox AC15 clone.
Needs re-cap plus clean-out of the pots etc. It should work just fine after some routine maintenance...
Let's get started!
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Re: Ace Tone Rockey tube amp rebuild in pictures
Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2019 10:13 pm
by laurie
Waiting for parts. Next installment should be in about 2 weeks.
These are the electrolytic caps that are being changed:
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Re: Ace Tone Rockey tube amp rebuild in pictures
Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2019 2:51 pm
by Franzoni
Chassis looks very clean for an amp nearly 50 years old...!
Re: Ace Tone Rockey tube amp rebuild in pictures
Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2019 1:16 pm
by laurie
Franzoni wrote: ↑Wed Jan 02, 2019 2:51 pm
Chassis looks very clean for an amp nearly 50 years old...!
The joy of living in an extremely low humidity environment here on the prairies in Canada.
A few years ago I sold a 1966 Fender Super Reverb amp that came from here in Canada to a guy in Australia. About 2 days later I get a frantic call from the new owner claiming that I'd sold him a "fake"... he had pulled the chassis out and he was convinced there was no way the amp could be 50+ years old and not have corrosion/discoloration. I eventually settled things down by asking him to check online the historical weather here in Canada... low humidity equals no corrosion.
Re: Ace Tone Rockey tube amp rebuild in pictures
Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2019 1:30 pm
by Pepe
Funny story!
Re: Ace Tone Rockey tube amp rebuild in pictures
Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2019 3:40 pm
by Gasgano
You cannot understand how dry it is until you've been in -10°C temperatures in Saskatoon that feel like +5°C in the more humid Montreal.
Re: Ace Tone Rockey tube amp rebuild in pictures
Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2019 11:02 pm
by laurie
This is the "smoking gun" ... why the amp ended up in the pawn store. It looks like this 5W resistor has been failing/arcing-over for years...
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Re: Ace Tone Rockey tube amp rebuild in pictures
Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2019 1:37 am
by sclitheroe
Gasgano wrote: ↑Thu Jan 03, 2019 3:40 pm
You cannot understand how dry it is until you've been in -10°C temperatures in Saskatoon that feel like +5°C in the more humid Montreal.
Yeah, even -20 in Calgary is a far different experience than -5 in Toronto or Montreal
Re: Ace Tone Rockey tube amp rebuild in pictures
Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 6:09 am
by laurie
Starting the re-cap. Old caps are definitely "dry".
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Re: Ace Tone Rockey tube amp rebuild in pictures
Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 6:11 am
by laurie
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