Fixing old Solid Sate Heads

[Mark of the Beast]

Hey, there,

I recently picked up an old Sears Silvertone 1465 head as well as a Kay 765 for pretty cheap. They need some work. I've built pedals before, so I'm pretty sure it shouldn't be too hard. But I thought I ask here to see if anyone has worked on these before and had any tips or good resources to share.

Both are from the late 60's so information is a bit sparse. I was wondering...

1. How do I figure out the fuse type they need? (The Kay doesn't have it written. I know the Silvertone is a 3) How do I know what type of fuse to get as well? (Slow blow or fast?)

2. How to I figure out the OHMS output for speakers? I have a multimeter, but I'm not sure what I should be checking.

3. I'd like to replace the plugs to 3 pronged plugs. Is there a tutorial online? Or is as simple as soldering the ground to any metal surface in the amp?



Any info/feedback/response would be very appreciated!! Thanks! Or if anyone knows of any good DIY Solid State forums

[eatyourguitar]

this forum
http://www.ax84.com/

if you don't know what your doing, you should not be working on amps that can kill you. any amp that plugs into the wall that has been modified can kill you. any old amp that you know for a fact needs a repair and has a two prong plug can kill you just by plugging in your guitar and turning it on. read everything before doing anything. if you don't know, don't go. if you sell that amp to someone and it starts a fire because it has the wrong fuse, you have that to live with now. that is not to say that you should not do the work. that is just to say that building pedals does not prepare you for doing guitar amps. pedals have no mains, no transformer, no power transistors.

[Mark of the Beast]

Thanks! And yeah, I do take safety seriously. I believe it's important to mention that when anyone asks about poking around something connected to something as strong as household current. I have read up on what to avoid in Solid State Amps and about draining the caps. Thanks for your concern.

[Dr Satan]

I would attach the ground to an eyelet, then bolt it to the chassis. Usually it isn't too hard to use an existing bolt hole, but be sure to clean the surface real well to make sure you've got a metal to metal connection.

This forum may be helpful, don't know for sure. http://www.ssguitar.com/ or this one http://music-electronics-forum.com/

I've successfully repaired my old Peavey Standard (1978) but that's the oldest amp I have that is solid state. I like that old solid state stuff. You get the "vintage" aesthetic without the collector price tag. And most of the time, it sounds pretty damn good too.

[Mark of the Beast]

Thank you Satan. I think ssguitar.com is going to be pretty helpful.

I've read that the Silvertone is supposed to sound really good so I'm excited to to try to get it up and running. The Kay, I have no idea what it's going to sound like, but it was their top of the line model for 1968, so I guess I'll find out what that means.

[Dr Satan]

It'll probably be close to the Silvertone. IIRC the old Kay, Silvertone, Danelectro, Teisco, etc. stuff was pretty similar. But that may have ended with the tube amps, cause really there is only so much you can do with 1 preamp and 1 power tube.