Longwheelbass Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 So for brief periods over the last couple of years I have revelled in the luxury of owning two 135 Bassman heads. I only ever run one at a time, one is more than enough with two single 15's - it will shake ship off the shelves if you dial channel and master vol up to 5's. But about 2.5 years ago the silver grill cloth one in the pic above up and quit on me stone dead. I was recommended a tech north of me, I'm in Exeter, and it took him 2 years to actually repair it. I must have driven the 45 minute trip to him around ten times over that timeframe and every time he had a new reason for it not being ready - after calling me and telling me "it will definitely be 100% done on Wednesday/Thursday/Friday..." you get the picture? Finally around 6 months ago he had it finished. I picked it up, took it home, played it for 5 minutes and it quit again. he came out to my place a couple of days later, I fired it up and it ran perfectly, he hung around for an hour and it was absolutely fine. He left, promising to fix it again if it ever shipped itself again. Of course, three months later it came to a dead stop AGAIN and now I want to find someone with their act together who can diagnose it and fix it - I'd even drive to Bristol or Plymouth if there's no-one else close by in/around Exeter. Anyways, it aint going back to that guy...anyone have any recommendations for guys experienced in CBS era Fender tube amps in East Devon/Bristol/Plymouth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Nice amps and basses, I don’t blame you for not taking it back to that guy, have you had a look through here to see if there’s anyone near you 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longwheelbass Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 6 minutes ago, Reggaebass said: Nice amps and basses, I don’t blame you for not taking it back to that guy, have you had a look through here to see if there’s anyone near you Wow cool man, thank you! Will trawl through that list. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 These amps have a very simple schematic - pretty much standard Fender through much of their tube offerings. For interest what seems to be the problem with the amp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gypsyfolk Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Amploft in Bristol would be my recommendation, retro amps just outside Newton Abbot if you don’t want to go that far 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longwheelbass Posted January 13 Author Share Posted January 13 I found from Reggae's link that Steve the Ampman is a 45 min drive from me and he seems to speak my language. I'll give him a bell and see what he's got to say. The last tech replaced a ton of caps and seemed to know what he was doing - I did spend time at his place, but he wasn't exactly well set up and his health wasn't the greatest. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyder Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 I've used Darren at.... RetroAmps Unit 1 Lambert building 10 Seale Hayne Newton Abbot TQ12 6NQ 07565162066 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longwheelbass Posted January 13 Author Share Posted January 13 12 hours ago, BassmanPaul said: These amps have a very simple schematic - pretty much standard Fender through much of their tube offerings. For interest what seems to be the problem with the amp? Hi Paul, yes they are pretty basic, and I'm an electrician by trade, but don't have enough amp knowledge/schematic experience to trust myself, nor do I have a cap discharger and all the other tech tools the amp men have at their disposal, plus the 135's have the extra twist of the ultra-linear output transformer, which isn't much of a difference I guess, especially not to the guys who work on em for a living. What it did initially was simply stop volume-wise. It remained powered up, tubes getting juice, standby still engaged, it just stopped converting bass signal to dB's. So I took it to this guy's place who I'd been recommended to, with a cab and a P Bass, set it up in his lounge and it worked perfectly. He had a fiddle with it, we couldn't get it to fault. So I took it home, continued using it at home for a few days, then it quit again. Back to his place, this time DOA. So left it with him, and it dragged on for two years, him trying to get it to fault, then eventually he just started changing out parts as he couldn't get it to fault. In the end, it sounded amazing with fresh caps and a new set of tubes, but like I mentioned, a few months after he'd finished the job, it quit in exactly the same fashion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longwheelbass Posted January 13 Author Share Posted January 13 3 minutes ago, spyder said: I've used Darren at.... RetroAmps Unit 1 Lambert building 10 Seale Hayne Newton Abbot TQ12 6NQ 07565162066 Thanks Spyder! That's two for Darren. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbowskill Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 6 hours ago, spyder said: I've used Darren at.... RetroAmps Unit 1 Lambert building 10 Seale Hayne Newton Abbot TQ12 6NQ 07565162066 100% I've used Darren with a few amps that have flopped on me. Always goes above and beyond 👌 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 (edited) Simple cap discharger. Never short the caps to discharge them. Get a 10KΩ 2W resistor and two lengths of insulated wire. Solder a length of wire ti each end of the resistor and cover the whole shebang with heat shrink to insulate it. Connect an insulated Croc clip to each end and you have a cap discharger. Connect across the cap and it will quickly and safely discharge through the resistor. QED Edit: I changed the resistor power rating because a 2W resistor has more robust leads so making a stronger assembly. Edited January 20 by BassmanPaul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 (edited) I assume, being an Electrician, that you have a Digital Multimeter. In case you are without: bassman_135_sch.pdf Edited January 13 by BassmanPaul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangepeelneil Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 (edited) Hi, Can you described the symptoms of what the amp is doing? When you say "dead" I guess you are describing no audio output but the amp is still on etc and not blowing mains fuses? I've had a few Fender Silverface amps over the years, including a 70s Bassman 100 and 135, loved both those amps once they were working OK (when using a decent cab) My 100/135 both suffered from noise due to component drift/out of spec (all the electrolytic filter capacitors in the “dog house”) and some capacitors on the board needed replacing plus some resistors were overheated/ cracked and needed replacing, all fairly standard service stuff for an ageing valve amp, a decent tech would be able run the amp for a bit underload and measure and replace these components, plus test the valves, bias etc. Do you have any history on when the amps have been looked at last or serviced? My 70s Fender amps were wired pretty poorly internally, not the tidiest at all so that needed addressing too during servicing, I think this is fairly common. I’ve also read and seen lots about the main fibreboard ((tagboard) can become conductive and can be an issue and may need attention, again my tech did some cleaning of this. Neil Edited January 13 by orangepeelneil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longwheelbass Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 20 hours ago, BassmanPaul said: I assume, being an Electrician, that you have a Digital Multimeter. In case you are without: bassman_135_sch.pdf 99.45 kB · 8 downloads Thank you Paul. Will run some checks. I should mention I did check the fuse when it quit a few months back, and the fuse is fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 (edited) Just for interest, when the amp is in operation do you see a faint blue glow inside the output tubes? Edited January 14 by BassmanPaul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 @Longwheelbass Do you hear a hum from the speakers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Hello @Longwheelbass are you there?? I'm trying to help you here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longwheelbass Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 8 minutes ago, BassmanPaul said: Hello @Longwheelbass are you there?? I'm trying to help you here! Sorry dude I've been out of town for three days - our vet is over an hour's drive from us and one of our dogs has just had a massive surgery, we had to stay closer to the vet and we've just got her home with a 10 inch long scar in her belly. The amp issue has gone on the backburner, but I will have a closer look at it tomorrow. I appreciate your offers of assistance, I'll fire it up tomorrow morning and check the visuals on the tubes. I did fire it up a few days ago after you initially asked and noticed that there is zero signal of any kind getting through to the two 15's. No hum, nothing. But did not look at the tubes. From memory last time it ship itself the tubes were a-glowing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 (edited) Nothing made is more important than the health of a treasured pet. I hope your girl recovers swiftly and with no issues. We miss all of the many dogs we've owned. Usually we've had two at a time. The last pair were a Shepard/Husky cross called Bailey and a Chihuahua named Tia. We brought Tia home in a basket covered with towels to keep the tiny puppy warm. Bailey always liked to check every bag we ever brought home. Her tail would wag and her nose would disappear into each new item. We put the basket down and told Bailey that this one was for her. She knew something alive was under the towels and she ever so gently moved the towels until she found Tia. The look of joy on her face was a picture. She took that little dog as her own and cared for her and taught her the rules of the house as Tia grew up. When I picked a chicken carcass at the sink there was a dog sitting each side of me with their 'can I eat that?' expressions and their two tails wagging. As I pulled a bit of leash I offered it to them. Bailey would just sit there and eat it. Tia would rise up with one leg against mine as she got her titbit. Instantly after she plonked herself down into the sitting position again. We call this "Two tails wagging" a very fond memory. Edited January 20 by BassmanPaul 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longwheelbass Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 On 20/01/2024 at 19:09, BassmanPaul said: Nothing made is more important than the health of a treasured pet. I hope your girl recovers swiftly and with no issues. We miss all of the many dogs we've owned. Usually we've had two at a time. The last pair were a Shepard/Husky cross called Bailey and a Chihuahua named Tia. We brought Tia home in a basket covered with towels to keep the tiny puppy warm. Bailey always liked to check every bag we ever brought home. Her tail would wag and her nose would disappear into each new item. We put the basket down and told Bailey that this one was for her. She knew something alive was under the towels and she ever so gently moved the towels until she found Tia. The look of joy on her face was a picture. She took that little dog as her own and cared for her and taught her the rules of the house as Tia grew up. When I picked a chicken carcass at the sink there was a dog sitting each side of me with their 'can I eat that?' expressions and their two tails wagging. As I pulled a bit of leash I offered it to them. Bailey would just sit there and eat it. Tia would rise up with one leg against mine as she got her titbit. Instantly after she plonked herself down into the sitting position again. We call this "Two tails wagging" a very fond memory. Doggoes are family! I can't get any images to upload on this site any more for some reason, no matter how small I shrink my images to I keep getting "too big" notices, but anyways, the tubes are all glowing normal, they're all new and all look good but there's zero signal getting through to the cabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy_r Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 1 hour ago, Longwheelbass said: Doggoes are family! I can't get any images to upload on this site any more for some reason, no matter how small I shrink my images to I keep getting "too big" notices, but anyways, the tubes are all glowing normal, they're all new and all look good but there's zero signal getting through to the cabs. Could the "too big" msgs be due to having exceeded your total upload limit? ...just an idea... Sorry to hear of 4-legged friend health issues - hope recent op has good outcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 You're not looking for the normal glow of the heaters but a faint blue glow within the output tubes themselves. It indicates that current is flowing normally. Do you get any hum out of the speakers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longwheelbass Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 10 minutes ago, BassmanPaul said: You're not looking for the normal glow of the heaters but a faint blue glow within the output tubes themselves. It indicates that current is flowing normally. Do you get any hum out of the speakers? No hum, no faint blue glow in output tubes. 3 hours ago, sandy_r said: Could the "too big" msgs be due to having exceeded your total upload limit? ...just an idea... Sorry to hear of 4-legged friend health issues - hope recent op has good outcome! Thank you Sandy. And yes I should check my total upload count. I'll bet that's it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Then they're not getting power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunton-hobbit Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 On 13/01/2024 at 09:56, Longwheelbass said: Steve the Ampman is a 45 min drive Solid (but busy) guy, has done stuff for me over the last few years, thoroughly recommended. 😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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