Should I bother refurbing my basement twin

Glenn Demichele · Post by **Glenn Demichele** » 18 Oct 2015 6:51 pm

I'm into electronics, but I need to practice too, so I want to solicit some brutally honest opinions, which I know I can get here! My old roommate gave me his twin years ago, and its been sitting in my basement except for two gigs. It was fun to take it out, but my skeleton can't take it any more. I wouldn't bother breaking it up into an amp/speaker pair because I have a lightweight gigging rig that sounds great.
Its a '70's 135W ultralinear silverface - cosmetically beat up but otherwise fine. It hums a little, and also probably needs recapping by now as well as power cord and tremelo repair. I like the idea of having an all tube amp in my recording/rehearsal arsenal. Its fun to practice through, but I would prefer "small arms" to this 80 lb. "howitzer" in my basement. I guess my options are:
1). Do nothing and wait until the caps fail
2). Recap/repair it for around $150(parts) + my time (I can fix it without killing myself)
3). Sell it an buy a smaller tube amp - maybe I would get WAY less amp for that amount of $$?

Opinions? Thanks, Glenn

Robert Bunting · Post by **Robert Bunting** » 18 Oct 2015 7:18 pm

Recap it.
If you ever decide to sell or trade, it will be more valuable.
Waiting for the caps to fail seems like a bad idea especially if you have the skills and cash to maintain it.

Good luck whatever you decide, and happy pickin!

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 18 Oct 2015 10:33 pm

Great-sounding steel amp! Fix it! I split mine up with Rick Johnson cabs. It's wonderful! I hated the SS Peavey Vegas that I got stuck with.

Larry Dering · Post by **Larry Dering** » 19 Oct 2015 2:47 am

Do the work. I have the same 135w twin in my basement and it sounds fantastic. I have recapped and fresh tubes. I will keep it tillI die. Money well spent.

Craig Baker · Post by **Craig Baker** » 19 Oct 2015 3:53 am

Glenn,
Recapping that amp is easy, and it could avoid a cap shorting out and taking a rectifier and power transformer with it.

Regards,
Craig Baker 706-485-8792

cmbakerelectronics@gmail.com

C.M. Baker Electronics
P.O. Box 3965
Eatonton, GA 31024

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 19 Oct 2015 4:00 am

That is my second favorite amp, after my Milkman. Split it up and gig it.

Robert Parent · Post by **Robert Parent** » 19 Oct 2015 4:11 am

Being you are looking for opinions, here is mine:

It sounds like you are happy with your current performing setup. If so, I would either sell the Twin as is, or figure out if your doing the re-cap is worth your investment in time and dollars.

Do not let the caps short, it will cause major damage to your amp.

I sold a Twin a few months back as it was just to heavy to lug around these days. For a tube amp I still have a couple Music Man amps that are much lighter, smaller and sound better than the Twin.

Good Luck,
Robert

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 19 Oct 2015 4:38 am

I'd fix it and keep it, as is.. Sounds like you don't need the $$ and have a perfectly fine gigging amp so why sell or mod it? It will likely never be worth any less than it is now, I've seen a steady increase in SF Twin prices over the last few years, and a Twin + steel guitar is cool.

Chuck Stowe · Post by **Chuck Stowe** » 19 Oct 2015 7:17 pm

I'd recap it and fix it up. It will sound a lot better in your basement and be worth a lot more if you decide to give it up. It won't lose value as long as it's in good condition.

Glenn Demichele · Post by **Glenn Demichele** » 19 Oct 2015 7:31 pm

Hi Chuck:
Nice to see you at the Time Jumpers concert this weekend. That was awesome. So, on my twin : it was in cosmetically bad shape when I got it, so it still won't lose value - ha. Thanks everybody for the encouragement, I ordered the recap kit. All I need now is soap and water, a couple replacement knobs, a new cord, some pot cleaner, and I'll have a nice "new" amp.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 20 Oct 2015 3:03 am

Even better than soap and water are those new "dirt erasers".

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 20 Oct 2015 6:26 am

you have to use a variac to power the amp back up after you recap it. i would not even think about just installing the caps and turning it on. i have recapped many fender amps and powered up many old tube units using one and saved the original caps.

if you looked under the cap cover at the the filter cap section and you dont see any leaking in them..i wouldnt replace them at all unless they are bulging a little. most have a little hole in the end of them that allows the innards to push out if they are going bad. if you are just using the amp for home practice...i would have just kept using it. ive had caps blow out many times with no damage to the amp.

in most cases, the fuse will just pop after the amp has been on for a while. thats a good indication of filter caps going bad.

Glenn Demichele · Post by **Glenn Demichele** » 20 Oct 2015 7:30 am

Thanks Bill. I will variac it up. I need to take it apart anyway to clean the pots.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 20 Oct 2015 10:47 am

no, it's broke, old, ugly, heavy and cannot ever be used, get rid of it, send it to me, I run a Twin Reverb disposal center.

Gil Berry · Post by **Gil Berry** » 20 Oct 2015 4:12 pm

recap it, get the tubes checked, re-bias if really needed, clean it up, replace the power cord, replace any damaged/missing knobs, and give it a nice shine with "son-of-a-gun" (if you can find it!) ....it's great stuff for vinyl...really just pure liquid wax and will leave that amp looking showroom new.

Glenn Demichele · Post by **Glenn Demichele** » 20 Oct 2015 5:36 pm

I'm getting excited about this... Makes me want to rent a crane and gig it like Lane suggests.
<edit> BTW, so excited I added it to my list of gear. A bonus benefit: this will also deter thieves: "oh man, a twin...".
Actually I was playing bass in Chicago years ago, and somebody broke into my car and stole my bass amp. It was so heavy, the Chicago cops (not known for running fast) easily caught up with them in the alley, and I got all my stuff back - true story.

Glenn Demichele · Post by **Glenn Demichele** » 27 Oct 2015 8:37 pm

Recapped it, got new knobs, clipped the master volume tone cap, got new power tubes, fixed a problem with the hum balance control, and most importantly, washed it. It's quiet and loud. Awesome, but it's still heavy. Turns out it has the original Utah speakers in it, not jbls.