Amp Tech Bench help

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 16 Sep 2003 1:38 pm

Here's my situation--

I'm a novice with some instructional material (G.Weber book and video), a new DMM and a roomful of amps either in need of repair or in need of general maintanence (caps, tubes/bias, 3-prong cord) and modding (cap upgrades, tone stack experimenting, two channel reverb). I'm really wanting to learn a bunch and do a bunch.

What I need is a shopping list of caps and resistors that I can buy at one time to cover a bunch of needs and whims so I don't have to be putting in an order for $3 worth of stuff that I might need to start or finish a particular job. And what I'm hoping to find is a dealer (I've got a list of links to most of the main guys who deal in this stuff) who somebody here can recommend as a good guy to call, shoot the shit with, hear my list of projects and put together this shopping list for me within a stated budget (I dunno--$30--50? maybe more with a set of filter caps, maybe more if I'm talked into it). So I need someone I can trust (important, of course) who has the patience to work with me and hear my needs as I 'set up shop'. And of course I'm not looking for free advice from him--I'm looking to put together an order.

Anyone in particular come to mind that any of you would recommend who would fit the bill?

Peter Feller · Post by **Peter Feller** » 16 Sep 2003 3:32 pm

There are two larege electronics companies that I use, and they will sell pretty much any quantity of anything, (business being what it is). One is Newark Electronics,(I can't seem to find the address), and the other is Allied Electronics, see address below. They take phone orders, and accept credit cards. They cater mostly to the industry, but try them out anyway. The trick is to get the catalog number for what you want, and that can take some work, like getting and reading the catalog. Good luck.
http://www.alliedelec.com/

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 16 Sep 2003 4:47 pm

Hey thanks Peter. Yeah, I've got Newark bookmarked. But what I'm looking for is a tube amp specialist who can tell me "oh, you're gonna want a half dozen of these orange drop .47pf doodads if you're messing with the tone stack" kinda stuff. Looking to collaborate with a seller who can put together a package with me without pushing stuff on me that I don't need. Maybe I'm being too naive in trying to operate this way but....I repeat my question----does anyone have a dealer that they think highly enough of that they'd trust him in this way?

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 16 Sep 2003 4:54 pm

Do a search for "resistor assortment", or "capacitor assortment", and you'll come up with many good sources.

Mark Herrick · Post by **Mark Herrick** » 17 Sep 2003 11:52 am

Try getting in touch with Blackie Pagano. He worked on a Mesa Boogie amp for me several years ago and he seemed like a pretty cool guy. Don't know if he's into giving free advice, but...
http://www.tubesville.com/home.htm

Also check this out regarding the New York Noise Audio Design Exhibition:
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/nynoise2000/

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 17 Sep 2003 1:39 pm

Hey Donny---I'm usually a full-on Google head but it just didn't occur to me this time. Yeah, there's some options there. Thanks.
Mark--I certainly know Pagano by name and rep. And part of that rep is some ungodly per-hour rates for bench time. I gather he's pretty much top dog in this back-water town.
I am real grateful for the email help. With a little bit of kind help I'm going to be able to get started and then I'll gain the confidence I need to take it from there.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 17 Sep 2003 3:13 pm

Everytime you have to buy a small part, buy 3 or 4 instead of one. Shelf life on most every part (except some electrolytics) is many decades. I'm still fixing stuff with parts I bought 40 years ago...back when resistors were 5 cents, capacitors were 15 cents, 12AX7A's were $1.50, and 6L6's were $3.75!

Dem was de good ol' daze.

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 17 Sep 2003 3:23 pm

OK--I'm putting together an order from you at those prices. Got anything else to sell for 60's dollars?

I got the same advice via email about building an inventory by ordering multiples. Good idea.

Jerry Erickson · Post by **Jerry Erickson** » 17 Sep 2003 4:15 pm

Hi John,
Check out prices for caps and tubes at triode electronics in Chicago. Their prices on Sprague Atom electrolytic caps are usually
cheaper(smaller values) than you can get from Mouser Electronics. My places for parts are: www.mouser.com www.tubesandmore.com www.triodeelectronics.com www.digikey.com www.hoffmanamps.com

Triode and Hoffman are very fast,digikey and mouser right behind and tubesandmore a little slower because they're in Arizona, but they carry some cool coupling and tone caps made by Mallory and Audience.

Jackie Anderson · Post by **Jackie Anderson** » 17 Sep 2003 4:18 pm

These folks have been nice to deal with: http://www.angela.com

Mark Herrick · Post by **Mark Herrick** » 17 Sep 2003 4:33 pm

Sounds like you may want to (or already are) lurking around some of the amp building sites:
http://www.tone-lizard.com/
and
http://www.ax84.com/
[This message was edited by Mark Herrick on 17 September 2003 at 05:33 PM.]

C Dixon · Post by **C Dixon** » 17 Sep 2003 5:50 pm

hmmmm,

I am not so sure there IS a small set of parts that would satisfy your needs. Repair of amps, unlike many think, is not repetitive and an ass'y line approach, as each one can be, and usually is, completely different from the last one when it comes to repair.

In fact, repair of anything is one of the most difficult things when it comes to diagnosing root causes of troubles. Replacing parts is the easiest part. But finding WHAT is causing what the customer is complaining about, can be one of the most elusive things one can encounter.

And the fact that there are sooooooo many different sizes and types of every thing used in amps, I would be extremely hard pressed to come up with a "kit" of parts that would fit the discription you gave.

In all my years of working on and sevicing amps, I rarely ever replaced a resistor. I did replace a slew of speakers, switches, controls, pilot lights, power silicon rectifiers, fuses, power cords, transformers, tubes and transistors.

Also, a few caps of course; and ocassionaly a filter cap (electrolytic). But there are sooooo many different values and types I just could not venture a guess of what would be best to keep on hand.

But I do wish you much good luck; much success and may Jesus lead you in the right way,

carl

Slick Slider · Post by **Slick Slider** » 18 Sep 2003 12:14 pm

Did he fix amps back then?