!!! NBPD 6G2 (recap content on Page 2) !!! PIC HEAVY

[Ursa Minor]

Thats so clean its worthy of pro-photographing for inclusion in the next edition of Fender The Golden Age!

Thanks!

Inclusion in any Fender book would be way cool. I'd much rather see a book of dirty old amps that get used though. Perhaps I'll design a book and take submissions of anyone who wants to let me photograph their old amps. OSG Coffee Table Book, anyone?


(Mini-celebration!!! I'VE HIT MY 1000th POST!!!)

[StevenO]

I wouldn't hold it against you if you decided to sell it and get a beater. These amps look pretty damn cool beat up, I must say, but I'd hate to be the one responsible for the beating...

[finboy]

I wouldn't hold it against you if you decided to sell it and get a beater. These amps look pretty damn cool beat up, I must say, but I'd hate to be the one responsible for the beating...

Couldn't agree more, I still think this is the most beautiful princeton I have ever seen



Now if only I had a spare $1300 for an amp I don't need

[Ursa Minor]

Yeah, I kind of don't want to be responsible for putting any dents or dings in it. I really regret selling my '63. It was rough. Well, not bad, but perfect wear imo. Sold it for way too cheap too to a nice dude in Germany.


Maybe he'll sell it back to me. Wouldn't that be a trip?

[Ursa Minor]

I would totally get the one from Olivia's if I get that price down a bit. Thing that kills it for me is that their in Illinois too and I don't want to pay the sales tax.

[StevenO]

I hate that rectangular outline on the Olivia's one, but yeah, these amps look awesome with a bit of wear.

[Ursa Minor]

I like it more and more. Hated it soooooo much at first. Its been listed a long time so I keep seeing.

I'm probably getting used to it like I did the hole in my old 63's grill, or the wood-knot stain. M@J@$ in Sp8des!!!

EDIT: Forgot to mention the 63 actually had some good old fashioned termite abuse on the bottom as well.
This one came to me from Florida.

Never had any worries of getting this one dirty.

[StevenO]

I just can't stand that it's lopsided.

[hornz]

Thats so clean its worthy of pro-photographing for inclusion in the next edition of Fender The Golden Age!

Thanks!

Inclusion in any Fender book would be way cool. I'd much rather see a book of dirty old amps that get used though. Perhaps I'll design a book and take submissions of anyone who wants to let me photograph their old amps. OSG Coffee Table Book, anyone?


(Mini-celebration!!! I'VE HIT MY 1000th POST!!!)

Now your talking, I can throw some dinged-up and tarnished SF amps into the mix. Seriously though, get a nice cover and just enjoy that thing!

[finboy]

I hate that rectangular outline on the Olivia's one, but yeah, these amps look awesome with a bit of wear.

Exactly why I love it, you know someone from offset is going to buy it eventually, lol

[Ursa Minor]

Parts for the recap should arrive in the mail today!

I've decided to just go for it, she's a keeper. The amp has otherwise been sitting, as I didn't want to run power through it until it was recapped.

Hopefully I can finish tonite. I plan on taking my time and making it as pretty as I can. Still not sure whether I'll rehouse the board electrolytic caps, but I'll give it a shot.

Pics coming soon....

[Ursa Minor]

So I haven't had a ton of time to post, but completed the recap on this amp. It sounds infinitely better! Its louder, sounds more full-range and its biasing properly, although I still have a bias pot installed until I find a happy medium with the tubes I'm using.

Here's some pics of the process for anyone who's interested.
I wanted to try to salvage the look of the bog orange Astrons on the board, so I attempted a "restuff".

Removing the original cap from the cardboard sleeve.

Easy enough...


Here it is with the new (much smaller) Sprague Atom inside. I used double sided velcro to hold it in place.


I capped the end off with a rubber grommet just to give it a more finished look. I left the original solder joint in tact. If I find my new solder joint doesn't hold up I'll break the original solder and put it directly in the eyelet.

[Ursa Minor]

Here's the board with the "new" Astrons in place.


For the little bias board, I opted to skip the old retuff'd Astron trick and just went with a traditional swap. Board real estate is tight here as it is.


Turns out the original 30k bias resistor was a bit too much. My tubes were still biased waaaay tooooo cool.
I later installed installed a bias-pot to more easily and accurately dial in my preferred resistance. *Sorry, I guess I didn't get pics at that point.

And now for the cap can. I dread getting these f*ckers out. Requires a big scary iron.


New CE Manufacturing cap can in place.
I opted to keep the same values as the original can.

[Ursa Minor]

And last but not least, the obligatory 3 prong plug for safety and practical use.



A lot of diagrams for 3 prong conversion utilize the terminals of the ground switch for their connections. I left the ground switch disconnected since I knew I might put a bias pot there later. The nice thing is that this is completely reversible and shouldn't affect any of its value. I will say, bias pots are handy as hell if you have a bias meter.


Oh yeah, I even reused the original strain relief bushing.



She fired right up...nice and quiet... and I was quickly able to dial in about 16mA on each tube to keep the trem nice and drippy.
This one sounds particularly good. I've had a lot of brown Pricetons before but this one definitely has a certain something, especially after a fresh set of electrolytic caps.

[øøøøøøø]

electrolytic caps reading higher than printed values isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you like the way the amp sounds, read the values and replace with those values!

If you have a tester to read ESR (equivalent series resistance), you can tell if you're really in trouble. That's what can make the caps get hot and explode!