Magnatone Typhoon

[jprall]

<t>I recently picked up a Magnatone Typhoon in good condition. Had some information to share after going through it and trying to understand the settings. Attaching picture of Typhoon with 1957 Magnatone Custom 280 Amp<br/>
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First I found that the 4th (D) string was quite low in relation to other strings. Looking at the saddles it appeared that the slot on 4 was wider than on 5 with 6 wider still - as expected. Prying the 4 and 5 saddles out of the bridge and reinstalling helped significantly.<br/>
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The locking position of the vibrato was not in tune. Adjusting the Flat/Sharp could not change the setting far enough. I have 10s installed and it might want 11s or 12s? I found that filing the brass ramp down slightly fixed the issue. Going further would make it more adjustable, but right now I have it useable.<br/>
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The tuners had a variety of issues - loose, tight, uneven. I removed and took the housing. Grease had hardened into a tar like substance. I cleaned that out and regreased with food grade grease. Tuners are now a little tight but consistent (probably crimped the tabs a little more than needed). Anyways - they work well now.<br/>
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Wiring. I created a wiring diagram and attempted to characterize what the switch positions are doing:

[jprall]

The 1957 Magnatone Custom 280 was rebuilt. Electrically it was in good condition - recapped an put appropriate main speakers in it - found some 1954 Jensen P12P speakers which I re-coned. Unfortunately the cabinet was pretty bad. It had been soaked in water and the plywood was rotted and separating. When I bought it I thought it was cosmetic but eventually decided to take it apart and built an exact replica of the original cabinet. Used vinyl and grill cloth very close to the original. The sound of the phase shift vibrato in stereo is amazing.