1961 Ampeg Reverberocket

[mgeek]

I've got a really cool early one of these kicking about, but when I was using it...er...five years ago on a really hot day, it started fizzing and smoking, so I switched it off, and haven't done anything with it since.

The back story was that it was in my friends cousins loft for years and years, after instead of buying a sit down organ for their living room, they went to a music shop and ended up with a Vox Continental and said reverberocket! It worked fresh out of the loft, which was surprising, but was a bit crackly, seemed to need a service etc, which I didn't do.

Of course it's hard to say what's going on without seeing it, but does anyone who knows their stuff have an opinion on what sort of repair this might entail? EG 'oh that's a classic death of both transformers... all the pots, caps, resistors, and all valves too'?

[Squirrel]

Could be a bunch of different things at this stage, but I'd start by checking if it still fizzes and smokes with all of the valves unplugged. Also, did it have a noticeable hum in the background before it failed?

Cool amp by the way, I'm planning on buying one relatively soon if I can find one. Actually, some guy on this forum offered to sell me one a while ago but just stopped replying to my messages all of a sudden. Maybe I should chase him up on that.

[doctorock78]

NO!! Do not plug it in again!!! Get it to a tech. Or send it to me. But definitely don't plug it in again until someone competent has looked inside or you may ruin more irreplaceable vintage components...

[mgeek]

Yeah I'm not gonna risk plugging it in again...pretty sure whatever it was wasn't good- there was smoke! It's such a cool amp though- original UK sold version with a 240v transformer, with the different tolex pattern only found on the early ones.

I guess my least good option is that a transformer has fried, and best is that it's a capacitor or something dying that looks more alarming than it actually is. Here's hoping

Any UK dudes rec any good amp techs in the south east, herts/essex sorta area?

[andy_tchp]

Fizzing and smoking sounds like capacitor/s 'letting the smoke out', highly unlikely to be a transformer.

[mgeek]

Fizzing and smoking sounds like capacitor/s 'letting the smoke out', highly unlikely to be a transformer.

Thank you- having some hope that it might not be £££££££terminal as I find a tech makes me feel a bit better

[Kent]

I’ve got a 1964. Great amp with a unique reverb circuit. The reverb can be played fully wet, which is a neat trick. Mine has 7868 power tubes.

Definitely take it to a tech based upon what you wrote in your 1st post, you don’t portray yourself as sufficiently practiced in tube amp service as one should be.

[mgeek]

Definitely take it to a tech based upon what you wrote in your 1st post, you don’t portray yourself as sufficiently practiced in tube amp service as one should be.

Yeah I didn't say I was planning on touching it

Woodwork is my thing. I can barely hold a soldering iron.

[doctorock78]

I just got a '63 (R12RB) and did the cap job and 3 prong. Replaced all the caps that were drifted far from OG value. Unfortunately still no reverb and the trem is weak weak weak... Hopefully can get local tech to help, as I am about out of ideas. I know there is a great amp hidden in there !!

[mgeek]

Finally got my shit together and paid for a tech to sort this out. Turned out that rather than having a 240v transformer fitted from the factory, they hardwired a hugely underpowered stepdown transformer in there for UK distribution, which melted and caught fire, and took the power switch with it. Incidentally I’m guessing the transformer was done by Ampeg themselves as it’s US/ny made. todd I think.

Tech said he was surprised it had lasted as long as it did, but incredibly everything else was fine, caps and all. Sounds great, and not even any hum or hiss unless you use loads of reverb when there’s … about the amount you’d expect. The trem never worked when I had it going before, so he fixed that too, it’s super choppy, almost like a Vox repeat percussion.

Lesson learned for me… I procrastinated because I imagined it turning into a money pit, but he charged £130, and I bought a proper stepdown transformer for 50 quid. Worth every penny.

[repoman]

These amps sound amazing. The reverb is way more like a standalone a la 6G15 than the normal reverb you get in something like a Deluxe Reverb or Princeton. Only amp I've played where the reverb has that 'drip' like the standalone tanks.

[garyfanclub]

These are my favorite amps ever (see my avatar), and absolutely worth the often nominal cost of fixing them.

What's not to like? It's a lot like a Fender tweed amp with onboard reverb and tremolo. Don't forget to plug into the accordion input for some extra gain. Mine's got an Eminence Cannabis Rex in it, which makes it much more usable in live scenarios than the often tired vintage Jensens these shipped with.

[Funkybot]

Finally got my shit together and paid for a tech to sort this out. Turned out that rather than having a 240v transformer fitted from the factory, they hardwired a hugely underpowered stepdown transformer in there for UK distribution, which melted and caught fire, and took the power switch with it. Incidentally I’m guessing the transformer was done by Ampeg themselves as it’s US/ny made. todd I think.

Tech said he was surprised it had lasted as long as it did, but incredibly everything else was fine, caps and all. Sounds great, and not even any hum or hiss unless you use loads of reverb when there’s … about the amount you’d expect. The trem never worked when I had it going before, so he fixed that too, it’s super choppy, almost like a Vox repeat percussion.

Lesson learned for me… I procrastinated because I imagined it turning into a money pit, but he charged £130, and I bought a proper stepdown transformer for 50 quid. Worth every penny.

If you follow Psionic Audio on YouTube, Lyle is a great amp tech. Anyway, reason I bring him up is just a recent video with a 60s Ampeg Reverberocket.

https://youtu.be/P4yBd2HGoTw

It's amazing how much weird stuff Ampeg was doing at that time. Not the only tech I've heard that from either. Anyway, thought you might enjoy the video being as you were in kind of a similar boat.