Blues Junior Rebuild

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Aylesbury Guitar Repair

This month I spent a couple of days rebuilding my poorly Fender Blues Junior with the chaps at Vyse Amps in Pinner, London.

The amp has been my go-to combo for 8yrs, and being 12yrs old and seeing a lot of action, it has had a lot of heat cycles through the solder joints which is the root of the problems coming through. The power amp valves’ solder was beginning to crack, and the tracks on the PCB were lifting and ultimately breaking.

The solution to this – which would become endemic throughout the rest of the amp in time – was to remove all of the original components, and replace with a new circuit built in an old-school ‘point-to-point’ fashion which would enable me to make modifications or replace any faulty components much more easily for the life of the amp.

Since completely changing everything except the cabinet and reverb tank, the amp has taken on a different character, but is a beautiful alternative to the Blues Junior I knew and loved. It’s now got a Celestion G12H Anniversary Edition speaker, and in conjunction with the up-rated electronics is more articulate as a result. I’m still getting to know the amp, but can’t wait to see how it performs on gigs and shows as they come in!

Amp Servicing Course

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Aylesbury Guitar Repair

Today was a very interesting day – I went on an amp servicing course which was thoroughly revelatory! I highly recommend it to all guitarists and bass players as it can really help you appreciate how to maintain and sustain your kit.

The only slight downside is that an amp I took which I thought was fine and dandy turned out to have a fairly critical problem… It seems a trip to the music shop is in order…!

Replacing Reverb Tanks and Finishing the SG

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Aylesbury Guitar Repair

Today has been another interesting day in the workshop! So far I’ve replaced a couple of reverb tanks in a couple of amps, and I’ve been able to finish the SG off.

I got the replacement tanks from Hot Rox Uk, and the service was quick and efficient. They’re competitive on pricing so it was a good experience dealing with them.

The tanks are direct replacements for a Fender Blues Junior and a Mesa Boogie Lonestar Special, although the later tank is made by TAD rather than Belton/Accutronics, which is the brand you’re most likely to find in many Marshall, Mesa and Fender Amps and many more besides.

There are notable differences in the construction of both tanks – the Belton appears to be more expensive to manufacture, so we’ll have to see if it translates to a better tone/experience with the customer.

The SG client opted to get a new set of Gibson Classic ’57 and Classic + ’57 pickups with shiny chrome covers. These differ only slightly from the previous pickups, but sound great now that they’re in the guitar. They sound bright to my ears, in comparison with ’57s in a Les Paul I’ve got, but still lovely and versatile and definitely better than the stock pickups these guitars come with. It’s been a real treat to work on this guitar, and I look forward to the next one!