66 Super Reverb on my bench

[fdesalvo]

Hey, guys. 

I've got an oldie, but goody here on the bench.  Supposedly once owned by Coco Montoya lol.  I love living in SoCal.  Thing smells like a WWII submarine.  My Fiance just loves the bouquet wafting through the condo..

I'm unfamiliar with the vibrato circuit on this amp.  Is it normal for the volume to be impacted by the Speed/Intensity pot settings (with vibrato engaged via footswitch)?  At lower settings, volume is reduces by about 25%.  The vintage 63 Vibroverb I tested earlier didn't exhibit this behavior.  Then again, it likely has a different vibrato topology.

Also, some of the pots have plastic shafts.  Their cases look to be original, however.  Did some of these ship with plastic shafts back in the day? 

Kinda crazy funny.  There must've been about a dozen dried and crispy spiders hanging between the tubes. Also found some old picks and other little surprises under the reverb tank bag.  Amp must've been serviced in the 90's. The previous tech did a cap job using "Matchless" branded Mallorys. 

Anyone in the market for some vintage tone spiders?  I figure you could throw a few of these in your chassis for added sonic juju.  How about one of Coco's french fries from 1967?  A pick??

Thanks!

Pics of nothing in particular:

Strange metallic filings on pot casing.  Pattern almost looks like it was magnetically attracted.  They brushed right off.

 

[jmcecil]

wow, that's tremendous.  thanks for sharing.

 

[jackthehack]

It's been nearly 40 years since I had one of those, and I can't tell you what's wrong, but I can definitely say it is NOT normal for volume to be effected by engaging the vibrato/speed/intensity settings. Then again I don't recall ever operating them past a "3" setting...

 

[fdesalvo]

It's my pleasure to share.

I'm preparing this one for sale. Ironically this is the worst sounding amp in his collection lol. I told him he's having a great day when a holy grail super is your worst amp! 

Thing sounds really sweet with just a fresh set of tubes. She needs more love, so I'm sure she will be mind blowing in short order.  I've been studying the trem circuit. A darker area of my understanding no doubt.

Thanks for checking it out!

 

[Cagey]

You've probably already seen it, but just in case here's a link to a fairly in-depth discussion of the Fender vibrato circuit, with links to other interesting and pertinent items as well.

The trick component(s) involved (neon lamp and photocell) are sorta consumable over time, so if the circuit works at all it's likely they'll be the culprit for reduced performance. Considering the age of the thing...

 

[fdesalvo]

Yah the roach hehe. Thank u.