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Yahoo Group Archives » Page 108 »

Reverb Tank Tune-Up(long sorry)

supertwangreverb - 30 Jul 2005 12:37:19

My '64 tank is having issues. I really can't think of a better
place to ask these questions either.
I had it recapped and had a new output transformer put in last July
when I bought it. At the time I bought it it was completly dead and
looked as if it had been sittin for 20 years. I've come to the
conclusion that the tech who replaced these parts although decent at
his job didn't really know how a Fender Reverb tank should sound and
just thought his job was done once he heard a lot of reverb. This
being my first reverb tank I thought 9-9-9 was the typical settings
for the deep drippy/splashy surf sound we all love. If anyone cares
to hear this all the stuff on our myspace site was recorded around 8-
8-8(). With the reissue
and few vintage tanks I've played through sinec, 8-8-8 or 9-9-9 are
ridicoulsly wet. Here's where my problem comes in my tank is still
awfully wet and to most non-surf guitarists/guitar techs it's
overkill. So my bassist who's been fixing amps for the past year
and I are going to replace some of the older parts in the tank. I'm
wondering if anyone else out there has come across this problem.
What did you do to fix it, anything we should look for first? Like
I said it's got a lot of reverb dwell, but I feel like it's missing
that thick drippy sound.
I understand this is really a strange question, and I've thought
maybe I'm just getting immune to the sound of a lot of reverb, but I
seriously think there's something slightly missing from my tank.
Bill
www.reluctantaquanauts.com

Top

supertwangreverb - 03 Aug 2005 14:22:58

Well maybe nobody really knows the answers to this, but I thought
I'd ask one more question.
Thanks to Dario G for all the help this week.
I rewired my tank 3 times now and it's back to the way it should
be. However, it doesnt sound so great. The signal is somewhat
distroted now when playing through it. Maybe this is how it should
sound, but I really doubt that. I've replaced all the tubes,
replaced the tank, and still get this distortion. Anyone ever have
this problem? Another interesting problem that has developed is it
really takes a good kicking to get any tank crash, but it's dripper
sounding when I play my guitar through than ever before. I'm abou
tready to put this on Ebay.
Bill
--- In , "supertwangreverb"
<supertwangreverb@y...> wrote:
> My '64 tank is having issues. I really can't think of a better
> place to ask these questions either.
>
> I had it recapped and had a new output transformer put in last
July
> when I bought it. At the time I bought it it was completly dead
and
> looked as if it had been sittin for 20 years. I've come to the
> conclusion that the tech who replaced these parts although decent
at
> his job didn't really know how a Fender Reverb tank should sound
and
> just thought his job was done once he heard a lot of reverb. This
> being my first reverb tank I thought 9-9-9 was the typical
settings
> for the deep drippy/splashy surf sound we all love. If anyone
cares
> to hear this all the stuff on our myspace site was recorded around
8-
> 8-8(). With the reissue
> and few vintage tanks I've played through sinec, 8-8-8 or 9-9-9
are
> ridicoulsly wet. Here's where my problem comes in my tank is
still
> awfully wet and to most non-surf guitarists/guitar techs it's
> overkill. So my bassist who's been fixing amps for the past year
> and I are going to replace some of the older parts in the tank.
I'm
> wondering if anyone else out there has come across this problem.
> What did you do to fix it, anything we should look for first?
Like
> I said it's got a lot of reverb dwell, but I feel like it's
missing
> that thick drippy sound.
> I understand this is really a strange question, and I've thought
> maybe I'm just getting immune to the sound of a lot of reverb, but
I
> seriously think there's something slightly missing from my tank.
>
> Bill
> www.reluctantaquanauts.com

Top

Roland Bettenville (roland_bettenville) - 03 Aug 2005 15:00:21

Is it the dry signal that is distorted or the wet signal? ( turn the mix
button both ways and listen carefully)
And what do you mean by " rewired " the tank.
Roland Bettenville
-------Oorspronkelijk bericht-------
Van: supertwangreverb
Datum: 08/03/05 21:23:20
Aan:
Onderwerp: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Reverb Tank Tune-Up(long sorry)
Well maybe nobody really knows the answers to this, but I thought
I'd ask one more question.
Thanks to Dario G for all the help this week.
I rewired my tank 3 times now and it's back to the way it should
be. However, it doesnt sound so great. The signal is somewhat
distroted now when playing through it. Maybe this is how it should
sound, but I really doubt that. I've replaced all the tubes,
replaced the tank, and still get this distortion. Anyone ever have
this problem? Another interesting problem that has developed is it
really takes a good kicking to get any tank crash, but it's dripper
sounding when I play my guitar through than ever before. I'm abou
tready to put this on Ebay.
Bill
--- In , "supertwangreverb"
<supertwangreverb@y...> wrote:
> My '64 tank is having issues. I really can't think of a better
> place to ask these questions either.
>
> I had it recapped and had a new output transformer put in last
July
> when I bought it. At the time I bought it it was completly dead
and
> looked as if it had been sittin for 20 years. I've come to the
> conclusion that the tech who replaced these parts although decent
at
> his job didn't really know how a Fender Reverb tank should sound
and
> just thought his job was done once he heard a lot of reverb. This
> being my first reverb tank I thought 9-9-9 was the typical
settings
> for the deep drippy/splashy surf sound we all love. If anyone
cares
> to hear this all the stuff on our myspace site was recorded around
8-
> 8-8(). With the reissue
> and few vintage tanks I've played through sinec, 8-8-8 or 9-9-9
are
> ridicoulsly wet. Here's where my problem comes in my tank is
still
> awfully wet and to most non-surf guitarists/guitar techs it's
> overkill. So my bassist who's been fixing amps for the past year
> and I are going to replace some of the older parts in the tank.
I'm
> wondering if anyone else out there has come across this problem.
> What did you do to fix it, anything we should look for first?
Like
> I said it's got a lot of reverb dwell, but I feel like it's
missing
> that thick drippy sound.
> I understand this is really a strange question, and I've thought
> maybe I'm just getting immune to the sound of a lot of reverb, but
I
> seriously think there's something slightly missing from my tank.
>
> Bill
> www.reluctantaquanauts.com
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Top

supertwangreverb - 03 Aug 2005 15:59:35

Roland - Thanks for the response!
It is the wet signal that is distorted.
Rewired it back to the diagram specifications. I've included a link
to a picture of my tank before I rewired it back to spec.
()
You will notice a blue cap coming off the dwell pot. This isn't
stock, but it's vintage. Someone way back, didn't want this thing
to be as drippy as it could be and added this. So when I say
rewired I meant took it apart and put it back the way it should be.
This distortion problem started after I removed the blue cap, and it
was doing it before we rewired it. Now that it's been rewired it
continues to do so. I thought it was the actual tank going, because
I knocked one of the green wires off the little pickup inside it,
but that's ben soldered back together, and it still distorted when I
tried the tank from my '65 Super Reverb. Replaced all three tubes,
and replaced the RCA wires. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Bill
--- In , "Roland Bettenville"
<roland.bettenville@t...> wrote:
> Is it the dry signal that is distorted or the wet signal? ( turn
the mix
> button both ways and listen carefully)
> And what do you mean by " rewired " the tank.
>
>
>
> Roland Bettenville
>
>
>
>
> -------Oorspronkelijk bericht-------
>
> Van: supertwangreverb
> Datum: 08/03/05 21:23:20
> Aan:
> Onderwerp: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Reverb Tank Tune-Up(long sorry)
>
> Well maybe nobody really knows the answers to this, but I thought
> I'd ask one more question.
> Thanks to Dario G for all the help this week.
>
> I rewired my tank 3 times now and it's back to the way it should
> be. However, it doesnt sound so great. The signal is somewhat
> distroted now when playing through it. Maybe this is how it should
> sound, but I really doubt that. I've replaced all the tubes,
> replaced the tank, and still get this distortion. Anyone ever have
> this problem? Another interesting problem that has developed is it
> really takes a good kicking to get any tank crash, but it's dripper
> sounding when I play my guitar through than ever before. I'm abou
> tready to put this on Ebay.
>
> Bill
>
>
> --- In , "supertwangreverb"
> <supertwangreverb@y...> wrote:
> > My '64 tank is having issues. I really can't think of a better
> > place to ask these questions either.
> >
> > I had it recapped and had a new output transformer put in last
> July
> > when I bought it. At the time I bought it it was completly dead
> and
> > looked as if it had been sittin for 20 years. I've come to the
> > conclusion that the tech who replaced these parts although decent
> at
> > his job didn't really know how a Fender Reverb tank should sound
> and
> > just thought his job was done once he heard a lot of reverb.
This
> > being my first reverb tank I thought 9-9-9 was the typical
> settings
> > for the deep drippy/splashy surf sound we all love. If anyone
> cares
> > to hear this all the stuff on our myspace site was recorded
around
> 8-
> > 8-8(). With the reissue
> > and few vintage tanks I've played through sinec, 8-8-8 or 9-9-9
> are
> > ridicoulsly wet. Here's where my problem comes in my tank is
> still
> > awfully wet and to most non-surf guitarists/guitar techs it's
> > overkill. So my bassist who's been fixing amps for the past year
> > and I are going to replace some of the older parts in the tank.
> I'm
> > wondering if anyone else out there has come across this problem.
> > What did you do to fix it, anything we should look for first?
> Like
> > I said it's got a lot of reverb dwell, but I feel like it's
> missing
> > that thick drippy sound.
> > I understand this is really a strange question, and I've thought
> > maybe I'm just getting immune to the sound of a lot of reverb,
but
> I
> > seriously think there's something slightly missing from my tank.
> >
> > Bill
> > www.reluctantaquanauts.com
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------
~-->
> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="
> com/SIG=12hjvs8b9/M=362335.6886442.7839733
>
3022183/D=grplch/S=1705032047:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1123104179/A=2894366/R=0
/SIG=138
> 78jl6/*
> org/topics/arts_culture/?
source=YAHOO&cmpgn=GRP&RTP=
> >What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater?
Donate or
> volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good</a>.</font>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
-~->
>
> ..
> Visit for archived
messages,
> bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Top

Roland Bettenville (roland_bettenville) - 03 Aug 2005 17:04:59

No, I don't think the blue cap needs to be there.
Now when you lower the dwell does it take the distortion away? Or has it no
effect at all?
Roland Bettenville
-------Oorspronkelijk bericht-------
Van: supertwangreverb
Datum: 08/03/05 23:00:01
Aan:
Onderwerp: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Reverb Tank Tune-Up(long sorry)
Roland - Thanks for the response!
It is the wet signal that is distorted.
Rewired it back to the diagram specifications. I've included a link
to a picture of my tank before I rewired it back to spec.
()
You will notice a blue cap coming off the dwell pot. This isn't
stock, but it's vintage. Someone way back, didn't want this thing
to be as drippy as it could be and added this. So when I say
rewired I meant took it apart and put it back the way it should be.
This distortion problem started after I removed the blue cap, and it
was doing it before we rewired it. Now that it's been rewired it
continues to do so. I thought it was the actual tank going, because
I knocked one of the green wires off the little pickup inside it,
but that's ben soldered back together, and it still distorted when I
tried the tank from my '65 Super Reverb. Replaced all three tubes,
and replaced the RCA wires. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Bill
--- In , "Roland Bettenville"
<roland.bettenville@t...> wrote:
> Is it the dry signal that is distorted or the wet signal? ( turn
the mix
> button both ways and listen carefully)
> And what do you mean by " rewired " the tank.
>
>
>
> Roland Bettenville
>
>
>
>
> -------Oorspronkelijk bericht-------
>
> Van: supertwangreverb
> Datum: 08/03/05 21:23:20
> Aan:
> Onderwerp: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Reverb Tank Tune-Up(long sorry)
>
> Well maybe nobody really knows the answers to this, but I thought
> I'd ask one more question.
> Thanks to Dario G for all the help this week.
>
> I rewired my tank 3 times now and it's back to the way it should
> be. However, it doesnt sound so great. The signal is somewhat
> distroted now when playing through it. Maybe this is how it should
> sound, but I really doubt that. I've replaced all the tubes,
> replaced the tank, and still get this distortion. Anyone ever have
> this problem? Another interesting problem that has developed is it
> really takes a good kicking to get any tank crash, but it's dripper
> sounding when I play my guitar through than ever before. I'm abou
> tready to put this on Ebay.
>
> Bill
>
>
> --- In , "supertwangreverb"
> <supertwangreverb@y...> wrote:
> > My '64 tank is having issues. I really can't think of a better
> > place to ask these questions either.
> >
> > I had it recapped and had a new output transformer put in last
> July
> > when I bought it. At the time I bought it it was completly dead
> and
> > looked as if it had been sittin for 20 years. I've come to the
> > conclusion that the tech who replaced these parts although decent
> at
> > his job didn't really know how a Fender Reverb tank should sound
> and
> > just thought his job was done once he heard a lot of reverb.
This
> > being my first reverb tank I thought 9-9-9 was the typical
> settings
> > for the deep drippy/splashy surf sound we all love. If anyone
> cares
> > to hear this all the stuff on our myspace site was recorded
around
> 8-
> > 8-8(). With the reissue
> > and few vintage tanks I've played through sinec, 8-8-8 or 9-9-9
> are
> > ridicoulsly wet. Here's where my problem comes in my tank is
> still
> > awfully wet and to most non-surf guitarists/guitar techs it's
> > overkill. So my bassist who's been fixing amps for the past year
> > and I are going to replace some of the older parts in the tank.
> I'm
> > wondering if anyone else out there has come across this problem.
> > What did you do to fix it, anything we should look for first?
> Like
> > I said it's got a lot of reverb dwell, but I feel like it's
> missing
> > that thick drippy sound.
> > I understand this is really a strange question, and I've thought
> > maybe I'm just getting immune to the sound of a lot of reverb,
but
> I
> > seriously think there's something slightly missing from my tank.
> >
> > Bill
> > www.reluctantaquanauts.com
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------
~-->
> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="
> com/SIG=12hjvs8b9/M=362335.6886442.7839733
>
3022183/D=grplch/S=1705032047:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1123104179/A=2894366/R=0
/SIG=138
> 78jl6/*
> org/topics/arts_culture/?
source=YAHOO&cmpgn=GRP&RTP=
> >What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater?
Donate or
> volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good</a>.</font>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
-~->
>
> ..
> Visit for archived
messages,
> bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
<font face=arial size=-1><a href="
com/SIG=12hialrgq/M=362335.6886442.7839733
3022183/D=grplch/S=1705032047:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1123109981/A=2894366/R=0/SIG=138
78jl6/*
org/topics/arts_culture/?source=YAHOO&cmpgn=GRP&RTP=
>What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? Donate or
volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good</a>.</font>
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
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Top

Roland Bettenville (roland_bettenville) - 03 Aug 2005 17:46:23

That blue cap is still intriguing me. It is not very clear on the picture,
does it go to one of the solder lugs of the pot?
You say the distortion started after you took it out. Maybe you created a
bad contact when you unsolder it? You can redo de soldering's where it used
to be.
For diagnostic reasons you can put the cap back into the circuit to see if
it really takes the distortion away.
Another possibility is a bad contact into the tube sockets that showed up
after replacing the tubes. Or maybe one of the new tubes is defective?
Put back the old tubes to be sure.
Hope this helps
Roland Bettenville
-------Oorspronkelijk bericht-------
Van: supertwangreverb
Datum: 08/03/05 23:00:01
Aan:
Onderwerp: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Reverb Tank Tune-Up(long sorry)
Roland - Thanks for the response!
It is the wet signal that is distorted.
Rewired it back to the diagram specifications. I've included a link
to a picture of my tank before I rewired it back to spec.
()
You will notice a blue cap coming off the dwell pot. This isn't
stock, but it's vintage. Someone way back, didn't want this thing
to be as drippy as it could be and added this. So when I say
rewired I meant took it apart and put it back the way it should be.
This distortion problem started after I removed the blue cap, and it
was doing it before we rewired it. Now that it's been rewired it
continues to do so. I thought it was the actual tank going, because
I knocked one of the green wires off the little pickup inside it,
but that's ben soldered back together, and it still distorted when I
tried the tank from my '65 Super Reverb. Replaced all three tubes,
and replaced the RCA wires. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Bill
--- In , "Roland Bettenville"
<roland.bettenville@t...> wrote:
> Is it the dry signal that is distorted or the wet signal? ( turn
the mix
> button both ways and listen carefully)
> And what do you mean by " rewired " the tank.
>
>
>
> Roland Bettenville
>
>
>
>
> -------Oorspronkelijk bericht-------
>
> Van: supertwangreverb
> Datum: 08/03/05 21:23:20
> Aan:
> Onderwerp: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Reverb Tank Tune-Up(long sorry)
>
> Well maybe nobody really knows the answers to this, but I thought
> I'd ask one more question.
> Thanks to Dario G for all the help this week.
>
> I rewired my tank 3 times now and it's back to the way it should
> be. However, it doesnt sound so great. The signal is somewhat
> distroted now when playing through it. Maybe this is how it should
> sound, but I really doubt that. I've replaced all the tubes,
> replaced the tank, and still get this distortion. Anyone ever have
> this problem? Another interesting problem that has developed is it
> really takes a good kicking to get any tank crash, but it's dripper
> sounding when I play my guitar through than ever before. I'm abou
> tready to put this on Ebay.
>
> Bill
>
>
> --- In , "supertwangreverb"
> <supertwangreverb@y...> wrote:
> > My '64 tank is having issues. I really can't think of a better
> > place to ask these questions either.
> >
> > I had it recapped and had a new output transformer put in last
> July
> > when I bought it. At the time I bought it it was completly dead
> and
> > looked as if it had been sittin for 20 years. I've come to the
> > conclusion that the tech who replaced these parts although decent
> at
> > his job didn't really know how a Fender Reverb tank should sound
> and
> > just thought his job was done once he heard a lot of reverb.
This
> > being my first reverb tank I thought 9-9-9 was the typical
> settings
> > for the deep drippy/splashy surf sound we all love. If anyone
> cares
> > to hear this all the stuff on our myspace site was recorded
around
> 8-
> > 8-8(). With the reissue
> > and few vintage tanks I've played through sinec, 8-8-8 or 9-9-9
> are
> > ridicoulsly wet. Here's where my problem comes in my tank is
> still
> > awfully wet and to most non-surf guitarists/guitar techs it's
> > overkill. So my bassist who's been fixing amps for the past year
> > and I are going to replace some of the older parts in the tank.
> I'm
> > wondering if anyone else out there has come across this problem.
> > What did you do to fix it, anything we should look for first?
> Like
> > I said it's got a lot of reverb dwell, but I feel like it's
> missing
> > that thick drippy sound.
> > I understand this is really a strange question, and I've thought
> > maybe I'm just getting immune to the sound of a lot of reverb,
but
> I
> > seriously think there's something slightly missing from my tank.
> >
> > Bill
> > www.reluctantaquanauts.com
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------
~-->
> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="
> com/SIG=12hjvs8b9/M=362335.6886442.7839733
>
3022183/D=grplch/S=1705032047:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1123104179/A=2894366/R=0
/SIG=138
> 78jl6/*
> org/topics/arts_culture/?
source=YAHOO&cmpgn=GRP&RTP=
> >What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater?
Donate or
> volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good</a>.</font>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
-~->
>
> ..
> Visit for archived
messages,
> bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
<font face=arial size=-1><a href="
com/SIG=12hialrgq/M=362335.6886442.7839733
3022183/D=grplch/S=1705032047:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1123109981/A=2894366/R=0/SIG=138
78jl6/*
org/topics/arts_culture/?source=YAHOO&cmpgn=GRP&RTP=
>What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? Donate or
volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good</a>.</font>
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
..
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Top