Anyone Ever Change The Caps In Your Amp?

[Riffraff]

Any tech that tells you he needs to do a "Full Cap Job" in a 16 year old amps is a hack. Stay away from that guy. I've got a bunch of vintage amps and have recapped many of them myself. You don't touch the signal caps unless they fail. Just the electrolytic caps and typically just the filter caps in the power supply unless you are having cap related problems. The only amps I own that have had full cap jobs are 65+ year old tube PA conversions that had warty wax paper caps in them.

 

[dfrattaroli]

Any tech that tells you he needs to do a "Full Cap Job" in a 16 year old amps is a hack. Stay away from that guy. I've got a bunch of vintage amps and have recapped many of them myself. You don't touch the signal caps unless they fail. Just the electrolytic caps and typically just the filter caps in the power supply unless you are having cap related problems. The only amps I own that have had full cap jobs are 65+ year old tube PA conversions that had warty wax paper caps in them.

It seems there are definitely 2 schools of thought when it comes to caps. Some guys like to change them and others don't. I have no dog in the fight as I'm just trying to learn as much as I can. What I can tell you though is this particular tech definitely knows his stuff and is well respected.

Right now, I'd be thrilled if I could figure out the source of the static and remedy that first. I really appreciate everyone's input. Thanks!

 

[FourT6and2]

Any tech that tells you he needs to do a "Full Cap Job" in a 16 year old amps is a hack. Stay away from that guy. I've got a bunch of vintage amps and have recapped many of them myself. You don't touch the signal caps unless they fail. Just the electrolytic caps and typically just the filter caps in the power supply unless you are having cap related problems. The only amps I own that have had full cap jobs are 65+ year old tube PA conversions that had warty wax paper caps in them.

It seems there are definitely 2 schools of thought when it comes to caps. Some guys like to change them and others don't. I have no dog in the fight as I'm just trying to learn as much as I can. What I can tell you though is this particular tech definitely knows his stuff and is well respected.

Right now, I'd be thrilled if I could figure out the source of the static and remedy that first. I really appreciate everyone's input. Thanks!

I too have never heard of anybody replacing signal caps in an amp as part of long-term maintenance. Typically it's just the electrolytic filter/supply caps—unless there is evidence another cap is faulty. The ONLY caps you should be changing are the electrolytics. And you're saying your amp has 30 of them? Can you post a photo of your amp, please?

The other argument is how can a tech tell you your amp needs a "full cap job" without opening it up and checking? Just based on the age? Nah, I don't think so. Maybe I missed the part where you said this tech already checked the amp out?

 

[guitarobert]

The other argument is how can a tech tell you your amp needs a "full cap job" without opening it up and checking? Just based on the age? Nah, I don't think so. Maybe I missed the part where you said this tech already checked the amp out?

+1. If he's saying all 30 caps need to be replaced based on learning in a phone conversation that it's a 16 year old amp, then I wouldn't do business with this tech.

 

[LP Freak]

Any tech that tells you he needs to do a "Full Cap Job" in a 16 year old amps is a hack. Stay away from that guy. I've got a bunch of vintage amps and have recapped many of them myself. You don't touch the signal caps unless they fail. Just the electrolytic caps and typically just the filter caps in the power supply unless you are having cap related problems. The only amps I own that have had full cap jobs are 65+ year old tube PA conversions that had warty wax paper caps in them.

It seems there are definitely 2 schools of thought when it comes to caps. Some guys like to change them and others don't. I have no dog in the fight as I'm just trying to learn as much as I can. What I can tell you though is this particular tech definitely knows his stuff and is well respected.

Right now, I'd be thrilled if I could figure out the source of the static and remedy that first. I really appreciate everyone's input. Thanks!

I too have never heard of anybody replacing signal caps in an amp as part of long-term maintenance. Typically it's just the electrolytic filter/supply caps—unless there is evidence another cap is faulty. The ONLY caps you should be changing are the electrolytics. And you're saying your amp has 30 of them? Can you post a photo of your amp, please?

The other argument is how can a tech tell you your amp needs a "full cap job" without opening it up and checking? Just based on the age? Nah, I don't think so. Maybe I missed the part where you said this tech already checked the amp out?

Agreed

 

[Racerxrated]

Local music store owner here is a former pro...toured all over, played Madison Square Garden as an opener back in the early 90s. He's got a storage garage full of old Fenders, plexis/metalface Marshalls and vintage cabs. And of course plenty of guitars. Anyway, bought some stringsets the other day and I asked him about his vintage amps, has he ever changed the caps? Not one of his amps have had them changed, he's got 30 or so and at least half are 60s vintage. He still plays them in a blues band, and tries to rotate each amp so they all get played at least once a year. I told him there's his retirement fund with all that vintage gold lol....he's obviously in the camp of if it ain't broke don't fix it.....

 

[dfrattaroli]

Not 30 electrolytic caps. There are 30 (or so), in total. I think I saw 2 larger caps and 5 slightly smaller ones on the tube board.

 

[FourT6and2]

Not 30 electrolytic caps. There are 30 (or so), in total. I think I saw 2 larger caps and 5 slightly smaller ones on the tube board.

I am really confused here.

You say "not 30" then you say "there are 30." So which is it? 30 caps, including electrolytic and signal caps? DO NOT CHANGE SIGNAL CAPS. Just electrolytic filter/supply caps. There shouldn't be more than like... 7 or 8 in total.

 

[dfrattaroli]

Yes, 30-ish including signal caps. I think I see 7 filter/supply caps. In this picture you can see what I think the 7 filter/supply caps are. I'll confirm that. The board is in the middle of the chassis. There are 2 black ones and then 5 blue ones to the right a bit. The 2nd pic shows the rest of that board.

 

[FourT6and2]

You're fine. Don't change anything in there unless you can confirm, for sure, they need to be changed. This amp isn't that old.

 

[JackBootedThug]

if jerry says leave it, I would leave it. he spits da truff....

 

[midnightlaundry]

Is that a TSL?

 

[Chester Nimitz]

Ur doing it wrong ...

 

[dfrattaroli]

Is that a TSL?

DSL

 

[dfrattaroli]

Ur doing it wrong ...

OK. I haven't done anything yet.

 

[dfrattaroli]

It's possible though, the static I hear is due to at least one bad cap right? Happens on both channels even when nothing is plugged in with the volume at zero. The volume knob has no effect on it.

 

[midnightlaundry]

Ur doing it wrong ...

OK. I haven't done anything yet.

 

[Racerxrated]

It's possible though, the static I hear is due to at least one bad cap right? Happens on both channels even when nothing is plugged in with the volume at zero. The volume knob has no effect on it.

Try a short cable and plug it in to the send and return on the fx loop. See if it makes any difference. Worth a try. If it does then try some contact cleaner on the inserts.

 

[dfrattaroli]

I think I've decided to change my own caps. Haven't ordered them yet but I've ordered stuff I need to make a discharge cable (alligator clips, resistors, etc.) and to mod my multimeter with some alligator clips as well. Going to pull the chassis, read the stored voltage, discharge it, etc. Just get comfortable. If that happens, I'll order some caps and pull the tube board from the amp. These are the caps I would be changing. Seven in total...

If I can do that without killing myself, I may even put in a choke. Who knows? Maybe along the way, I'll figure out what's causing the intermittent static too. If all else fails, I can always bring it to a tech.

Dave

 

[jimbanzini]

While you're in there replace c46 on the power amp board with a cap rated for 1Kv. It's an old tech bulletin from Korg regarding these amps. The one in there is under-rated and has a bad habit of exploding. I've worked on too many TSLs/DSLs where this has happened and it took out a couple other components and left a nice charred spot on the board.

Your issue does not sound like bad filter caps. I would try troubleshooting elsewhere before going through the hassle of swapping them all out.