# For those techs who've thought they've seen everything....



## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

Here's a little surprise I found in this otherwise clean example of a Mesa MKI reissue. Poor guy's in for a surprise when he finds out how much it will probably cost to clean this thing out and repair it......Little bugger got in through the fan plug delete hole. Sorry for the crooked pics however, you get the idea.


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## epis (Feb 25, 2012)

Well, bedroom is not gonna be a problem, but washroom looks terrible :sSic_vomitbuddy:.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

My savage is in the garage in a plastic bag. I'm afraid to go look. For real.


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

....and urine has this magical ability to literally strip the coating off metals....sigh....



epis said:


> Well, bedroom is not gonna be a problem, but washroom looks terrible :sSic_vomitbuddy:.


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

Tears...all I have is tears.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)




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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

greco said:


>


If Creed is playing through those, that would be the worse mouse trap in the history of mouse traps.


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## JeremyP (Jan 10, 2012)

Whoa! I saw an old fender 1x12 one time that had a mouse , but this one takes the prize. .... 
How many people are currently duct taping holes in their gear because of this thread!? Haha!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I have an Ashley SC-55 limiter/compressor that became home to a mouse for a little while. Took quite a bit of effort to clean it up. Works fine, now, though.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Wow. That's crazy! My place totally has mice too. I can hear them scurrying around in the vents at night. I'm gonna go hunting for duct tape!


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Not meaning to be the alarmist, but if you're not familiar with hantavirus, do a bit of research. The way my lungs are, I would have to just decline a repair like that. Even if there is no virus that is real nasty stuff.
Be safe.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...-death-in-sask-health-officials-say-1.2728015
http://www.cdc.gov/rodents/cleaning/
http://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

I'm very much aware of the hantavirus. I work on Hammond organs after all.....the mouse apartment buildings of music gear.:smile-new:
Having said that, it is a nasty situation in there....



jb welder said:


> Not meaning to be the alarmist, but if you're not familiar with hantavirus, do a bit of research. The way my lungs are, I would have to just decline a repair like that. Even if there is no virus that is real nasty stuff.
> Be safe.
> http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...-death-in-sask-health-officials-say-1.2728015
> http://www.cdc.gov/rodents/cleaning/
> http://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

Nothing says comfort like a Mesa Boogie!

That is a crazy mess. I have never come across a mouse nest like that, even when I bought an amp that was sitting in a barn for the previous 40 years, but I have found bees and crayons that some kid shoved in an old amp.


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## sammyr (May 7, 2013)

I will now spend the rest of my day plugging all mouse sized holes in all my amplifiers...


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## deadear (Nov 24, 2011)

Looks like fiberglass pink insulation. Going to be a little bit colder in that house this winter complete with higher heating bill.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Just put a couple of "Mouse Chasers" in your home. The mini ones are good for about 500 square feet. The large ones are good for over 1000 sq. ft.

A couple of the mini's are just over $20.00 at Home Depot. I've been using them for 7-8 years now. I don't even get mice in my garage.










http://www.amazon.com/Victor-PestChaser-Ultrasonic-Repellent-available/product-reviews/B000FZ1KC2


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Steadfastly said:


> Just put a couple of "Mouse Chasers" in your home. The mini ones are good for about 500 square feet. The large ones are good for over 1000 sq. ft.
> 
> A couple of the mini's are just over $20.00 at Home Depot. I've been using them for 7-8 years now. I don't even get mice in my garage.
> 
> ...



I also use these. We had a mouse problem, but no longer do. I have 4 in my garage, but catch the occasional mouse still. I'm confused.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

I have found roaches in amps before. Both kinds.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

adcandour said:


> I also use these. We had a mouse problem, but no longer do. I have 4 in my garage, but catch the occasional mouse still. I'm confused.


It is likely the location of them. Also, I believe that mice will come in but not stay very long because the electronic beeping drives them nuts so if you have a regular trap in your garage as well, you may catch them during their short stay.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

must be a "Boogie" thing........a Mk II in at my place for repair awhile ago??!! 
















http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m570/loudtubeamps/Amp Porn/DSC03706.jpg

http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m570/loudtubeamps/Amp Porn/DSC03705.jpg


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

holy crap!!

that's pretty nasty


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

So here's the "almost" finished product. I hadn't replaced the blue output transformer wire in this pic. Little bastard gnawed it too...
One socket which was buried in piss and shit was not saveable...had an open supply resistor too....probably died when the customer tried to start it and debris shorted it out.
Amazing just how corrosive mouse urine is....


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## sammyr (May 7, 2013)

Nice work! I was checking back to see if you had put up after pictures, I was curious to see how it would turn out. Lots of work!


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Very nice work indeed! ...especially when one considers the nature of the mess you were dealing with.

Cheers

Dave


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

Can't ask for a better result considering what you were dealing with. I know who to call if this ever happens to one of my amps


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

So did you keep all those big caps, or did you replace them? If you kept them, did you unsolder/remove them temporarily to get at the mess?


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

if I was the owner Id get "Mousa-Boogie" badges made


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

As you can see in the pics, the caps were essentially spared any real damage Mark. I suspect the little monster navigated around them. Further, the hot glue holding them to the board prevented almost all the 'foreign" material from getting under them. The same cannot be said for some of the resistors which was a painstaking cleaning exercise. Forunately, most of the damage was to the chassis.



mhammer said:


> So did you keep all those big caps, or did you replace them? If you kept them, did you unsolder/remove them temporarily to get at the mess?


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## Church-Audio (Sep 27, 2014)

Great work! Nice job cleaning the amp up. Speaking of techs that thought they had seen everything this is an actual amp that got dropped off at my shop  The previous tech, a local hamilton tech used Wax string and hockey tape to secure the "Pyramid" of capacitors he installed in the amp. I like to call it the Pyramid of "death" kinda catchy!


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## deadear (Nov 24, 2011)

Amprepair that was a set up he was trying to get rid of the competition.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

deadear said:


> Amprepair that was a set up he was trying to get rid of the competition.


Could you please explain what you mean by this.

Cheers

Dave


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## deadear (Nov 24, 2011)

greco said:


> Could you please explain what you mean by this.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Dave


You got to look at post #29 picture. Amprepair could get electricuted. Joke.


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## Church-Audio (Sep 27, 2014)

greco said:


> Could you please explain what you mean by this.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Dave


I think it was a joke the "tech" that did this really wild cap job might be trying to kill the next tech that works on the amp that was the joke.


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

...or he's just too lazy to go out and buy the correct parts.


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## Church-Audio (Sep 27, 2014)

Lots of these "barnyard" amp repair guys... Use parts they have lying around in dingy cardboard boxes or drawers. They tell the customer they are all " new " parts but often they are not. I had one customer not to long ago take an amp to a local tech down here, it was a 1968 plexi 50 watts guy said the it was toast kept the transformer and put in a Hammond not exactly my first choice funny thing is the Hammond was used with extended leads... Sad to say the amp got to me I insatlled a marstran in it and told the guy to get his old parts back. Guy says he threw it out yeah right. Lots of uneducated shitty work from crappy techs that use soldering guns instead of spending money on real tools... Burn the shit out of circuit boards and generally hackidy hack hack hack everything they touch. 

Rant / off


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Amprepair said:


> I think it was a joke the "tech" that did this really wild cap job might be trying to kill the next tech that works on the amp that was the joke.


Thanks for helping me with the joke...it went zooooooming right over my (thick as a brick) head...LOL.

Cheers

Dave


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

Fortunately, the other couple of guys here are decent. Where I find problems is with guys buyin' stuff on fleabay where some guy states the old "Well, it worked when it left" bullshit....


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## WCGill (Mar 27, 2009)

Does this mean I'm a "barnyard" amp repair guy?


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

Wow....that looks like a mouse problem just waiting to happen.


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## Church-Audio (Sep 27, 2014)

WCGill said:


> Does this mean I'm a "barnyard" amp repair guy?
> 
> View attachment 10569


Well it means at least you have a barnyard amp lol.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Dishonest/incompetent techs can work out of any kind of yards or very nice looking high-end shops with all the latest best test gear, same as you might find with auto repair shops. You just can't tell, which is why it's good to build a relationship with your tech, mechanic, doctor, etc.
Also, modern barns can be very high-tech, even with robotics :congratulatory:.

Anyway Chris, you seem to get a lot of butchered/hacked stuff to straighten out, sounds like a bad area :confusion:.


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## Pewtershmit (Jun 13, 2014)

This is great!

Here is a Hiwatt Custom 50 that I just got from a friend to rebuild. YES. Those are AAA Batteries soldered directly to the preamp tubes....


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## bluzfish (Mar 12, 2011)

WTF?????? What do you think the purpose those AAAs was to serve?


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## LydianGuitars (Apr 18, 2013)

[SUB]I've had a local tech open up my Marshall Jubilee and not only not fix it but install resistors under the board!!!! I gave him the amp because I just didn't have the time to fix it properly (hum). 

I wasn't happy. I paid him and ended up fixing it myself and had to undo his so called "improvements". 

In terms of eBay amps, I've seen my share of them. I bought one a while back and it did not work at all. The sound had no power and fizzed out. I had to rebuild it. Sounds great now.[/SUB]


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

Holy supernova star-ground Batman!!




Pewtershmit said:


> This is great!
> 
> Here is a Hiwatt Custom 50 that I just got from a friend to rebuild. YES. Those are AAA Batteries soldered directly to the preamp tubes....


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

Holy Crap Batman! ..............betcha' that mod sounded sweet.:Smiley-fart:
Not much of the original design to be seen.... what a shame.
Have fun doing the rebuild, at least you won't have to worry about salvaging any of the components, especially the batteries.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

bluzfish said:


> WTF?????? What do you think the purpose those AAAs was to serve?


Can someone please comment on this question from bluzfish.....I am also very curious.

Has anyone ever seen anything like this AAA battery "approach" before?

Cheers

Dave


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

6.3 volt winding a gonner? Maybe he just wanted it out of the shop operational (I use the term loosely) before he left town....


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

Wow. That may be the ugliest Hiwatt ever.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

nonreverb said:


> Holy supernova star-ground Batman!!


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

WCGill said:


> Does this mean I'm a "barnyard" amp repair guy?
> 
> View attachment 10569


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsnZxfkkoKQ :slash:


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

any chance those AAA batteries are being used as capacitors? :sSig_Idontgetit:

What a mess!!!!!


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## TeleToons (Aug 13, 2014)

What a great thread.

Dying to hear the background story to that Hiwatt that Pewtershmits friend dropped off. Those amp pics are going to become internet legends in a few years.


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## dtsaudio (Apr 15, 2009)

> WTF?????? What do you think the purpose those AAAs was to serve?


Looks like he was attempting to bias the small signal tubes with a battery. Can you say "time bomb"

A little piece of advice Pewtershmit. Gut it and start over. Get the right schematic, and re-wire it from the ground up.


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## Pewtershmit (Jun 13, 2014)

dtsaudio said:


> Looks like he was attempting to bias the small signal tubes with a battery. Can you say "time bomb"
> 
> A little piece of advice Pewtershmit. Gut it and start over. Get the right schematic, and re-wire it from the ground up.


Thats the plan.


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## Church-Audio (Sep 27, 2014)

Pewtershmit said:


> This is great!
> 
> Here is a Hiwatt Custom 50 that I just got from a friend to rebuild. YES. Those are AAA Batteries soldered directly to the preamp tubes....


You guys don't know anything about amp repair! Obviously these batteries are in the amp to provide light when the guy is setting up. It's called the dumb bull battery mod.


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

I LOVE the ball of electronic detritus in the first pic!!! I'd be inclined to hang that as a mobile in my shop for a while.....just as a reminder.




Pewtershmit said:


> Thats the plan.
> 
> View attachment 10581
> 
> ...


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## Church-Audio (Sep 27, 2014)

Here are a few amps I have had to deal with in the last little while. The one amp is a Marshall major 200 watt 1968 or so. It was originally owned by a backline rental company. And sold to my customer. It was "repaired" by the backline company in toronto. They rewired the output transformer. with what else? 18 Ga speaker cable that you would not even use on a speaker. This amp has 800 or so volts floating around inside it. So yeah not a good idea. The other mod is a JTM 45 reissue with a master volume mod put in by someone who obviously never moves his amp lol. The Marshall major with the White and red and black wire is the rewired "fixed" version of the amp that is now safe. I had to get special silicone wire jackets rated at 4,000 volts to rewire the output transformer with so it would be safe heat shrink does not cut it at these voltages.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

For Sale: Hiwatt amp, has "all the mods". Yikes! Those AAA batts. are rechargeables, I think they are being used as cathode bypass caps for the preamp tubes? Would be kind of like hmm, maybe 1farad caps or something lol.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. 

The pics (and discussions) have been things that most of us would never expect to see/know about.

As someone who has an interest in electronics, I have found this to be a very enjoyable and interesting, fascinating, "revealing", eye-opening thread.

Thanks again.

Cheers

Dave


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

I have a customer with a '69 PA conversion he bought from Capsule. The tech had rewired the front end like a JMP.....bad idea. I had to do an extensive amount of rework to that amp. I don't believe the quiescent plate voltage was 800....more like 650 - 700 at today's mains voltage levels....the unique thing is it's ultralinear output transformer. 
Troublesome amp to keep running correctly as if you drive the snot out of it with all kinds of pedals, you can toast the output tranny with excessive voltage. Not an easy amp to get overdrive out of either. Interestingly, I wound up using a 12BH7 as the phase inverter as this particular unit ate 12AU7 PI's.



Amprepair said:


> Here are a few amps I have had to deal with in the last little while. The one amp is a Marshall major 200 watt 1968 or so. It was originally owned by a backline rental company. And sold to my customer. It was "repaired" by the backline company in toronto. They rewired the output transformer. with what else? 18 Ga speaker cable that you would not even use on a speaker. This amp has 800 or so volts floating around inside it. So yeah not a good idea. The other mod is a JTM 45 reissue with a master volume mod put in by someone who obviously never moves his amp lol. The Marshall major with the White and red and black wire is the rewired "fixed" version of the amp that is now safe. I had to get special silicone wire jackets rated at 4,000 volts to rewire the output transformer with so it would be safe heat shrink does not cut it at these voltages.


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## Church-Audio (Sep 27, 2014)

I am pretty sure I used nos 12au7 for the phase inverter on that amp and nos 12ax7 for everything else JJ kt88 because they seem to be tough. It's not an amp you overdrive  it's more of a clean load amp that you can use with pedals. God is it loud!!!!


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

I've heard tell the more square wave you apply to them the more danger there is of killing something in the power section. Ritchie Blackmore was the main user of them and he was blowin' them up constantly during his heyday.


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## Church-Audio (Sep 27, 2014)

I honestly thought it was pretty stable but pretty scary to work on at the same time. And definitely not something I would rewire with cheap speaker cable on the primary side of the output transformer.


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## Church-Audio (Sep 27, 2014)

This is a real amp I had brought to me a few summers ago by a local player. I did replace the power cord don't know who the moron was that did this to it.


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