Fender Bandmaster Restoration

Fender Bandmaster Restoration

Having an “old” amp in the shop is always exciting, even if it’s a long process to bring them back to life.


First step is always a good checkup of the beast. In that case, that’s a “weird” Fender Bandmaster head (probably from ‘63) inside a Fender Pro 2x10” Combo with strange tolex, and weird esthetic repairs. 

The circuit itself is in pretty good shape, almost 100% original. Stock caps (Danger zone here), mismatched tubes (that’s bad), scratchy pots, etc. Overall, it’s a good starting point. Ordering some Caps, knobs (one is broken), tubes, resistors, tube sockets. 


A couple of weeks later (some stuff is coming from the US, Canada, etc.), let’s dive deep into the replacement process. 


All those Electrolytic caps need replacement. The doghouse ones are all stock also. 

New caps are now installed, see how they are smaller than the old one? Add drop of glue to make them stick to the board and independent from the vibration. You can buy any "up to specs" cap, or see if someone is selling a kit. Be aware of the very high voltage in those early Fender.




You also see the 4 drop resistors that are changed on the previous picture. It’s not required but, with value drifting, is always recommended.


An overall cleanup of the amp, potentiometers, added a new tube holder on those big 6L6 bottles (personal preference on flipped down amp chassis). 


The combo itself was in such a bad shape that we choose to retolex (even if I normally prefer the vintage mojo vibe) with the original blonde style from the early 60’s Fender. The amp will look like new for a couple of months, but overall, it was a pretty cool restoration process!

 

 

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