Thanks. That is where the magic happens...
Thanks. That is where the magic happens...
chiily
PFM Special Builder
You tease you!
chiily
PFM Special Builder
I keep on looking at that amp and I'm amazed at how beautiful it looks. You did a wonderful job there Tony.
This is where I stopped with the TL12 Plus. They were obviously in really nice condition from the off, just filthy. I’ve done nothing beyond really deep-cleaning with the Servisol and a yellow duster. The screws and bolts are all untouched as I like the way they look and think shining them up just wouldn’t look right IMO. I did use a car wax on the paintwork to hopefully protect it a little, but that’s the extent of it. I’d personally not use anything more abrasive than a yellow duster or cotton-bud on paintwork, just let the Servisol do its thing. The only exception is with the paint-splatter shown upthread, I would try soaking it in Servisol and then gently try to nudge it off with a plastic spudger, guitar pick or credit card, i.e. something hopefully soft enough not to scratch the underlying paint.
PS Again from personal experience etc I have found car T-Cut type products absolutely disastrous with audio kit. I’m very firmly in the ‘no abrasives’ camp.
chiily
PFM Special Builder
Just opened up the Variscope to date up the four EF86. The Variscope has a date of 18/6/1963 manufacture.
Yellow label - B3A1, Blackburn, 1963, Jan, week 1.
Yellow label -B3A1, Blackburn, 1963, Jan, week 1.
Yellow label -B3B3, Blackburn, 1963, Feb, week 3.
White label -D1B3, Valvo, Hamburg (Germany), guessing at 1971 rather than 1961, Feb, Week 3.
Getters are all circular and look shiny.
The ST20 came with mainly Pinnicale valves, apart from a Mullard GZ34 - Yellow label, B4K4, Blackburn, 1964 (1974?), Nov, week 4
Yellow label - B3A1, Blackburn, 1963, Jan, week 1.
Yellow label -B3A1, Blackburn, 1963, Jan, week 1.
Yellow label -B3B3, Blackburn, 1963, Feb, week 3.
White label -D1B3, Valvo, Hamburg (Germany), guessing at 1971 rather than 1961, Feb, Week 3.
Getters are all circular and look shiny.
The ST20 came with mainly Pinnicale valves, apart from a Mullard GZ34 - Yellow label, B4K4, Blackburn, 1964 (1974?), Nov, week 4
Tony L
Administrator
Thanks, though as I say I did very little, they are both really nice examples. The hardest bit was waiting four years or so for another one of a similar age and cosmetic condition to turn up!
The GZ34 will be ‘64 for sure, the yellow labels date to early to mid-60s. They are, thankfully given their value, very reliable valves.
paulfromcamden
Baffled
I spotted this today in an FT article about the collectors market for vintage scooters.
“Finding certain Vespas and Lambrettas is difficult; they’ve just gone,” adds Diamond – models that weren’t valued at the time weren’t preserved. “However, the next collectibles are surfacing. Collectors now want ‘handlebar Vespas’ – with the higher headlamp, as opposed to faro basso (‘low light’) headlamps fitted for the Italian market. Mid-1950s 42L2s and 92L2s are gathering momentum as the last reasonably-priced ‘handlebar’ Douglas Vespas,” he adds. “£4,000 needing restoration, £6,000 for good ones. They’ll double that within 24 months. Crucial for collectors is original paint; it wasn’t always important, but now it’s vital.”
Interesting that the market can change like that.
This is people acting with their heart and not their heads. Either that or they want a life style change to times they remember, or think might have been better. I have to say that I don't remember the 1960s and 70s being better!
I don't really get the Vespa/Lambretta thing as they were ere extremely unreliable back in the day and still are today, same as 1960s cars, apart from a few like Jaguar, Mercedes, Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Armstrong Siddeley etc, the rest were just rubbish. I remember going to work in the mid 1970s and it was 50/50 whether your car would start in the morning, especially in the winter...
For the price of a shitty Vespa that would need completely restoring, you can buy a brand new Royal Enfield Interceptor/Continental GT and have some amazing fun and experiences on.
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Darren L
Egalitarian
Yes, in the past 'classics would've been restored to a factory fresh finish, quite often the finish bettering the original finish but nowadays the classic bikes that command the highest price will have the original paint, but this is mainly in Japan, no doubt in keeping with the Wabi sabi concept.
paulfromcamden
Baffled
Yes but how are you going to keep your Italian suit and loafers clean? ;-)
Yes, it will vary depending on where in the world. Most will want a vehicle fully restored to better than new condition, which is possible today.
chiily
PFM Special Builder
Can I just say this is an excellent recommendation. The wax, when applied very sparingly and buffed off provides a wonderful sheen, almost a gloss, but not quite. I'm quite impressed with the finish.
And in fact you were quite correct that the best way is to clean the dirt off and preserve, warts and all of the amp's condition. Yes I've cleaned the valve sockets, yes I've renewed the internal components, I've replaced the phono sockets with something that looks like the original (not the gold plated tower types) and updated the speaker sockets, again to something I think discreet, but overall the amp has the scars of its life, with a modicum of polish.
I shall post some pictures later this week when I finish re-mounting the transformers. Though I haven't started the polish on their casing yet.
I'm just hoping that the paint for the PSU caps, Ford's Olympic Gold, is a match for the rest of the paint work. Caps have had four thin coats of etching primer, curing over night, quick run down and I'll start with the colour.
I hope the bloody thing works when I turn it on...
I did end up taking the guts of the amplifier out to get to the Phono sockets, that were a little tired.
2022-04-04_08-29-15 by Garf Arf, on FlickrNice penciled date.
2022-04-04_08-27-22 by Garf Arf, on FlickrNew sockets using the old mounts.
PXL_20220402_152219712 by Garf Arf, on FlickrOld and new caps.
PXL_20220402_152157600~2 by Garf Arf, on FlickrCaps just chillin'
PXL_20220403_114333793 by Garf Arf, on Flickr
chiily
PFM Special Builder
A little more progress.
Left the screws, nuts and bolts to soak in vinegar over night. Scrubbed them down with a toothbrush and the majority of the rust just dropped off.
2022-04-10_04-59-02 by Garf Arf, on Flickr
I've remounted the transformers and the PSU caps, which I painted and turned out a little brighter than the original paint work.
PXL_20220410_143958857 by Garf Arf, on Flickr
PXL_20220410_143744071 by Garf Arf, on Flickr
PXL_20220410_143704008 by Garf Arf, on Flickr
Left the screws, nuts and bolts to soak in vinegar over night. Scrubbed them down with a toothbrush and the majority of the rust just dropped off.
2022-04-10_04-59-02 by Garf Arf, on FlickrI've remounted the transformers and the PSU caps, which I painted and turned out a little brighter than the original paint work.
PXL_20220410_143958857 by Garf Arf, on FlickrPXL_20220410_143744071 by Garf Arf, on FlickrPXL_20220410_143704008 by Garf Arf, on Flickr
snowman_al
pfm Member
^^^ +1.
Nice to see the phono sockets and speaker sockets done like that.
Nice to see the phono sockets and speaker sockets done like that.
Tony L
Administrator
Agreed. I like that a lot and it is a frustration with mine. The first person at it replaced the phono sockets with larger gold ones, with of all things star-washers, which inevitably damaged the paint, therefore denying me that far neater option. You can’t see this with the modern RCAs and my coloured plastic washers fitted, but it still winds me up. It is a key reason I went so obsessively down the TL12 Plus path. I wanted two identical strong EX condition amps in a totally unrestored state (I waited years for the second!) so every single decision was mine and I could make anything I did fully and easily reversible. I have done no harm with that restoration at all!
chiily
PFM Special Builder
Thank you, especially from yourself with the wonderful restoration work you have done.
All the amps I've built I've always use flush mounted speaker connections. They just look much neater than gaudy "sticky out" types.
The phono sockets did take me awhile. I drilled out the original phono socket mounts and mounted a couple of non insulated sockets. It was fiddly and I spent ages getting them perfectly centred. Off center would drive me mad over time.
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chiily
PFM Special Builder
A work in progress shot underneath.
2022-04-10_09-48-46 by Garf Arf, on Flickr
I'm waiting on a four PIO 0.22uf caps from the Ukraine, via eBay. I'm in no rush as I've substituted four polyester 0.22uf caps instead.
I should add that just about every resistor was well outside its maximum 20% tolerance, so they were all replaced with mainly Takman carbon films, with a pair of Dale RN55s in the feedback loop.
Hopefully I've wired the two new PSU caps right. And I noticed that this Leak, like the others I've seen pictures of, have their mains connections wired the wrong way around wrt the markings on the inside of the Bulgin plug. In other words the Netural is fused and not the Live. I'm in the process of making sure the live is fused.
2022-04-10_09-48-46 by Garf Arf, on FlickrI'm waiting on a four PIO 0.22uf caps from the Ukraine, via eBay. I'm in no rush as I've substituted four polyester 0.22uf caps instead.
I should add that just about every resistor was well outside its maximum 20% tolerance, so they were all replaced with mainly Takman carbon films, with a pair of Dale RN55s in the feedback loop.
Hopefully I've wired the two new PSU caps right. And I noticed that this Leak, like the others I've seen pictures of, have their mains connections wired the wrong way around wrt the markings on the inside of the Bulgin plug. In other words the Netural is fused and not the Live. I'm in the process of making sure the live is fused.
chiily
PFM Special Builder
A very stupid question, but I want to be double sure as output transformers would be irreplaceable. I assume that the output transformers are interchangeable between channels?
I ask because I seemed to have swapped left for right - it was late when I was mounting them and I thought I had them the right way around.
I ask because I seemed to have swapped left for right - it was late when I was mounting them and I thought I had them the right way around.
Simon Dawson
Angry, Ill & Ugly
A work in progress shot underneath.
I'm waiting on a four PIO 0.22uf caps from the Ukraine, via eBay. I'm in no rush as I've substituted four polyester 0.22uf caps instead.
I should add that just about every resistor was well outside its maximum 20% tolerance, so they were all replaced with mainly Takman carbon films, with a pair of Dale RN55s in the feedback loop.
Hopefully I've wired the two new PSU caps right. And I noticed that this Leak, like the others I've seen pictures of, have their mains connections wired the wrong way around wrt the markings on the inside of the Bulgin plug. In other words the Netural is fused and not the Live. I'm in the process of making sure the live is fused.
Looks great. Where did you get the speaker sockets from? I need to replace mine.
Tony L
Administrator
A very stupid question, but I want to be double sure as output transformers would be irreplaceable. I assume that the output transformers are interchangeable between channels?
I ask because I seemed to have swapped left for right - it was late when I was mounting them and I thought I had them the right way around.
They are the same part number, they aren’t mirror image or anything as you can see from the top impedance selector.