68 Custom Princeton Reverb - 240v mod?

agibbo

I think I will do this mod on my amp too. Is it as easy as it sounds, just swapping the two connectors over?

ICBM

crunchman said:

Is the amp likely to need rebiasing afterwards?

No.

agibbo said:

I think I will do this mod on my amp too. Is it as easy as it sounds, just swapping the two connectors over?

Yes.

UnclePsychosis

agibbo said:

I think I will do this mod on my amp too. Is it as easy as it sounds, just swapping the two connectors over?

Yes although in my case both connectors were pretty hard to take off. Just be patient, it's not difficult. 

Keefy

I've just done mine. The board was dated March 2017. '230' was written in magic marker on the chassis lip next to the mains inlet, and sure enough, the transformer wires were connected for 230V. I have swapped them for 240V operation.

After I put the amp back together and fired it up, the difference in sound was...

non-existent. At least it's not being cooked though 

noisepolluter

Would those of you who’ve done the swap say the chassis feels a bit cooler? 

Keefy

noisepolluter said:

Would those of you who’ve done the swap say the chassis feels a bit cooler? 

I really can’t tell, sorry.

fandango

Keefy said:

I've just done mine. The board was dated March 2017. '230' was written in magic marker on the chassis lip next to the mains inlet, and sure enough, the transformer wires were connected for 230V. I have swapped them for 240V operation.

I’ve now crossed out 230 EU and in perm marker written 240vUK.

It lets any amp tech know what they are working with.

Keefy

fandango said:

Keefy said:

I've just done mine. The board was dated March 2017. '230' was written in magic marker on the chassis lip next to the mains inlet, and sure enough, the transformer wires were connected for 230V. I have swapped them for 240V operation.

I’ve now crossed out 230 EU and in perm marker written 240vUK.

It lets any amp tech know what they are working with.

Wish I'd thought to do that before putting it all back together!

fandango

noisepolluter said:

Would those of you who’ve done the swap say the chassis feels a bit cooler? 

Definitely cooler.

UnclePsychosis

noisepolluter said:

Would those of you who’ve done the swap say the chassis feels a bit cooler? 

Maybe, but I wouldn't be surprised if thats psychosomatic. 

 

fandango

UnclePsychosis said:

noisepolluter said:

Would those of you who’ve done the swap say the chassis feels a bit cooler? 

Maybe, but I wouldn't be surprised if thats psychosomatic. 

 

Sorry, but that’s absolute tosh.

Temperature is an easily measurable via a temp gauge. NothIng to do with thought patterns.

UnclePsychosis

fandango said:

UnclePsychosis said:

noisepolluter said:

Would those of you who’ve done the swap say the chassis feels a bit cooler? 

Maybe, but I wouldn't be surprised if thats psychosomatic. 

 

Sorry, but that’s absolute tosh.

Temperature is an easily measurable via a temp gauge. NothIng to do with thought patterns.

Yeah, only I was measuring by touching my amp with my hand, a few days after changing something. So you can keep your tosh, ta. 

agibbo

I've just converted mine to 240v and I would say it's a massive difference!

Although it wasn't a noisy amp before, the noise floor is now barely audible and I can hardly hear that the amp is on (with no background hiss at home volume). 

It also seems to sound slightly clearer with the vibrato engaged too.

I'm normally useless with this sort of thing, but if I can do it anyone can, and I highly recommend it!

colourofsound

might give this a crack on my 68 CDR later. @soma1975 thats what you have right? Mind if I shoot you a message if I get stuck?

soma1975

colourofsound said:

might give this a crack on my 68 CDR later. @soma1975 thats what you have right? Mind if I shoot you a message if I get stuck?

By all means give me a message, but know that I opened it up, saw a purple lead where the black one should be and put it all away again. 

But if you don't die let me know and I'll copy. 

soma1975

Just done it. Amp definitely quieter. Less noise. Bit less headroom which is great for me at home. Thanks again @ICBM ;

Alex2678

I know it’s not an amp with as much info available as a Princeton but is this likely to be possible/worthwhile with a bassbreaker 18/30?

fretfinder

RiftAmps said:

ALL modern Fender amps sold in the UK benefit from the 240v conversion

Chris, this may be a dumb question but are your amps like the PR18 and Tweed 15 setup for 240v operation rather than 230v? Thanks.

RiftAmps

fretfinder said:

RiftAmps said:

ALL modern Fender amps sold in the UK benefit from the 240v conversion

Chris, this may be a dumb question but are your amps like the PR18 and Tweed 15 setup for 240v operation rather than 230v? Thanks.

If the amp was originally built for a UK customer, it will be wired for 240v.

EU amps are wired for 230v, USA 120v.

ICBM

Alex2678 said:

I know it’s not an amp with as much info available as a Princeton but is this likely to be possible/worthwhile with a bassbreaker 18/30?

Fender have started being a lot less helpful with publishing their schematics, but I have one for the Bassbreaker 15 which shows the usual white/black 230V (on P12) and black 240V (on P2) wires, so if the 18/30 is the same - the connector numbers may be different - then it will also be possible, and as RiftAmps says it's worth it.