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I'm going to look at a Silverface Pro Reverb, the seller says 69-70 but the chassis stamp seems to date it to 1974. It's A188xxx.
I can't get a clear picture on the circuits vs year, any major changes etc, sites seem to vary a lot in what they say. Some say 69-74 is pretty much the same. It doesn't have a master vol, no mid control.
The main thing is would it being 74 make it less desirable/valuable than a 69, is what it boils down to really.
Cheers for any insights.
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That said, all SF Fenders are now potentially problematic and need to be approached with price caution, since they will all need a full filter cap job soon if it hasn't been done already, and many suffer from the notorious board-conductivity problem as well as just the usual signs of a long working life and often 'fix-it' repairs rather than being done properly, if they break down.
A '74 won't have the 'tail' logo, unless it's been changed, a '69 will. There are a couple of minor circuit differences, but it's one of the models that wasn't changed much. (Until 1976, anyway.)
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The serial number is a reliable indicator of age. Also original speaker codes can be deciphered for age as well as original transformer codes. The 68 silverface (known as drip-edge) had a chrome trim round the front of the speaker baffle and fetch a bit more despite the dubious improvements to the circuit which were sensibly improved on the later non-master volume amps.
These amps can develop the 'sniffles' if they have been kept in damp conditions. It 's like a white noise that comes and goes randomly and is caused by the wax fibre main circuit board absorbing moisture. Another foible is the tremolo circuit can develop a ticking sound. Any decent tech can sort these problems.
The mains filter capacitors are enclosed in a metal shield fixed to the chassis called the 'doghouse'. These caps must be replaced if they are over ten years old.
Ideally you should be able to hear it on 4 on the volume and you will definitely hear the wow factor if everything is healthy. Any over £500 should really be the Export model for 240 volts and not a US model with step-up transformer.
Many thanks all, I'll read up on the boad conductivity, I knew of it but that's all. The amp's supposed to have been serviced & maintained but I'm expecting to take it to someone to check over.
It has Utah speakers which seem not majorly loved but I've not hear them, or any before. It is a tail-less logo, and 240v, I'll give it a close look for signs of mods/bodges etc.
It may once have been true, but from the 1980s onwards cap quality and lifespan increased markedly.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The other speakers fitted by Fender included Oxfords (sometimes called Oxfarts) and Pyle (sometimes called Pile of xxxp). I guess they are all judged by the Jensen, Weber and Rola Celestion drivers.
I used a SF Pro Reverb as my main amp for ages and they are great.
You want the earlier version with the valve rectifier, which this should be.
I don't think there is much difference in value in 69 - 74 in these amps.
Main issues are mainly whether the cab in is good condition and whether the amp has suffered any hack repairs over the years.
Utah speakers are great, Oxfords less so. I've got a pair of reconed 60s C12Ns in mine.
If it hasn't been recapped then I would recommend getting this done.
You can also get this circuit converted to the BF circuit, which I think is an improvement.
Utahs are my preferred speaker in SF amps and sound great.
I've worked on 100's of SF / BF amps amp and rarely have I found board conduction to be a problem; in my opinion this seems to be a problem invented by techs as a way of increasing the repair bill, especially if they recommend replacing the board itself!
The only area of the PCB where DC leakage is a common problem is around the 3.3M (sometime 4.7M) mix resistor in the reverb recovery / mixing stage. With such a high resistance a small DC leakage will cause problems, however this is easy to fix by lifting the resistor and surrounding circuitry of the board and onto some tag strip.
Ultimately if the amp is working fine with no odd noises it can be made to work reliably.
I've also had several Musicmaster Bass amps which have trouble around the input resistors and cap - which makes the usual hum and buzz worse - but this is a poorly-laid-out amp anyway, and I suspect that being cheap they didn't pay as much attention as they should have.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
So it did become a NAD -
http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/pro_reverb/pro_reverb1.jpg
All seems good, it's very quiet, sounds great.. only been run to 3 so far, can't wait to give it more beans.
There's a slight ticking from the vibrato, a fairly quiet tick, but I'll have it all looked over.
It's set to 230v, I haven't tried 240 yet, wonder if any difference could be heard.
http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/pro_reverb/voltage_switch.jpg
The one unknown is this switch added to the rear, the last owner didn't know what it's for and I haven't tried. I'll pop the chassis out on the offchance I can work it out but I'm a long way from being able to read circuits
http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/pro_reverb/pr_switch.jpg