Brownface Service

We can get your ‘brownface’ 6G Fender amp sounding and performing better than it ever has.  As part of the standard maintenance/tune-up service, we clean all pots, jacks & switches, clean & re-tension all tube sockets, test all tubes, check power tube bias, tighten all pots, jacks, switches & transformers, and give the entire circuit an exam.  

We pride ourselves in restoring your vintage Fender to top working condition, sounding better than it ever has, while fully maintaining the integrity of the original circuit.

A full electrolytic recap is often required in original amps. 

 As part of the service we dial in the circuit (called blueprinting) – certain vital components are replaced if out of spec.   This can greatly enhance the sound and performance of the amplifier and brings the circuit to it’s full potential as intended by its designers!

The original blue ‘molded’ signal caps found in the later brownface amps are some of the best caps ever made, regarding tone, performance, and longevity!  Those stay in!!  If your amp had those caps removed for some unfortunate reason, we can restore the circuit using Jupiter Condenser ‘vintage tone’ series signal capacitors.  These sound remarkably close to the original blues.  The Yellow Astron caps found in many brownface amps sound great, but performance can be an issue.  These caps have a tendency to leak DCV, which can cause performance, stability and noise issues ranging from minor to severe.  We have seen amps loaded with yellow Astrons in perfect working condition, and others where every one needed replacement! 

We prefer to replace certain power handling resistors that do get noisy over time such as the plate resistors in the preamp, bias board resistor, screen grid resistors on the power tubes, and power drop resistors in the power supply.  This ensures a quiet and reliable circuit for years to come.  If these resistors are not changed, you’re rolling the dice.  They might be quiet for years, or they might get noisy tomorrow!  We ‘d rather not see the amp on the bench again any time soon.

Low end thump can be a problematic issue that is often inherent in the three tube harmonic vibrato circuits.  We have a few tricks we do to reduce this significantly, but it is rarely eliminated completely. 

 Bias Modification:  The ONLY modification we recommend doing to a brownface Fender amplifier is the addition of an adjustable bias pot.  Most of these amps have a ‘fixed bias’ circuit.  The bias point of the power tubes is determined by one single resistor.  Back when power tubes were made in the USA and were a bit more consistent from tube to tube, this worked out pretty well.  These days, there is a tremendous amount of operational variation from tube to tube, brand to brand, etc etc.  It is incredibly beneficial to add an adjustable bias pot to these circuits.  This pot has the exact same function as the single ‘fixed’ resistor, but with the benefit of being able to adjust that resistance value!  This allows you to really dial in the power tube bias to the perfect setting for your tastes and playing style, while maintaining the integrity and function of the original circuit.  We use a single mini pot, held in place with a carbon resistor on one side, a straight wire on the other, and a dab of silicone!  NO DRILLING!!!!  And fully reversible if you ever decide to return the amp back to ‘stock’.

I do need to point out that a relatively new 'condition' has been popping up quite a bit lately, where the steel chassis are oxidizing enough to interfere with the ground connection between the chassis and bronze grounding plate under the tone pots and input jacks.  I've been needing to remove, polish and clean the plate and chassis and apply contact enhancer before re-installing. This adds about an hour of labor, but it has been literally eliminating hum and other noise issues that may persist after a basic servicing. 
We ARE talking about 50+ year old amps after all!!  

Shop rates are $100/hour plus parts.  A typical complete servicing takes about 3-4 hours (add an hour for the bronze plate treatment), and tends to average around $400 - $800 for the full treatment, depending on model, signal cap situation, selection of certain components - NOS or new production carbon comp resistors, tube condition, etc.  This estimate allows a new preamp tube or two, but does not include the price of a full re-tube if needed or desired. 

Current turnaround time is approx 30 business days.

Please reach out if you have any questions at all!