This is my own AC30 it dates from 1963 signed on the top right by its designer the late Dick Denney.

This he did on the occasion of his 80th birthday party on the 24th February 2001 at the sports and leisure centre Hastings. He was taken ill on the night, and sadly passed away just a few months later on the 6ht June. It reads, " To John, Best wishes, Dick Denney". My guess is this is the last amp he ever signed.

I have owned and gigged this amp for a good number of years now. It used to belong to Jim Green, the rhythm guitarist in my old band " The Soundimension" . He paid £25 for it around 1968, I can vouch for its history since then.

When he had the amp first, it had one leather handle on one end of the amp. That one was worn through on one end, the other two were missing, the brackets having broken.

I restored the amp as it is now around about 1995

1959 FENDER BASSMAN

Back in May of this year 2010 I got a phone cal that went something like this.

Hi my name's Steve, wondering if you could take a look at my amp, an old 59 Bassman it's not sounding so good, a little fizzy if you know what I mean.

(Me) Yea ok bring it in an we'll have a look at it.

(S) Can I drop it in tomorrow)

(Me) Umm yes that'll be ok , what did you say your name was?

(S) It's Steve, I'll see you around eleven tomorrow then ok.

(Me) Ok Steve I'll look out for you.

When he turned up the following day he brought in a really scruffy been everywhere 59 bassman. My camera has done it justice because it actually looks much worse then the pictures show. The grill cloth and tweed top was/is filthy, but Steve said don't clean it up too much I'm a little superstitious about things like that, they never seem to sound the same afterwards. We took it in to the workshop and Steve plugged in a beat up old guitar, played a few low notes, not loud and sure enough there was a fizzy noise as the notes died down. A sort of ghosting but there was something else about it. Steve said he didn't thing it was the speakers, but something was telling me the speakers weren't all they could be. But Steve said he didn't want them reconed or anything like that. Also he told me not to change the sound or replace anything that wasn't necessary! Now this amp was about to get the the hell gigged out of it, and had to be reliable. After he ad gone I turned it up and gave it some stick that was when it really began to show its age. This old thing you can imagine has had no easy life, and isn't about to be pensioned off either. It had been patched up over the years, was full of dry solder joints, components had bee stuck down with silicone because everwhere you touched the board it would crackle and cut out, but that dodgy joint just couldn't be found from the top side of the board. The output valve sockets were intermittent and the bias was so hot the valves had almost set fire to the rear panel. The filter caps were original and bursting out of their casings, here was an amp in need of some serious refurbishment, but I was almost forbidden to touch anything. What the hell do you in a case like this?

To be continued soon. I promise.

Many of you have asked about the S M F amplifier shown in a previous workshop picture of the home page. This is an "S M F 30 Watter" ( yes that is its model name) As its name suggests it is a 30 watt class A amp from the Mark Sampson stable of Matchless & Badcat . S M F stands for" Sonic Machine Factory" . Just like Matchless & Badcat amps, it is built like the proverbial brick outhouse, over engineered with the massive transformers and top class components. I think these were made during a spell of, shall we say between jobs, if you get my gist!

Below are some pictures of the amplifier the owner is Dan Anderson. Dan also has a Matchless DC50 he plays in a local band Motel 6

Front view, the SMF logo has a revolving array of led's which stop when in standby mode. Front panel removed

3 images of the unusual rear opening flap, attached at the bottom with a piano hinge, and locking side catch giving the choice of a closed or open back.

Chassis top view, valves mounted inside. Neat PCB 5 X 12AX7 & 2 X EL34 Note the dark grey cathode bias resistors

The four diodes of the solid state rectifier as fitted to this amplifier. A hole has been pre cut for an optional valve rectifier

I will load a picture soon of the chassis mounted in its new cab as it is now.

I have no schematics or any service information for this S M F 30 Watter amplifier. One thing I will say is, that is gets very hot! Needs a cooling fan.

This is an unusual cast brass logo I removed from a 1961/2 AC30 many years ago. In all my years in this business, I have never seen another like it. I wonder if Jennings had a run made, and found they were just too expensive. I would be interested to know if you may have one, or seen one like it. This is no home made effort, it is a really professional part.

Have a look at the front and back images.

1954 Fender Twin restoration project

As you can see the chassis has had some capacitors replaced, works well, but what a shame to have spoiled its vintage looks.

Amp-Fix to the rescue

From new to old

The new capacitors on the left were cast in the mold, labels were copied from two original caps centre. On the right are the replica capacitors after casting, waiting for the labels to be fitted.

Above is the mould, made from made from liquid rubber ,the new caps set in the mould, black liquid plastic poured in and left to set.

One of the original labels was scanned and new labels made from the template

The finished product capacitors ready for fitting to the amp

Who would be any the wiser?

Ah now that looks much better doesn't it. Difficult to show this, and I never thought to take any pictures at the time, but the orangey brown electrolytic's, all have new capacitors inside the original casings, thus maintaining the vintage vibe.

Old time muso, just loves this line sexy modelling amp!!!

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