Vox Berkeley III solid state conversion

[dcribbs1412]

I guy dropped off his Vox Berkeley III solid state amp(head and 2 10" cab) 67 i believe.
He says it has not worked in many years. He was cleaning out his garage
and was going to toss it. It's rough but I think its salvageable.
Took a quick look and decided the solid state had to go. Hoping to not offend anyone, I'm in the process of converting it to a simple 18 watt Vox style ef86 channel.
Will post pics asap

Thanks

[M Fowler]

That will be the best sounding Vox Berkeley III out there once your done with the change over

[Guest]

That will be the best sounding Vox Berkeley III out there once your done with the change over

Thanks Mark
I hope it works out.
had some iron laying around and trying to use on-hand stuff
so we will see.
Chassis is small, I'm going to have to use a EZ81 Rectifier because of space. I've been looking at the Foxy 18 and AC15
schems for ideas.

Darin

[dcribbs1412]

Here's a pic of the amp as received...not too bad?
Whats a good way to clean tolex?

Darin

[Structo]

I have a 2x12 Vox extension cabinet similar to that.

I got the rack with it as well, but I don't have it on the cab now.

It allows you to tilt the whole cabinet.

[dcribbs1412]

I have a 2x12 Vox extension cabinet similar to that.

I got the rack with it as well, but I don't have it on the cab now.

It allows you to tilt the whole cabinet.

Hi Tom
I think I've seen pics of your cab...is it an older one?
I kinda like the rack gonna see if I can clean it up.
Not sure if the 2 10" are working...fingers crossed.

Darin

[dcribbs1412]

Chassis drilled and a little hardware installed
transformer cutout is a little rough...not a neat as most(all) builds here.
Going with the BrownNote Foxy values and tweak from there.
Probably have room for a reverb tube?

Darin

[lanczos]

Hi Darin (and Forum,
That is a great find and a cool project!

I'm getting ready to embark on a project to convert/rebuild a 60s Cambridge Reverb Solid State into the earlier tube version of the Cambridge. This is my first amp-building attempt and I am wondering how much of the SS amp I will be able to reuse beyond the cab, speaker, knobs, pots.

Do you guys think much of the rest of the amp will be re-usable...like the transformers?

I have schematics, parts lists and layouts for both the tube and SS versions on the way, but would appreciate any input, advice or comments from the Forum.

Thanks!

Pat O'

[Structo]

Hi Darin,

I got the cab back around 76, paid $35 for it.

Vox amps seem to have a lot of variations and are hard to date.

Mine appears to look like a AC-50 extension cab.

For example, my cab has the large individual letters for the VOX logo.
They were 1958-1959 but those years had brown grill cloth.
The logo is centered in the front valance.

It has the black lattice Vox grill cloth which supposedly didn't appear until 1965.

Originally it had the Midax 15 ohm horn between the speakers.
I still have it but I removed it.

It looked sort of like this when I got it but the logo is three separate letters.

[img:468:400]http://www.voxshowroom.com/northcoast/i ... 0bbstd.jpg[/img]

Here is mine.

[img:499:800]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-FTpY ... G_1048.JPG[/img]



To Lanczos:

Most likely you wont be able to use much at all from the solid state amp since they run on much lower voltage.

[dcribbs1412]

Hi lanczos
ambitious first project...
as far as parts I am not using much from the original unit
not sure of the specs on original transformers. I am using
a 18 Watt PT and OT I had on hand. None of the original pots
are usable, ohms where around 10-50K.
The chassis from my Berekely is small(12x6)not much room for tubes.
I drilled for 5...1 rect, 2 power and 2 preamp
The cambridge has 7 tubes.
I would see (if your chassis if using original) has room, you might
be able to do a non-reverb version. Or the top boost version of a AC15
in keeping with the Vox style.

Nice cab Tom
great deal...
does yours have the oval cutout?
mine is a closed back.

Darin

[M Fowler]

My band mate Dale has several of these old Vox amps with the metal stands and he never uses them.

[JazzGuitarGimp]

My band mate Dale has several of these old Vox amps with the metal stands and he never uses them.

Sounds like a savings account to me, except the APR is likely to be significantly higher than what the greedy banks are giving us these days!

[dcribbs1412]

Few more pics of progress
using a piece of clear plastic corner guard for the faceplate. Going to try the 5k and 8k OT taps for crunch/munch switch.
Hope to get more done over the weekend...still have to clean and repair
the cabs. Wiring will be a new challenge with the separate chassis and control panel.

Darin

[lanczos]

thanks for the comments guys. It is telling me a lot about how much I don't know! I am having a rethink about starting with this ambitious a project as a first Amp build.

[dcribbs1412]

thanks for the comments guys. It is telling me a lot about how much I don't know! I am having a rethink about starting with this ambitious a project as a first Amp build.

Hi lanczos
not sure where you are located US?
Maybe build an amp from the ground up before trying to
tackle a conversion project.
Like others have said and I agree
the 5E3 fender is a great first project. Cool vintage vibe and it cranks.
Triode Electronics, and a few others have kits/parts you can purchase.
And the guys here can answer most if not all questions
that might come up. Careful you might get hooked....

Darin