Gibson EH-185 amp porn - nearly mint condition

[Phil_S]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqKxPphTNj4
Not sure if I like this tech or not, but she's got an antique on the bench that's unbelievably clean and original inside and out. Great gut shots. All it needed was caps, so you don't need to watch her work. Don't miss the end where she demo's the amp.

[Guy77]

Great sounding amp! Nice to see women in the trade.
If our wives were all techs like her imagine how many amps we could keep in our basements !
She has a ton of followers.

Cheers
Guy

[Leo_Gnardo]

I caught this & some other videos. Her presentations are short and to-the-point. No time-wasting, endless editorializing, nor aimless parts-swapping unlike some other YT presenters (I'm lookin' at YOU guitologist!) And what a sweetheart, I'll bet her customers are thoroughly charmed. Plus, she shrinks her heat shrink the same way I do - I love the way she flicks her Bic.

[drew]

No time-wasting, endless editorializing, nor aimless parts-swapping unlike some other YT presenters

Knew who you were talking about before I even got to the parenthesis

[dorrisant]

I love this video. Thanks for sharing!! So much of the video reminds me of my bench.

[didit]

Hello --

Cool antique amp. And yep, she has youtube chops & better style than most.

Seems I am the alone in slight bother that almost certainly good plate resistors got clipped out and replaced. That is, rather than following more thorough fault diagnosing, then simply replacing leaky signal capacitors?

Best .. Ian

[Phil_S]

Seems I am the alone in slight bother that almost certainly good plate resistors got clipped out and replaced. That is, rather than following more thorough fault diagnosing, then simply replacing leaky signal capacitors?

I think we all saw that. I concluded it was a SWAG she got wrong. No sense calling attention to it. Still, she seemed to know it was one or the other. It is the reason I said that I'm not sure what I think of her as a tech; that, and I don't fix amps as a business, so there is lots I don't know. I feel it's wrong to critique someone if you haven't stood in their shoes. In any case, IMHO, I clipping those plate load resistors could be overlooked. I'll bet they were way out of spec anyway.

[martin manning]

I'm with Ian. If it were me, ALL of those old wax caps would be gone first thing, along with the leaking electrolytics. All of the resistors should be checked for out of tolerance values and replaced as necessary. However, and especially with such an amp as that, I would try to save as many of the original parts as possible, excepting those that are out of spec or likely to go south very soon. I watched another video where the earth lead of a replacement power cord was attached to a transformer bolt, along with some other ground wires. These types of things are just not good practice.

[Leo_Gnardo]

I watched another video where the earth lead of a replacement power cord was attached to a transformer bolt, along with some other ground wires. These types of things are just not good practice.

Not good practice, you're right about that. But how many factory wired Fenders have their grounds attached to transformer bolts? If that's what you've seen, that's what you do - until you understand it's not a good way to go. We can't get in the time machine, go back & advise the Fender of 70-60-50-40 years ago - but somebody oughta let her know, and why, then hopefully she can start to set a good example & explain it to the YT audience. One thing's for certain, I'm sure she will have their attention.

[CraigGa]

Ok, I'll bite cos I'm always willing to learn,
What's the reasoning behind not using the transformer bolt?

Craig

[martin manning]

What's the reasoning behind not using the transformer bolt?

One is that transformer bolts are likely to loosen over time (so no grounds should be tied to those), and the other is that the safety ground should always be on a dedicated bolt. For non-IEC power inlets, like the amp in the video, that wire should also be left long enough so that it will be the last to go if the power cable is pulled out of the chassis.

[CraigGa]

Thanks Martin.

That all makes perfect sense.
I'll file that away in my brain

Craig

[CraigGa]

In other news!

What is the glue she's using on the filter caps?
In that situation I'd have used hot melt but that can get messy.

Craig

[martin manning]

The right stuff is non-corrosive neutral cure silicone adhesive, such as GE Silicone 2+. The wrong stuff smells like acetic acid (vinegar) as it cures.

[Leo_Gnardo]

What is the glue she's using on the filter caps?
In that situation I'd have used hot melt but that can get messy.

Hot melt not recommended in amps. WHY? They get hot inside, surprise! Hot melt doesn't have much glue power anyway. I see it spuzzed all over the insides of some amps, mostly Peaveys. Where it's on places that get hot like power resistors, it melts, holding nothing in place, turns brown then black. Smooshed OVER capacitors, just makes them a little more difficult to remove. Often a poke with a sharp screwdriver is enough to loosen the gunk. Might have to pry a little bit. I can imagine the job application for line workers hired to apply hot melt. "Worked at Billy's Bakery, squirting sugar glaze onto coffee cakes." Yep, that's the guy/gal we want!

I don't have any problem with a good RTV, and Martin's recommendation GE Silicone II works fine for me in many applications. But it doesn't have much glue power though it's an order of magnitude better than hot glue. If I have to really stick something down, a dab of epoxy works, and I've used 3M weatherstip adhesive as well. This last is the devil to remove should it become necessary. So ... make sure it won't be necessary.

Save your hot glue for making macaroni Christmas wreaths. Home crafts with Martha Stewart!