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so I just got done building a bass for my son... Teisco-like body and mismatched neck, but came together okay mostly... at least for his use

anyway, I had a little Lyon (By Washburn) 15 amp practice amp, that I bough new a couple years ago... had not had much use prior to tonight... just to see if it worked basically.... tonight, I got it set up in his room, and started playing his bass through it, it developed a hum, and smoke started pouring out of the headphone jack... I guess you get what you pay for... I thought maybe since it was "by Washburn" it might be okay... darn... $15 down the drain....

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Blown a few fuses in my day, but never smoked an amp. I do recall our Bus ignition catching fire on the way to a gig once, does that count? It's always a bad sign when you look out the window to see the Driver standing there coughing, and the bus is still rolling! Our sound guy was a mechanic, and we ended up replacing the feed wires to the ignition there on the side of the highway, and still made it to the gig on time, ah the 80's... Mike.

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I picked up a Crate amp off ebay cheap...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0579954366

I'll have to get a pic of the Lyons amp next to it

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I believe there is a video out there of Johnny Winter playing(unaware) as his Musicman amp bursts into flames behind him ....
I'll see if I can find it,too cool... Joe

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"If it ain't been in the pawnshop,it can't play the blues" R.L.Burnside

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unfortunately, I have seen way too many amps burn and smoke.

I fixed an Ampeg VL series tube amp, one of the Lee Jackson ones - that was completely charred. Apparently someone thought it was OK to put a large fuse in there when the small one blew, so the amp basically became the fuse. I told the guy - too expensive to fix - and sent it back to him and threw him a figure of $400-500. At that time that was about what one went for. I didn't think he would even think about fixing it. So he came back and said to fix it - he really liked that amp. The whole power section was charcoal.

I couldn' t get parts for it as I recall. So I used a schematic and hand wired that board running jumpers to the other boards. After making about half the amp a point-to-point amp, I fired it up. It crackled like crazy. It seems the offending smoke deposited conductive residue on all the other boards. I removed every board and used some wicked cleaner (electric motor/brake clean type stuff) and brush and cleaned everything. After all of this it sounded AMAZING.

I learned another lesson. Don't throw a stupid price at something in hopes that someone will not bite. He did. Next lesson was get that money in advance. After all that, he never paid for it or picked it up. I eventually had to sell it and the guy that bought it could not be happier. It really DID sound great.

I will see if I can find a post a picture of that char-broiled amp. I know I have one somewhere.

Here it is:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/z0j61umrvHKP2ByD9WyMIZvkrRqZx4g57q_KASIi5Ac?feat=directlink

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Thorny

What a mess indeed. Amazing that you were able to get it in working order again.

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

I pulled the unit apart, but can't see any signs of burning. all the components look okay. I think I'll need to plug a bass into it, and see if it starts smoking again... the fuse on the board is okay too....

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My Electra Pages
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If you can do so while it is "open" great. Sometimes you can't, but if you can you may be able so see where the smoke is coming from. A variac with an amp meter inline is a good thing too - you can see if it starts to dump current and shut it down before the magic smoke all disappears.

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Thorny

well, I pulled the board out to inspect closer, and the wafer board material was consistent with a $15 amp I snapped a chunk right off...
so I just finished "parting it out" the metal grill might fit on the crate, at least to protect the speaker a little bit.... I never did see anything on the board that was burnt or even that has signs of being hot.... I thought maybe I had done something really strange with the bass wiring, but it's been fine in the Crate and my Orange amp...

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My Electra Pages
I have too many projects!