TR14 questions

[(farace)]

I found a Ric TR14 amp at a flea market today in fairly decent shape. Needs a new plug (someone clipped off the ground prong) but the tolex and grill cloth are in good shape, though they could use a good cleaning. The dealer gave us a package deal on this and another item; I figure I've got $45 into it. It sounds good; very clean and loud for its size. There are a couple of issues, though:

1) I'm not getting any reverb or distortion function. At first I thought that perhaps the foot switch is required (there is a TRS foots witch jack in the back of the chassis), but I have since seen a YouTube video of someone demoing a TR14 without a foot switch, and he was able to bring up reverb and distortion, so maybe I have an internal problem. Anyone have any further insight or experience they can share?

2) I would like to assume that a footswitch merely needs an SPST to connect either the tip or ring to the sleeve in order to switch the reverb and/or distortion in or out, but I hate making assumptions, especially with products of a company that sometimes had their own way of doing things. Can anyone tell me if this is how the footswitch would work? If so, it should be trivial to build one.

3) There is no schematic for this amp on Ric's website. I'll email customer service, but assuming they don't have one, can anyone point me toward one?

Thanks!

--Bob

[(farace)]

Quick update, answering one of my own questions: I realized that if I stuck a mono plug into the footswitch jack, it would short the ring to the sleeve. I tried that, and suddenly I had distortion. It makes me wonder if there's a shorting jack that either isn't clean or is bent, keeping the circuit from working without the plug.

I then got the brilliant idea to plug my splitter cable (that I use for Ric-O-Sound) into the footswitch jack to give me the opportunity to try shorting the tip to the ground. Unfortunately, this did not result in reverb, so there must be something else going on there.

[(farace)]

Okay, one more post and I'll stop for now. I just looked through the Register at other TR14s, and noticed a difference from my amp. None of those in the Register show a visible reverb tank. Mine has a tank mounted vertically on the right side wall (looking from the rear). Was it relocated? Time to do some digging, when I can get a chance to open her up and look inside.

--Bob

[(farace)]

Okay, I lied, one more note before I have to go out.

I opened the chassis, and there's a big empty space inside where it looks like a reverb tank lived. So the question becomes whether the tank mounted outside the chassis is the original or a replacement. Does anyone have specs on the original tank?

It's clear someone has been in here before.

I also found that a shorting leg on the tip contact of the footswitch jack was not touching the contact. I bent it back so that it touches, and now the reverb works without a footswitch (but not the distortion). Hmmm.

[(jdogric12)]

I hate to interrupt your conversation, but my TR14 does not require any footswitch and does not have any extracurricular devices like you describe. Good luck, great price for a very useful small and loud amp!

[(farace)]

I hate to interrupt your conversation, but my TR14 does not require any footswitch and does not have any extracurricular devices like you describe. Good luck, great price for a very useful small and loud amp!

Thanks. I didn't mean to carry on a conversation with myself, but I kept discovering new clues.

Do you know the manufacturer of the reverb tank inside yours? If you are ever willing to look inside, I'd love to know what markings are on it, and maybe a photo of the guts.

Rickenbacker customer service unfortunately does not have a copy of the schematic for this amp (which kind of astounds me). If anyone here has it, or can point me to it, I'd be grateful.

[(jdogric12)]

pm sent

[(farace)]

Update:
I'm still looking for a schematic for this amp. Somebody must have it. I've exhausted all the resources I can think of, and others that were recommended to me.

I have managed to temporarily relocate the reverb tank to the inside of the chassis (and clears out all the extra wiring), but it clearly is not the original tank, as the mounting holes don't line up. If anyone can tell me for certain what the correct tank is, please let me know. At this point I'm going on the assumption that Ric probably used the same tank in the TR25; I have seen photos of an OC Folded Line Type 56 in one TR25, and Accutronics told me they supplied the 8FB3C1B tank to Ric for the TR25.

This thing is absurdly loud (and clean) for its diminutive size! I'm very happy with this purchase but I'd like to get it retired to its proper wiring and configuration.

One last thing. You can see three spots of hot glue upper left on the grill where the logo once was. If anyone has a logo lying around for cheap, please let me know. I believe it was probably the same logo as was attached to some instrument cases from that time. Not that it makes the amp work better, but it's nice to have.

Thanks!

[(Ontario_RIC_fan)]

Okay, one more post and I'll stop for now. I just looked through the Register at other TR14s, and noticed a difference from my amp.


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goldenslot

The early examples have a black speaker cover. By about 1982 the speaker cover becomes gray, but it is still the same basic amp.

I have a TR7 with the black and a TR25 with the gray. Also I think a headphone jack gets added in the later ones.

To figure out the manufacture date, you must eliminate the first three zeroes in the SN, so not YR0004544, but just YT4544. If you do that then the serial number decoder will give you the year and month, just like the guitars.

[(jdogric12)]

With casino spam url's in your posts, I call shenanigans... (reported)

[(jps)]

With casino spam url's in your posts, I call shenanigans... (reported)

I noticed those, too.

[(jdogric12)]

gone!