Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

The Blues Jr's are ok for a budget amp that is moderately versatile. They sound ok and have some cool features. It uses a PCB.

A PCB stands for a "printed circuit board" and is how most amps are made today. An amp having a PCB isn't necessarily bad, it just depends on how they laid out the components on the PCB, and how they contructed the amp around the PCB. The cheaper amps mount all the sockets and jacks on the PCB, and the more expensive ones will mount the sockets seperately, and sometimes the jacks seperately too. Still more expensive amps will use a turret board or an eyelet board, or even PTP (point to point) construction like the older vintage amps did. It is a LOT more labor to build something PTP than using a PCB, and that is reflected in the cost. PTP is also generally more robust, but PCB amps can be fine also, again depending on how they are made and laid out.

If you're buying an amp, they often won't let you open the amp to check things out at the store, so you have to do some research before you purchase, like you're doing. It sounds to me like the power levels that you need aren't that high, so a Blues Jr., a Vox AC15, or a vintage Princeton Reverb are going to fit your needs as far as sound and volume. Another cool amp would be a 5E3 Fender Deluxe, and there are lots of people doing kits for those. Bruce at Mission Amps would be one of the best. I'm not sure if he builds the amp for you or if he only sells the kits, but you can check his site out and see. If you have lots of money you could buy an actual vintage Fender 5E3 Deluxe, but a kit would be cheaper and sound just as good if not better, so that would be the route I would go if I was looking for one. Bruce's site is http://www.missionamps.com/.

What's involved in assembling an amp from a kit Greg? I'm not very adept with this kind of thing but I do have a close friend that I know would be able to help me out. How extensive of a job is it?

As for vintage amps, I've been considering this option too but presumably these are not cheap. What's a ballpark value for a Princeton Reverb for example?

Take a look at Ebay as there are usually a lot of PRs on there. It seems the average selling price is somwhere in the $600-800.00 range, but some of the cleaner and/or earlier ones can get over $1000.00.

I have a Blues Jr. it does ok and is quite loud. I have done some mods to mine though. These include changing the tone stack caps, adjustable tube bias, and a speaker change.

There are different versions of the Blues Jr. that you need to know about. The early ones have a completely different PCB (green)that has some issues along with a different reverb wiring. That later ones have a cream colored PCB. The change is around 2002. Here is a link that shows different mods and how to identify the different versions by the date codes. Bill's Blues Junior Modification Pages

Another small amp that I have never tried but have some interest in is the Carvin Vintage 16. It is switchable from pentode (16 watts) to triode (5 watts). The idea of being able to go down to 5 watts for in home use has some merit.

Bill, assembling an amp from a kit can be as easy as putting together various parts following instructions to extremely hard, depending on who you get the kit from, and what your experience level, or that of your friend's is. Bruce at Mission Amps makes some of the best 5E3 Fender kits around, and he often posts to many bbs sites too, so he is available to help sometimes. His kits would be one of the easier ones with good instructions. If you friend can follow instructions and can solder, then it might be a good choice. The key though is the amp has to be built correctly, or it can be very dangerous to plug it in! If you aren't confident that your friend could take it on, then I would suggest to find someone else to do the work if you decide to go the kit route.

Also, you were asking about PCB and PTP amps earlier. Take a look at this link below....it will show you some visual examples of both and tell you about the pros and cons of each. The pic of the Peavey 5150 would be an example of a "bad" PCB amp because of how hard it is to get at parts, and also the grey data cables connecting things. PTP can also be bad, with a Silvertone 1484 being near the top of the list, mainly because of the poor layout and the cheap quality parts used, and the fact of how hard it is to work on one. Call me a glutton for punishment but I spent 9 months modding my brother's Silvertone 1484 to where it sounds VERY good now, but I still hate working on it. There are MANY excellant articles about amps at the site where this link is from, and some math is involved in some of them, but don't let that scare you away from reading them. You'll learn a lot about amps and how they work from reading his articles.

http://aikenamps.com/PCBorPTP.htm

Vintage amps can cost quite a bit, and ebay is usually a more expensive place to shop because prices get bid up higher and higher for the stuff people want. If you can find a local store that carries used amps, you might be able to find a good deal there. I've seen some Silverface Princeton Reverbs down around the $500 area, and they will sound mostly the same as the coveted blackface ones because it was always the same circuit with a couple minor things added in the late 60's/early 70's to fix sloppy CBS production problems. Something early 70's would be fine, and would be a lot cheaper to find than something mid 60's and blackface.

I have full confidence in my buddy's skills - electronics are his livelihood (he works with large industrial fire system panels and the like and has lots of musical experience). My question was more "Is this too much to ask of him? (i.e., is it a big, time consuming job?)."

Thanks for all the info regarding amps Greg. It's been quite useful. I'll check out the link.

In that case, your friend could probably get a 5E3 amp kit from Bruce Collins (or anyone else who does it) together in under a week, working on it here and there. Give him something for his time, and you could be into a VERY nice amp for not too much dough as far as amps go.