Direction

Yes Easter has pasted and things are getting back to normal here. I was still vacillating about the original factory look and a total custom until I saw this video on youtube explaining the differences between stains and dyes. WoodWorkWeb was very instrumental indirectly helping me decide what direction I will go.
Check this out his video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3Ysfw0LmMw

Now I have decided to do the wood grain and dye the wood to bring out the grain I just can't wait to start this project. First of all I was told not to plug in the amp and try to run it, just have the cap job and have all the components checked.  Then the last thing I do is re-cone the original speakers and mount them in the new cabinet. I have taken my planning here to a new level which my blog here has helped.

This past weekend I spent a bit too much time in Home depot and took a good look at oak and the poplar. I first think oak will be too heavy for this application and poplar is a right fit. Poplar is harder then pine and is light  in weight and the grain was not bad.

 This is a plan for how its going to be finished

I now have a start of a materials list:

Sure-Wood Forest Products 1 in. x 12 in. x 6 ft. S4S Poplar Board
Model # 1X12X6 POP-3PL
$27.98                (Two Boards 29" long & Two Boards 24" long)

3/4 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. HD Maple Plywood
Model # 263012
Store SKU # 263012
$39.88 / each         (27.5" x 22",  7.75" x 27.5", 15" x 27.5")

American Wood Moulding LWM 238 1 in. x 1 in. Pine S4S Square Moulding
Model # 238-8   Store SKU # 213600      $2.43 / linear foot

Now for the vents at the top I was going to use this treatment to the cabinet:

Next issue is what finish should I do a dark, light  or medium...
I will see what I come up with next. Thank you for taking the time to read this and follow me. Peace

Brother and Sister are very much the same...

The schematic came yesterday for the amp and funny that the Viscount and the Buckingham is the same amp but in different cabinets.

The Viscount  and the Buckingham Reading about these two have one difference and that the e-tune was stock on the buckingham and only came on the V1154. Mine does not have this. One of the other things I would love to do is to put a grounded plug on this amp. 

One of the things that burns me up is that it is a made on a flake board construction and I HATE flake board. I have been watching videos for making finger joints for the corners.

This was great to see but just need to start working on this bad boy

Besides the kinds of joints I would love to construct in the building process I have other  concerns. So if I do the woodgrain I was thinking of a light tone so when I apply the black hardware it will have a wonderful contrast look. I will use the original handles and buy black Metal corner protectors like these.

The original corner pieces were plastic  and yes I have to change them with these

The handles are like this but since everything is going to be renovated the tarnished brass or if they are brass will be made black or cleaned up and sprayed with clear coat to make them shine for the rest of my life.

The handles are pretty cool they have the VOX logo on them

Now the other dilemma is the speaker grill what do I do there? Do I go with VOX or do I make it one of these...

 I love the look of these 

There are many areas where I have to decide what I am doing and once I do, I will have my path... Happy Palm Sunday! God Bless!

First cut is the deepest...

Choosing the correct direction for this project is very difficult committing to building either a custom or renovation to a fully stock box is my dilemma. Well last night I bought the circuit schematics for this vintage solid state amp. Yes!  I said solid state this is the first of the solid state amps in production.

From the VOX Showcase website:

Designing the Solid-State Circuit Thomas Organ developed a few all tube Vox models for the US and Canadian markets, but Thomas felt that the future of guitar amplification was in transistorization. To that end, Thomas Organ hired a brilliant solid state electronics engineer, Sava Jacobsen, to analyze "what made a Vox sound amp like a Vox amp" and then create solid state circuits that could recreate Vox tone.

Jacobsen started his tone analysis with the AC-30. After his tone analysis was completed, Jacobsen developed a modular three channel solid state preamp for his new Thomas Organ AC-30 clone. This new preamp section included tremolo, reverb, a top boost switch and an MRB (mid range boost) circuit. Jacobsen also developed a 35 watt modular solid state power amp to interconnect with the new preamp. The resultant amp was the Thomas Organ answer to the AC-30TB, the Vox Viscount.

Jacobsen aware that the maximum audio output of the Beatles' Vox AC-30 amplifiers had become no match to the level of their screaming fans. In response, JMI started development of  the flagship solid-state Vox was produced by Thomas Organ in the US from 1966 through 1970.

The Viscount, The Royal Guardsman and The Super Beatles all had the same control panel layout and effects features. The lead channel (channel one) had reverb, tremelo, and fuzz effects. The mid or (channel two) had MRB (mid range boost- positions one two and three), Reverb, tremelo but no fuzz.

Over the Viscount, Vox and Fender crossed paths over a new line of solid state amps and in 1964 the project was dumped since Leo Fender sold the company to CBS and the new owner just wanted to keep the technology as is.

This is the amp in its Original State from Vox It is 1967 V1153

Well this week I buy a plug and some compressed air to blow out the dust and dirt from the electronic components. Then I will plug in my Les Paul and clean the pots of the amp and see what this amp can do. I have been holding off to before I tried this because any dirt in the pots need to be cleaned and I just want to get a vacuum inside there to suck up all the dust and age old crap from the Fillmore East and my uncle Chicks basement in Woodside, New York.

This would be great, if I fix the plug and there is nothing wrong with electronics I would welcome this... I can just picture it: and here is the video...

This is a 1966 Viscount  similar to mine maybe even a 

V1153 which came out in 1966 The V1153 is a preferred 

model as the later models were loaded up with gimmicky 

features that were often problematic.

I have a great friend who said he would give me a hand so I purchased the schematic which I am sure will look similar to this:

This is for the later model VOX Viscount V1154

I have this choice to make on what direction I need to go, but until I can focus upon this project with my dogs determination to finish it, I am stuck with this RAT.

My amp in its current state

Here we see a familiar face to this 1967 Advertisement  for VOX amps...

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog... 

Too many paths but only one way to go...

When it comes to such a project the hardest thing is to find out what your direction is. I keep vacillating between just fixing the bottom board and re-tolexing the whole thing or build a new cabinet and have some fun with the wood grain and make it look like a piece of furniture.  If I spend the money on the wood I commit myself to building a custom Vox Amp one that George Harrison would of loved to have. Then I could make it totally all original and can get about $1500.00 for it if I sell it. If I do the work why would I want to sell it it will be something no one has. This is the first drawing I have done in many many months since my life got so busy. I find myself writing to you all and sometimes it just takes the whole weekend to finish what I just have to say. In this drawing I have mapped out the raw parameters and the dimensions of what I want to do.

 Please note when you click on this file I have attached questions for myself.

I am just so on the fence with what I want to do I feel as if a choice like marriage I feel she is a keeper and it is louder then a AC30 and neck and neck with a Fender Twin Reverb. I would never need to buy a half stack Marshall. These are the amps the Beatles used on Revolver LP and earlier. They may be solid state but they are the best since Fender and VOX worked on them.

This is a photo of who? I don't know, but look at all the Vox amps...

I hate indecision and what I hate more then indecision is me feeling this way. I just need to finish my studio and workshop and then I can take sometime to do something each weekend that will not kill me or break the bank.

This is one direction

the other

Things that make me go hmmm...

Yes there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run...

Stairway to heaven lyrics fit the bill for this tonight... Hey all welcome back to my thoughts on this project. Now I have two directions I can go, I can fix the wood at the bottom and the sides to re-tolex the cabinet and make it original but then I have to spend $250.00 for the trollies which angle the amp. or go totally custom and make a new cabinet and make it a high gloss wood grain with a Black speaker grill… just food for thought for this evening. Tell me what your thought are.

I like the medium color  of these two but I am not sure how much I really like it...

Oak cabinets would be a bit heavy like what I have now ... choices are good to have.

I have to copy the amp  but would love to make finger joints for the sides to give that pro look.

these last three is really where I would like to take it...

And here she is in her former glory

Thanks for reading... God Bless!

-Peter

THE VOX VISCOUNT HAS ARRIVED!

My cousin Gary and I have always shared musical instruments and advice on music and playing guitar. About a month ago I was talking about speaker cabinet that I wanted to build. He tells me that he has a VOX amp that would make a great project for me.

There is a history behind this amp he tells me that in the 1970's he was doing some business with with a gentleman named Henry Gross in Brooklyn. Henry presented the amp to Gary and said it was a great amp and he should take it off his hands.

Henry Gross was the Lead Guitarist from Sha Na Na and his claim to fame is a song "Shannon".  From 1969 through 1971, he played with Sha Na Na at, among other places, the Fillmore East and Fillmore West, opening for such bands as The Grateful Dead, The Mothers of Invention and The Kinks. Henry told my cousin that he used this amp through out this time and he believed it was on stage at Woodstock in 1969.

What does this all means to me? History of a thing has a great appeal to me and gives a item  substance and depth.

Now I remember this amp vaguely... My cousin told me that once I restore this I will not have to buy a half stack since when he would play through it it would shake his father house.

Arrival was March 10, 2014.

 The right speaker is blown and the other is fine and they are hooked up in parallel.

 The grill and the tolex is in pretty ratty shape but it is expected for the age of the amp.

The biggest issue I have with this amp is that it was constructed with flake board.

If anyone has an interest in more info on this amp please read at this link:

http://www.voxshowroom.com/us/amp/viscount_models.html

March 18, 2014

Now tonight I took off most of the tolex and wanted to see the condition of the flack board. What I found was pretty disappointing because the condition was a bit worse then I first thought.

 I put the casters back on it  so I can move the amp about freely without the wood dragging and leaving wood particles around.

 You can see how badly it is falling apart, any wetness to the amp the wood swells and turns into a sponge.

Now the questions arise what to do with this amp since the wood is in such bad shape.

While I think about this if you like to comment your more then welcome to do...

-Peter