A Close Look at Five Vintage Super Reverbs

Just a typical day in the office, inspecting some old Super Reverbs that came in. You know, like you do.
Timeline:
00:00 Intro
02:33 1964
24:45 1965
32:55 1968
50:35 1969
57:01 1972
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
These are things I get asked about a lot :
Amp Tech Gear Used :
Hakko FX-951 soldering station
Weller SPG 80L soldering iron (chassis work)
Rigol DS1054Z digital oscilloscope
Thsinde 18B+ digital multimeters
Kester 60/40 solder
Techspray #4 No-Clean Desoldering Braid
Below are things that make this channel possible that people don’t usually think about. If any of these companies want to send me new and wonderful toys, I’m open to that. I can’t take free stuff when it comes to the amps I review, etc, but for the stuff below, bribe away!
Microphones/Audio Equipment :
Guitar Amps : Royer R-10 Hot Rod and/or Shure SM57 (noted in videos)
Voiceover Bench : sE Audio sE8 (small diaphragm condenser)
Voiceover Streaming : Shure SM57 with shockmount and windscreen
Voiceover Mic Arms : Elgato Wave Mic arms
Guitar Mic Stand : Gator Frameworks short weighted base stand with boom
Mic Cables and Guitar Cables : Mogami/Neutrik
Mic pre : MOTU M2
DAW : Logic Pro II on MacBook Pro 16 running Sonoma 14.5
Plugins : No effects other than level matching/normalization unless a recording
specifically has reverb etc added in post (rare, various Waves plugins)
Monitors : Yamaha HS7s
Monitor Stands : Gator Frameworks Desktop Clamp-On Stands
Monitor Isolation Mounts : IsoAcoustics Iso-Puck Minis
Headphones : Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (main)
Headphones : Sony MDR-7506 (alternate)
Video Equipment :
Camera : Sony ZVE-10 with SmallRig Cage (main)
Lens : Sigma f2.8 18-50mm (main)
Lens : Sony ZVE10 kit lens (rarely used)
B Camera : Apple iPhone 13 Pro (rarely used)
Tripod : SmallRig 71” with SmallRig Fluid Video Head
Streaming Mount : Elgato Master Mount S with SmallRig Ballhead
Bench Light : SmallRig RC 120D
Bench Light Diffusor : SmallRig Lantern Softbox
Bench C-Stands (light and overhead camera) : Neewer Pro SS Heavy Duty
Streaming Light : SmallRig RC 120B
Streaming Diffusor : SmallRig Parabolic Softbox
Streaming Light Mount : SmallRig 148CM Wall Mount Boom with Triangle Base
Various Other Lights : Neewer LED Panels with Neewer Softboxes
Video Software :
Davinci Resolve 19
Phantom LUTs
Paul Leeming LUTs
Adobe Illustrator 28
Adobe Photoshop 25
Ecamm Live (streaming software)

[@tangotommi]

Right on! Lyle. You’re the best channel out there for amp repair. Thank you!❤❤

[@johnkohlhauff9061]

Agree!!

[@robertduvall7392]

As a new subscriber I note views vs likes. I'm telling those who look at this in the future that a like is not personal - it just helps make the video better known and takes no major effort. Help this guy out - he's good at what he does.

[@sauce_aux]

I come for the amp repairs, and stay for the bare knee shots

[@mikewithers299]

🤣🤣🤣

[@goodun2974]

Lyle is "the bees knees"!

[@shakeypeet]

I have a 1978 super reverb , and I call it big guns ....Whenever I pull it out at a big jam , it is always appreciated . Cheers Lyle ...

[@matthewf1979]

I just love the lacquered cloth wiring in the ‘68 Fenders. It wouldn’t bother me at all if all vintage Fenders used that wire. To other techs/owners/diy’ers - please stop replacing blue molded caps all Willy Nilly. They aren’t leaking and no matter how much you like the color orange, it’s not an upgrade.

[@goodun2974]

The cloth wiring in old Fenders is nice because it's resistant to heat from the soldering iron and because you can just kind of push/slide it back from the center conductor without having to strip it exactly where you want it. The disadvantage is that the insulation can absorb contaminates and become noisy and microphonic. Is there a modern but higher quality equivalent braided or woven "cloth" wire, like Cambric or Kevlar or silicone insulation?

[@marcuscarrozza732]

Getting tired of my phone or KZbin not making the channels like yours a priority,which is where I have. I need to dump many other channels here . I got this video a day late. So I am sorry I didn't watch it in its correct day and time . Thank you for the awesome video 😎👍

[@johnburns5783]

The flashes of your sexy knees were not distracting at all,,,,,,,,,,,,,, not until you pointed it out. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Great video Lyle as always 👍

[@richardlynch5632]

The decision to acquire a Super Reverb to sit next to my '59 Narrow Panel Bassman Reissue was not made without much deliberation. Fender makes my ears and anticipations gel like no other amps.👍 Inspirations are endless 😁👍 Am VERY interested in this and ALL subsequent videos 😁👍 Make sure to hit the like and share this video because of Lyles knights of knee😉👍👍 😎✌👍❤🖖

[@johnkohlhauff9061]

Thanks for sharing your experience with us on KZbin. You really go into great detail I really appreciate it!!

[@JagStar]

The fingerprints on the output transformer of the first amp are interesting. I often think about the person/people who worked on or assembled an amp when I'm working on an old one. I am no tube tech genius but, when I started working on old Fenders I bought the most dead mid-60's Bassman amps I could find and learned how to make them work again. I've seen lots of stuff like that '69., including the burned heater wires and telecom wire.

[@breathtimebreath4934]

Brilliant Lyle!!!!!!!

[@williamneillgross3926]

17:04 You should superglue a bright red thread or ribbon or lanyard to the RCA jacks you use for testing so you see it before the amp leaves the shop...just a thought.

[@larrychung3190]

Lyle - that is so smart of you to describe your (evaluative) process and primary purpose of these videos. your customers are lucky to have you as are we who watch these for education and entertainment. thanks for sharing as always. I hope we all appreciate what a (free) resource you are providing, namely, the experience and knowledge of decades of expert repair and musical service, and I hope it inspires us to demand the same quality and attention to detail from our own work, whether as hobby or profession. (:

[@johnpierson8398]

I learned about the mains supply cord Earth ground conductor must be longer than the phase and neutral wires from ULStandard 1012 Power Supplies in the early 80's.This is really important stuff to know. A lot of electrical engineers find safety standards are boring. This is one of many reasons why you are great at what you do.

[@bebop502]

I have a 68 super that was unmolesed other the it’s grill cloth getting painted black. I’ve learned so much about how it should be from watching your videos, thx Lyle

[@heywally2739]

You, sir, besides being an electronics wizard, are a great businessman. Thanks

[@PsionicAudio]

I wish. On both counts. But thanks.

[@heywally2739]

@@PsionicAudio I don’t know electronics so you could be faking me out on that, but I doubt it. As far as your business skills, you have to be keeping and getting more customers with what you’re doing, so that clearly makes you a great businessman.

[@mikewithers299]

​@@heywally2739I agree with that. Lyle documents his work for his customers for clarity and transparency. That's a good thing in my eyes.

[@andrewfitzsimons7047]

Glad you have Good Posture !! it all helps. btw, those Monty python references don't go unnoticed. Cheers.

[@MackFlyingV]

My cup runeth over with favorite amps ever! Thanks Lyle.

[@jjsant3250]

Deoxit (red can) is the more appropriate one for switches, like bright switches AFAIK.

[@cajunqueen5125]

Was sent here from 5-Wt World :)

[@goodun2974]

At 51:40, Lyle says "this amp is'nt gonna be safe to play" (due to bulging leaking caps); but at 52:30 we learn that's not the half of it. "The horror" ! Also note the stub of a cut-off red wire peeking out from the transformer end bell ---- I don't know what that's about. Fender power transformers don't usually have unused primary or secondary wires unless it's a multi-voltage unit for export or has been converted from center-tapped heater winding to the artificial centertap with 100 ohm resistors to the chassis (and a heater centertap wire would be green with stripes, not red).

[@AJMjazz]

Great video overview, Lyle.

[@bigchrisgulley66]

Bro, you have your work cut out for you, but thank you for taking the time to share with us all.

[@tomk1tl39]

Great way to spend lunch time . . . 👍

[@johnraham1312]

Amazing

[@JEmilioJNava]

Great inspirational video ... about to start restorations on a '68 and one from '70

[@johnbravo7542]

I find the knowledge you have about what Fender used and why fascinating, for example the thinner Guage wire. Great video Lyle.

[@richclayton5785]

I’ve said it before in various forms and I say it again: you are a real stand up dude! Your customers are lucky to found you.

[@joemcgraw5529]

Very Nice comparison of how each amp responds and issues each one has or did ,I am kicking myself not buying one of these 10 years ago but I have learned alot from your channel and Brads

[@Theweeze100]

Love this channel, priceless information!

[@paulsto6516]

Nice work!

[@trbr1799]

Lyle, many repeated thanks for your videos. 5 Supers!? You've outdone yourself! But mostly, thank you for your posture. 🎉

[@sgt.grinch3299]

Great to see you Sir. Love the format and channel.🙏🙏✌️✌️✌️

[@seanblythe9109]

I’m building a 2204 now and noticed that a few layouts have the neutral fused. I just saw that and then clicked on your video. Another reason Lyle is one I f the true champions.

[@rickycompton2610]

Great video Lyle, where else are you gonna get this kinda fantastic content,I’d like to say thank you Lyle for all your great videos especially this one Gotta love these vintage Super Reverbs, and after your done putting your magic touch on them they will be bulletproof!!!

[@dalepiwek]

F yeah man 🤘

[@mikewithers299]

Lyle i was glued the whole hour of looking at these amps. After seeing the various conditions they were in it was easy to spot which were built better. That skinny bell like wire was factory?? CBS really cut some corners if it was. Well i mean we all know they did, but wow! 🤣

[@victorbeebe8372]

Aloha and Mahalo Lyle. Another great video.

[@goodun2974]

The reverb output jack looks like it got electrically arced ---- perhaps the amp chassis was "hot" due to the bad wiring (or leaky death cap?), and somebody tried to use the reverb jacks as an effects loop or slave out, or plugged in a different reverb tank to troubleshoot a humming or nonfunctional reverb, while the unit was plugged in and/or turned on.....

[@Satchmoeddie]

One my all time favorite Fender amps. I like 10 inch speakers. Vibrolux Reverbs and Super Reverbs. Heck even Princeton Reverbs. I had a pair of Marshall 4x10 cabs too.

[@hillelmusic]

What’s crazy is, as soon as you started playing on it I could smell the Fender amp smell coming through the video…

[@_alexsams]

Looking forward to the Part 2's of all these Super Reverbs! Thanks for the upload Lyle.

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

hi, it's great to see so many of these live on in the wild. one of my best retube jobs was on a 1966 super reverb, i call it the black marlin tube set... and i recommend it for tone and versatility: v1: a high gain mullard i63 for a bassman like tone at the normal channel .great for single coils/bright guitars and drive. you can get this tube used tested strong under 150$ on ebay /online stores or nos at 200-250$ these days. v2: a high gain GE 12ax7wa (100-150$) for a v shaped tone at the vibrato channel, great for cleans humbuckers and p90's. i also use this set on 2 twin reverb amps that are used as backline amps for many bands and it works with all the different guitars in all genres from jazz to rock. enjoy!

[@jonnybeck6723]

Say your prayers, the Catholic bypass caps are blessed and approved by the Vatican ( and partially deaf old guitar plunkers like meself continue to enjoy good Christian 'close captioning') ...and, as always, thanx so very much Teach

[@goodun2974]

Voice to text software refuses to learn how to interpret the word cathode and always prints it as Catholic.

[@johnbriggs3916]

My father said that when he was in the air force (RAF Coastal Command, WW2) the radar operators claimed to be Cathode Followers, so their religion was listed as "Other Denomination"...

[@goodun2974]

Lyle, I hope youre getting over your exposure to poison sumac; someone else remindeded that Calamine might be helpful. "Ooh- hooh, ain't it it good for you/that good old-fashioned medicated goo....." Traffic

[@user-ok2ju4lw4u]

cool idea for a video here. And awesome that you have all these at once.......

[@marcuscarrozza732]

To be honest the amp chassis and the transformers and other parts looks like someone may have cleaned it before it got to you. Maybe so you wouldn't have to clean it or comment on it . because that's a little to clean for the age of the amp.Thanks for the great videos. 😎

[@markspurgin8225]

I was thinking about that longer ground Could it be if the cord is pulled out the ground would be the last to disconnect providing a ground to the last possible moment 🤔

[@johnbriggs3916]

Yes, that's the idea. If the live wire is pulled off, it is liable to touch the chassis.

[@MichaelSmith-rn1qw]

As a practical matter, I can't think of any songs where the speed of the tremolo changes in the middle of the song. I haven't gotten to the end of the video yet, but if you had all five 1960's Super Reverbs in the shop at the same time, that's probably a rare occurrence in 2024.

[@acoustic61]

I still use a ring terminal to ground power cords but I solder the connector on.

[@stewarttomkinson3356]

that looks super clean

[@Satchmoeddie]

Xicon seems to have not survived Covid but they were excellent caps usually with 3-1/2 to 6x more than the usual 2000 hour lifespans. Xicon is not 100% dead, yet. They are still in Mansfield Texas, but they only list 4 employees and an annual revenue of $450,000. Xicon was originally Transcap (1972), and later changed their name to Xicon in 1988, then seems to have changed ownership or reregistered as Xicon again in 1997. For $175 I can do a full Dunn & Bradstreet workup on Xicon. Only $450,000 in annual revenue is NOT a good sign.

[@Satchmoeddie]

I actually own some stock in Vishay. I am looking very intently at some Korean semiconductor stocks. I did very well on a company called Arcam that used an electron beam to melt powdered metal into intricate parts kind of like 3D laser printing only the electron beam melts the powdered metal like a vacuum tube red plates its plates. No moving parts. GE owns Arcam now and GE is a financial mess. GE stock was like buying everything at a garage sale, sight unseen.

[@goodun2974]

​@@Satchmoeddie, There used to be an audiophile hifi company known as Arcam which I believe was an American import-export subsidiary of the British company Cambridge Audio. Presumably no relation to your metal manufacturing company.

[@mtbmadman011]

"The doctor Is In"

[@myrnabrean]

? Bf-VC mojotone kit: intensity knob interacts inverse with output when trem off. Chase down a problem or that's what the volume knob is for, use it. ? Volume loss seems less with FS disconnected but still apparent.

[@goodun2974]

It's my understanding that 7025's were built from the get-go with spiral heater wires (inside the cathode sleeve), wound oppositely from each other so that they'd be "humbucking" and quieter than ordinary 12AX7s, but that this design improvement was then incorporated into 12AX7A's manufactured by pretty much everybody so that the distinction between them and the 7025 was minimal. Perhaps there was also some sorting and grading according to measurable noise levels of individual tubes, I don't know....

[@seanweatherford1251]

The main change from 12AX7 to 12AX7A is the controlled heater warmup time for use in series string equipment such as cheap HI Fi and TV. If you have old stock 12AX7's the heater will flash alarmingly (like a light bulb) for a second or two upon startup. A lot of European tubes flash as series string equipment was less common. The 7025 is a 12AX7A that was sorted for low noise at the factory. By 1970 to 1975 all manufacturers had dropped the plain 12AX7 and made either the A or the 7025.

[@scottjamable]

Lyle another great video! I just bought a 67 SR and I biased it this weekend with the tubes it came with. It was way low, 8 watts per tube! What is a good bias range for mine? 60-65%? I've read some guys go as low as 50% 15 watts. That just seems a little low to me. Should I be shooting for 17-18 watts per 6L6? I know I can trust your opinion thanks.

[@PsionicAudio]

Depends on how high the AC mains get in your area. But remember that is the current draw at idle. You aren’t neutering the output with a modest bias. I bias most Fenders 55-60% idle dissipation.

[@middle_pickup]

A video of five super reverbs? How about a video of six AC30's next? Sent you an email!

[@colindamo]

Hi Lyle, quick question: The threaded part of my quarter inch instrument cable loosens up from the metal casing every once in a while when use it. To fix it I usually just hand tighten it because there are no ridges on the casing to put a crescent wrench or something to give it a good tightening. It eventually becomes loose again. Any suggestions, Teflon tape, Loctite, etc? thank you and hope to hear from you!

[@Zedd5]

??? Thx for the Video! Question: I never see you using compressed air for cleaning. can it cause any problems?

[@PsionicAudio]

It can be great. But I tend to use that outside.

[@troyrahnedir]

Lyle could stage a phenomenal April fool's joke by staging a massive, Pythonesque, mostly- off- camera electrocution event. %P

[@Winterfell1066]

I would like to send my amp. But you can't get in touch with him. I am convinced he is the guy to work on my amps, but he must not need more work.

[@goodun2974]

That's a lot of heavy amplifiers there. I would need to fortify myself with a bowl of "Super de muscles" 😉 if I had to lift all those in one day, probably followed by a cortisone shot!

[@johnbriggs3916]

I saw a reissue Super Reverb in Andertons the other day, and noticed that it had a security tag on it. Out of curiosity, I tried to lift it and found that I couldn't! I don't think they needed the security tag...

[@goodun2974]

​@@johnbriggs3916 , Frankly, I don't think anybody should be manufacturing combo amps with more than one speaker nowadays, not just because they're too heavy for us old guys but also because they shake the heck out of modern-production Russian and Chinese tubes, which can't handle it, and often rattle annoyingly or fail prematurely. Better to have a head amp ---- perhaps incorporating some rubber vibration-damping ---- and a separate speaker cabinet, especially if it's a 2x or 4x cabinet.

[@Jethlin2020]

As "Please Like and Subscribe" scrolls down the screen. Lol

[@danielcopeland7994]

I thought Sprague orange drop caps were good,why don't you like them ? Just curious!

[@incredifunk]

What is the pot lube you use again Lyle?

[@johnnymoondog5818]

? Why are the Orange Drops objectionable, I believe you explained before but I don’t recall. Thanks

[@PsionicAudio]

Because they’ve replaced the original blue Ajax caps, which almost never ever fail. Over zealous would-be techs who don’t know how to troubleshoot just pop in orange drops…

[@Kuztomshop]

I need a little help: I have a Super Reverb, Silver panel, Master Volume, Push/Pull Master Volume (44-70Watts), tube rectifier. The SN is A736994. Everyone tells me it's a '74, but a '74 doesn't match all the features I just listed. Anyone have a clue what year my amp is?

[@goodun2974]

Look for the date codes on any potentiometers and transformers that you're positive are original.

[@goodun2974]

It's a shame that nobody I know of manufactures replacement *silverface* Fender control plates. I know, all the "cool kids" and wannabes want to play through blackface amps, but changing silverface amps to blackface with just a change of faceplate seems like a lazy man's way of rewriting history (and fetchung more $$ when it's resold). Better to blackface or partially blackface the electronics and finetune the amp to sound as best as it can be.

[@jonnybeck6723]

Oi, ve gut mit der bulges... Alvays ve check-kink 4 der bulging-gots... (Dis izza zystum?) cowa bunga kemosabe!