'56? Fender Harvard | Part 1 : Initial Inspection

[@retread1083]

Some trivia regarding Fender "college" amps: The Princeton dates back to the Woodie era. Up to and including the narrow-panel tweed version, it was a single-ended output. The Harvard was introduced in the narrow panel tweed era and had a push-pull output. (5F10 circuit) So it was a more prestigious model. In '61 the Princeton was upgraded to push-pull and tremolo in the Brown series with front panel controls. It was then a slight upgrade over the Harvard which remained in narrow panel tweed. In '62 the Harvard was seriously downgraded to a single-ended output, still in narrow panel tweed. (6F10 circuit) This allowed them to use up leftover stock of the chassis and cabinets from the tweed Princetons.

[@disco4535]

This thing is older than my grandparents! Love seeing and hearing old gear. So much history and serious vibe to it. I have zero experience in electronics or amp repair. But finding and watching this channel for about a month has really got me interested in learning about it. As far as I've seen, and compared to many other repair channels, this man is a master of his craft.

[@SirLoinMagroin]

There surely cannot be many of these left here on planet earth. Good to see that someone has taken it upon themself to get it restored. I'm not ashamed to say I envy you for getting to be the 1st one to plug a guitar into it once you do what you do.

[@kevinschmitt4050]

This thing is deadly in so many ways. I like it.

[@mastermachetier5594]

Dude its amazing the sheer number of videos with great info you put out.

[@retread1083]

This channel and Brad's Guitar Garage are the only two amp repair channels to which I subscribe. There are other good channels on this subject, but these two are the very best.

[@Vintage_375]

Excited to see how this turns out, glad to see some old tweeds on the channel. Always appreciate your uploads Lyle. Keep up the fantastic work! 10/10

[@williambock1821]

Lilly. Sorry missed your live stream,Lyle. Was recovering from my birthday the night before! Syd Barrett and I were born on Epiphany. Unfortunately,the 6th has gained a notorious new reputation in the past couple years.

[@Georgio594]

Such a cool looking amp! Can’t wait to see you bring it back to life.

[@imannonymous7707]

I clicked on this immediately , I had a chance to buy one once, looking forward to watching this

[@dustinthiessen]

What a super cool amp! Looking forward to seeing it all prettied up and sounding great

[@caryrodriguez7040]

OH NICE! I worked on one of those. Pretty beat up but took my time and got it back up and running. Very nice sounding amp. The one you worked on looks great! 👍

[@MrStevehunter33]

Looking forward to more on this amp. Another famous Memphis resident, Steve Cropper, is reported as using a Fender Harvard with Booker T & The MGs on nearly every Stax hit of the 60's

[@Satchmoeddie]

IF it's falling apart I will usually just spray those asbestos sheets with a clear coat of polyester or polyurethane. In buildings the asbestos wool applied to the building steel is coated over with a rubbery translucent plastic coating that has a colored dye in it so they can tell what has been treated and what hasn't been treated. That sheet asbestos was used in all kinds of electrical equipment & all kinds electric consumer products. It's generally not overly friable without lots of extra help. If it's super crumbly, soak it in water and then chuck it. Otherwise, it's not going to be getting abraded or crushed in normal use. All 9x9 vinyl floor tiles are vinyl asbestos. If they are in tact and you can live with the color, leave them alone, otherwise you will be scraping off tiles under water.. Okay, it's just under a couple of inches of water.

[@sgt.grinch3299]

This amp is older than me. I can’t wait until it is completed, so I can hear what music sounded like in the 1950s. The ES335 should sound amazing with this amp. Besides your ES335 always looks great in the videos.

[@rubaiyatu]

Couple weeks ago, I stumbled onto a picture of an old PLUSH amp head which showed the interior, and lo-and-behold, it had an asbestos pad inside for thermal protection. Ohhh My Goddd!!!😂😂😂 Just another reason I'm trying to coin the term THE BAD OLD DAYS in reference to those primitive pre-master-volume years of Rock & Roll. Thank you, once again & always, for these videos. Always instructional and amusing. Cheers!

[@goodun2974]

Right out of high school, I worked for a plumber for a while; on one job he had me dismantle an old boiler, probably from the 1920's or 30's, that was swathed in a thick layer of asbestos-bearing plaster and covered in cloth tape. I had to chisel it all off and then separate the sections of the boiler with a chisel and sledge. The asbestos fibers were like snow floating in the air, but it was 1977 and I didn't know anything about it at the time. How I am still alive at this point is a mystery to me but I certainly breathed in a snootfull of that shit that one day. Worth noting that Warren Zevon died from mesothelioma; he could only guess that the asbestos exposure came from insulation in the attic of his father's store where he played as a kid. Vermiculite, the puffed up mica mineral that you used to see mixed into potting soil, is often loaded with asbestos and was a popular insulation material forr blowing into attics and hollow walls of older buildings. Read "An Air That Kllls", about the mica mine in Libby Montana that poisoned not only an entire town but thousands of people around the country.

[@michaelhager4270]

Of all the old Astron caps I've checked, less than a handful have been any good. They are so cool looking and have such history, that it is a shame to have to pull them out, but thats the game. I can't bear to throw them in the trash, so have a box with at leat 50 of them in it. Future art project perhaps? Thanks for another video, your output is truly amazing, and I have to watch every single one. All the best from Australia M

[@PsionicAudio]

They are replace on sight here, but occasionally I document why. This video will be useful for future explanations.

[@unclekrampus7103]

You should really consider a side career in standup comedy- you were on fire today (not literally thankfully)!

[@TheStimpy60]

The asbestos comment made me laugh out loud 😂

[@ditchgator1]

What a treat...!!!😎👍

[@bartnettle]

encapsulate the asbestos with a good membrane paint first, then shielding.

[@goodun2974]

I'm with you on this. One should always avoid disturbing asbestos if possible.

[@russellesimonetta9071]

Holy Cropper batmen!! Nice rig but hazardous to your health! Am I wrong to say the Harvard was given tube trem and branded as the Vibrolux?

[@zhowyalikemenow]

I have a 58 Harvard in good shape I bought from my father-in-law who bought it used in the sixties for 25 Bucks. I paid him a $1000 for it 3 years ago.

[@alecalfaras5936]

Excellent decision!

[@toddanderson7942]

My name is Todd Anderson from Tacoma Wa. I value and appreciate your videos especially the Reissue ones. I am in need of an amp tech of your caliber. Would you know of one in Washington State? I have already spent a lot of money…. Wasted on other “amp techs”. I would love to give my money to you but shipping vintage and reissue amps across the country causes me a high degree of anxiety. I would be very grateful for your recommendations of an amp tech in Washington State.

[@curtisprice9806]

My Dad's '56 Fender Super used to shock the crap out of me all the time (moving it around and getting the polarity backwards) lol!! Funny, but not funny. The worst was when one of these shocks to me took out three or four effect pedals ....sigh 🥺 ps... Randy Rhoads LOVED his Harvard! It was the amp he took to audition for Ozzy. Ace Frehley used a Harvard for lots of tracks on his '78 solo album. ( great sounding overdrive that has got a tone you can differentiate from a Marshall! )

[@MitchellMaichak-ze7mr]

My " thumbs up " was for mention of the 1956 Super Amp , same year as mine ! I've got a Harvard Amp as well , but mine's a 1958 ! This is one of the benefits of being 69 years old , and picking up guitar in 1967 . These ( now ) desirable amps were just used equipment when I purchased them 9 years apart at separate flea markets ! I won't torment you with the prices I paid !

[@yorktown7395]

Noting the comments on how the new caps were installed, I’m wondering if Fender themselves used glue/silicon to secure electrolytic caps to any of their eyelet board amps?

[@PsionicAudio]

They did not in this era, but their original filter caps had thicker leads with mechanical support below the eyelets and a longer cap body so the lead lengths were shorter/more rigid.

[@yorktown7395]

@@PsionicAudio That makes sense. Thank you!

[@ericcarpenter3263]

Hey Lyle. I haven’t had a lot of time during the holidays to watch you channel, but I saw when you were on Tone Talk, you weren’t taking amps in from out of state. I’m in Oklahoma and have a late 50s Tweed Deluxe that has never had work done to it. Should I email you and see what to do to send it to you or are you still not working on stuff that has to be shipped in?

[@PsionicAudio]

Hey Eric, thanks. I’m selectively opening up the gates again. And your amp would fit the criteria. Shoot me an email. Thanks.

[@pgquin]

I've got a general safety question about these old amps. I work in the Canadian Navy onboard ship. Most ships have some sort of garage band going, especially during long deployments. The 120VAC power distribution on our ships has no neutral. It is basically +60, -60, Ground on a three prong plug. We don't allow two prong plugs for obvious reasons, especially with older tools and equipment like classic amplifiers. Even with a three prong properly grounded plug, is there still a hazard with these old amps under these operating conditions? Cheers!

[@richardlawrence216]

Hi What’s you take on Fender 64 Princetons handwired,components etc? Regards Richard

[@danielmargolis3210]

Man, I missed out on a couple of these when they were still relatively inexpensive.

[@goodun2974]

How long ago was that, when tweed Harvard's were inexpensive ( relatively)...

[@charlesbolton8471]

@@goodun2974 Relative to the other Tweeds except the Champ (and maybe the Princeton) they are still somewhat “affordable”. That being said, the asking prices have almost doubled in the past 2-3 years. In 2019, I missed out on two different ones both were $2,500. I haven’t seen one for under $5,000 since.

[@basiltiffani8850]

Sometimes I emit toxic gas. By sometimes I mean often.

[@marcusgomillion8705]

Who's a recommended amp tech around Montgomery Ala

[@grandudetonesnob7107]

Dust off yer Steve Cropper licks for the demo, Lyle! You know ya can.

[@PsionicAudio]

I can do a bit better than that when the time comes. I’ll call in a Stax-approved Memphis heavyweight.

[@grandudetonesnob7107]

@@PsionicAudio it's good to have home town privileges!

[@michaelscottbeedess8622]

I read somewhere that Steve Cropper played a Harvard on all the big Stax hits...

[@goodun2974]

@@PsionicAudio , Show-off! We await arrival of the heavyweight, and Part Two of the repair, with bated breath....

[@BladeDoomer86]

Quite the treasure you got there 😬

[@goodun2974]

For non-techies, when checking out and testing an old amp of unknown condition, plug it into a a GFCI outlet in the kitchen or bathroom. If there's voltage on the chassis, such as from a bad "death cap" or an internal short to the chassis (either of which would also put dangerous voltage on the guitar strings), it'll trip the GFCI. It won't, however, trip in the case of a bad filter cap or a bias problem or a shorted tube or anything like that....

[@michaelwojnar9247]

Only a "LUPE" is the proper accepted chassis

[@brentstewart59]

That's a Lilly... only the second I've ever seen. Man ya just don't see this every day, I don't anyways.

[@goodun2974]

🎵 "Da Da Da Da Da/ Pictures of Lilly/ Da Da Da Da Da......" 🎵 (though this amp might never have had any Who tunes played through it).

[@rakewawrz5200]

That's one of them their amps that jumps out and bites you

[@kmichaelp4508]

Lyle… you don’t know nothing about Mars… whoops, this is a fender. Let’s start over. Lyle… 😂❤