Vintage Gibson BR-9 tube guitar amplifier restoration many problems almost not worth fixing

Now this is the definition of a restoration. Rebuild of an old Gibson model BR-9 Tube amplifier. A very basic design. Utilizes an interstage transformer rather than an inverter tube. The amp had numerous problems, bad speaker, power supply caps, Open windings on the interstage and output transformer. Lots of time went into its restoration. If I did not have the rare parts in my hanger queen stash, the amp may have exceeded its value to fix. Have you ever looked on ebay and see what prices are on transformers! Its getting to the point where hobbyists cannot build and enjoy their creation. For this task, all turned out well and the amp is back with the owner. But now I am out of transformers for this application.

[@jimgiordano8218]

So nice to see an old amp come back to life, and better yet, that there are people out there who appreciate these old amps. Nice job Terry, keep them coming.

[@Bbendfender]

You are amazing Terry. That thing looked like a bird nest but you cleaned it up nicely.

[@jjcale2288]

That's what happens when you know what you're doing! It sounds amazing, good job!

[@edwardhannigan6324]

Hey Terry, great to see you woking on a relic amp..Love the coverage, info and tips..Thats why I learn..Thanks for sharing..Ed..uk..😀

[@kevinshea4776]

Really great video from start to finish...your customer will be thrilled!

[@tubeztoonz]

Well done, Terry! Problem after problem but you solved them all!

[@alexdeleon7135]

It's alive! It's alive!! The BR-9 lives. I hope to hear it with the new jenson mounted to the baffle.

[@stevebumstead9840]

This is the kind of video I love. Thanks Terry.

[@sam127001]

interesting repair - thanks for showing us how you did it !

[@Bob-ir2bj]

Well done. Thanks for the tips and extended instruction.

[@electrolytics]

Really cool project. Glad the amp lives to see another day. Thanks D-Lab!!

[@pauldow1648]

Beautiful unit and coverage of its repair. ❤

[@d-labelectronics]

Thank you my friend, I will try to do better on repair coverage

[@tomschupbach2200]

Ever tried to rewind those interstage transformers?

[@p_mouse8676]

Hammond as well as Edcor still sell those interstage transformers btw. Just in case one is totally busted. Although there are other ways as well. 😊👍😎

[@kane100574]

Excellent

[@miguelrichartmellado2834]

Great job Terry, Thank you .

[@justicelut]

Good job you. Can I just suggest that you put a grommet around that power cord where it enters the chassis. Might save some tears later!

[@EJP286CRSKW]

At least some of the hum first heard was due to half the output stage not working because of the open half winding in the coupling transformer, so there was no cancellation. I'm a bit surprised you powered it up in that stagt.

[@Tony770jr]

Good repair! The chassis looks like it could use a sand blasting and refinishing. Would look really nice!

[@dallastornadostudios7715]

Love this one.

[@PlanetaryThoughts9861]

That's a great repair if one happens to have some replacement iron on hand!

[@flashonline]

Brilliant.

[@preiter20]

Chock full of excellent tips! Crunchy tubes, bad caps, bad transformers. You had your work cut out for you. Top notch as always Terry!

[@nathkrupa3463]

Nice

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

What about reducing that Gibson BR-9 to a nice small portable unit using KORG Nu-Tubes 6P1s and use 51V from a Ethernet PSU and a regulator to get the 3V to drive the heater, LT800 will work to drive the Nu-tube 6P1 and the original transformer will work to drive the speaker.

[@skypuppy7724]

Plate resistors? I always change them to metal film to eliminate the 'radio' static.

[@robertcovemaker9440]

Did you have to recheck the bias after trying the different sets of output tubes

[@bernhardnizynski4403]

The amp sounds quite bright (in a good way) - is there a treble bleed capacitor across the volume control? What vintage is this amp?

[@waynegram8907]

D LABS, can you show how to measure the 5Y3 inherent loss measurement in a YT video? if the power supply is output 400vdc at 20mA with a 20K load, how do you compute the 5Y3 inherent loss?

[@Superjet113]

Gibson BR549

[@rvmeushaw]

What was the capacitor replacement board that was used?

[@d-labelectronics]

Its a custom one I have made thru Pad2Pad. Called the CUB1 They are on my website, d-labelectronics.com

[@steveberg3014]

What is a cup one board. Why not use replacement caps. I am open to new ideas thanks

[@d-labelectronics]

The board (CUB1) is a universal diode/cap board used for building amp projects. There is more info on my website

[@joemcgraw5529]

Terry I have 1 of these amps and need a good tech to recap it ,The amp works but I want it serviced before its used know anyone ?? lol

[@d-labelectronics]

Hello, Yes Sir, e-mail: [e-mail]

[@dhpbear2]

7:38 - What are "hangar queens"?

[@d-labelectronics]

My spare parts/chassis. Term is taken from old aircrafts stored in hangers, scavenged for parts to fix others

[@dhpbear2]

@@d-labelectronics It looks like new old stock!

[@MrMarkar1959]

I got a '71 Fender TFL 5005D amp head needs a little expert touch,,,and a '95 MesaBoogie DC-3..i think a couple hour cruz one way is worth it👍🏼

[@kennethquintini658]

Wow, what era is this from??!

[@robertcovemaker9440]

speaker was dated the 36th week of 1947

[@erikburman530]

Why would there be smoke? You replaced most everything.

[@williamogilvie6909]

I bet that if you measured the DC resistance of the new speaker you would find it is less than 4 Ohms. Impedance and DC resistance are two different measurements. But it doesn't matter because you replaced the output transformer. Great sound.

[@scottbaxendale323]

Not as cool as the BR-549 amp.

[@ineedcbsi]

All that work and then put a PC board in? Kinda hillbilly bro, lmao.