Fender concert II 1983. Worth restoring

jeminedjemined Frets: 0
I have an old working  and cracking Fender Concert II - 1983 I think, but one of the last ones hand wired.
It now needs a complete overhaul. At one price point do I decide that it's time to let it go? The amp tech reckons £200-£300 to restore it....
Any thoughts?

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Comments

  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    What needs doing other than replacing the filter caps? That shouldn't cost as much as that.

    These are truly great amps - and can be improved even further with a very simple mod - but not worth a fortune so perhaps not sensible to spend too much on it if you're considering letting it go.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • JayGeeJayGee Frets: 1254
    You’d have to spend a *lot* more than that to get an amp like that new so I’d say that was a no-brainer, even more so if as @ICBM suggests you can get a quality job done for less. I’d certainly spend that on my Super Champ in a heartbeat...
    Don't ask me, I just play the damned thing...
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    jemined said:
    The amp tech reckons £200-£300 to restore it. Any thoughts?
    Ask the tech to itemise everything that contributes to that estimate.
    Be seeing you.
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  • Guys - many thanks for this. The tech is doing a bench strip down before giving me a quote.
    I'm hoping that it'll be some Caps and a tube or two.  Do I need to get the dust cleared out of the speaker cone?

    For info - I'll post the quote when I get it... :)
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    jemined said:
    Guys - many thanks for this. The tech is doing a bench strip down before giving me a quote.
    I'm hoping that it'll be some Caps and a tube or two.  Do I need to get the dust cleared out of the speaker cone?
    Ideally, but that's very simple and shouldn't take more than 5 minutes.

    Don't replace valves unless they're actually faulty. It's quite possible it will have its original old-production US preamp valves at least.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • jpfampsjpfamps Frets: 2723

    I agree with @ICBM ; these are very well built amps and a quick inspection should be all that's need to assess what needs doing.

    Filter caps may need changing, as might some valves and if you are really unlucky the loudspeaker.



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  • Pete24vPete24v Frets: 235
    I have one, it's amazing, paid £400 for it about 10yrs ago. It's had caps and an output valve change..and a new speaker. 
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  • DJH83004DJH83004 Frets: 196
    I have just serviced two very recently and they needed very little doing at all from a component replacement viewpoint. If the channel switching is working fine then the optos should be OK, your tech should pick up the fact that the 47R bias feed resistor is undersized and cooks and replace that, he could upgrade the screen grid resistors as they are a little undersized (1watt) and maybe the power supply caps if you are unlucky. 
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  • DJH83004DJH83004 Frets: 196
    JayGee said:
    You’d have to spend a *lot* more than that to get an amp like that new so I’d say that was a no-brainer, even more so if as @ICBM suggests you can get a quality job done for less. I’d certainly spend that on my Super Champ in a heartbeat...
    The Rivera era Super Champ is a lovely little amp, but don't forget it uses quite an unusual 6C10 triple triode valve, may be a good idea to get a spare while you still can  ;)  
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  • dcgdcg Frets: 228
    Most Rivera-era Fenders are great amps, and the Concert - although quite heavy - is, in my view top of the tree. It does extraordinary cleans, and takes pedals well; the boost is a little controversial, but is speaker-dependent to some degree.    However, the Super Champ and Princeton ll are also real contenders, and all are currently somewhat underpriced in relation to what they can do.  I'd spend the money, but just be very clear what you're getting for this - as others have advised.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    DJH83004 said:

    The Rivera era Super Champ is a lovely little amp, but don't forget it uses quite an unusual 6C10 triple triode valve, may be a good idea to get a spare while you still can  ;)  
    There's a conversion you can do on them to replace the 6C10 with a 12AX7, gaining the third triode stage by not paralleling the reverb driver and using half of it for the reverb return instead. You need a conversion plate to mount the 12AX7 socket across the 6C10 hole, but that's not a huge job.

    dcg said:
    Most Rivera-era Fenders are great amps, and the Concert - although quite heavy - is, in my view top of the tree. It does extraordinary cleans, and takes pedals well; the boost is a little controversial, but is speaker-dependent to some degree.
    The mod I mentioned earlier is moving the tone stack on the Lead channel to post-distortion rather than pre - it makes a *huge* difference, you get a lot more gain and a far more powerful, less touchy EQ. You can do it with all the existing components and even wire, and it's fully reversible if you don't like it.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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