New (Old) Amp Day: Knackered Selmer Zodiac Twin Fifty

Ossyrocks

A friend of mine who knows all things Vox told me that those large white resisters are very robust and can usually be kept as they don't drift or go noisy like some others do. Also those WIMA Tropyfoil caps will probably be ok too. A sympathetic service is what is required I think and not your general amp repair guy from the local shop who would most likely gut the entire chassis!

HarrySeven

Ossyrocks said:

A friend of mine who knows all things Vox told me that those large white resisters are very robust and can usually be kept as they don't drift or go noisy like some others do. Also those WIMA Tropyfoil caps will probably be ok too. A sympathetic service is what is required I think and not your general amp repair guy from the local shop who would most likely gut the entire chassis!

Luckily, I have a few people not-too-far-away who I can trust with the job.

Once I've sorted who'll be doing it, I'll just drop the "kit" of stripped-out parts off and ask them to crack on while I fanny about with the cabinet.

HarrySeven

Ossyrocks said:

A friend of mine who knows all things Vox told me that those large white resisters are very robust and can usually be kept as they don't drift or go noisy like some others do. Also those WIMA Tropyfoil caps will probably be ok too. A sympathetic service is what is required I think and not your general amp repair guy from the local shop who would most likely gut the entire chassis!

Incidentally, I'll want the GZ34 reinstating. Never liked that particular hack.

Ossyrocks

HarrySeven said:

Ossyrocks said:

A friend of mine who knows all things Vox told me that those large white resisters are very robust and can usually be kept as they don't drift or go noisy like some others do. Also those WIMA Tropyfoil caps will probably be ok too. A sympathetic service is what is required I think and not your general amp repair guy from the local shop who would most likely gut the entire chassis!

Incidentally, I'll want the GZ34 reinstating. Never liked that particular hack.

It may have been removed if the mains transformer was changed, if the new transformer has no 5v tap for the rectifier.

HarrySeven

Ossyrocks said:

HarrySeven said:

Ossyrocks said:

A friend of mine who knows all things Vox told me that those large white resisters are very robust and can usually be kept as they don't drift or go noisy like some others do. Also those WIMA Tropyfoil caps will probably be ok too. A sympathetic service is what is required I think and not your general amp repair guy from the local shop who would most likely gut the entire chassis!

Incidentally, I'll want the GZ34 reinstating. Never liked that particular hack.

It may have been removed if the mains transformer was changed, if the new transformer has no 5v tap for the rectifier.

Oooh, good point - hadn't thought of that! 

ICBM

Ossyrocks said:

HarrySeven said:

Incidentally, I'll want the GZ34 reinstating. Never liked that particular hack.

It may have been removed if the mains transformer was changed, if the new transformer has no 5v tap for the rectifier.

Certainly a possibility. What are the cut-off wires at the lower right in this pic? Looks like a bit of bell wire though...



In any case, I would probably plan on getting a better pair of more original-type ones as the first step.

You could even pick up something like an old Linear Concord amp fairly cheaply and use it as a donor.

easyrazors

My Twin 30 had been recabbed before I got it. Found some silver & black crocskin vinyl in the USA, which whilst not authentic was the closest I could find. One day I'll build a cab to the correct specification,  maybe...

http://imgur.com/a/8tVAqYe

HarrySeven

easyrazors said:

My Twin 30 had been recabbed before I got it. Found some silver & black crocskin vinyl in the USA, which whilst not authentic was the closest I could find. One day I'll build a cab to the correct specification,  maybe...

http://imgur.com/a/8tVAqYe

Still looks very cool!

guitars4you

@HarrySeven - there is a guy in your neck of the woods called Volt Amps who can probably help - Not spoken to him for a while but a good reputation as far as I know - If you can't find him via google then let me know and I'll see if I still have his number

HarrySeven

guitars4you said:

@HarrySeven - there is a guy in your neck of the woods called Volt Amps who can probably help - Not spoken to him for a while but a good reputation as far as I know - If you can't find him via google then let me know and I'll see if I still have his number

Cheers!

Pabcrane

I really hope you can get this up and running. I've not played a 50 but a rehearsal studio I used to go to in Camden had a Treble and Bass and Zodiac 30. They were fantastic.

Is the baffle made of Masonite?

ICBM

Pabcrane said:

I really hope you can get this up and running. I've not played a 50 but a rehearsal studio I used to go to in Camden had a Treble and Bass and Zodiac 30. They were fantastic.

I actually think the 30 is a better-sounding amp than the 50, although they're both good. The 50 is better for clean headroom but very strident when it overdrives, the 30 is fatter and more compressed.

Pabcrane said:

Is the baffle made of Masonite?

Not unless someone has made a DIY replacement! The original is ply.

Ossyrocks

HarrySeven said:

guitars4you said:

@HarrySeven - there is a guy in your neck of the woods called Volt Amps who can probably help - Not spoken to him for a while but a good reputation as far as I know - If you can't find him via google then let me know and I'll see if I still have his number

Cheers!

I know Geoff too and I do have his number if you need it.

HarrySeven

ICBM said:

Pabcrane said:

I really hope you can get this up and running. I've not played a 50 but a rehearsal studio I used to go to in Camden had a Treble and Bass and Zodiac 30. They were fantastic.

I actually think the 30 is a better-sounding amp than the 50, although they're both good. The 50 is better for clean headroom but very strident when it overdrives, the 30 is fatter and more compressed.

Pabcrane said:

Is the baffle made of Masonite?

Not unless someone has made a DIY replacement! The original is ply.

Yup. Definitely ply.

Flowboy

When I come across stuff about these Amps I always have to say something, or cry... My old band mate in the early 80's had a twin thirty, full croc skin, black & gold wired grill cloth, original footswitch etc. Got it from an old barn dance guy,  PX / swapped for an H&H combo! It was an amazing amp. Fantastic push button eq "voices". A real character of its own. Had a spectacular blow up at a gig with a shower of sparks so we took it in for repair ( along with a pair of 60's Marshall pa columns. The shop did a midnight flit. Never saw the amp again.

Fiddlesticks_

Selmer amps, particularly the Zodiacs, fascinate me. But there’s not many good quality demos about.

Can anyone describe how they sound, perhaps by comparison to a Vox AC30 or similarly powered Fender BF amp (as these are the sounds I’m most familiar with)?

ICBM

Smoother and cleaner than an AC30, warmer and richer than a Fender Pro Reverb. The Zodiac 30 is one of the very few guitar amps that is genuinely Class A, although it really hammers the EL34s to get there. (Not that being Class A is inherently better, it’s just a particular operating condition - and the AC30 isn’t, despite always being claimed as the typical example.) The 50 is a more conventional Class AB.

Fiddlesticks_

Thanks ICBM.

I wonder if we’ll ever see them come back. We’ve seen the likes of Supro and Magnatone come back in the last decade so who knows.

ICBM

Fiddlesticks_ said:

I wonder if we’ll ever see them come back. We’ve seen the likes of Supro and Magnatone come back in the last decade so who knows.

They would be very expensive to make now - they’re complex physically and very inefficient from a circuit design point of view as well as electrically. On the other hand, if modernised with PCB construction and built in China or Vietnam, anything is possible…

thecolourbox

The Selmer Zodiac Twin 30 was actually the crunchy sounding amp used on The White Stripes Elephant, not the Silvertone he's more typically associated with.

Did the Twin 50 just sound like a louder version of the same kind of sound?