Teisco Melody Vintage Amp

[Perkinsman]

Just scored this cool little amp and have been recapping and cleaning. Tubes all tested strong but for some reason the output voltage is only 80VDC. It breaks up early and doesn't get very loud, & the tremolo doesn't seem very smooth, way too much oscillation at low speed & intensity. Any help would be appreciated to restore this sweet little amp.

 

[knockbill]

Very cool! Got any chassis pics? Schematic? What model is it, can't find much under Melody, and numbers? Looks a lot like a Champ box...
OK,, found this...
https://courses.physics.illinois.ed...Alex_Taylor_Physics_406_Final_Report_Sp16.pdf

 

[knockbill]

The 1st two 6AV6s are each half of a 12AX7,,, and the third one is the trem... This guy is almost identical to 5F2 Princeton, using miniature tubes, and with trem added...
Amp on Left is my Princeton clone...
Did you replace all the caps yet? you need 260VAC to ground each on 6X4 pins 1 and 6... If you don't have it with the tube in place, pull the 6X4 and re test...

 

[Mystic]

...breaks up early and doesn't get very loud...

This might be "plus" for recording purposes.

 

[Mystic]

...the tremolo doesn't seem very smooth, way too much oscillation at low speed & intensity.

This of course is not desirable.

 

[Mystic]

In any event it merits a thorough "tech" inspection, recapping, possibly Limited) retubing.

 

[Mystic]

nb: I see you're in Sac or @ least its vicinity, I suspect y'all can locate a talented amp tech up there, particularly around The Bay Area. IIRC there is a pretty good tech in Berkeley who does restoration/refurbishing of vintage gear, geetars and geetar amplification in particular. I am not able @ this moment to recall his name or the name of his business, but I seem to recall the word "Dog" being part of either his moniker or that of his shop.

 

[Mystic]

And of course there is the shop "Real Guitars" in SF, but the tech bench rate is likely to be astronomical @ that joint. (just a hunch) Still, they are known for providing "expert" service.

 

[arts]

Beltone? I have this one:

 

[dr*audio]

You said the output is 80VDC. First of all you shouldn't have any DC on the output. Do you mean 80VAC? Have you measured the plate voltage on the output tubes?