Lots of Fisher threads today...

Sam Cogley

Sam Cogley

Last of the Time Lords
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Should I start one big thread, or a whole bunch of little ones? A fellow AKer and I made a deal today on some Fisher tube gear he had in storage. I have most everything I need to assemble a complete Fisher tube stereo system:
FM-100-C "Professional Series" tuner
MPX-100 FM multiplex decoder
"Spacexpander" reverb system (control unit and switch only, no tank)
400-C preamp (I think, the poor thing has been mutilated)
70-A monoblock

To complete the system I'm going to need a number of 400-C parts, the reverb tank (should I decide to install that section) and another 70-A amp.

Pictures to come. :thmbsp:
 
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The 400c is a very nice preamp...great phono stage. Hope you get all that gear up and running.
 
Test Photo Fisher. Cannon G1. Not so good.
Note: In the past I was unable to upload to AK from this camera. Kept saying file was too big. At least this uploaded even though the picture bad, dirty lens I think.
 

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Here are the pics!

70-A and FM-100-C
 

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MPX-100 and K-10
 

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And finally, the poor butchered corpse of the 400-C. Are the little lights used for the preamp selectors and the pilot lights something common?
 

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yikes..what happened to thatt 400-c? I thought mine looked bad when I pulled it out of some dudes garage after sitting unused for 20 years. At least it had a faceplate and some knobs. Perhaps somebody has a parts unit? Or maybe this could be the parts unit for a more complete one?

I don't know about the bulbs, mine was repaired by my tech. They glow through green jewel covers on the faceplate...I promise you that they'll look really pretty when you get this all sorted out. It's at least the beginning of a great system.

PS...Fisher tube tuners sound fantastic.
 
:drool: Look at that iron on the big monoblock! The 400C is going to take some patience, those are pretty rare. A faceplate might be tough to come by. But all that gear will make a great system, so it's well worth the efforts to complete it.
 
Hey Sam, I am glad you like and are excited about your Fisher stuff. I am looking forward to hearing it once you have restored them.

Hey Dave, yep, Sam is gonna need another 70A. I am getting very close to sending off my EI Dual 50 to NOS. We spoke on the phone and all I need to do is box it up good and wait for FedEx to kick it to Michigan. He seemed almost as excited to work on it as I am about getting it worked on.:D
 
I had one of those tuners. It worked in mono, but only one channel worked in stereo. I fiddled with it, decided not to continue, and gutted it. So, if you need parts, I still have the chassis, dial glass, etc.
 
Steve, when you send it to Craig, hit Home Depot and pick up a sheet of 2" insulation that you can cut into sheets for the packing box. Remember to double garbage bag the amp, so no foam gets into the unit. I can imagine Craig getting excited to see one of these, and getting to rebuild it. You will be in good hands. :thmbsp:
 
audiodon657 said:
I had one of those tuners. It worked in mono, but only one channel worked in stereo. I fiddled with it, decided not to continue, and gutted it. So, if you need parts, I still have the chassis, dial glass, etc.
Click to expand...

Hmm...I might need the chassis, this one obviously had a bit of a mouse problem (though it's mostly in good shape). After I clean it up, if it's still in need of replacement, I'll send you a PM.

JohnVF said:
yikes..what happened to that 400-c? I thought mine looked bad when I pulled it out of some dudes garage after sitting unused for 20 years. At least it had a faceplate and some knobs. Perhaps somebody has a parts unit? Or maybe this could be the parts unit for a more complete one?

I don't know about the bulbs, mine was repaired by my tech. They glow through green jewel covers on the faceplate...I promise you that they'll look really pretty when you get this all sorted out. It's at least the beginning of a great system.

PS...Fisher tube tuners sound fantastic.
Click to expand...

I have no idea what happened to it, as the previous owner of this gear before Steve got it last year did some odd things to his equipment. I'm still scratching my head over the modifications that were done to the incredible ARC Dual 50 amp that he's getting ready to send off for restoration. I figure I have the transformer, most of the switches and almost all of the circuitry, so I at least have a starting point for a rebuild. It seems to be worth the effort, I've read nothing but good things about them. I've considered finding a non-functional but non-complete unit to combine with this one, but they don't seem pop up often. Maybe it's time for me to start trolling A'gon...and continue picking pieces of styrofoam out of this 400-C.

Jailtime said:
:drool: Look at that iron on the big monoblock! The 400C is going to take some patience, those are pretty rare. A faceplate might be tough to come by. But all that gear will make a great system, so it's well worth the efforts to complete it.
Click to expand...

After I figured out what the 400-C was, it was rather crushing to see how far it had been degraded. I had to go by pictures for the ID, all of the Fisher markings were eradicated from the top of the case in what looks like a botched attempt to clean up some nasty corrosion.

Fortunately the 70A seems to be fairly common. It uses a 5V4 rectifier, which I don't think I have, though I have a boatload of 5U4s.

www.records said:
Hey Sam, I am glad you like and are excited about your Fisher stuff. I am looking forward to hearing it once you have restored them.

Hey Dave, yep, Sam is gonna need another 70A. I am getting very close to sending off my EI Dual 50 to NOS. We spoke on the phone and all I need to do is box it up good and wait for FedEx to kick it to Michigan. He seemed almost as excited to work on it as I am about getting it worked on.:D
Click to expand...

Steve, thanks for working with me on these - getting the system up and running is going to be a lot of fun. I'll probably start off with the tuner, as I can plug it into my Victor receiver to compensate for it's Japanese FM band and have some tunes while fixing the rest.
 
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Sam,
I have a contact that has a Fisher 70AZ amp. If you can't dig one up, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Nothing of his is discount cheap though, but he tests stuff to make sure it works, etc.
 
I need to do some reading to find out which tubes would work best in the amp. I know that the 5881 is in the 6L6 family, but I don't know more than that.

Don,
The 70AZ is a bit different, it has the long, narrow layout instead of the A's more square design. http://www.vintage-audio.com.ua/en/cat/43.shtml Thanks for the lead, and if I can't find another 70A I'll be in touch.

I'm going to start a new thread on the resurrection (and I think that term applies instead of "restoration") of the 400-C. The good news is that I found a picture of a 400-C open and upside down in an eBay auction, and now I'm about 90% sure that the switch I pictured is indeed the missing phono EQ switch. Now I just have to figure out how the heck it was wired in...
 
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5881's are most similar to 6L6GBs. You can certainly run any 6L6GC instead. 6L6GC has higher maximum ratings (plate voltage, etc.) Supposedly you shouldn't run 5881s where 6L6GCs are called for, but the other way 'round is fine. I say "supposedly" because Fender specified 5881s in a number of amps with plate voltages way up in 6L6GC territory. Of course that was back in the day when tubes were pretty tough. Tung-Sol was the supplier for Fender 5881s back then.
 
Some sellers are listing the Russian 63PS-E as equivalent to the 5881 - is there any truth to that? How do the Soviet outputs sound?
 
I cleaned up the FM-100-C tonight, installed a 12AX7 (an old, possibly worn out Sylvania - I didn't feel like blowing a Mullard, Tele, Amprex or RCA to kingdom come if something was wrong) and connected it to the Victor tube receiver. First impressions, the sound is a bit thin and distorted, and the tuning strength meter doesn't move much at all. I don't know if an internal connection is bad or if the antenna I have connected is a piece of crap, or if it needs internal repairs. Fortunately there aren't too many electrolytics in this unit, but it does have a lot of resistors that need to be checked and/or replaced. Fisher does get some serious kudos, though - considering that this tuner doesn't look like it's had the easiest life in storage and hasn't been run in who knows how long, the fact that it even started up surprised me.

Minor maintenance quibbles - the only lights that are working are behind the signal meter and behind the muting jewel. The stereo beacon hasn't come on (thought that could be a bad signal issue) and both fuse lights for the dial are out. I haven't quite figured out how to get to the stereo light - it's in a long tube with a plastic plug at the end.
 
Continuing to talk to myself - stopped by the Rat Shack today and grabbed a couple of bridge rectifiers to replace the old selenium parts. While I'm in there I'll try to figure out if something is messed up with the antenna wiring or if the meter is simply fried.
 
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