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Mini tube windfall

derekva

derekva

This ain't no picnic...
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I was out running errands and happened to stop by a 'clean out my garage' sale near my old neighborhood that had been listed on Craigslist. The gentleman who was having the sale had mentioned he had some tube gear that he was selling. He showed me what he had, we came to an agreement, and I walked away with three pieces of gear for slightly more than a Benjamin.

So what did I get?

  • A factory-wired Dynaco PAS-3
  • Fisher Model FM-50B tuner
  • A factory-wired Dynaco ST-70
Not a bad haul for stopping on a whim. Looks like I have some recapping and selenium rectifiers to replace.

-D
 
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So what is the consensus on the ST70 circuit? Van Alstine? Curcio? Triode? Stock? FWIW, I'm most likely going to restore and eventually sell the PAS3 / ST70 as a set (unless the ST70 finds some way to turn my head).

I'm thinking the FM-50B just needs a cleanup and recap. I don't want to mess up the tuning alignment.

-D
 
BTW - with regard to the Dynaco factory kits, I don't think I've ever seen an ST70 that looks this nice under the hood. Other than heat discoloration on the board and the heat rainbowing of the underside chrome (and a drop of flux next to the choke), this thing looks like it was just delivered. No crud or dust or spider webs. Likewise, all the tubes (Mullard GZ34 & RCA/Mullard EL34, RCA 7199) appear to be the originals that shipped with the amp. Ditto the PAS-3x. It's almost a shame to start mucking about with them!

-D
 
jaymanaa said:
Your turn will come, I used to say the same thing, but keep stopping and looking. The odds get more in your favor every time you don't find something.:thmbsp:
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This was mostly dumb luck, although I had seen the ad on CL for the sale stating 'old stereo gear of my dad's' and that tipped me off that there may have been some gold in them thar hills.

-D
 
It never hurts to mention your hobby to people either. Coworkers, customers, sales guys, everyone. More times than you may think, someone will say; "Oh, you like that old stuff, I have my Dad's old tube thing and some huge ugly speakers he used to play it through. These things are generally free for the hauling, but I do try to at least buy them lunch or a bottle of good whisky. I bet I got at least 6 or 7 pieces that way. The very first was a SC 433, the tiny little SC tuner, and a GE multiplex unit. I thought I hit the lotto, then the guy showed up the next week with a 10' Teac, and literally a van load of parts and tubes. He got educated in electronics after Vietnam on Uncle Sam's dime, and started inventing machines for factories. Everything he had parts wise was precision, and he was as glad to be rid of it as I was to drag it home. Yeh, mention it everywhere you go, and good luck. :yes:
 
jaymanaa said:
It never hurts to mention your hobby to people either. Coworkers, customers, sales guys, everyone. More times than you may think, someone will say; "Oh, you like that old stuff, I have my Dad's old tube thing and some huge ugly speakers he used to play it through. These things are generally free for the hauling, but I do try to at least buy them lunch or a bottle of good whisky. I bet I got at least 6 or 7 pieces that way. The very first was a SC 433, the tiny little SC tuner, and a GE multiplex unit. I thought I hit the lotto, then the guy showed up the next week with a 10' Teac, and literally a van load of parts and tubes. He got educated in electronics after Vietnam on Uncle Sam's dime, and started inventing machines for factories. Everything he had parts wise was precision, and he was as glad to be rid of it as I was to drag it home. Yeh, mention it everywhere you go, and good luck. :yes:
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Sage advice. I acquired a Challenger 6L6 amplifier (pre-Bogen), an SCA-35/FM-3 combo and a Springfield 1903A1 that way.

-D
 
jaymanaa said:
It never hurts to mention your hobby to people either. Coworkers, customers, sales guys, everyone. More times than you may think, someone will say; "Oh, you like that old stuff, I have my Dad's old tube thing and some huge ugly speakers he used to play it through. These things are generally free for the hauling,.....
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THIS has been the most successful move I've ever made for acquiring equipment. And it keeps paying off long after I've mentioned it. Word of mouth and all that. Typical scenario, I'll get a phone call asking if I'm interested in (such and such) equipment. Turns out the person got the number from the neighbor of the person I originally mentioned my wants to. Yeah.... people talk!
 
Yes indeed, I had a guy at a parts counter pipe up after I mentioned a cap sitting on his bench would be good for tube audio. He said; Nobody uses those things anymore, but I remember us kids jamming on dad's tube stuff when he wasn't home. Then he said I could have it, and he would bring it in the next day. Of course I showed up and he told me that his Mom had already given it to goodwill years ago. So you get some of that too, but at least it went to goodwill and not a landfill.:thmbsp:
 
eddantes said:
I see low gain VTA boards being mentioned all time... Might be a choice for you...
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Yeah, the Latino boards (with Kegger mods) are definitely on my short list (along with Shannon Parks' DIYTube ST70 boards). The only other changes I'd make is going with an 80/30/20/20 CE can cap in the power supply instead of the 30/20/20/20 and replacing the selenium rectifier.

-D
 
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A few photos (I'll add the Stereo 70 photos later):

8726805593_a41b075ec3_b.jpg


Those are all the original Fisher-badged tubes:

8727923472_fbbaec849c_b.jpg


A slight bit of wear around the power switch, but otherwise beautiful:

8727922960_a868548044_b.jpg


Yes, those are all the original tubes as well:

8726804431_46deeb0d22_b.jpg


You don't see this very often on Dynaco gear:

8727922872_487d286879_b.jpg


-D
 
Wow, that is some super-clean original gear! I had a PAS3X once that had probably been worked over by three or four previous owners. I would keep that one nice and original if everything checked out to be running within design tolerances.
 
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