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PAS-3 faceplate

S

SpruceMoose

Super Member
this is a duplicate post i made over on the dynaco-doctor site.

well, i got tired of the dingy, discolored faceplate on my PAS-3. i was thinking about buying the aluminum upgrade kit, but then i saw how much the last one went for on the 'bay. over 100 bux! no way. then i thought about making a new plate. no big deal, except for the lettering. and replacing the knobs with something to match. then i asked my wife if she preferred the brass or aluminum version. she said the brass looked better, if it was clean. so... i took the faceplate off. quite easy, actually. pop the knobs off, remove the pot/switch nuts, pop off the plate. and then came the cleaning. about an hour of damp paper towel/barkeepers friend. then a few minutes with some brasso polish.
it looks amazing! perfect brass, shiny as can be! the brown paint is perfect. the knobs look great. it is really quite a good looking piece of gear. i think it will look nice under my nickle-plated stereo-70.

if yours looks dirty and splotchy, give it a nice polishing. well worth the time spent!
 
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Good thing you enjoyed the cleanup, I had an old brass face plated Pas 2, and you will be doing it regularly.:yes: thank th dyna gods if yours is one with the lettering pressed into the brass rather than the lettering which rubs off, and be careful around the bottom where the switches are, that brown paint can rub off.

I found A NOS unused faceplate on ebay for around 35.00, was lucky on that one. The brass inserts on the knobs clean up nice as well.

Enjoy

Russellc
 
Hi Sprucemoose:

I forgot that the pas-3 had a solid brass faceplate and that it was engraved as opposed to silkscreened. I was thinking only the PAM-1 had this combination.

A picture (if possible) would be cool.

Have you considered shooting it with a clear coat to keep it from tarnishing quickly. Maybee spray bomb lacquer?

MSL
 
the lettering is engraved, so no problems there. and i covered the brown paint with some aluminum tape to protect it. that worked out fine too. hopefully, i wont need to re-polish the thing too often. if it becomes a drag i can always clear-coat it, but i would prefer not to. here are some pics:
 

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I recently acquired a PAT-4 that was dingy and covered with Scotch tape (some kind of label). I figured I had nothing to lose so I took a Mr, Clean magic sponge to it. Yhe results wre amazing!.I wish my camera was working.
 
Not to split hairs; but isn't your preamp a PAS-2? If yours is a PAS-3, it must be quite rare: I've never seen one with anything but the later aluminum faceplate.

Either way, you got it looking beautiful!! VERY nice work!!
 
i still have not figured that out. the label on the back just says PAS. but the tone controls appear to be the old style. they go almost all the way around. no center detent. i need to research that more.

thanx for the kind words guys!
 
follow-up on PAS-2 vs. PAS-3. i guess it's an early PAS-2. brass face, "normal" tone control pots, odd-shaped RCA jack panel cutout, labeled PAS. i assume bought early in the production run and never upgraded to the -x version.

as for it looking good under the ST-70, yes it does! however, i will be getting an FM-1 to go with it, and i will be building a box to go around the tuner and pre-amp. that would be too high, stacked along with the power amp, all sitting on top of a 4-foot tall double advent. i think the amp will stay on the advent(s), and the rest of the tube gear will sit next to my HT rig.
 
SpruceMoose said:
follow-up on PAS-2 vs. PAS-3. i guess it's an early PAS-2. brass face, "normal" tone control pots, odd-shaped RCA jack panel cutout, labeled PAS. i assume bought early in the production run and never upgraded to the -x version.

as for it looking good under the ST-70, yes it does! however, i will be getting an FM-1 to go with it, and i will be building a box to go around the tuner and pre-amp. that would be too high, stacked along with the power amp, all sitting on top of a 4-foot tall double advent. i think the amp will stay on the advent(s), and the rest of the tube gear will sit next to my HT rig.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, why do you want the FM-1? Unlike the FM-3, it isnt stereo, IIRC.

Russellc
 
that's true, however,:

1. it matches the brass face of the PAS
2. i don't plan on listening to fm except for background music across the room
3. i could always install the multiplex adapter kit.

really, i am just getting it to "complete" the rig. i have not listened to fm for years. even in my car, i use satellite radio or mp3 discs. i know, shame on me. but its good enough in a noisy little car.
 
The PAS3 had different caps in the line stage - they're green.

Faceplates can be replaced. There were kits to put a pas3 facepanel on
a pas2 chassis.
 
yeah, i have seen those on ebay. but, as mentioned, my wife likes the brass faceplate. she is actually taking an interest in the thing! in fact, lots of changes already in progress as far as housing this analog rig. not saying anything until its done, and then i will start a new thread with pics.

more to follow... :)
 
Not to confound the isues but when the PAS3 came out you could buy it with the older PAS2 faceplate. Very early on when the 2 and 3 were both in production, you could buy the 2 with the 3 faceplate.
 
Brian said:
Not to confound the isues but when the PAS3 came out you could buy it with the older PAS2 faceplate. Very early on when the 2 and 3 were both in production, you could buy the 2 with the 3 faceplate.
Click to expand...

iirc you could also buy a kit to upgrade the fm1 to fm3 status that included a new tuning eye tube a new pot and some other parts. if you didint want to do that there was a blank spot on the chassis where you could install a mono amplifier.those are rare as hens teeth now but i'd love to find one and install it as i have a few fm1's kicking around here.
 
Was the mono amp a Dyna option? I do not recall ever seeing such an option in any Dyna lit or price list but won't be the first time I've missed something as interesting as that. With the amp onboard, it would make a very interesting receiver/table radio.
 
If memory serves, the mono amp was called an FMA-2 kit. It was a 10 W tube amp board that mounted where the PC-12 multiplex board sits in an FM-3. Frank Van Alstine claimed that an FM-1 with the amp board ran even hotter than an FM-3, so there are probably very few left in working order.
 
Tku Sprucemoose & AK for this info!

I did this last night and I was sceptical at first but the intial results are fantastic. Will leave the brasso for another day, my arm is pretty tired now!.. tks again!
 

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