Nice! Bet they sound great. I was getting really close to going in the direction of a current production heritage cab. Not easy to find an old one with the CTS alnicos locally. Hope this deal works out, it's a lot cheaper than the heritage cabs I've seen with shipping!
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On a vintage SVT mission
- Thread starter Frome
- Start date
Nice! Bet they sound great. I was getting really close to going in the direction of a current production heritage cab. Not easy to find an old one with the CTS alnicos locally. Hope this deal works out, it's a lot cheaper than the heritage cabs I've seen with shipping!
Just got the SVT back from the shop. The guy said he replaced the fan and it is absolutely louder than it was when I left it with him. Thoroughly pissed. He had my amp for three weeks only to give it back louder than it was. This fan makes a whiny sound that the other one clearly did not. Beginning to think this purchase was a big mistake .
I went through something similar with my 69. Bought and installed a new fan that was advertised as about 4dB quieter. But it turned out to be louder. I discovered the the webpage had an error. Put the original fan back, so I wasted a bunch of time and a bit of money. At least I have a spare fan
.Is the fan blowing in or out? My 69 pulls the air into the headcase. There is a cut out in the grill for the fan, so there is nothing obstructing air flow before it meets the fan blades.
My 87 blows the fan out and there is no cut out in the grill. I thought it would be better to pull the air into the head case, so I turned the fan around. This made the fan louder and more whiny. My theory is the air passing trough the grill forms in little high speed jets. When the jets hit the fan blades it causes whine. I turned the fan back around...another couple of hours of wasted time.
Supposedly the SVT did not need a fan to pass certification, but I don't recommend turning the fan off. The components will get hot and break down quicker. It might be okay to use a lower capacity fan, but from the research I have done, the max you will probably knock down the SPL is about 5dB.
If there is less fan noise, IME your more likely to notice some hum. Every vintage SVT I have ever played had some hum.
You're going to need the 810 bottom to go with to replicate your experience. A lot of the magic of the SVT was due to the cabs.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,077
- 5
- 221,167
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
The fan on mine blows inward. I agree that much of the noise is from the air rushing through this little holes. Earlier in the thread someone recommended putting some spacers in to get the fan away from the metal grill, think I'll try that.I went through something similar with my 69. Bought and installed a new fan that was advertised as about 4dB quieter. But it turned out to be louder. I discovered the the webpage had an error. Put the original fan back, so I wasted a bunch of time and a bit of money. At least I have a spare fan
Is the fan blowing in or out? My 69 pulls the air into the headcase. There is a cut out in the grill for the fan, so there is nothing obstructing air flow before it meets the fan blades.
My 87 blows the fan out and there is no cut out in the grill. I thought it would be better to pull the air into the head case, so I turned the fan around. This made the fan louder and more whiny. My theory is the air passing trough the grill forms in little high speed jets. When the jets hit the fan blades it causes whine. I turned the fan back around...another couple of hours of wasted time.
Supposedly the SVT did not need a fan to pass certification, but I don't recommend turning the fan off. The components will get hot and break down quicker. It might be okay to use a lower capacity fan, but from the research I have done, the max you will probably knock down the SPL is about 5dB.
If there is less fan noise, IME your more likely to notice some hum. Every vintage SVT I have ever played had some hum.
Had a couple lined up locally but the deals fell through. Found another local Heritage 810 that I think I'll be able to get for $900. That's about the cheapest I've found for one that is in excellent condition.
Beginning to rethink this whole thing honestly. The fan noise and hum really irritate me.
Besides, while I was waiting on getting it back I grabbed a BDDI and am really pleased with the versatility and tones I'm getting.
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They are not a factory authorized service center to my knowledge. They ordered it from the Fliptops website. Said they've done many over the years.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,077
- 5
- 221,167
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Just because they have worked on many doesn't make them qualified… if the amp still have issues, then it's not properly repaired.
Authorized service centers generally have better resources and successful experiences.
Will give that a try. What's with the funky bolts they use to mount? I have just about every tool know to man but don't think I have a bit that fits them.
@Frome
Fans
Fan: OA125AP-11-2TB (120x120x25mm, 60CFM, 37dBa)
Fan: OA125AP-11-3TB (120x120x25mm, 53CFM, 33dBa)
Guard: G109-15AB
Cord: C45-12 (45 degree plug with 12" lead)
The top fan is the one I have on hand. It's about the same SPL as the stock fan. The second fan is the quietest in the series...it's only a 4dB difference.
This fan is 13mm deeper but runs much quieter. (check clearance)
Fan: OA109AP-11-3TP (120x120x38mm, 51CFM, 25dBa)
Fans
Fan: OA125AP-11-2TB (120x120x25mm, 60CFM, 37dBa)
Fan: OA125AP-11-3TB (120x120x25mm, 53CFM, 33dBa)
Guard: G109-15AB
Cord: C45-12 (45 degree plug with 12" lead)
The top fan is the one I have on hand. It's about the same SPL as the stock fan. The second fan is the quietest in the series...it's only a 4dB difference.
This fan is 13mm deeper but runs much quieter. (check clearance)
Fan: OA109AP-11-3TP (120x120x38mm, 51CFM, 25dBa)
Turn the nut on the inside.
My 69 had clutch head screws in the chassis, similar to these.
They were corroded so I replaced them with Philips.
The 69's fan has flat head screws. The 87's fan has Philips screws.
Yep, those are the screws on mine. Will go from the inside, thanks!
Update on the SVT journey. As mentioned in a previous post the tech I took it to only replaced the fan (louder one) and did nothing to address the non fan noise I was hearing. Did some research and found a much more qualified tech and he is fantastic. Been going through the amp in great detail. Said there were multiple things going on. Hum from improper grounding, said a previous tech tried to update the grounding and did a poor job of it. He fixed all that, resoldered all joints, replaced preamp tubes and it's sounding better but he's still hearing hiss from the preamp with nothing plugged in. He found two dropping resistors that were sending high voltages to the preamp. He's going to do a complete recap and we may replace the power tubes after some more testing. The guy is very reasonable on pricing but I have a feeling this is gonna cost me big.
At this point, second guessing my decision to go the vintage route but hoping that once he's done the amp will give me many years of enjoyment.
At this point, second guessing my decision to go the vintage route but hoping that once he's done the amp will give me many years of enjoyment.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,077
- 5
- 221,167
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Caps have nothing to do with hiss, I would leave the caps alone. Power tubes also have almost no effect on hiss. If what you have bias up properly and current share properly, I would leave them alone as well.
Hiss is a function of circuit gain, the SVT was designed around tweeterless cabinets so if you are using with a cabinet that has a tweeter, a higher noise floor is normal. Even with an SVT 810 cabinet there is audible noise on a properly functioning amp.
Hiss is a function of circuit gain, the SVT was designed around tweeterless cabinets so if you are using with a cabinet that has a tweeter, a higher noise floor is normal. Even with an SVT 810 cabinet there is audible noise on a properly functioning amp.
I may not have explained what he shared clearly. He did say that he felt the resistors that went bad were creating the hiss in the preamp section. He's out of town currently but should know more quickly upon his return. He referenced "possibly" needing to recap due to the hum, not hiss, but the regrounding may have addressed that. He also said that he needs to do more testing before making a call on retubing. He tried to get it done before leaving town for a week but said there are multiple issues that will require more work to get it right.
Not sure what cab he's testing it on. I have been using it with a cab that has a tweeter but have since picked up a Heritage 810.
I didn't expect the thing to run absolutely silent but it was clearly noisier than it should be. You don't think it's worth recapping while he has it in there?
