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Post by bryan0418 on Jun 27, 2012 13:40:53 GMT -7
I have a 2001 Carmen Ghia head. It works perfect and sounds great.
Besides the output tubes that wear, do I need to have the capacitors changed? I always thought that 10 years was about as long as they go before drying out. I am not having any issue with the amp now but I don't want to be out playing and have the thing go south on me in the middle of a show. Do I need to send it into Dr Z for a cap job?
Are there other updates for the Ghia in the past 11 years since it was new? Is there any benefit for me doing this?
I am quite familiar with electronics and have an ET degree so I could technically change the capacitors myself but I don't mind paying the Dr Z tech experts to do their thing to my amp if it would be better in the long run.
What do you guys think?
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Post by headshrinker (Marc) on Jun 27, 2012 15:30:04 GMT -7
If it ain't broke don't fix it!
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Post by Ryan (shorty) on Jun 27, 2012 19:09:42 GMT -7
If it ain't broke don't fix it! Agreed.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2012 19:37:53 GMT -7
My V1 'rati is from 2000 and is good to go. A decent closely matched set of power tubes will do wonders. I use TAD EL84-STR's. A NOS rectifier maybe? Wouldn't update anything other than some toooobage...
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Post by myles on Jun 29, 2012 9:54:02 GMT -7
Modern capacitors last much longer than those from the past. If the amp is not noisy or has power supply hum your caps are fine. In general, a safe bet would be that your Carmen Ghia will be running well enough to pass it down to your grandkids regardless of your own age at the moment Output tubes require periodic replacement. Good front end tubes will last decades if NOS. Rectifiers do not wear out, when they fail they just stop working but can last decades. I keep a spare 5Y3 on hand for my own Carmen Ghia.
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