Newbie w Fender 75 Amp (1980) and Stratocaster (1980)

[Thaddeus58]

Greetings! I have been visiting this forum for years and recently found some incredibly helpful information on my Fender 75 Amp...there is a user group?? I have been a basement rocker since the mid-80's when I decided the music business in Buffalo was not a living. Now am retired and rediscovering the amp and guitar I own in a new band with some of my soccer connections in Albany. Have had the relationship (love/hate) with both amp and guitar but the elder me is suddenly in love with both as they suddenly sound sweet and familiar and am able to get all the sounds i need as a lead guitarist in this group. Now i know the amp is really only working in low power mode, but still sounds great, just not as loud as i remember which is really OK. Will need to check the tubes and see which need replacing, etc... so great info on the forum re to do's and not to do's.

I to have had several recommendations to dump the 75 and held on because i felt it was ridiculous to trade in a perfectly great tube amp for an overpriced solid state with bells and whistles i will never learn how to use. So bottom line i am keeping mine and looking for guidance from the amazing people here on how to start service/tube replacement/etc...

 

[stormsedge]

Welcome Aboard! I've never seen a Fender 75. The write-ups make it look like a keeper to me. Is it the 12 or 15 inch speaker?

No advice for you on service other than I use a good local tech for stuff beyond tube or speaker changes. Someday I'll acquire the gear to do more detailed internal work.

 

[NoTeleBob]

Greetings! You might also want to check out the sister forum Strat-talk.com for the guitar. They are very Strat focused over there.

There are likely some folks here who can give you more specific advice on the amp. But it's probably worth having a check of the capacitors at this point. If that Amp is old enough to have an ON switch that has two ON options for less hum, then it should also be checked for the so-called "death cap".

 

[Chester P Squier]

Welcome to the TDPRI!

Make yourself at home!

 

[unixfish]

Welcome.

 

[brookdalebill]

Howdy and welcome!
I have owned two 75s, both models (1-12,1-15).
I loved em’, I mostly played loud and clean.
I had no hassles with them.
Great stuff!

 

[Rich_S]

One of my best friends in college had a Fender 75, the 12" combo version. It was a great amp. I was a Marshall guy, but I borrowed his 75 a couple times for gigs after my band's van was stolen. I got on well with it. Definitely a keeper and worth investing some money into to get/keep it in tip-top shape.

 

[JRapp]

I had one that was a bit compromised cosmetically but it was a great clean amp if you avoided all the pull boosts and gnip-gnops. The EVM 15L sounded good in these but I ended up using a Celestion G15-75 to cut down the weight. I also had a Fender 30 1x12 that was a good little amp.

 

[corliss1]

Tubes are always the very last thing I check when servicing an amp. Make sure it's been serviced, which means all the electrolytic capacitors have been replaced, controls and tube sockets cleaned, and that the power supply is working right. Only then it is worth evaluating if there is a tube issue.

 

[Dan German]

Greetings!

 

[Dan German]

Although your amp isn’t really a Rivera-era, there may be some info here:

schematics for Rivera era Fender amps

schematics for Rivera era Fender amps

www.stratopastor.org.uk

 

[Killing Floor]

Hey

 

[MattAndTheMachine]

Welcome! If you like, you can share pics of your gear with us - most people around here like to look at guitar stuff.
And we also have a few people around here who like strats: Stratocaster Discussion Forum

 

[arlum]

Welcome to TDPRI.

 

[Stringbanger]

Welcome to the fold! We need guitar pics to validate your membership.

Sb

 

[TeleBrew]

What he said!

 

[FrankJames]

Welcome to the forum !!

 

[thunderbyrd]

Welcome!