Incoming B-15N?

[dadagoboi]

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/msg/2056844644.html

Waiting to hear back from this guy.  It started out at $1500 but I didn't see it until this AM.

[fealach]

Best of luck.  My local Craigslist is full of kooks, I just read it for the comedy.  Hopefully the seller gets back to you soon.

[dadagoboi]

He got back to me, yep, totally batshit...said the original owner, his uncle, left it to him 5 years ago,.  It stank of being in a cedar closet for a very long time.  And it was dusty.  I told him I'd think about it, blue checked tolex went out of style a long time ago.

Right...I was pulling out my wallet as I was walking thru the door and got a flash of that holy blueness and glowing logo.  It looked better than my '63 B-18N looked in '65.  It's obvious it's never been gigged.  Not a single tiny rip or tear or scratched chrome anywhere, original tubes and speaker and everything else including casters that have never seen concrete.

The guy started at $1800 a month or so ago with ads on CL everywhere from Orlando to Jacksonville. I told him I was glad I hadn't seen it sooner.

I will post pix as soon as I change my Depends, I advise the same before viewing if you're an Ampig.

This is why I will give CLers the benefit of the doubt concerning something that seems slightly fishy.  But hey, I'm from Bensonhurst, the home of FOT.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I see you decided to go with the earlier cabinet... 

[dadagoboi]

I see you decided to go with the earlier cabinet... 

Yeah, I almost pulled the trigger on a 70's this week but decided I didn't really like the looks of the later models.  This one is from my salad days and fits in with the Jamerson/Dunn Fender/flats sound I like.  Plus after doing all the research this one seemed more original than 95% of the others.  As I get into it I'd really appreciate your advice.  Right now I'm still not believing I actually have the better version of my first real amp ( the B-18N, it's predecessor being a Silvertone 2x12 piggyback).  I may build an extension cab with the theile configuration.

[jumbodbassman]

the holy grail.....

Bensonhurst.  that's why we think alike.  Bay parkway and 83 rd street first 9 years of life.  Bay 7th after that.  Lafayette HS.....

[dadagoboi]

1921 73rd St.  Moved to LawnGeiland at 5 and Flawrida at 10.

[jumbodbassman]

brooklyn, after college  - queens,  staten island ,  jersey then CT.  not sure how that happened 

[dadagoboi]

Here it is

[Psycho Bass Guy]

If you can get access to a variac, even if the amp seems to be OK, turn everything to "on" and bring it slowly up to full wall voltage over a period of a couple of days. Just make sure your input gain is turned off and keep an eye on it for the tubes cherryplating or the amp making weird noises. That could save you some major troubles down the road.

[Aussie Mark]

Wow, it's just about mint!

[Lightyear]

Like a museum piece! 

[jumbodbassman]

SCORE !!!!!

absolute mint.

[ramone57]

wow, that's incredible!

[dadagoboi]

The schematic says this is a B-15NC which Ampeg made between 1964 and 1965.  The serial number indicates '64.

The rest of the story.

Yesterday PM I cleaned up the chassis.  I had used a damp washcloth to remove dust the day before and it had left a white residue on the base of the transformer covers that would not go away, so I  masked them off and sprayed them with semiflat black.  Carefully pulled all the tubes and sprayed the pots with cleaner.  Reassembled everything with tubes in their same positions, zeroed all pots , plugged in speaker cable and with standby engaged turned it on.  Went to get my tripod.  When I returned a minute later the fuse, 3AGC, had blown.  No power transformer smell of doom.  I don't have a replacement fuse so I'm ordering some.  The 20 minutes of playing time I put in before this at very low volume sounded great with no noise or strange sounds from the amp.

This morning I took a close look at all the chassis components.  This is what I found


I took a look at yesterday's chassis picture.  I'd missed seeing the damage, it was plainly visible.  I remember a similar problem in '73 with my 6146 tubed SVT.  A quick trip to Radio Shack fixed it.  I want to be be a little more careful with this baby!

Schematic