Pepco tube amp - Thread and Mail summary
A summary of info found on numerous threads and excerpts from mails that were sent to me.
From :
http://www.guitarscanada.com/Board/archive/index.php/t-106.html
HI, I'm new here and hope to get some info on my new vintage 5 watt ARC tube amp. HELP !
fraser
04-20-2008, 04:18 PM
Made in montreal by pine electronics(pepco) in the sixties and early seventies. pepco made a number of amps, all similar- but with different badge names, like pine, regal,arc, riviera etc.
if it has only one transformer youll want to put in an isolation transformer so you wont get bit- they can be a bit dangerous-
ive got a few-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v673/fraserkaro/pic002-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v673/fraserkaro/pic004-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v673/fraserkaro/pic003-2.jpg
04-20-2008, 04:30 PM
Any idea how much an isolation tramsformer and 3 prong conversion would cost?
04-20-2008, 04:53 PM
i paid about $20 per transformer-
hammond isolation transformer, 169QS, primary 115v, secondary 115v
i walked into my local electronics store, and they ordered em in for me.
i simply bolt the iso tranny to the bottom of the cabinet, cut the old 2 prong wire so that it reaches the tranny, them hook it up- then i cut the one end off a 3 prong pc power supply cord, and hook it up-
White and black to transformer black leads. Original two power leads from chassis to transformer red leads. Power cord Green lead to amplifier chassis.
cant imagine it bieng expensive, only takes 10 minutes- id charge $20 if it was me for the work-
does your amp have just the one transformer? and do 2 of the tubes have numbers like 50l6 and 35z5?
if its got 2 transformers, then you just wire a 3 prong cord like the old one, with the green wire going to the chassis-
some applicable infos here-
http://www.netads.com/~meo/Guitar/Amps/Kalamazoo
http://www.guitarscanada.com/Board/archive/index.php/t-106.html
HI, I'm new here and hope to get some info on my new vintage 5 watt ARC tube amp. HELP !
fraser
04-20-2008, 04:18 PM
Made in montreal by pine electronics(pepco) in the sixties and early seventies. pepco made a number of amps, all similar- but with different badge names, like pine, regal,arc, riviera etc.
if it has only one transformer youll want to put in an isolation transformer so you wont get bit- they can be a bit dangerous-
ive got a few-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v673/fraserkaro/pic002-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v673/fraserkaro/pic004-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v673/fraserkaro/pic003-2.jpg
04-20-2008, 04:30 PM
Any idea how much an isolation tramsformer and 3 prong conversion would cost?
04-20-2008, 04:53 PM
i paid about $20 per transformer-
hammond isolation transformer, 169QS, primary 115v, secondary 115v
i walked into my local electronics store, and they ordered em in for me.
i simply bolt the iso tranny to the bottom of the cabinet, cut the old 2 prong wire so that it reaches the tranny, them hook it up- then i cut the one end off a 3 prong pc power supply cord, and hook it up-
White and black to transformer black leads. Original two power leads from chassis to transformer red leads. Power cord Green lead to amplifier chassis.
cant imagine it bieng expensive, only takes 10 minutes- id charge $20 if it was me for the work-
does your amp have just the one transformer? and do 2 of the tubes have numbers like 50l6 and 35z5?
if its got 2 transformers, then you just wire a 3 prong cord like the old one, with the green wire going to the chassis-
some applicable infos here-
http://www.netads.com/~meo/Guitar/Amps/Kalamazoo
CSA # LR19952 identifys Pepco made equipment.
First as an old Canadian tech and previous Riviera owner, I remember this amp very well. Go to the Fender Amp field guide site and look for the AA964 Black Face Princeton Amp schematic. Your amp should be very close to that one, only Vibrato would be missing and outputs would have cathode bias instead.
Published layout would not match at all, but with the actual point-to-point wiring, it should not be hard to trace every wire against the schematic.
I remember the original ground wiring was very poor, this amp was hummimg baddly. Direct chassis connections were everywhere, including one side of filament wiring. Rewiring all grounds (2 point star), and adding balanced filament line (2 x 100ohm resistors) would be a huge improvement.
I also remember back then, everyone upgraded to 6L6s. Heavier currents would soon burn cathode bias resistor and also screen power supply drop resistor.
Replacing those resistors with heavier ones (same value) would improve reliability a lot.
I also remember removing the cathode bias circuit, and deriving a new fixed bias from one leg of HV supply (a la marshall 50W).
Another more sophisticated mod (for the time) was to insert another gain stage (using the missing vibrato stage) in the signal chain.
Finally as an old player, I remember this amp was popular in garage band situations (late sixties) in Quebec. I payed 50 $ (can) back then for amp head only. I seem to remember that a matching 1x15" cab was going for about the same price. When a band was ready to hit the stage, then they would
typically upgrade the Riviera for a Traynor.
Hope this helps
Claude
From:
We used these piggy back Riviera amps as kids in the `60's and early `70's. Personally I had three of them over the years. At one time, Simpson-Sears used to sell these under the Lark name as well as the Riviera name. They usually came with a single 15 cabinet, were one channel(volume, treble, and bass) , two inputs (guitar and bass) and a standby switch. These things has a reputation for being loud and rugged. A friend described how his fell off the stage prior to a gig and landed on the dance floor. Some of the tubes bounced out of it and the face plate was bent. Stuck it back together and it worked perfect! About 1973 or so a buddy of mine purchased a new Riviera amp from a local music shop in Bedford, Nova Scotia. This one was a super deluxe two channel four input job with a six ten cabinet! They also sold a 4 channel P/A head. I think that all of these amps used the same 2x 6V6, 2x 12ax7 and 5V4 tube arraignment.
Pepco - PAUL Amp - speakers
Jensen or not !!!!!
The Jensen speaker manuf. code is 220 (see here for example: http://www.webervst.com/codes.html )
A "real" Jensen will alwyas have a stamped code that starts with those 3 numbers.
Having said that, i looked closer at the link you posted and noticed something... i have some of them!
I bought a quad of them at Bibles For Missions for $12
Here is one: code is 12CCR8? on magnet, and DWH6 on gasket.
I can also make out the RSC (Radio Speakers of Canada) code on the cone: RS12050?
You can also see a smudgy looking Jensen stamp on the magnet.
The only thing i can say is that possibly Jensen had some deal with RSC to make a lower end driver for radio use, but i would say these were not made by Jensen, but by RSC in Canada.
These have pretty good breakup but dont handle much power at all. I could crank the quad with my old Traynor bass mate but 15-20 watts is all it put out. Raspy sounding speaker for guitar overall... but at $4 each i got my moneys worth. Finally blew 3 of them with my HIWATT and this one had its speaker tabs busted off
These are definitely not the Jensens we normally refer to when speaking about guitar amps...
A "real" Jensen will alwyas have a stamped code that starts with those 3 numbers.
Having said that, i looked closer at the link you posted and noticed something... i have some of them!
I bought a quad of them at Bibles For Missions for $12
Here is one: code is 12CCR8? on magnet, and DWH6 on gasket.
I can also make out the RSC (Radio Speakers of Canada) code on the cone: RS12050?
You can also see a smudgy looking Jensen stamp on the magnet.
The only thing i can say is that possibly Jensen had some deal with RSC to make a lower end driver for radio use, but i would say these were not made by Jensen, but by RSC in Canada.
These have pretty good breakup but dont handle much power at all. I could crank the quad with my old Traynor bass mate but 15-20 watts is all it put out. Raspy sounding speaker for guitar overall... but at $4 each i got my moneys worth. Finally blew 3 of them with my HIWATT and this one had its speaker tabs busted off
These are definitely not the Jensens we normally refer to when speaking about guitar amps...
Hi, I've just put down my soldering iron and an now enjoying the rather vintage garage rock sound of my Marlin amp.
It was made by pepco (as indicated by the printing on the power trans). The only schematic I've been able to find online has been the 725 chassis. This amp is similar but it has two volume controls and each side of the first 12ax7 is used for each of the two inputs also the tonestack comes after these two stages. It had a selenenium SS rectifier that I replaced with a 5y3 tube (also changed the pwr. trans for an old one with the 5v tap needed for the tube).
All of the plate resistors throughout the amp were 220k or 470k!!!...instant metal overdrive! So the first two stages got changed to split load 82k/18k to calm things down a bit. New B+ filtercaps (salvaged from old computer monitors) were installed and I put in a 9 pin socket to take an el84 (cathode biased) to pair up with a 6v6 for a mixed tube push pull output.
The thing sounds like a blend of tweed deluxe and vintage marshall ! Real cool. :)
It was made by pepco (as indicated by the printing on the power trans). The only schematic I've been able to find online has been the 725 chassis. This amp is similar but it has two volume controls and each side of the first 12ax7 is used for each of the two inputs also the tonestack comes after these two stages. It had a selenenium SS rectifier that I replaced with a 5y3 tube (also changed the pwr. trans for an old one with the 5v tap needed for the tube).
All of the plate resistors throughout the amp were 220k or 470k!!!...instant metal overdrive! So the first two stages got changed to split load 82k/18k to calm things down a bit. New B+ filtercaps (salvaged from old computer monitors) were installed and I put in a 9 pin socket to take an el84 (cathode biased) to pair up with a 6v6 for a mixed tube push pull output.
The thing sounds like a blend of tweed deluxe and vintage marshall ! Real cool. :)
Anyway there is not much info available for the pepco. It would seen that the basic circuit is very close to an AA964 ? fender princeton of the same era (if not a direct copy).
These amps are definately worth their weight in vintage tone!
Cheers, Paul, Nova Scotia.
These amps are definately worth their weight in vintage tone!
Cheers, Paul, Nova Scotia.
