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Looking for tech [message #10394] Tue, 03 February 2009 07:33   carlc Messages: 143 Registered: July 2006 Location: Summerville, SC Senior Member Anyone have information on a good technician in south Carolina or Denver, Colorado? I live in SC, but going to Denver soon and need help with my 745PA head. Thanks, Carl Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10395 is a reply to message #10394] Tue, 03 February 2009 08:00   stevem Messages: 4733 Registered: June 2004 Location: NY Senior Member Ok, I give up! trying to figure out the locations, or may be you have two amps! LOL. But anyway if you want to ship it to NY I can handle it for you, but may be one of our other board members from the southeastern area can give you some recomendtions for repair shops. Welcome to the board! Steven Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10402 is a reply to message #10394] Tue, 03 February 2009 17:23   carlc Messages: 143 Registered: July 2006 Location: Summerville, SC Senior Member Sorry about the confusion! I live in South Carolina. However, I am going to Denver to visit family. Since it's a big city I thought maybe there was someone there who is good with Kustom and I could take it with me. Someone here is SC would be great too! I don't have the necessary test equipment to check things out. Thanks... By the way, I bought this amp new in Denver about 1967. Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10403 is a reply to message #10394] Wed, 04 February 2009 06:17   stevem Messages: 4733 Registered: June 2004 Location: NY Senior Member Thats great, the amps original owner! What color is it, and what does not work with it? Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10404 is a reply to message #10394] Wed, 04 February 2009 08:23   carlc Messages: 143 Registered: July 2006 Location: Summerville, SC Senior Member It is red, dual 12" speakers. I have pictures. It is not putting out the volume it should. For small gigs it takes about 2/3 - 3/4 volume for decent output, leaving a little room for guitar control. Very low down around 1/4. I don't remember it being that low. I've replaced the power supply capacitors...they were low out of spec. Carl Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10405 is a reply to message #10404] Wed, 04 February 2009 09:07   LesS Messages: 477 Registered: December 2002 Senior Member Are you sure that it has 12 inch speakers? You can measure the cutout looking through the grill cloth - the cutout for a Kustom 12" speaker would measure about 10 to 10 1/4 inches. In the time period of the 745 PA (1966 and 1967), 15 inch was the main speaker size - Kustom did not make 2x12 cabs yet - except for maybe a few prototypes. Kustom smallest cab was a 2x15 in 1966 and 1967. I believe that 2x12 cabinets were not available at all until 1968. -Les S Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10406 is a reply to message #10405] Wed, 04 February 2009 10:00   oren hudson Messages: 274 Registered: March 2008 Location: Gastonia, NC Senior Member Hey carlc - I'm in Gastonia, NC and have 2 techs to offer you. Both are in Charlotte. One I have experience with on a Sunn head, but he says he can work on anything. Steve Stoeckel is the name. www.steve.stoeckel@earthlink.net. The other one I've heard his name for years, but have no personal experience with. Al Forbes is his name. www.alphasoundandlight.com. Good luck. Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10407 is a reply to message #10394] Wed, 04 February 2009 11:27 chicagobill Messages: 2005 Registered: April 2003 Senior Member carlc: I don't know of any techs in either area, but if the volume problem effects both channels, I have an educated guess as to what the problem may be. On the Frank heads, there is a electrolytic cap on the driver board that goes bad, and this will cut down the volume of the amp. To repair it correctly, you will have to remove and remount two of the power transistors on the back panel, so it's a little involved. I don't know what your skill level is but if you want to try it yourself, let me know and I'll post details here. Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10471 is a reply to message #10407] Thu, 12 February 2009 07:22   carlc Messages: 143 Registered: July 2006 Location: Summerville, SC Senior Member To LesS...yep, they are 12" speakers. My cabinet is about 30" overall plus wheels. I bought it new... chicagobill, I can do the work, don't have test equipment to check things out. I have the schematic. Details would be good, either here or e-mail. Thanks, Carl Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10472 is a reply to message #10394] Thu, 12 February 2009 07:34   carlc Messages: 143 Registered: July 2006 Location: Summerville, SC Senior Member To chicagobill, Are you refering to C203 on the driver board? If so, it has been checked and is in spec. I posted here a long while back and that is what you suggested. I had a buddy with test equipment and that apacitor checked good, looked fine. Carl Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10474 is a reply to message #10472] Thu, 12 February 2009 11:01   pleat Messages: 1452 Registered: June 2004 Location: Belding, Mi Senior Member Carl, from reading all the discussion on getting your amp fixed, I can't suggest anyone in your area, but you might try Ed Taylor on this site, he is in SC and has a great Kustom amp Tech he has used for years. I would love to see some photo's of your rig. From what I read it sounds like a Frankie head and a matching 2x12 cabinet in red? If that's true you have a really rare combination. I have never heard of a frankie cabinet with 2-12" speakers. Can you send the photo's to my email djt@chartermi.net thanks, pleat Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10475 is a reply to message #10394] Thu, 12 February 2009 12:13   stevem Messages: 4733 Registered: June 2004 Location: NY Senior Member If that head has any electrolytic caps that are covered in a paper tube they should get replaced, reguardless of howthey test out. Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10478 is a reply to message #10475] Thu, 12 February 2009 14:24 chicagobill Messages: 2005 Registered: April 2003 Senior Member Carl: Yes, I was refering to C203 on the driver board. I have four Frank heads and on three out of four of them this cap has needed replacement, so I always suggest to people that they check this cap out. As for your amp, if this cap is ok, then without you having access to test equipment, I'm afraid don't know what to tell you to try next. Bill Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10605 is a reply to message #10394] Fri, 06 March 2009 07:26   carlc Messages: 143 Registered: July 2006 Location: Summerville, SC Senior Member OK guys... I've gotten myself confused again! I looked at the schematic I got from chicagobill and it is for model K200. Is that the same as my 745PA? Also, If I remember correctly (who knows) when I checked out C203 on the driver board, that board was not on the back panel. Did I probably check the wrong cap? Was I on the reverb board (Duh!)? I took some pictures while I had it open last time. I recently bought an old Gibson amp so I will be able to work on the Kustom. It is a solid state from the early '70s I think. 2 channel, reverb/tremelo, single 15" speaker. Sounds great, excellent condition. My first "big" amp was a Gibson that I bought with my Gibson ES330 back in 1965. I really appreciate the help! Carl Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10606 is a reply to message #10605] Fri, 06 March 2009 11:41 chicagobill Messages: 2005 Registered: April 2003 Senior Member Carl: The schematic that I sent to you is for all of the original K200 heads with the wide top front panel, often referred to as "Frankenstein" or "Frank" heads. The _95 designations were the model numbers of the particular amp configuration that Kustom offered at the time. So if your amp has the wide top front panel, then yes, it's the right schematic for your amp. The cap I suggested to check is located on the small PC board bolted down to the inside back panel. When you have the front of the amp towards you, the board will be on the left side of the back panel. There are two large transistors that are connected to this board, one is the voltage regulator for the pre-amps and the second one is the driver transistor for the output stage. The reverb board on your amp will be mounted vertically and parallel to the left side wall of the chassis. Bill Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10608 is a reply to message #10394] Fri, 06 March 2009 17:03   carlc Messages: 143 Registered: July 2006 Location: Summerville, SC Senior Member Bill, Thanks for the info. You said you had procedures for this capacitor replacement? Also, replacement caps? I know it is 500uf, any other specifics I should know? If I can't find it locally would Mouser be the place to go? Thanks, Carl Report message to a moderator

Re: Looking for tech [message #10609 is a reply to message #10608] Fri, 06 March 2009 18:11 chicagobill Messages: 2005 Registered: April 2003 Senior Member Carl: The three important things to know are the capacitance value, the voltage rating and the case type. As you noted it is a 500uF cap. If you can't find a 500, a 470uF would be fine there too. The voltage rating should be a minimum of 35 volts. The case type here is an axial type, meaning the leads come out of each of the ends of the case. If your local sources don't have one, Mouser will have them. To test it out, you can temporarily clip the new cap in parallel with the old one to see if fixes your problem. With the amp off, either tack solder the new cap to the leads of the original one or use a couple of alligator clip leads. As these caps are polarized, be sure to hook up the positive to the positive and the negative to the negative. The new cap could explode if you hook it up backwards. Carefully turn on the amp and see if the amp's volume is back to normal. If it is, then you should remove the old cap and replace it correctly with the new one. Once you get to this point, I'll give you more instructions, but for now you can see if that cap is the problem. Bill Report message to a moderator

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