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Frankenstein L795 RV issues [message #26978]

Wed, 19 September 2018 23:43

Lovguitar
Messages: 15
Registered: August 2018

Junior Member

I've managed to get the "Kustom Bug" and bought a cool looking Frankenstein head (L795RV)from ebay. It was advertised for parts or possible repair and the price was reasonable. I opened it up tonight and took a look inside before powering up. It looks to be in largely original condition -- no overt evidence of hacked repairs, burnt components, etc. I re-did a few flaky looking solder joints and cleaned the pots. I powered it up with a bulb limiter, and there was no drama. I removed the limiter and powered it up and discovered that it does work but the volume is substantially lower - on both channels - than I would expect. It has significantly lower volume than the K100s I've worked on and I believe that this is equivalent to a K200, with 100 watts rms. When I turn it all the way up it sounds distorted and thin. Good news -- the vibrato works BUT the reverb doesn't work at all. In fact when I turn up the reverb control, the volume drops significantly. No sounds when I bang the tank.

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Thoughts as to what I should be looking at? I'm thinking that the low overall volume on both channels may point to a power amp issue. I will check out the K200 "wide panel" schematic. As far as the reverb, I'll substitute in a known good tank and then go from there. Since there's no sound when I bang the tank, if changing out the tank doesn't fix it, I'll trouble shoot the return side.

Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.

Thanks

Paul

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