How it all Started
Charles Fenech 1965
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Yes, Its all his fault. It all started with a pair of headphones and Bob Wills American Country Count Down every Saturday morning. Dad recorded every show on audio cassette. From a young age I was captivated by music.
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The steel guitar was my first love. In particular Country, Rock & Roll and Hawaiian music. Inspired by Rob .E. G in the 1960's, Dad would practice almost daily in our living room. There was no where to hide. I was given his older Gibson C-530 1955 Double neck console steel guitar to learn on. I learned lots of Hawaiian tunes from the old Elvis movies that dad would play. I started a group with friends from school and we called it the Hawaiian guitar band. We would perform unplugged shows on our front porch. I loved it but soon became restless. When dad would leave is Fender 400 pedal steel setup and was at work, I would noodle around and figure stuff out. It wasn't long before I was playing fairly well. Then it happened. The 6 string bug hit me. Dad brought home a shadows record to dub to tape for a friend at work. Playing it loud on the old Nova tech Hi-Fi system. What was that sound. That's not a steel guitar. I asked him what was making that sound. He answered, a Fender Strat. I went out and spent all my money that I earned selling budgies to mates, on a copy of guitar player magazine. And there it was, Jeff beck on a strat. I immediately started learning the exercises and tunes published in the magazines on the steel but ,soon ran into a road block. I found plenty of older issues lying around that I didn't know we had. In particular an issue from 1978 featuring a new Guitar synthesizer. Cant remember who made it but it was doing my head in imagining the possibilities but, there was a big problem. I did not have a normal 6 string guitar. In fact we didn't even have one around the house. I started searching for ways to learn the guitar without having one. And then I did the unthinkable. Convinced I didn't need the steel anymore and completely oblivious to the cardinal sin I was about to commit. I proceeded to dismantle the steel starting with hack sawing the tuners into individual tuners so I could make a 6 inline set. Pulled a fence paling from our back fence and cut it into a crude strat shape neck through design. Pulled the bridge off the Gibson and mounted it to the fence paling. Bent over a nail for the nut. Drilled 6 holes and mounted the Vintage 2 on a plate Kluson tuners that, had been hacked in a line of 6 singles. Took the PAF 8 pole Humbuckers out of the Gibson steel. Separated them to make 3 single coils. My friend and I wired it up and it worked great with an old light switch for a selector. With bent over small nails for frets and painted dots. We copied the scale length and fret positions from the Gibson which was no where near a strat. I learned Apache on that thing. Then the wrath of dad ensued. He couldn't help but see the dedication through the fire and steam coming from his ears and nose. 3 days later I had a new West Tone Electric guitar with two humbuckers and a brass nut and bridge. It had super low action and sounded awesome. I wore that guitar out. I lost patience with not having a tremolo and put it down for some time. Seeing that I needed to be re inspired I was sent off to learn classical guitar which would later become a life long obsession.. I was distracted from my studies when dad came home form work with a strat copy given to him by a work mate. It was way better than that fence paling and, it had a tremolo. I could never make out what the brand was by the silly logo but I didn't care. I slapped a paper cutout of a Fender logo on that bad boy and started learning every shadows tune I could. Realizing that this was never going to end, Dad saved his pennies and finally bought me a 1984 Tokai Goldstar Sound Strat in Fiesta red. That was the beginning of a new life long obsession with tone, clean guitar playing and tape echo. I have been obsessed ever since. That was the best guitar I have ever owned and,I have had a few over the years. Once I started my apprenticeship as a sheet metal worker and was earning $84.00 per week, the next logical step was to save for gear. My first purchase was a Roland Jazz chorus JC77. We then found a Roland RE 201 space echo in a money lent shop in Parramatta while waiting for a bus. I got that for $130.00. The gear obsession soon over took my life with a boss ME-5 and a Vesta Fire Digital delay. That was not enough. By know I was back to my studies and getting fairly competent. I saved and saved and finally I owned a Guitar synthesizer. The Roland GR-50. I proceeded to install the GK 2 driver to my Tokai and I was never the same again. I learned everything I could about midi. I learned to play piano on the guitar and make it sound natural. Same with the strings and wood winds. It was awesome. All I needed was a Roland MC500 sequencer and that was all it took to drive dad nuts. I played guitar synth live for many years in bands and became so good at it, that I was forgetting all about the guitar its self. As time went on I sold off all the high tech gear and went back to basics. It was a good move. It was fun while it lasted. My obsession with guitar set up and repair was well established as was my electronics passion. As I went on to pursue that career, the guitar took a back seat for some time but, I have gone back to my roots and am obsessed with the guitar once more. Hopefully it shows in the work we do here at Amp Craft.
The Option Paralysis Strat Mod.
As the tittle suggests, this beautiful Japanese made Fender Stratocaster was in for some major electro-surgery. The customer had some grand ideas in mind that we were challenged to realize. Some very interesting and funky tones are possible with this bad boy. With a master volume and tone only. It all starts with a Free-Way 10 position blade pickup switch. So many options possible just with this addition. That was not enough. To complicate matters a little more, the customer asked for Series parallel option switching, In phase, out of phase switching. In addition to that a sellectable tone cap option and a 3 position treble bleed switch with two different filter circuit options and treble bleed defeat. Add auto coil split to the humbucker and its a bit crazy. Some interesting combinations are possible but its a bit much for live work. Its great for the studio or composing.
Custom Built Portable Safe Battery Supply
Amp Craft was stunned when a local solo performer presented a Laney Portable P.A system for repair with, an external 12.8 Volt, 7 amp Hr lithium battery. Connected via some push on terminals with the contacts exposed and frayed wiring and electrical tape. Unaware of the dangers of using such a battery, the customer would store the battery in a zip compartment within the P.A systems cover. Sharing the compartment were metal lipstick tubes, spray cans, paper clips, other cables and coins. This is not only a fire hazard due to the terminals shorting, it also allows the battery to become damaged physically. Lithium batteries a fantastic, long lasting , power full and quick to charge. They store a large amount of energy in a small package. If the internal structure of the battery is damaged, the battery is prone to releasing that energy and causing a very violent reaction. We advised our customer to rectify this situation. With no viable commercial option that was suitable, Amp Craft went about designing a safe way to connect the battery with some additional features. Designed to be safe reliable and easy to use, The new battery supply uses XLR type connectivity with some built in safety features. The battery is only enabled when the unit is connected. Charging is provided by an external UL listed specialized lithium battery charger that we have adapted to connect to the new supply. The original DC barrel connector on the Laney P.A system was discarded and replaced by a high quality 4 pin XLR . All custom cabling has been wired in a way that prevent accidentally plunging the charger into the P.A. We have added some USB charging ports to charge the customers tablet used for music play back. We provided USB isolation to prevent noise from the tablet interfering with the audio signal while charging. A volt meter is included that will display the current charge state at the press of a button. The display goes dark when in normal use so that it does not impact on battery life. We utilized the existing battery compartment cover of the Laney P.A to mount an XLR socket for a reliable connection. Our customer is now safe and is performing with peace of mind and plenty of run time for both the P.A system and tablet. This was a fun little project and, we were happy to provide a solution to real world problem.
The Rex Amplification Bass king BA100 Full restoration project
A true barn find found in rural Victoria Australia. A labour of love indeed. The BA100 Bass king. Made in Australia in the late 60's or early seventies. A rare model. Manufactured by Frank and Anthony Lamberti of General Music which was a division of Lamberti Brothers in Melbourne. No documentation could be found for this circuit but it is basically a clone of an early baseman. The amplifier came in with valves rolling around inside the cabinet. Screws and washers rolling around inside the chassis, and a vast amount of rust and oxidation and dirt. The amplifier still has the original made in Australia 12 AX7 Pre Amp valves installed and, they test good and sound great. They have had very little hours put on them. The back panel is missing and has been replaced by an acrylic panel.
The mains wiring is a little scary and will need to be brought up to current standards. We started by mapping out the wiring and component layout then, clipping out the components and saving them for testing. All of the electrolytic capacitors were discarded and will be replaced. The chassis was striped bare and the rust treated then repainted. Tag strips replaced where required. Almost all of the old wiring had suffered from the green death sludge that we see from time to time. It will be replaced with new wiring. We were able to use all the existing valves . The amplifier is brutally loud with tons of clean head room and whisper quiet. No hum, buzz or hiss. Incredible.
Before The Resetoration
After Restoration
Using most of the old components where possible, The amplifier was re assembled. All new electrolytic capacitors, and many new resistors. Most of the wiring was replaced with high quality PTFE stranded wire. We also installed a custom fabricated aluminium shielding box to shielded the input section from the phase inverter. It spans both channels of the front panel controls. The old shield was not doing the job. A new dedicated earth bond point was installed and an IEC mains socket provided for safe connection to the mains.
Resonator Mandolin Repair.
This gem came in for a pickup install and set up. Couldn't resist polishing her up. Sounds amazing with the K&K sound Pickup system.
Ibanez / Casio PG350 Sytnesizer guitar from the 80's
The Casio Ibanez PG350 is an awesome blast from the past and a bunch of fun to play. This poor beast came in not working and had been somewhere else.where the repair had been started but not completed. Lots of damage to tracks on the PCB's and leaking capacitors. It has been played plenty and showing some battle scars. Synth was totally dead. No tracking signals at all. Pickup was mounted poorly and the tracking board was just trashed. After a few days of painstaking toil, it is now up and running and ready to rock.
Messa Boogie Elctrodyne 45/90 repair
This baby came in as a chassis only. It would blow fuses but not before letting out some sparks and smoke. All good to go now. All new F& T power supply caps, bypassed those troublesome zener diodes and upgraded the rectifier diodes. All good to go. Ready to make somebody else deaf..
Laboga The Best 15 watt all Tube amp head Repair
This little guy has got to be the loudest 15 watts i have heard in a while. Came in blowing fuses. A very high end build. I don't know why its full of cheap capacitors. They were just about all vented or leaking..Other than that it is fantastic quality. Replaced all caps with Nichicon, Panasonic and Rubycon. Sounds amazing.
1963 Fender Vibrolux 6G11 Repair ( The sultans of swing amp)
Well What can you say. Even the bush rats are a Fender Brown face Vibrolux fan. So much that they made a meal of it. From the early 60's., This guy migrated from the UK to Australia in the 70's.. The tremolo is achieved by oscillating the power tube bias. Brutal but sounds like no other. Tweaked the tremolo circuit and eliminated the famous tremolo thump. installed a bias pot in place of the ground switch. Repaired the speaker cone which did eventually get coated black. replaced the chewed power cord, replaced a bunch of carbon comp resistors that where way out of spec, installed all new input jacks and replaced all volume pots. repaired eaten wiring, Cleaned cabinet and , I think that's it. ....
Jade 801 Bass/ Guitar Combo. Pure Artistry
Eden Traveller Ingress Repair
Eden WT-300 Bass Amp Nasty Hum,Roach Infestation Repair & Re Cap
Fender Twin II Rivera Design Chassis Repair and Restoration
Fender Stratocastor MIM modification & repair
Peavey Triumph 120 all tube amplifier repair & resatoration
Roland JC 120 Jazz Chorus Amplifier Restoration
Alesis Quadraverb 2 Mod & Restoration
Vox CO2 Deluxe MKII Tape Echo Restoraation |
Custom Attenuator
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