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Baldwin Amp-A Benfactor's Story

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  • Baldwin Amp-A Benfactor's Story

    I haven't posted this one simply because the amp is powerful enough to scare the whomp outta me.
    Seriously.

    Seems this older guy out in the hinterlands trusts me to do his bidding on tube amps.
    He has the ebay skills, I have the tube talent.
    But he hit my limit on this one...

    Come home from work and find a 75 US pound box of Baldwin organ amp awaiting me.
    4x6L6, 2x12AX7, 2x5U4GB.
    Monster...looks like a pure 100 watt power amp, probably from a church organ, not a home model.

    Baldwin, but no official ID marks that could be searched for schematics.

    So I do the wise thing and let it sit.

    (Not good enough, he's asking what's up with that amp)...

    So then I did the safe thing and hooked it up with diode subs and attempted to reform those Mallory caps, as big as the 5U4GB's.
    It starts off fine, then starts making a nasty hot cooking smell and I unplug the toxic mess and store it in a corner.

    Benefactor starts asking again...what's up.
    (I'm SCARED, that's what's up)!

    Alrighty...a little few cans of Yuengling courage and I hook things up...variac, speakers, fuses, etc.
    Bring her up and it seems everyone is happy, but ZERO sound, I mean not a thing out of the speakers.

    Time for a pic:



    Get some gonads and clip what I don't need, and figure this beast out.

    She is wired in two channels, like stereo, but the outputs are extremely unbalanced.

    Alligator clipped into the 12AX7's:



    And hooked up a couple of healthy old speakers.
    Sounds...great?

    Zero hum from the circuit.
    Primary set of 6L6's sounds really nice.
    Second circuit has very little signal.

    I have a lot of work cut out for me, to figure out just what to do with this one.

    But I think I have a basis for a great stereo power amp?
    Last edited by Cygnus X1; 08-30-2010, 08:15 PM.
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