I'm actually building a Herzog
. This is a distraction from that project (next step: run the heater wiring).
Anyway, this thing was nasty. Once I started cleaning it the smell really came out (the familiar bouquet of bush mechanic's garage). Forgot to clean one edge of the back panel and you can see the diff (the top of the headshell is not coming as clean; that's where the most shit gets spilled I guess; will see if a few repeat passes helps).
The top of that reverb tank wad brown (the cam flash makes it look cleaner in the pic above due to reflectivity). With the grime on top of the rust it looked solid vs that pic.
The good news is that the wiring looks clean and original.
The rust on the trannies is mostly just the back. With the mildew on this thing it seems that it was stored somewhere face in so the rear got the brunt of the humidity.
And yes, apparently we missed 2 of the original tubes (couldn't see them behind the power tranny) when I pulled them for the trade. Shoulda rememberred but I did have the dude check to confirm we got them all before I left. Garnet-branded Mullard 12AX7s - I'll keep those and replace. Wish it was the 12Au7 though; not sure I have one and since this one doesn't have the sockets labelled I don't remember where it goes.
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Weird thing is the way this was bolted in. The screw heads did not look original (heaftier, which is cool; no Fender style metal straps, but there were washers - nice touch ), but I only noticed when I started to take her apart to clean that it's mounted to withstand a hurricane: thru bolts clear to the other side of the chassis. Minor point loss for using square nuts (hard to get a grip on in the tight space) and lock washers only on 2/4 of them. That's not original is it? This one can't be much older than my old one (or my other Garnets) which had captive nuts in the chassis lip and shorter bolts (my Rebel couldn't even do thru if you wanted to; as it is, stock, one bolt is shorter than the rest, I found out the hard way, to prevent shorting something to ground; oh Gar, u a funny guy). If aftermarket dude drilled really clean holes; rather impressive. One wouldn't come out; had to cut it. Will try to replace with captive nuts and shorter bolts (I think these are actually bigger diameter than any other Garnet I have owned). If I can't find the parts I'll just replace that one bolt. It's a bear to get the chassis out the way it is because you have to remove both front and back panels (vs just rear) to get at the bolts. Speaking of the back panel, it had been removed a few too many times and the screws were a bit loose in the holes. Doweled and glued (wooden bbq skewers fit perfect, cut a bit short so they are below surface to easily locate the holes when I remount). The only things that make me unsure this was a mod are 1) the clean job and 2) the front panel is mounted with only 1 screw per side (bottomish on both sides). The latter makes taking the thing apart actually possible vs my old one where the front panel had 4 screws - top and bottom (granted those top screw were a bitch, but with a long driver you could get in there between the transformer and the headshell - on this one the bolts would be in the way).
![IMG_20180218_171828.jpg]()
![IMG_20180218_171858.jpg]()
Things I am wondering about:
- how I can reinforce the cab; looks like someone already tried pocket screws on one corner. Possibly dowelling the back panel holes will be enough but I doubt it.
- the rust be deep. got it down to dark ste el, but the chrome is a writeoff on at least one corner and one handle clamp. Wondering if I should leave it like that (clearcoat to prevent further degradation) or try a chrome rustoleum spray. I'd to the reverb tank too (I checked - can take the guts out easy enough so as to not get paint on them). That might just be horrible though.
