10-21-2015, 12:05 PM
Ron;
Thanks for the compliment.
I really like Fisher equipment and this will be my second one and a real keeper! The most difficult item to clean was the MPX-65 subchassis. Its surface was significantly darker than the rest of the chassis. Someone on the Fisher forum said they were made in West Germany and the date codes for that part were slightly different from the rest on the main chassis. The cleaning on that circuit resulted in complete removal of the nomenclature on it. I recreated them using Testor's clear decal kit. I copied a Fisher bird from a service manual copy I had and entered new text in Adobe Photoshop to duplicate all the text that went on the MPX-65.
While I was at it, I also have duplicated the output tube lettering and the Reverb In/Out graphics on the same decal sheet and will be replacing those too. When I am finished I will put a light coat of Carnuba wax (without any abrasives) to help protect the chassis finish.
Initially the tuning capacitor was stuck and needed lots of lubrication and cleaning of the drive elements and gears. Now it turns much easier and glides along when the tuning knob is turned.
This 500-C will get a new set of Tung-Sol output tubes which are the best new replacements available these days. The IBAM adjustments will help dial them in to 34mA per tube which is their sweet spot. These can produce about 33-34 Watts per channel at low distortion like the original tubes.
Joe
Thanks for the compliment.
I really like Fisher equipment and this will be my second one and a real keeper! The most difficult item to clean was the MPX-65 subchassis. Its surface was significantly darker than the rest of the chassis. Someone on the Fisher forum said they were made in West Germany and the date codes for that part were slightly different from the rest on the main chassis. The cleaning on that circuit resulted in complete removal of the nomenclature on it. I recreated them using Testor's clear decal kit. I copied a Fisher bird from a service manual copy I had and entered new text in Adobe Photoshop to duplicate all the text that went on the MPX-65.
While I was at it, I also have duplicated the output tube lettering and the Reverb In/Out graphics on the same decal sheet and will be replacing those too. When I am finished I will put a light coat of Carnuba wax (without any abrasives) to help protect the chassis finish.
Initially the tuning capacitor was stuck and needed lots of lubrication and cleaning of the drive elements and gears. Now it turns much easier and glides along when the tuning knob is turned.
This 500-C will get a new set of Tung-Sol output tubes which are the best new replacements available these days. The IBAM adjustments will help dial them in to 34mA per tube which is their sweet spot. These can produce about 33-34 Watts per channel at low distortion like the original tubes.
Joe
