Fargen Bright Cap

[calieng]

Just a follow up to Ben's post about updating the circuit on the single input Mini Plex.

The gain mods and 500pF on board cap change all sounded great. I kept going back and forth on the bright cap though. I thought the 500pF bright cap was too bright and the amp was ok without it, but for some guitars I still wanted the amp a little brighter. I ended up going with the typical Fender bright cap 120pF with a switch. Luckily Ben's chassis has a number of punch outs for extra switches so I just had to drill a small hole in the plexi panel. I used the exisiting punch out beside the pilot lamp. I stuck on a label maker label for now but will have the panel properly etched later.

Now I am completely happy with the amp! With a flick of the switch I can get a little more brightness when necessary...I guess now I have to call it a Mini Fender Plex?

This simple mod is shown below for anyone else who may be interested in adding this to their amp.

 

[TheAmpNerd]

Originally posted by calieng

The nice thing about blacking out those sand box
resistors is that when they go out of spec, no one
will know.

Same with caps mounted where you can't read
the values. When I'm forced to mount stuff like
that, I try to write the value on the cap with
a sharpie.

At least it gives the next guy a starting place,
especially when your doing gear for someone
touring...If anything happens, and you are so
fancy you've blacked everything out....

You get the idea.

 

[calieng]

...take it up with Ben Fargen...

It came like that. Maybe he doesn't black out the more recent models. A lot of work can go into fine tuning a circuit...even a simple one... so I have no problem if he wants to protect his work.

 

[BENJAMIN FARGEN]

Originally posted by TheAmpNerd
The nice thing about blacking out those sand box
resistors is that when they go out of spec, no one
will know.

Same with caps mounted where you can't read
the values. When I'm forced to mount stuff like
that, I try to write the value on the cap with
a sharpie.

At least it gives the next guy a starting place,
especially when your doing gear for someone
touring...If anything happens, and you are so
fancy you've blacked everything out....

You get the idea.

I'll be glad to share the values with you if you ever need to work on one of my amps ....to tell you the truth I don't ever remember blocking out the values on those 620 ohm resistors though?

Thanks,
BF

 

[calieng]

Ben,

I'm the second owner so who knows what the history of the amp is... it's serial number 0075 if that helps date it.

Anyway it sounds fantastic. Thanks for a great amp!

I light a small candle each night in front of a shrine to you, David Allen, and Randall Aiken.



P.S. regarding the bright cap mod...most people would probably want to consider swaping for a volume pot with push/pull switch rather than adding a new switch if they want to keep the amp looking stock. I just personally don't like them as much.