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112RD One Hundred Refurb Project

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Brad Gregory (bdgregory)
Username: bdgregory

Registered: 07-2010
Posted on Sunday, April 03, 2011 - 07:11 am:   

here's my 112RD-100 that I picked up last November on ebay (for a song). As you can see it was in awful shape, although the electronics weren't too bad, the EV speaker was fine, and the cab was structurally perfect.

It came with no tubes, a broken Power switch, filthy pots, a broken reverb tank, rust everywhere, but generally sound otherwise - especially inside the chassis where it counts.

I tore it down completely. Cleaned out the inside and checked it out. The drive channel op amp was bad, so I replaced it. While I was at it I replaced all of the opamps - they're cheap ($.61 ea). I thoroughly cleaned all of the pots and they seem to be all good now.

The cabinet and grill cloth were destroyed. The original Tolex had been replaced by a prior owner with cheap Naugahyde. Further, rather than contact cement, they used staples. I had to remove a bazillion staples. It's now been properly re-Tolexed, and a new grill cloth installed. I'm very satisfied with the Tolex results, but as you can see, the grill cloth is far from straight. One of these days I may redo that. It has all new screws and corner hardware. The chassis straps can't be bought anymore so I cleaned them up and lacquered them. The handle is original but I painted the end caps. I cleaned up the badges and face plates, and bought NOS/original type knobs (these are different than Fender knobs, though similar). The picture was taken before I installed the RD-112 badge in the lower RH corner.

I installed a new set of JJ 6l6's and reset the bias. I bought a Mod reverb tank (original spec) from Antique Electronics. Finally, the original Electrovoice speaker is in great shape, but weighs a ton. I bought a new Li'l Texas Neo speaker. The great part about the RD112 is it's not too large, and with the Neo speaker it's nicely portable. The Li'l Texas speaker is awesome sounding too, and the Mod reverb tank is luscious.

Here's a link to the before and after pics.
http://s1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496 /braddgr/Music%20Man%20RD112-100%20Refur b/
Mike Kaus (mm210)
Username: mm210

Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Monday, April 04, 2011 - 06:14 am:   

Looks very good. That grillcloth CAN be difficult to get straight. Took me a couple trys and some furring strips that I stapled the grill cloth to first to get it the way i wanted. Of course, then I burned a hole through it(dumb story) and had to do it again! Mike.
Brad Gregory (bdgregory)
Username: bdgregory

Registered: 07-2010
Posted on Monday, April 04, 2011 - 04:27 pm:   

thanks Mike.

. . . this was actually my second try on this amp! Since I did this amp I've also done a Fender Super Reverb which has a whole lot more room to screw up. I think I finally figured it out - and the results on that amp are decent (though not perfect). Part of my problem was I was trying to tension the grill too tight. Also, you need to start by lining one side first, then an adjacent side making sure the lines are perfect. Then you stretch it across each way.
Mike Kaus (mm210)
Username: mm210

Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Tuesday, April 05, 2011 - 07:54 am:   

That's what I did but I stapled the overhanging cloth to furring strips so that I could pull evenly. Works pretty good that way.
Brad Gregory (bdgregory)
Username: bdgregory

Registered: 07-2010
Posted on Tuesday, April 05, 2011 - 07:56 pm:   

I see now. That sound like just the jig for the task. thanks . . .