JCM800 2204 gifted to me, what are my next steps

[slick_henry]

I'm sure you are aware but just in case: Lethal voltages stored inside, don't touch anything unless you know what you are doing.

Yeah, I'm not looking to ground myself to the chassis with one and and feel around with the other. I like life! I cringe when I see people even touch the tops of caps, no thank you. Happy to be a sissy and be alive for things like this. Always a good reminder though.

 

[slick_henry]

When I got my 2204 I cleaned all the jacks, pots, and tube sockets with deoxit and it was night and day the sound of the amp almost like taking a blanket off it! 40 years of grime cleaned off it!

Hopefully the 40 years of good mojo still remained! If I can get someone to look at it, I'll ask for this to be taken care of as well. Thanks!

For the other commenter - "The thing is you could lose a transformer if not careful. I wouldn't keep trying it." This being a 40yr old amp, I concur, going to find a pro to get this back into healthy working order.

Other than deox and the troubleshooting, are there other things I should request from professional help, or things I should make sure to NOT do?

 

[Deftone]

Other than deox and the troubleshooting, are there other things I should request from professional help, or things I should make sure to NOT do?

Keep it as original as possible. Don't change out anything that doesn't need it.

 

[slick_henry]

If you are in the upper thumb area take it over to Bay City, I know it's a bit of a drive, a place called Tube Freak Electronics downtown. Chris does a ton of amp work and a ton of Marshalls. Went thru my 4212 combo and cleaned it all up for me.

Just wanted to stop back in and say thank you for this suggestion. Chris had it tested and diagnosed within 15 mins of stopping in. Faulty resistor was the issue. Power tubes didn't pass the tests and needed replacing, same with pre-amp tubes.

Had the amp back to me in a couple weeks time and I've been having a heck of a good time with this amp for several weeks now.
New tubes installed, new caps installed, resistor replaced, deox'd, found some old replacement knobs for me too. EL34s were replaced with 6550s. Apparently it was setup for 6550s in the past but EL34s landed in it later in life.
Overall great experience with Chris @ Tube Freaks up in Bay City. It's apparent the guy is passionate about his work and cares about his customers. He checked in a few times after I had it back home to make sure everything was in good working order too! I'd certainly recommend him to anyone that needs similar work done.

50w amp, all tests show this pushing 72w. I can't believe how much this amp rips, thought I was going to peel the paint off the garage walls playing through the high channel.

 

[NickkiC]

Way to go!
Right on!
Despite being 40+ years old; when tuned and checked out, the 2303 & 2204 can be quite a reliable amp.