The idea...

The Donor Amp

Fender Super 210, current status: not working.

Best attribute: 

Great clean tones.

Problems: 

Overdrive channel tone is not great.

Prone to issues requiring repair.

The Plan

Perform a complete rebuild of the amplifier. While I want to preserve many aspects of the original, I am keen to explore new ideas which go beyond the stock design. More on these later.

The parts to be preserved for use are the chassis, power transformer, output transformer and switches.

The PCBs from the original 210 are left aside and preserved. If in the future it is required to revert back I should be able to restore the amp to its original condition by substituting these parts.

Why do it?

Why not sell it on as is or get it fixed instead of a rebuild?

I have had some previous experience in building both preamps & amplifiers with good results. I also like the idea of exploring new tonal possibilities that a custom build can provide over modifications to an existing design.

A note on using this amp as a donor - while this is a good amp, I would not class it in any way as a collectable, either now or in the future. This being the case I can tolerate introducing changes that are outside the original design for this model.

More to follow.