Did they ever put asbestos in amps?

[RickvH]

I've been cleaning out the dust and crud from the inside of an old bass amp head (1973 Peavey) and I'm wondering what's this material that's lining the wood on the inside of the head. It looks like thick paper or cardboard, kinda white/gray color, and getting a bit crumbly at the edges. Presumably there to act as a heat barrier? I had a paranoid thought that it might contain asbestos. Can anyone give me any reassurance about this?

[A.David.MacKinnon]

They put it in old tube radios so it's a safe guess they might use it in tube amps. 1973 sound a bit late to be finding asbestos used as insulation but I would err on the side of caution.

[seavote]

those little cloth like caps on some types of tube holders were asbestos. i've seen them on marshalls. dont know about other brands

[A-Barr]

I found a nice big sheet of it lining the back panel of a tweed deluxe, and in several old tube radios.
Also look out for yellowish dust on the chassis, sockets or screws, that's cadmium oxide, which is not much better for you.
Also look out for selenium rectifiers, they will eventually fail and release toxic gas.
Also look out for splunge that oozes out of capacitors and transformers made before the late 70's, they contained PCB's.
It's enough to turn a guy away from vintage gear!
...well almost...

[orbb]

I'm a lawyer that represents asbestos companies. What you are describing sounds like a type of asbestos paper that was used primarily to wrap ductwork. It contained chrysotile asbestos, which is the least toxic form of asbestos, but all of it is toxic if the dose is high enough.

I'll do a little research to see if it was used in amps.

As for 1973, it is very conceivable that it was still used then.

[orbb]

15 minutes on Google didn't turn anything up; I recommend calling Peavey's customer support people and asking.

[RickvH]

I emailed Peavey and they indicated that the material in question was a flame retardant paper, but it does NOT contain asbestos. (sigh of relief..)

[emrr]

Lots of old wire is asbestos insulated.

[kayagum]

RickvH- do you smoke? Do you play or hang out in smoky bars? If you do, don't worry about the asbestos. The cigarettes will kill you first.

[RickvH]

Interestingly, while researching this matter I found a number of references which indicated that smoking significantly increased harm done by exposure to asbestos.

Actually, smoking (other people's) kinda killed my music "career", such as it was. Asthma eventually prevented me from being able to play in smoky clubs/bars, or even hang out in studios for that matter. Perhaps I was better off for it.

[orbb]

Interestingly, while researching this matter I found a number of references which indicated that smoking significantly increased harm done by exposure to asbestos.

A smoker who is exposed to asbestos on a regular basis has a 20 times greater chance of developing lung cancer. There is a lot fo debate on how "exposed" you must be, but most experts agree there is an increased risk.

[helmuth]

I guess the foil is for grounding and not flame resistans asbestos material? The wires connecting to it might be a hint right?

What about those tube holders?

It's a 50's tube radio I'm rebuilding so I thought it might have some of that nasty stuff in it.

[helmuth]

Anyone?

[seavote]

dont know if they're asbestos or not but theres no need to worry. i'm in the building trade and have had asbestos handler training(i can do minor abatements) any asbestos that is in the tube holders is mixed with and encapsulated by other components that make up the holders. if you were to start sanding the tube holders for some bizarre reason and releasing the asbestos into the air ,that would pose a threat. fire proof asbestos cloth sometimes used in amps is a problem because the cloth is 100% or a high percentage of asbestos and it is easily released from the cloth.

[helmuth]

Thanks! There was some cloth between the amp and the plastic radio dial panel but I don't there's any asbestos in that.