chopping a wurlitzer 206a

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novisplit
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chopping a wurlitzer 206a

Post by novisplit » Sun May 09, 2010 10:50 pm

so here's the deal. i'm chopping a wurlitzer 206a and i really don't know what i'm doing. so i figure i start a video series in hopes that someone might take sympathy on me and help me out. and maybe i can help someone in my same position. excuse my language, working on my wurly gets me all fired up.



part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk59Vo5V ... re=related

part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcwCbXzm ... re=related

part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2AhIksv ... re=related

part 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w3ZvXzH ... re=related

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roscoenyc
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Re: chopping a wurlitzer 206a

Post by roscoenyc » Mon May 10, 2010 4:26 am

novisplit wrote:so here's the deal. i'm chopping a wurlitzer 206a and i really don't know what i'm doing.................working on my wurly gets me all fired up.

Fired up?

Seeing somebody chop a Wurlitzer 206 gets me fired up to but in a completely different way

argh.

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winky dinglehoffer
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Post by winky dinglehoffer » Mon May 10, 2010 6:00 am

What's so bad about chopping a 206 (if it's done well)? There's no real "magic" in the lower half of the instrument (probably a better spot for speakers than where they are on a 200, but that's about it.) They have no great history--they were used in music classes, not on stage. And the only thing that makes them less desirable than a 200 (besides maybe the color) is lack of portability. So if it's done right, what's the issue?
(Full disclosure: I own a 214, which I have not felt a burning need to chop.)

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roscoenyc
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Post by roscoenyc » Mon May 10, 2010 6:15 am

We have one with the original headset too. Love how the internal speakers sound.

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winky dinglehoffer
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Post by winky dinglehoffer » Mon May 10, 2010 10:10 am

roscoenyc wrote: Love how the internal speakers sound.
Agreed. But if somebody's primarily looking for a gigging instrument, I can see chopping it down. If I remember right, there's space enough in the top to install speakers like in the 200. Then it might not hurt as much losing the speakers in the bottom half.

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roscoenyc
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Post by roscoenyc » Mon May 10, 2010 11:01 am

winky dinglehoffer wrote:
roscoenyc wrote: Love how the internal speakers sound.
Agreed. But if somebody's primarily looking for a gigging instrument, I can see chopping it down. If I remember right, there's space enough in the top to install speakers like in the 200. Then it might not hurt as much losing the speakers in the bottom half.
I'd suggest they get a Nord for dragging around and leave the lovely Wurlitzer for somebody who appreciates its inner beauty.

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inverseroom
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Post by inverseroom » Tue May 11, 2010 4:50 am

Nothing wrong with chopping a 206, this is a pointless argument. 100% of the character of the instrument is preserved. If anybody wants my speaker cab, come and get it, and you can turn your 200 into an unwieldy monster.

One thing I would suggest (without watching the vids), while you have the thing torn apart, is to do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhXUD01m ... re=related

It makes a huge, huge difference. Also, if you haven't already, replace all the caps and resistors. Resistors aren't supposed to be a big deal, but mine were making a lot of spitting noises...

You should also get a trem kit from Vintage Vibe and replace the speaker switch with a trem knob, if you haven't already...you might also need to add the trem circuit to the board, depending on which revision you have. My board already had the circuit installed, it just needed to be activated.

Make sure you get the right speakers to put in the case--there are two varieties, with different impedance and mounting methods. If you aren't going to do speakers, you'll need a big old power resistor to provide the proper impedance.

Good luck!

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Post by Nate Dort » Tue May 11, 2010 7:54 am

The 206A will need the trem kit. But the good news is that your main AC wires to the transformer are already shielded in a little tube, so you won't have to do that mod that inverseroom linked to.

The power resistor thing is a myth. It won't hurt anything to leave the speaker outputs floating at the board. Transistor amps can run all day with no load. Tube amps, on the other hand, need a load or eventually you'll burn up the output transformer.

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Post by ckeene » Wed May 12, 2010 4:36 am

Good video. I recently did the same thing to a 206a, and still need to add the tremolo. Personally, I think these things sound best through a Fender tremolo amp, so I don't have a lot of motivation to do the trem mod, and even less to install speakers. In fact I'd be happy to remove the power amp section entirely.

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Post by Nate Dort » Wed May 12, 2010 5:51 am

ckeene wrote:Good video. I recently did the same thing to a 206a, and still need to add the tremolo. Personally, I think these things sound best through a Fender tremolo amp, so I don't have a lot of motivation to do the trem mod, and even less to install speakers. In fact I'd be happy to remove the power amp section entirely.
That's what I did on mine. Then I etched up a PCB for a tube preamp (more of a DI really) w/ opto trem:

Image

If I had to do it again, I'd replace the opto trem with the transistor-based trem circuit from the 200 series.

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Post by novisplit » Thu May 13, 2010 12:36 am

holy crap, thanks for all the replies.

i chopped this thing the right way so that the original cab is untouched and ready to be reattached. i'm building a 1/4 jack out to the cab and a dummy load for when i play it live. best of both worlds. the cab attaches with 4 of the 8 screws that were originally in there. it should hold just fine.

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Post by novisplit » Thu Jun 03, 2010 5:09 pm


ckeene
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Post by ckeene » Mon Jun 07, 2010 5:49 am

nate wrote:
ckeene wrote:Good video. I recently did the same thing to a 206a, and still need to add the tremolo. Personally, I think these things sound best through a Fender tremolo amp, so I don't have a lot of motivation to do the trem mod, and even less to install speakers. In fact I'd be happy to remove the power amp section entirely.
That's what I did on mine. Then I etched up a PCB for a tube preamp (more of a DI really) w/ opto trem:

Image

If I had to do it again, I'd replace the opto trem with the transistor-based trem circuit from the 200 series.
Wow that's impressive. Is that a circuit you'd be willing to share? I kind of want to replace the whole board on my 206a and do this.

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Post by Nate Dort » Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:02 am

It's pretty much based on this design by Brad Avenson:

http://www.avensonaudio.com/tech/Wurlit ... preamp.pdf

I didn't use the output transformer.

Brad describes it more in this thread over at groupdiy:

http://www.prodigy-pro.com/diy/index.php?topic=13555.0

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Post by ckeene » Tue Jun 08, 2010 1:38 pm

Thanks, Nate!

-Chris

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