bobm
WTF, WTF, WTF!!!!
Me guts lake across road 
. Called Bitch water 
. Called Bitch water 
Scott vintage radio (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter xtiaan2000
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1911
chupacabra
- Thread starter
- #23
Just waiting on the man.
Sent you a PM
PabloCruise
SILVER Star
Watch out for those snapping turtles!Me guts lake across road
The guy who runs the post office here in Manton the postman i guess you'd call him, he used to sell hifi gear back in the 1960s and 1970s and he remembers getting all the tube gear (which i love) in on trade when squalid state equipment was the thing to have. I prefer tubes for their simplicity and ease of maintenance.
When I told Poatman Jim I was expecting a HH Scott 299d in the mail, well he knew exactly what that was and promised to take special care of it until I can come pick it up.
Things are moving on this project and I'll keep you up to date on it as it comes together. The 299 series is a really well thought out design and if I got to take one stereo to my deserted island to have forever a Scott 299 would probably be it...
When I told Poatman Jim I was expecting a HH Scott 299d in the mail, well he knew exactly what that was and promised to take special care of it until I can come pick it up.
Things are moving on this project and I'll keep you up to date on it as it comes together. The 299 series is a really well thought out design and if I got to take one stereo to my deserted island to have forever a Scott 299 would probably be it...
The Scott arrived today! I picked it up at the post office and it suffered some shipping damage but the units themselves survived intact.
Visual inspection shows 2 late 1950s / early 1960s stereo hifi pieces in about as good of condition as you could ever hope to find in the wild.
Unmolested.
They have not been monkied with by anyone besides one capacitor being added above chassis in an extremely non invasive manner.
This will be good.
Visual inspection shows 2 late 1950s / early 1960s stereo hifi pieces in about as good of condition as you could ever hope to find in the wild.
Unmolested.
They have not been monkied with by anyone besides one capacitor being added above chassis in an extremely non invasive manner.
This will be good.
This morning I got the 299 on the bench for a deeper dig.
In my experience, audio equipment from this era requires first and foremost, new electrolytic capacitors.
Amplifiers run on CLEAN direct current.
Your wall puts out AC.
So the amplifier must make AC into DC using a rectifier then clean up that DC using reservoir capacitors. Once the reservoir caps are dried out from age they don't hold nearly enough charge to act as effective filters and the amplifier begins to hum.
It's not old age causing it to forget the words its dried out filter caps.
So without hesitation my first step is always to make a list if all the electrolytic caps and come up with a plan for replacement.
Ill do a few other things before I spend money on em.
Ill check the fuse for proper rating and I'll ohm check the output transformers.
Ill briefly power up the unit and verify that the power transformer is making the correct voltages.
A dead transformer would put the whole project on hold.
Fortunately dead transformers are rare, but it would be foolish not to check before spending someone else's money on a full rebuild.
Ill probably price out 2 options on capacitors. I can rebuild them or buy new custom cans from a company called Hayseed hamfest who makes them to your specifications in the original style can. Im a stickler for originality and I won't put individual caps under the chassis despite it being the cheaper option there's too much heat there and heat kills em quickly, so I insist that they go above chassis in a can just like original.
My other options is to cut them open and replace the guts with individual caps then re-crimp the can back together.
It looks more original but takes more time. About an hour per can times 5 cans on just the power amp...
Good times, I love this type of work and im able to keep a cool and relaxed demeanor when working through electrical problems.
The challenges never end and the reward at the end is some really beautifully rendered musical performance.
Its a really great hobby. I enjoy it alot.
Ill keep this thread updated as I move through it.
In my experience, audio equipment from this era requires first and foremost, new electrolytic capacitors.
Amplifiers run on CLEAN direct current.
Your wall puts out AC.
So the amplifier must make AC into DC using a rectifier then clean up that DC using reservoir capacitors. Once the reservoir caps are dried out from age they don't hold nearly enough charge to act as effective filters and the amplifier begins to hum.
It's not old age causing it to forget the words its dried out filter caps.
So without hesitation my first step is always to make a list if all the electrolytic caps and come up with a plan for replacement.
Ill do a few other things before I spend money on em.
Ill check the fuse for proper rating and I'll ohm check the output transformers.
Ill briefly power up the unit and verify that the power transformer is making the correct voltages.
A dead transformer would put the whole project on hold.
Fortunately dead transformers are rare, but it would be foolish not to check before spending someone else's money on a full rebuild.
Ill probably price out 2 options on capacitors. I can rebuild them or buy new custom cans from a company called Hayseed hamfest who makes them to your specifications in the original style can. Im a stickler for originality and I won't put individual caps under the chassis despite it being the cheaper option there's too much heat there and heat kills em quickly, so I insist that they go above chassis in a can just like original.
My other options is to cut them open and replace the guts with individual caps then re-crimp the can back together.
It looks more original but takes more time. About an hour per can times 5 cans on just the power amp...
Good times, I love this type of work and im able to keep a cool and relaxed demeanor when working through electrical problems.
The challenges never end and the reward at the end is some really beautifully rendered musical performance.
Its a really great hobby. I enjoy it alot.
Ill keep this thread updated as I move through it.
I thought at first glance, that last picture was your parts drawer. Oh man, I would be lost.
To be fair, if my parts drawer looked like that, id be lost too.
Ive started a system of organization for parts which can easily expand and grow as necessary and which keeps things accessible and close at hand.
There's thousands of dollars worth of components in those drawers...
Organized by resistance/ capacitance/ voltage rating.
There's stainless hardware for bolting things together, terminal strips, fuse holders, all manner of military surplus toggles and rotary switches...
"I am the Radio Shack round these parts"
This morning I checked the transformers.
The output transformers checked out, everything seemed copesetic so I plugged it into a variac and raised the voltage until things began to come to life.
I ramped it up to about 3/4 of full voltage and the secondaries are all making about 3/4 of their respective operating voltages so the transformers are confirmed good.
The output transformers checked out, everything seemed copesetic so I plugged it into a variac and raised the voltage until things began to come to life.
I ramped it up to about 3/4 of full voltage and the secondaries are all making about 3/4 of their respective operating voltages so the transformers are confirmed good.
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Last night after confirming the transformers I went to Hayseed Hamfest and as luck would have it they designed a kit for this very amplifier. I went ahead and ordered all 5 can caps, which are expensive but i bought the best available, which i believe to be a fantastic value.
Their website said that their next production run starts early this month.
Order is in, now we wait.
Ill be spot checking resistors, swapping out coupling caps and putting metal film resistors in place of the carbon comps, which will majorly lower the noise floor in the phono section.
Im going to put some music on, brew some tea and see how long i can stay in my flow state...
Photos to follow.
Their website said that their next production run starts early this month.
Order is in, now we wait.
Ill be spot checking resistors, swapping out coupling caps and putting metal film resistors in place of the carbon comps, which will majorly lower the noise floor in the phono section.
Im going to put some music on, brew some tea and see how long i can stay in my flow state...
Photos to follow.
I got into the output stage coupling caps. They worked when i checked them electrically but at least one failed mechanically when i started removing them. Why did i remove them if theyre working correctly?
Because they are a common failure point.
They cost about $7 for a nice coupling cap.
The tube that melts down will be a 6bq5 and they're about $50 each these days.
I spot checked the resistors i had to desolder anyway and they were far enough off that i went ahead and changed the ones responsible for keeping the power tubes biased (not melting down)
Silver band indicates 10% tolerance.
Im replacing them with 1% tolerance metal film resistors because thats what i keep in stock and if you have to lift half if that Piece of carbon crap, you may as well put in a much quieter metal film resistor and just be done with it.
Im not going to change out all of em but if ive got to lift one to check something else then it goes bye bye.
The old wise guys who taught me this stuff had a famous saying.
Any capacitor that makes a sound when you chuck it in the waste basket, was bad.
Same can be said for carbon comp resistors.
Because they are a common failure point.
They cost about $7 for a nice coupling cap.
The tube that melts down will be a 6bq5 and they're about $50 each these days.
I spot checked the resistors i had to desolder anyway and they were far enough off that i went ahead and changed the ones responsible for keeping the power tubes biased (not melting down)
Silver band indicates 10% tolerance.
Im replacing them with 1% tolerance metal film resistors because thats what i keep in stock and if you have to lift half if that Piece of carbon crap, you may as well put in a much quieter metal film resistor and just be done with it.
Im not going to change out all of em but if ive got to lift one to check something else then it goes bye bye.
The old wise guys who taught me this stuff had a famous saying.
Any capacitor that makes a sound when you chuck it in the waste basket, was bad.
Same can be said for carbon comp resistors.
Coupling caps to output stage are new.
Replaced all carbon comps disturbed in the process with 1% Dale CMF-60 metal film resistors.
Changed out the phono stage plate loads (notoriously noisy) with 1% Dale CMF-60
Also replaced the Coupling cap in the phono stage with a Malory 150.
Originally they used a ceramic cap which you just dont use for audio...
They probably figured they could cheap out because its within the feedback loop of that stage.
I went ahead and changed it because i stock every piece to this phonostage and ceramics are known to be sub-optimal.
This stuff takes time, but i enjoy doing it.
Im about at a stopping point here until some capacitors arrive... This afternoon i'm going to go try and find lake Grace and Lake Nora with Sara and her dogs in the 55....
(Had to bring it back around to the topic at hand)
Cheers!
Replaced all carbon comps disturbed in the process with 1% Dale CMF-60 metal film resistors.
Changed out the phono stage plate loads (notoriously noisy) with 1% Dale CMF-60
Also replaced the Coupling cap in the phono stage with a Malory 150.
Originally they used a ceramic cap which you just dont use for audio...
They probably figured they could cheap out because its within the feedback loop of that stage.
I went ahead and changed it because i stock every piece to this phonostage and ceramics are known to be sub-optimal.
This stuff takes time, but i enjoy doing it.
Im about at a stopping point here until some capacitors arrive... This afternoon i'm going to go try and find lake Grace and Lake Nora with Sara and her dogs in the 55....
(Had to bring it back around to the topic at hand)
Cheers!
- Thread starter
- #35
Boy, I am so excited. My Dad would be stoked!
Do you have any memories of it working?
- Thread starter
- #37
Yes
My Mom would jam the BeeJeez at full volumn! I hadn’t played it in 15 years though.
My Mom would jam the BeeJeez at full volumn! I hadn’t played it in 15 years though.
Pull up your cozy chair and fix a drink its story time.
My dad has remained in close contact with his childhood friend Jessie. Jay for short. Jay is sort of a wanna be hustler who smokes big cigars and grew up with a pet elephant and his family are ciruis people. They literally owned a circus...
Jays father was the Band Director at Chico High school and both my dad and uncle played Brass instruments.
Arvel was a Brass man and he had all sorts of interesting antique instruments in his collection. As these things go, Jay was tasked with cleaning up the family property and selling it. Naturally he called my dad, the only working class person he knows...
My dad hauled truckload after truckload of stuff to the dump, but one day he came home with an old stereo (mono really) which had belonged to Arvel.
It was a HH Scott 99D which is the mono predecessor to your 299b.
My dad's prize from the deal was the opportunity to buy Arvels 1919 Conn double belled euphonium.
(He now owns 3 conn double belled euphoniums)
He had it fully restored to better than new and he plays it on the front porch occasionally.
I sought out a mate for the 99 and rebuilt them both into functional units.
My uncle has fond memories of lightning up the whole neighborhood and trying to avoid getting caught by ol Arvel.
"Bunch of lousy punks"
My dad went on to get drafted and when that came around he was able to test into the army band and avoid combat in Vietnam.
My dad would not have survived Vietnam
He went on to become a professional trombone player and piano mover.
Met my mom in band at chico state and my mom became a music teacher...
all of my siblings have dabbled in music.
my brother is a professional drummer, and I build amplifiers...
I believe in fixing things and especially in fixing things that had such an impact on the trajectory of my family's love for music.
We seem to value music and a part of me wonders what role this little scott amp played in creating that reality...
Thats my heart-warming HH scott story.
My dad has remained in close contact with his childhood friend Jessie. Jay for short. Jay is sort of a wanna be hustler who smokes big cigars and grew up with a pet elephant and his family are ciruis people. They literally owned a circus...
Jays father was the Band Director at Chico High school and both my dad and uncle played Brass instruments.
Arvel was a Brass man and he had all sorts of interesting antique instruments in his collection. As these things go, Jay was tasked with cleaning up the family property and selling it. Naturally he called my dad, the only working class person he knows...
My dad hauled truckload after truckload of stuff to the dump, but one day he came home with an old stereo (mono really) which had belonged to Arvel.
It was a HH Scott 99D which is the mono predecessor to your 299b.
My dad's prize from the deal was the opportunity to buy Arvels 1919 Conn double belled euphonium.
(He now owns 3 conn double belled euphoniums)
He had it fully restored to better than new and he plays it on the front porch occasionally.
I sought out a mate for the 99 and rebuilt them both into functional units.
My uncle has fond memories of lightning up the whole neighborhood and trying to avoid getting caught by ol Arvel.
"Bunch of lousy punks"
My dad went on to get drafted and when that came around he was able to test into the army band and avoid combat in Vietnam.
My dad would not have survived Vietnam
He went on to become a professional trombone player and piano mover.
Met my mom in band at chico state and my mom became a music teacher...
all of my siblings have dabbled in music.
my brother is a professional drummer, and I build amplifiers...
I believe in fixing things and especially in fixing things that had such an impact on the trajectory of my family's love for music.
We seem to value music and a part of me wonders what role this little scott amp played in creating that reality...
Thats my heart-warming HH scott story.
1911
chupacabra
I still have my dad’s silver-plated Conn cornet, that my grandfather bought for him second-hand in about 1930. My dad played it well into adulthood, and passed it on to me when I started band in school (6th grade?). I played it until high school; when the hs band loaned me a Bach trumpet.
I have no idea how old it really is. I have played it as an adult occasionally, in “Messiah” orchestras and what not. It is hard to get in tune now, and could use restoring. I don’t know who I would trust to do such a thing though.
Call your local music store and theyll put you in touch with the right people.
Conn made absolutely stunning instruments during that time period.
Just think.
People didn't own half the crapthey owned today.
Heck most homes probably didn't own a radio yet so folks really valued their instruments and took live music seriously because there were no radios, wire recordings, records, tapes, cds, mp3s mini discs. No Napster no limewire no bit torrent, no spotify, amd no internet or even electricity to run that junk.
A Conn Cornet in the hands of someone who could play it was about as much entertainment as a person was likely to experience in a year...
So they put everything they had into making something nice...
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