No joke guys, $30 bucks...

[gordo]

Tremolo will be an easy fix with a new opto. Reverb is likely the tank, cables, or tube - in that order. You'll have a blast working on this thing. Bandmasters are big and heavy but nice and roomy to work in. With a 5E3 under your belt you'll be amazed how much easier it is to maneuver around a silverface chassis than a cakepan.

[ggarms]

Yea Alan was right- the 5e3 felt a bit like a 1590A. And thanks for the pointers! That gives me somewhere to start after the cap job... I got the chassis pulled and did a visual check of everything. Everything appears original except for a rerun of 2 OT wires. In regards to the opto, any idea of the sub?

[lincolnic]

What's up with that "TFL 5005D" label? I've never seen anything like that before.

[selfdestroyer]

What's up with that "TFL 5005D" label? I've never seen anything like that before.

WHat I can find:

TFL is teflon vs cloth wiering. But there is some debate on that.

TFL5000D = Domestic Fender Dual Showman Reverb
TFL5000X = Export Fender Dual Showman Reverb
TFL5005D = Domestic Fender Bandmaster Reverb
TFL5005X = Export Fender Bandmaster Reverb

Cody

[juansolo]

Impressive. Bit of fettling and you'll have a fine amp for peanuts!

[Beedoola]

Is what I picked this up for. Definitely needs some love, reverb and vibe Dont work (yet), but she powers on and sounds decent enough for me to be excited at what I got this for. The guy I picked it up from thinks it's a 73 or 4- I haven't checked the transformer date yet. I think with some extra love this could end up being somethibg great. New project ftw!

What were the circumstances of the purchase - was the amp on craigslist, or you just happened to know/meet the guy other wise?

Definitely do a cap job.

What exactly is it doing or not doing?

[ggarms]

The amp wasn't on Craigslist but some other stuff was. I met with the fellow and we got to talking (and jamming)! The amp was tucked away and he said he could never get it working after he picked it up on the low a long time back and wanted to get rid of it.

As far as what it's doing- it's passing signal, albeit weakly, tone controls all work, vibe and reverb do not. Pulled the chassis and everything appears original.

[rullywowr]

Is what I picked this up for. Definitely needs some love, reverb and vibe Dont work (yet), but she powers on and sounds decent enough for me to be excited at what I got this for. The guy I picked it up from thinks it's a 73 or 4- I haven't checked the transformer date yet. I think with some extra love this could end up being somethibg great. New project ftw!

That deserves a proverbial "you suck!" 

Jk.  Great find, you deserve it man!  So awesome.

[Stomptown]

Very cool!   

[lincolnic]

WHat I can find:

TFL is teflon vs cloth wiering. But there is some debate on that.

TFL5000D = Domestic Fender Dual Showman Reverb
TFL5000X = Export Fender Dual Showman Reverb
TFL5005D = Domestic Fender Bandmaster Reverb
TFL5005X = Export Fender Bandmaster Reverb

Cody

Huh, interesting. I've seen plenty of Bandmasters and Dual Showmans (Showmen?) before, but never with that kind of labeling. I wonder if it was only done during a particular era.