cleaning up an abused Gemini

[Fred Rocker]

so I bought this crappy old Ampeg Gemini 2. the guy wanted four hundred bucks on Craigslist. I emailed. I said I like Geminis but yours is in really bad condition. I asked if he would take 250 I had nothing to lose. He said it works fine and that he would do 275.

---

so I left work and drove the 50 miles to try it out. it did sound good. the vibrato was a little weak but the reverb was there. after work I gutted it and brought it to the carwash. I sprayed it with Easy-Off oven cleaner and I scrubbed a little bit. then I blew it off with a high pressure hose inside and out.

---

Looks nice in the collection now.and I'm very happythat I can share these pictures with the other Ampeg fans... but I had it cranked up past 11 last night and I blew it up so now I'm learning how to fix amplifiers LOL

---

rasy-Off oven cleaner for barbecue grills is great for cleaning the blue check Ampegs. I sprayed the grill cloth too. it really pulls the dust and cigarette smoke out of the blue check. even on areas you thought were clean. I left it on for a full minute. you could probably go longer. there were no signs of damage from the cleaner,I was just playing it safe. within seconds the dust and smoke started bubbling off the tolex. the grill cloth held up surprisingly well under the pressure of the hose at the carwash.

[Hangman]

Nice work amigo! Thats an amazing find. I'm sure we'll figure out the problem. It looked to me like the resistor feeding the screen supply

[journeyman]

Ithought you were kidding about the oven cleaner and car wash. Wow, I would have thought that the tolex and any plastic in the grill would have melted. Looks fantastic! Good luck with the repairs.

[Fred Rocker]

Easy off is GREAT for cleaning plastic...I guess it's best to test a small area first! I learned this from a toy collector.
he would buy old models and slotcars that had been painted and could be bought real cheap. then he'd spray them w/ easy off and wash the paint right off.
The Blue check tolex looks like new. the grille cloth was surprisingly durable but I was careful with the high pressure hose.

I've re-capped the entire amp; and replaced the resistor that Hangman had mentioned (thanks) and it's back up and running.
It goes to about half way before distortion with my les paul. then it gets too gritty.
Doesn't have a lot of volume either, when compared to my Gemini 1 or my reverberocket 2; but it does sound nice in it's own way.