I got a pretty cool old Zenith tube Hi Fi radio with a switched RCA input that goes right to the amp. Labels say this thing is 50 watts.
I have plugged in (with an adapter) my 2 string bass, but while I get 'dirty contact' noise thru the speakers, no guitar sound.
The ham radio guy here on the ship has told me that it's very possible the pup does not have enough output (the input is for a phonograph) and said a preamp would work.
I'm looking online and all the in-body ones are for piezo...which I am not interested in.
So what can I do? Adapt the mini micro piezo plugs to 1/4" phono, or what? Build a stand alone box (cigar!) and hard wire a jack?
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Have you tested the tubes?
No, and I have no idea how to do that. Haven't seen a market tester for decades, but I just ordered replacements.
There’s a group for radios turned amps here, scroll around, there’s a video link that shows you how to easily convert one, 2 wires & a Jack is all you need?
Thx. Didn't know there was a group here...
Did you verify the wiring of your adapter cord to be correct, a backwards connections will give you nothing?
No I did not, but I will. Gary is among the "Grey Radio Gang", all hams (there's a station on the ship and they broadcast/receive on mostly ships equipment), and many are ex Navy radio guys. But as I said, I will check it.
I probably answered my own questions, just found this youtube vid. Gonna try again, not sure what I had done with the vol switch other than turn it on (blush)...
https://youtu.be/6WPSFX7Bc9A
firstly, does the radio work? if you get no sound from radio then the amp might be faulty.
if you are going in through the record player inputs then the guitar should be more than enough i would expect nasty distortion. the record player also has RIAA equalisation on it. the bass is reduced and the treble increased to keep the groove on the record manageble.. so on playback the bass volume is boosted and the treble reduced.. might have some funky sound..
If the switched RCA bypasses the record player input and goes direct to the power amp section then yes you will need a preamp. a clean boost pedal would probably be enough. a boss ge-7 graphic equaliser pedal also has a level boost . very handy pedal to have.
I plugged it in on the ship last week, and since I was inside the Faraday cage that is a battleship, signal was week but there, that is to say spinning the dial I picked up some very weak signals, I could discern human voice, and since the contacts are pretty dirty, it'll crackle like a big dog. Here at home I was in that laser focus and did not switch back to 'Radio'. The switch is labeled 'Phono/Radio', and goes between the two. Would it help if I posted the schematic? I think the guy said radio is radio, and Phono is the RCA straight to the amp.
The amp is bottom right, and the RCA plug is 11 oclock from it..
schematic.pdf
from schematic, phono/radio switch selects between the output of the radio or the input from the RCA phono input. good news id the phono input goes to the preamp tube . Either input goes to the 1Mohm volume pot then to ist audio tube 19T8 then through a tone circuit to the 35C5 poweramp tube..
hope you get it working..
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