Brad's Guitar Garage

22/10/2026

I took my time dialing this one in.
It's one of my favourite Fender amps ever built, so I probably took more time than I should have play-testing it, too!
I've never seen so many carbon composition resistors drifted so far high in value before. Some as high as 50-60% out of tolerance. With some new Yageo carbon film replacements, she's now responding like she should, with a whisper quiet noise floor even with all controls maxed out.
With a 5U4GB in there to drop the voltages down to about B+ 410VDC, it's now got that creamy smooth break-up, but can nail that 70's AC/DC pick-attack bite, too.

22/10/2026

FYI champions, unfortunately I don't have time to give recurring status updates regarding your repair jobs.
Receiving a quote means I've assessed your job.
Receiving an invoice means your job is complete.
No other updates will be given unless I need to ask questions before proceeding.

Send a message to learn more

18/10/2026

How's your Sunday going, champions?
I'm spending mine trying to catch up on repairs.
However it's unlikely at this point that I'll be able to take in any more repairs for 2026.
Of course, I'll let you know if that changes, but we're running up to the Christmas parts-sourcing / shipping brick wall, so lead times blowing out might make that decision for us.
Here's a Rivera M60 on the bench today for a restoration and upgrades for reliability.

15/10/2026

WHOA!
Chris Haskett (Rollins Band and MANY others!) just dropped into the shop to have his Dynacord DA16/V checked out. I had a bit of a fan-boy moment, as 'Weight' was one of the first albums I ever bought and still gets regular rotation around here.
Thanks for dropping in, mate!

13/10/2026

Look at all the "tin whiskers" on this AA968 Vibrolux's pot casings!
Some up to 1/4" long!
Such a weird, and not completely understood phenomenon, but essentially the tension set up in certain alloys (particularly pressed pieces such as those pictured) pushes out crystals of Sn metal about 4 micro-meters thick over time. They are often the cause of signal failure or attenuation on vintage amps. They are obviously also a major consideration in mission critical electronic infrastructure.
Stay posted for my upcoming YouTube video on this amp where we VAPORISE them FOR FUN with 1KV!

10/10/2026

Part two of yesterdays review and repair of the Swart Space Tone Reverb Tremolo (AKA STR-Tremolo). In this one we trace it out and analyse the schematic to see how they did so much with so little. Fantastic little amps, these ones!

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10/10/2026

Been looking forward to getting my hands on one of these buggers for a while.
New vid out, legends!

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10/10/2026

Wanna get loud and not be tied down?
Here's the fancy box for you, champions!
Pull that battery out like a portable drill, and mix from your bloody phone!
What a world we live in!
https://www.bradsguitargarage.com.au/qsc-compact-battery-powered-loudspeaker-system

09/10/2026

Music Man HD-130 in for a re-cap and service.
Head-roomy things, these things.
With a B+ approaching 700VDC, it's no wonder why!

08/10/2026

Finishing off this Fender Bassman 6G6-B.
I love these old things.