Vintage D180 on the bench

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woodbutcher65

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For the past few days I've been waiting for the parts to refurbish and return a 1983 D180 to service.

The sucker has 10 of the 220 uF 300 volt filter caps in it. HUGE energy storage. Six 6L6 output tubes, and a conservative 150 watt output rating.

So the parts arrived and I recapped the whole thing, which is a bit of a chore given how those 10 big caps are built in a bus wire cage.

Finally I went to test it and discovered that the fuse was blown. Nope, I don't have 6.25A slow blow fuses on hand. But the local hardware store did!

I replaced a 470 ohm resistor on the bias board because it was mostly black from heat. Stuck in a fresh 1/2 watter and as it turns out, D180s always roast that resistor if it's less than a 1 watter so I'll put one in when I get one.

So, anyway, the unit's working. The D180 was built to be both a guitar amp AND a bass amp. It shares some circuit design elements with the Mark 1 or SOB including how the master volume (limiter) on an SOB works.

It has two inputs. Input 1 cascades to input 2, so input 2 is low gain and intended for bass and meant for headroom and not to distort.

Input 1 has an extra gain stage and it'll get a little bit crunchy.

The effects loop controls are always active even with nothing in the loop. They DO affect the volume level.

Cranked up, in the clean channel, I honestly don't think I've ever heard an amp get that loud and stay absolutely clean. It's a stunner!

Cranked up, in the dirty channel, I hit three notes and instantly thought "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Refugee tone". It was right there.

I'm impressed. This is a simple amp, definitely not high gain, but it has good tones. Pick one up if it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg, and have a place that allows you to crank it up.


Now I've got to spring for a fresh set of tubes (It takes two 12AX7s and two 12AT7s in the preamp) and that's going to cost a few bucks.

This amp will be for sale after I finish up a few details. The covers are getting repainted to original spec because they were flat out nasty, and it needs a new power indicator lamp. (Blue...fortunately I have one in stock for it.)
 
It's the first and only one I've ever actually seen in person and I've seen it in the back of the local amp tech's shop for years, an abandoned project the customer didn't want to pay for. So I made a deal for the carcass. A hundred bucks just in capacitors later, and a set of borrowed tubes, and she's good to go. I put in a 3 watt 470 ohm bias resistor (Try to cook THAT!!!) and the bias cap I'm using is overrated for the job. The original is 40 uF at 75 volts, I stuck in an F&T 100uf 100V 105c rated cap. So that should last.

Oh, BMI is now providing Mesa's big electrolytics. That's not bad news! BMI (Barker Microfarads, Inc) was formed by several former Sprague employees and they bought Sprague's capacitor factory and tooling in Virginia when Sprague shut it down.

So they're USA made by veterans of one of the most experienced cap companies in the world, on proven tooling and machines.

I don't see anything wrong with that!

BMI has been a big player in motor start and run caps for some time. I expect they'll get a bigger share of the audio electronics market as word gets out about them.
 
Well, I guess this D180 is just about ready for sale. I need to clean or replace the front panel jacks for the effects loop but the rest I deem ready for gigging.

With all 6 power tubes installed it's stupidly loud and clean. I still don't think I've ever heard any amp that has that much clean headroom. I'm not afraid of loud amps but I don't want to play power chords with this thing cranked unless I'm wearing ear protection.

It's a very GOOD clean sound, too. Classic Boogie clean tone like a Mark II. In input 1 and both volumes cranked it overdrives nicely but it's no metal amp.

However I think it'd be a great match for someone who runs a pedal board. Freshly (and fully) recapped and having gone through a very good cleaning, it's ready for another 36 years of service.


I'm sure I'll be listing it for sale in a few days.
 
Well, I guess this D180 is just about ready for sale. I need to clean or replace the front panel jacks for the effects loop but the rest I deem ready for gigging.

With all 6 power tubes installed it's stupidly loud and clean. I still don't think I've ever heard any amp that has that much clean headroom. I'm not afraid of loud amps but I don't want to play power chords with this thing cranked unless I'm wearing ear protection.

It's a very GOOD clean sound, too. Classic Boogie clean tone like a Mark II. In input 1 and both volumes cranked it overdrives nicely but it's no metal amp.

However I think it'd be a great match for someone who runs a pedal board. Freshly (and fully) recapped and having gone through a very good cleaning, it's ready for another 36 years of service.


I'm sure I'll be listing it for sale in a few days.
hello, do you still have this D-180?
im hella interested -
 

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