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Tube heat cover rusted on my new ‘59 Fender Twin-Amp JB Edition

bravada

New member
Joined
Oct 4, 2020
Messages
7
So long time lurker here, just got myself a ‘59 Fender Twin-Amp JB Edition. I noticed one of the tube shield covers is rusted/corroded. I'm assuming this isn't part of a relic process lol.
There are 3 pre-amp tube shield covers on the far right of the cabinet. The far right tube shield cover is made out of steel. The left and middle tube shield covers are made of aluminum. There is probably some reason, possibly a functional one, as to why the far right cover is steel. I would have to assume though that a rusty tube cover wasn't intentional. Also the rusty tube shield cover does not want to twist and come off easily versus the aluminum ones. I called the Fender CS phone line and the person I spoke to didn't think it should be rusted, but told me I would have to get this handled through JB's store CS as they don't deal with this amp. JB's customer service was kind enough to send me another amp, but both amps have a rusty steel far right tube shield cover.

Do any of you fine folks know why the far right tube shield cover is made out of steel? Or why it would be rusted on a brand new amp? Any reason to not go ahead and replace the steel shield cover with one of the aluminum ones? Thank you in advance for any answers.
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PaulD

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Joined
Jun 25, 2007
Messages
673
They are not heat shields, they are electrical shields that are intended to reduce RF / EMF interference. They effectively form a Faraday cage around the valve and any conductive material will work so there is no reason why you can't replace the steel one with an aluminium one.
 

bravada

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Oct 4, 2020
Messages
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Thank you for the clarification. Would steel offer greater resistance to RF / EMF interference versus aluminium? I'm probably way overthinking/concerned about a little corrosion on a tube shield, but at the same time, I don't want to mess with something that might be done intentionally for my sonic benefit.
 

PaulD

Active member
Joined
Jun 25, 2007
Messages
673
Would steel offer greater resistance to RF / EMF interference versus aluminium?

Not in any way that I can imagine, in fact aluminium is a better electrical conductor than steel so should theoretically make a better Faraday cage but in practice you would never notice any difference. In reality the shields don't make a massive amount of difference and you would probably not notice much difference in the noise level with them on or off, the most useful thing they do is to stop the valves from falling out in amps where they hang upside down!
 

bravada

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Joined
Oct 4, 2020
Messages
7
OK, I just got off the phone with Fender. This time the person I spoke to spent some time with me, instead of telling me we don't deal with that amp like the last time. It seems that the rusty tube shield is on purpose, as is a few other distressed parts I didn't notice. He hypothesized that maybe Mr. Bonamassa's amp has the mismatched rusty parts and that is what they might have based the distressing on. Sorry to bother y'all with my silly goose chase.
 

el84ster

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 10, 2001
Messages
1,420
I’m a tech and love those old steel shields. The alumi ones can get crushed or bent just by looking at them. The steel will last forever. You don’t see those anymore on newer amps.
 

bravada

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Joined
Oct 4, 2020
Messages
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I’m a tech and love those old steel shields. The alumi ones can get crushed or bent just by looking at them. The steel will last forever. You don’t see those anymore on newer amps.
Well it's a beautiful bonus then, the aluminum ones did seem like they could smoosh in like a soda can pretty easily.
 

oldog

Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2003
Messages
201
Now that that is settled get back to pissing of the neighbors 2 blocks away like that amp was designed to do.
 

bravada

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Joined
Oct 4, 2020
Messages
7
Now that that is settled get back to pissing of the neighbors 2 blocks away like that amp was designed to do.
It's funny you should mention that.:roflI live out in the country, nearest neighbors several miles away. I have the amp in a separate building from the main house. The amp came with a cardboard sheet on top with Mr. B's recommended settings at a volume level of 9-10.
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Knowing full well that wouldn't feel good to the old eardrums, I got my best set of shooting earmuffs and proceed to give Mr. B's setting a whirl. After several minutes of what can only be described as not listening to my new amp, but having a full body massage complete with teeth cleaning, my wife peeks into the building. She proceeds to tell me I was shaking stuff in the main house that she didn't know could vibrate. She thought I had dragged the amp outside it was so loud, and that there was a good possibility that anyone within several miles was also aware I had a new amp.
 

agogetr

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Jan 22, 2019
Messages
451
remember you bought an amp that was marketed and sold to have a slightly aged look.
the fact that joes outfit offered to send you another amp is unbelievable. talk about going above and beyond. now thats customer service! heck if joe wound up owning all of them it would probably make him pretty happy anyway. haha would me.
joe getting fender to produce these amps is the best thing fender has done in 62 years.
 

bravada

New member
Joined
Oct 4, 2020
Messages
7
remember you bought an amp that was marketed and sold to have a slightly aged look.
the fact that joes outfit offered to send you another amp is unbelievable. talk about going above and beyond. now thats customer service! heck if joe wound up owning all of them it would probably make him pretty happy anyway. haha would me.
joe getting fender to produce these amps is the best thing fender has done in 62 years.
They absolutely went above and beyond with customer service. This amp puts a Christmas morning smile on my face everytime I crank it up. Merry Christmas to all of y'all on the Les Paul Forum!
 
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