First Guitar Amp Build

[Roly]

Awww, come on Phil, that's only a bit of bird poo; a good dust and a bit of a wash with some metho and it would be good as new (however it is a bit of a distraction from the main game here, but has already provided one salutary lesson about chassis heatsinking).

Not just Fender.  Lots of people who should have known better have fallen into this hole - see my Gibson G-20 repair story (and let's not mention Savage).

I'd say at a guess that the two missing power supply fuses imply that the output stage is boofed, but again that's just everyday bread and butter.

Calx - see;

http://www.ozvalveamps.org/solidstateamprepair.htm

It does seem that a lot of the larger companies are as much if not more interested in cost and ease of manufacture than longevity.

Oh you got that dead right, but far from selling new stock to old customers they actually end up trashing their own reputation.

And wot Phil said about electrical safety and metalworking gunge.

just one of many such you should read and take to heart;

http://www.ozvalveamps.org/safety.htm

[calx]

I will be sure to bear this stuff in mind     

[Paolo]

Hi Callum

That Carlsbro amp is like likely to have a USA made Accutronics reverb tank in it also, which could be usefull for future projects.

If the amp has a Celestion speaker, it is likely a replacement from the original (unless it's a more modern Carlsbro GLX or something, in which case they might come with them) If it's from the 70's/early 80's, then the original speaker would more likely to have been made by either Fane or Mackenzie, which are great brithish speakers and highly sought after.  These were often unbranded or labelled with the Carlsbro name 'Powertone'.
I had alot of discussions with one of the engineers from the Carlsbro factory in the UK, who also used to run (a now defunct) Carlsbro website, where you could date the amps and there were forums, etc.

Another little known fact about Carlsbro, is that they took over production of H&H amps about 2-3 years after that company started. So most H&H amps are technically Carlsbros. One goes for big bucks, the other next to nothing. I have 3  Carlsbro amps from the 70's that i got for under £20 each.

Anyway, good luck with your project!

Paolo