stereson wildcat bass amp

[Tonyrhs13]

hey, new here. just picked up this old 70's solid state amp.

says wildcat bass on the front and on the blue plate it says model number rb-4c / serial number 124

wondering if anyone out there has any information about these or someone i could email for specs couldnt come up with anything on google.

[J M Fahey]

Never seen.
It's *very* old, certainly one of the first SS amps.
The output transistors have 1966 date codes.
They are Germanium and impossible to get today.
Does it work?

[Tonyrhs13]

wow really 1966? if you nees any better pics of any specific parts lmk i can take them asap.

when i first got it the chassis was hot.(tested with volt meter before i touched it because the guy warned me of it(got it for free)). so i wired in a socket from an old power supply for the 3 prong plug. and that fixed the chassis being hot.

it works great and sounds reallyyy good, except channel 2 doesn't work im pretty sure its missing a 700uf 50v capacitor.

[Tonyrhs13]

im already liking this forum! the other forum i posted on i just harassed about me getting shocked.


any ideas on how many watts this thing is putting out?

[J M Fahey]

Probably around 50W, maybe more.
Looks very well made, but parts are expensive or unavailable, so take care of it.
Specially avoid shorts in the speaker cable.

[teemuk]

I had a few notes about them in my collection. They were a product of Stereson Amplifiers and Accessories from Clearwater, Florida. Made from late 1960's to maybe mid 1970's. Not fisrt solid-state amps by a long shot but in the second generation. At least some of the amplifiers they made tried to ride with the Kustom fame, copying their "tuck-n-roll" upholstery.

[Tonyrhs13]

its very cool to hear what people have to say about this unique amp.

it seems pretty well built but looks like its been opened up a few times and some joints resoldered but all is well and sounds pretty good besides the scratchy volume.

any ideas on where to get a matching (or close to matching) 700uf 50v capacitor?


heres a little sound clip with my les paul using bridge pickup(l500xl)
http://www.filedropper.com/rec20120519184016

[J M Fahey]

Go for a 1000uFx50V cap.

[Tonyrhs13]

should i? would that make channel 2 sound any different from 1?

[Tonyrhs13]

hmm...tried it out with a cap i had laying around 800uf 100v. channel 2 still doesnt work .

so should i sell this amp or do you think i should salvage it for parts. im planning on building a fender champ and a few other tube amps. and i could use most of the resistors and caps.

but i really dont wanna salvage it maybe i should sell it and someone can fix it and have a super cool rare unique clean sounding amp.

[Tonyrhs13]

found a loose wire going to one of the input jack resoldered and im getting some sound but its really really faint.

hard figuring these types of things out without a schematic/layout.

[J M Fahey]

You can sell it for $20, if any. Serious.
Keep and use it as-is. The day it stops working, it's done.
Buy new parts, these are 40 years old.
And repeat it, use it as is.
You can play a club date with it, you can not do that with the Champ.
Besides, it sounds incredibly clean.
If you want distortion, add a good pedal.

[Tonyrhs13]

yea it is really clean i kinda like the sound.

i'll just try to fix it maybe keep it for awhile, post it on craigslist and if someone wants to give me 100 bucks for it its theres. 

but i'd like to get a pedal and nice cab and try it out see how it sounds then.

[Tonyrhs13]

you think i can replace all of the 700uf 50v caps with some newer axial maybe 1000uf 100v?

[phatt]

IF the original circuit used 50 Volt rated Caps then anything over that voltage is fine,,, just don't go below it.

Uf Value is a matter of how much you want to spend? :duh

I doubt you will hear an earth shattering difference between 700uF and 1,000uF. 8|

All that really matters is that the ***Voltage rating of the capacitors is above the working DCVoltage*** present on the rails.

Observation?

Sounds like you don't really want to keep it any way so you choose chum.
I'd keep it if it sounds good to your ears otherwise a waste of time trying to fix it.
I keep stuff like that for spare parts. :tu:
Phil.