Recycling - giving old equipment a new life.

[rock soderstrom]

Lately I like to use more and more old devices as a basis for new equipment. The practical 19" format has its undeniable advantages in the studio but there is also a life outside this norm.



Recycling old equipment brings some advantages. You can often get this equipment for free or for small money, a certain base is also given like power connections and other mechanical infrastructure.

I also find it creative and inspiring to turn old equipment into a new unique piece of gear with a new look and give it a new life that is as long as possible. The result, if done right, can be unique, attractive and Inspiring.

Long story short. Here are some new additions to my case collection.


Do you sometimes use old equipment to build something new? Feel free to post your experiences and photos here.

I guess, this is my next project. It could be an small guitar amp head or a spring reverb.

 

[rock soderstrom]

Big advantage of this donor enclosere. It comes with a tube power transformer, a EM87 "magic eye" and some other goodies.

 

[rock soderstrom]

Lets see if I can reuse these guys...

 

[rock soderstrom]

Cool components, I like the blue wire wound resistors. I usually don't use old used components like resistors and capacitors. A rare exception are fuzz pedals with few components free wired.

 

[Tubetec]

Ive always liked reusing old enclosures , transformers and other stuff
Bakelite cleans up remarbly well ,
The odd time you can find old cooker knobs , big bakelite skirted types , with d shaft fitting ,
If you want a really large bakelite 'Shroom' style control , you could try modifying an old fashioned pot lid handle .

Hi-stab resistors are always worth salvaging , remember the time effort and money to make 1% tollerance back in the old days was huge , and if there still around their target value ,I say re-use if possible .

I cut my teeth in DIY using everything and anything I could from surplus , back in the 80-90's there wasnt much choice off the shelf in tube type transformers , either mains power or signal .
Now were in a better position .

Even an old SE output transformer from a radio will make a decent spring reverb driver amp , keeping the psu away and using very much larger filter capacitances to get supply noise down .

 

[KIDVOX]

A nice collection of cases.

 

[rock soderstrom]

Hi-stab resistors are always worth salvaging , remember the time effort and money to make 1% tollerance back in the old days was huge , and if there still around their target value ,I say re-use if possible .

+1 I'm sure I can find a good use for it.

I cut my teeth in DIY using everything and anything I could from surplus , back in the 80-90's there wasnt much choice off the shelf in tube type transformers , either mains power or signal .
Now were in a better position .

That's right, there are more suppliers for tube DIY now. I still try to recycle as much as possible. It costs less and is good for the environment.

Even an old SE output transformer from a radio will make a decent spring reverb driver amp , keeping the psu away and using very much larger filter capacitances to get supply noise down .

I can confirm that even 100V technic transformers are good enough for the job. They don't have a gap, but they still work well, I was amazed at the result.

 

[rock soderstrom]

A nice collection of cases.

I still have some in the cellar. I like to hang around junkyards and flea markets here in Berlin. I prefer the really junky ones, not the fine ones. For the Berliners, in Spandau on the car park of the Metro there is my favourite. Almost all junk, but super cheap and sometimes you can find real gems.

That's when stuff starts to accumulate in my cellar...

 

[JohnRoberts]

Back in the early 1970s I built a 4x250W audio amp into an old Western Electric chassis.

JR

 

[k brown]

I put my Pultec MB-1 based mic pre inside a Heathkit WA-P2 cab; Had exactly the right number of tube sockets already installed, and I really liked the shock-mounted sub chassis the tubes are mounted on.

I did it with external PSU and tranformerless in/out, so didn't need room for the big iron.

 

[KIDVOX]

View attachment 112170
Back in the early 1970s I built a 4x250W audio amp into an old Western Electric chassis.

JR

1000w for the house could be considered a bit much. My first house amp was only 225 stereo i thought that was a bit much.

What speakers did you put that 1Kw into

 

[nashkato]

i’m currently recycling 80ies 15/3 PA speakers to studio/hifi monitors .
will be 12“ Tannoy coax + 15“ bass

wood got way too expensive for no apparent reason .
not looking forward to the next winter

 

[rock soderstrom]

wood got way too expensive for no apparent reason .
not looking forward to the next winter

ohh yes, wood has become really expensive. I recently wanted to buy some at the local hardware store for a combo amp. It would have been really expensive, but it was sold out. Thus no problems...and somehow I had the impression I was talking about something illegal with the seller. "Pssstt, maybe I can do something for you ..." WTF?

 

[rock soderstrom]

Interesting, the housing has been recycled before! This will be a re-recycling now.



The transformer is quite nice and has decided which project moves into this new home.

 

[Mr. Moscode]

A trip down memory lane. La De Da. . .

 

[Gavin Pursinger]

YES YES YES...this old test gear provides many chassis, xformers,chokes and knobs...some test gear was 19" rackmount...cleans up real nice...cut aluminum sheet and make a new floor...I still live here...glad to see another
"carcass enthusiast"

 

[Mr. Moscode]

My Dad was Ham Radio operator - K2OOB. In the 50s he would strip down TV sets for power transformers, chokes, tubes - you all know the deal. I had a focus coil from one of those TVs with enough wire to wind a Tesla Coil with which I attained Science Fair immortality at Marathon Central School, 40 kids in my class. 3 foot long sparks. It used a oil burner transformer into a spark gap. It was really loud. Also bugged all the TVs in the neighborhood.

Yeah, I know - No sex jokes or I'll zap your miserably wimpy transistors.

 

[nashkato]

but what to do with this ?
ca. 40kg
0,5/0,6/1,24 kV sec
2* 6,3V enough to heat 2 400W amps

 

[rock soderstrom]

I had a focus coil from one of those TVs with enough wire to wind a Tesla Coil with which I attained Science Fair immortality at Marathon Central School, 40 kids in my class. 3 foot long sparks. It used a oil burner transformer into a spark gap. It was really loud. Also bugged all the TVs in the neighborhood.

That was certainly impressive, I wish I could have seen that!

 

[rock soderstrom]

but what to do with this ?
ca. 40kg
0,5/0,6/1,24 kV sec
2* 6,3V enough to heat 2 400W amps

Wow, thats heavy metal.

Where did you get that? Is this a former PA for a football stadium? WSW is top stuff, that wasn't cheap.
I love these green Rosenthal resistors, totally chic, I still have some here, unused NOS.

I like to use them in tube microphone PSUs.



There are also selenium rectifiers built in. They were also used in my case, not in the flat design but in this style: