Changing plug on my amp

wellboys

I'm after buyin a new Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue from the States. It's gonna have an American plug on it, so I was wondering if I'll be able to just stick an aul Irish plug on it when it gets here?

Cheers

68 lost souls

As far as I recall they dont have a switch to change from US power to European so it is not as simple as switching the plug, you will need a new transformer as well. Best bet would be to bring it to an amp tech. If oyu are in dublin I would suggest Mark Levins of Aladdins amps for southside or Dave Nolan on the Northside.

EDIT: There is a quick reference to this sort of thing in this thread.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056017941

EDIT again: Just reading through the manual and it seems I am right. YOu will need to swap out the transformer or get an external step down transformer, ideally you would swap the internal transformer and this may also require swapping sevral other components. Definately worth bringing to a tech. That is the problem with buying from the states, that and your gonna get hit for shipping and taxes on top of the price.

http://support.fender.com/manuals/manuals_elec/guitarpdf//Blues_Deluxe_Reissue_Rev_B.pdf

Demeyes

You can't just change the plug, the amp will have to run on 110V instead of what we use here. You can buy an external transformer and plug into that when you use the amp, I've seen a few guys carrying them around for gigs to use with their US amps.

wellboys

Cheers for the feedback lads.. Any specific external transformer I need to buy or will the lads in Maplin know what to give me?

PaulieBoy

Nothing in Maplins for you my friend! Your cheapest option is to head to an electrical wholesalers and pickup a 110v tranny as seen on countless Irish building sites, about 60-80 euro. And a plug. And a slave to carry it about the place, they are heavy.
Also you need to be careful about the wiring, best option as suggested above is to change the innards to suit Irish voltage, but it's gonna cost ya a lot more.

Dord

You should have bought one here or in Europe. It's not as if it's a rare or out of production amp.

PaulieBoy

Something like this : http://www.justgenerators.co.uk/pages/product18.htm
Cheapest way out. Most decent builders suppliers have em as well.
Need to check the wattage, but it should be fine.

darrenw5094

Spec on above transformer:
Technical Data -
Input Voltage 200 to 240V ac
Output Voltage 120V ac
Load 800W
Protection Fuse
Dimensions (WxHxD) 230x157x123 mm
Weight 8.7 kg

PRICE £46.80+Vat

TOTAL PRICE
£54.99INC VAT +

http://www.interneeds.com/convertpower.htm

PaulieBoy

darrenw5094 wrote: »

Spec on above transformer:
Technical Data -
Input Voltage 200 to 240V ac
Output Voltage 120V ac
Load 800W
Protection Fuse
Dimensions (WxHxD) 230x157x123 mm
Weight 8.7 kg

PRICE £46.80+Vat

TOTAL PRICE
£54.99INC VAT +

http://www.interneeds.com/convertpower.htm

Nice bit of kit and no need to change plug, way to go!!

wellboys

I rang Maplins there.. The power needed to keep the amp runnin is 180w so it looks like Maplins can sort me out.. Any ideas how much it would cost to change the plug to a three pin?

darrenw5094

Er.............€1.99 for plug.

Changing the power transformer in the amp, would proably cost a lot more than the step down transformer.

The step down transformer will have US 2 pin sockets, not 3 pin.

Eoin Madsen

wellboys wrote: »

I rang Maplins there.. The power needed to keep the amp runnin is 180w so it looks like Maplins can sort me out.. Any ideas how much it would cost to change the plug to a three pin?

An amplifier should already have a 3-pin US plug. You shouldn't have to change the plug anyway - the Maplin transformer will have US sockets on the 115v end.

wellboys

Sorry about the confusion lads.. What I meant was, how much would it cost me to change the transformer inside the amp so it'll work off of Irish voltage?

Eoin Madsen

I would guess probably upwards of €150.