Read a comment about recapping old amps that made me rethink everything

I was dead set on replacing every single capacitor in my 1978 Fender Twin Reverb (you know, the "if it's original, swap it" mindset). Then I saw someone on a vintage audio forum say that old electrolytics can test fine and sound better than modern ones if they're not leaking or out of spec. So I tested each one with my ESR meter instead of blindly replacing them - found only 3 of 12 caps were actually bad. Has anyone else had good luck keeping original caps that still measure within tolerance?

2 comments

2 Comments

barbara_butler12d ago

Whoa yeah my buddy kept his original 65 Deluxe Reverb caps and that thing still sounds like heaven.

the_lee12d ago

Ha! I'm jealous - my amp sounds lucky if it even turns on these days, @barbara_butler.