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Old 14th Sep 2020, 9:21 pm   #1
kestrelmusic
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Default Pye 49TG

This was a real challenge. Not only was it pretty well derelict, but it had been very badly hacked about by someone trying to "improve" it.

In the first place, the original output and power supply stages had been dismantled and a strange amplifier installed in the back of the case. It used the oddest selection of valves: a pair of AC5/Pen for the output stage, and two SP61 for the phase splitter/driver. The back of the case was cut away to allow this abortion to be installed, and holes cut in various places for contols and connectors.

The original deck had been removed and a Lenco installed in its place, with the lid lifted half an inch or so to accommodate it. I have to say, it's a good deck, but it was in very poor shape, with the auto start/stop completely knackered and the idler wheel tyre as hard as steel.

I rebuilt the original chassis as best I could to the original specification, except that I kept the E series valves which the "improver" had put in, and used an EL41 for the output valve. I then hid a transformer in the back of the case, where there was plenty of room. I don't like the thought of a metal record deck connected, even through correctly rated capacitors, to a potentially live chassis!

The case was another challenge. I considered stripping the original veneer and re-veneering the whole thing, but eventally decided to patch it up as best I could. Danish Oil was the treatment of choice, but the holes just had to be plugged with wood filler. One large elliptical hole which had been cut to allow access to the "new" tone controls was too large to fill, so in the end I fitted a piece of perforated aluminium across it inside the case, to act as a ventilator.

Anyway, here it is, still far from original but at least with some approximation to the original specification. And given the state it was in when I started, I am quite pleased with the result.
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Old 15th Sep 2020, 8:45 am   #2
slidertogrid
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Default Re: Pye 49TG

It does make you wonder what the thinking behind the modifications were? It doesn't sound as if much improvement would have been heard!
The lid mod is ingenious! I wonder if they fitted the deck and then went to shut the lid... Oh! S$*T!

I was given a Pye black box that had been "de-improved" The original valve amp had been removed and replaced with a small transistor one that looked like it had come from a cheap 1970's record player . This was crudely screwed into the case with a transformer and rectifier to supply it rigged up. The original speakers were gone replaced with one crudely wedged into one side.
Why I don't know, I can only assume the original amp had packed up and this was someone's idea of a repair!
I kept the deck and binned the rest!
Well done for saving yours I would have probably just stripped it for parts!
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