Pilot 240 estate sale find

Dswankey said:
Absolutely do not plug it in at this point after what the lady at the sale did you could potentially damage it. Check you local audio repair shops and see if they have experience with tube gear.
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I did know at least enough to know you don't want to plug these into a wall socket without a professional going over it first. My fear is that she may have already blown the power supply.
 
toxcrusadr said:
Where are you located on Planet Earth? There may be a known tube guru near you.

That was in fact a steal. Usually estate sales companies are more savvy than that. That thing is clean as a whistle!
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I'm in Wichita. Pretty sure there's nobody around here. I can't even find anyone that will work on solid state equipment, let alone tube amps.

I was told they conferred with the owner's son about it. I think they priced it low due to it being currently inoperable. By the reactions here, it seems I got quite a good deal regardless.
 
If you're willing and know how to package it securely maybe try the KC area if not I'd be more then willing to help you dispose of it:D
 
There's several options in the KC area, but I have also heard that Many Moons Audio in Tulsa is good too.
 
That's a score! Holy cow. I have a 240 and it's a really great sounding amp. Those tubes alone are an amazing find :). Get that serviced and enjoy the music!
 
I'd love to get my hands on some Bugle Boys. I have some JJs and some new Sovteks in my 240 and it still has that sweet EL84 sound. It makes me wonder what it would sound like with some good NOS tubes. Does anyone know what these originally came with? I love listening to my 240. It's such a great little amp. I just recently acquired a SA-232. The 232 is a bit more detailed and maybe a little more forward compared to the 240, which I find a little more laid back than the 232. They're both really great sounding amps.
 
Email me for a copy of the Sams folder (parts list and schematic) tbavis(at)rochester(dot)rr(dot)com
 
So, an update.........

I forced myself not to get too giddy with excitement over this amp, but it's still quite a disappointment to hear what I was told today. I found a local guitar amp guy who agreed to assess it, and the news was not good. He couldn't even power it up fully without it blowing the fuse every time. He said it would need a complete recap to start with. Then he really lowered the boom when he said that all of the tubes are weak, and basically useless. :eek: Bottom line? He estimated $1200-$1500 for a complete restoration. That's not gonna happen. Anyway, I didn't lose much, and it was worth the try.
 
wade68 said:
Bottom line? He estimated $1200-$1500 for a complete restoration. That's not gonna happen. Anyway, I didn't lose much, and it was worth the try.
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I'm not so sure, will have some cost, if he offers to trade your old tubes for some brand new ones, I'd be a little skeptical. If you do decide to part with it, might consider listing it in Barter Town here on Audiokarma. You would get a fair price.
 
I'm having a hard time accepting the assessment. The amp chassis looks, cosmetically, to be in great shape which leads me to believe that it's been in agreeable location, climate wise, as opposed to say a damp basement or out in a garage. I also find it hard to believe that ALL of the tubes are weak. I'm not trying to disrepect the technician but the 4 figure estimate to restore it sounds a bit too much.

Is there any possibility you can remove the bottom panel and take a clear close up picture of the internals? if so hopefully some of the resident tube gurus might be able to spot something.

One last thing, hold on to those tube regardless. I've seen tubes measure "weak" that on another tester tested fine.
 
Find someone from AK who is closer to you. I would do it way cheaper except I am over on the west coast so shipping might be the most costly. :oops:
 
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buickguy62 said:
I'm not so sure, will have some cost, if he offers to trade your old tubes for some brand new ones, I'd be a little skeptical. If you do decide to part with it, might consider listing it in Barter Town here on Audiokarma. You would get a fair price.
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I hear you, but he's a pretty sincere guy and didn't try to offer me anything for it. Honestly, he doesn't usually do work on hi-fi equipment, but was nice enough to take a look at this. I think he was a bit curious to see how it was engineered.
 
Dswankey said:
I'm having a hard time accepting the assessment. The amp chassis looks, cosmetically, to be in great shape which leads me to believe that it's been in agreeable location, climate wise, as opposed to say a damp basement or out in a garage. I also find it hard to believe that ALL of the tubes are weak. I'm not trying to disrepect the technician but the 4 figure estimate to restore it sounds a bit too much.

Is there any possibility you can remove the bottom panel and take a clear close up picture of the internals? if so hopefully some of the resident tube gurus might be able to spot something.

One last thing, hold on to those tube regardless. I've seen tubes measure "weak" that on another tester tested fine.
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This thing belonged to a lieutenant in the Air Force. The house was immaculate, so you can imagine he took care of his stuff.

I might be able to remove the bottom panel, if anyone is curious. He said something about wax capacitors that were dripping wax under there.

Yeah, I'm not pitching the tubes or anything just yet.
 
Won't power up without blowing fuses I believe. Thats pretty common, and its almost always the filter caps. Not a big deal. All tubes being weak I sort of doubt. Possibly the output tubes, but the small signal tubes very rarely wear out. The dripping caps are what connect signal from tube to tube, and the wax ones are pretty terrible.

I would not expect this to cost anywhere near that kind of coin to overhaul.
 
wade68 said:
This thing belonged to a lieutenant in the Air Force. The house was immaculate, so you can imagine he took care of his stuff.

I might be able to remove the bottom panel, if anyone is curious. He said something about wax capacitors that were dripping wax under there.

Yeah, I'm not pitching the tubes or anything just yet.
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That's what I was getting at about the amps condition and again nothing against the tech you mentioned. The bottom panel should come off pretty easily and this is what you should see (pic from the web). As you can see from the pic not that much going on under there and IMHO it looks pretty spacious to move around in there compared to other amps that can be a nuisance.

So yes if you could post a pic that would be cool, at your leisure of course


240-tube-amplifier.jpg
 
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