vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
Lightning was the first full amp build I ever did and it was my main amp for years until I got a DC30. Killer amp.
Monoprice Stage Right 15W amp rebuild
- Thread starter vigilante398
- Start date
Every product has issues. There isn't a product sold thats 100% fine. You get bad parts out of the box in every industry. Musical instruments. Amps. Automotive parts. Computer parts. Electronics. Whatever.
They ALL have products where you can and do find dead products right out of the box. It's part of manufacturing. No manufacturer can make 100% faultless products, where every single one works flawlessly. There's ALWAYS ones that don't work. It doesn't mean "they may not last long". There's absolutely zero logic there in connecting those 2 things. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
I've had my Monoprice 15w amp for 3.5 years and it's never had a single issue. So then with your logic, that means they probably do last long since we're using sample sizes of 1 and 2 to make determinations of quality for the entire line. Lol.
@vigilante398 what'd you do with the internals of the Monoprice amp? I just got a new Hot Rod Deluxe, so I was looking into removing the chassis from my Monoprice 15w to do some maintenance. That's how I ended up here, from a Google search on how to remove the MP15 chassis. Does it just slide out once you get the screws out? Should I lay the cab down on its back and slide it out that way? Or just stand it up and slide it out the back?
Didn't even realize I had an account here already lol. Going to clean the pots with Deoxit and I've got some Telam EL84s from a matched quad that I want to install. So I'll rebias the amp at that time, too. I've got a discharge tool and 1000v rated alligator clip leads and the standard leads so everything ought to be fine. The volume and drive pots are both pretty scratchy around 0-2 so I'm hoping this will cure it.
Telam EL84's though this isn't where I bought mine. I got a matched quad for half the price of 1 tube from them.
Last edited:
RetiredUnit1
Well-known member
As an expert in manufacturing, all I can say is Scrap/MRB/Rework is the most important part of product development, along with version control, operator tracking, etc.
Sounds like they may not have a firm grasp on that yet. Good luck with the iron.
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
I'll be honest, I'm not really sure what I did with the guts. They're either somewhere floating around my mess of a workshop or they're in the garbage. I don't think there was any real reason for me to keep them so I probably trashed them. Removing the chassis is pretty straightforward once the screws are out, but it's a pretty tight fit with the tolex in there, you may have to wiggle it a bit to get it out.
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
Well I guess I can circle back on this thread. I got tired of the empty cabinet sitting there taunting me, so I designed a new chassis for it from scratch, and I used a pair of brand new transformers from Musical Power Supplies instead of trying to make it work with the originals. So the amp has been gutted and a new amp was built in its place, but since I changed literally everything I don't think it's fair to call it a "rebuild" anymore.
I did end up doing a Lightning because it's something I've built a few times before and I know I like. Guts aren't super duper clean because I'm a sloppy human being, but it works, sounds great, and is pretty low noise. I have faceplates coming soon, at which point I will also be re-tolexing the cabinet. When I do that I'm planning to cut the wood out around the chassis, I didn't account for that when I designed the chassis so things are a little too close to the edges.
I did end up doing a Lightning because it's something I've built a few times before and I know I like. Guts aren't super duper clean because I'm a sloppy human being, but it works, sounds great, and is pretty low noise. I have faceplates coming soon, at which point I will also be re-tolexing the cabinet. When I do that I'm planning to cut the wood out around the chassis, I didn't account for that when I designed the chassis so things are a little too close to the edges.
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