Barn find, testing procedure?

bjf

Hi, I purchased a house with a barn and found a Music Man 112 RD 100. I'd love to get it working but I'm guessing it has been sitting for over 10 years (the house was abandoned 10 years ago) and I don't know if it was working when placed in the barn or stored there because it didn't work. The transformers are fairly rusty. Any help pointing me to a resource for powering on an old amp that has been sitting a long time would be helpful. Any tests I can perform on the transformers before plugging in? I haven't plugged it in yet not knowing if I might do more damage before I test some components. The capacitors aren't bulging or leaking that I notice.

Any help is appreciated. I live 5 hours from the nearest amp tech so it isn't very easy to get this to a pro.

Thanks,

Ben

Full Name
Jason Mogi
Music Man Equipment
112 RD Fifty

Member for

1 month

mogi Tue, 06/10/2025 - 09:53

If it were me, I'd hook it up an appropriate cab, plug it in to a power strip, fire it up, and see what happens (with a finger on the strip switch to shut it down quickly). But I'm new here, so don't listen to me. 

FYI- evidently there was a server change on this site and most of the OG's haven't migrated over. Thus the low traffic. But hopefully someone with better advice on your situation will chime in eventually. Keep us(?) posted!

Music Man Equipment
MM 2-10-65

Member for

11 years 3 months
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mm210 Thu, 06/12/2025 - 08:06

I would definitely hook up a light bulb limiter to that amp before I turned it on. It really looks rough and the humidity has done it's job. At least that will give you some protection to see if it's shorted the PT windings right off the bat.