kfkm
Full Member
Revelator 61
Posts: 162
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Post by kfkm on Feb 28, 2016 18:46:53 GMT -7
Let me just say that I love this amp and played it out last night with my new Fender custom shop stratocaster and it was heaven. Basically had the amp on 20 watts and set on a clean setting. Used the boost function for my overdrive and only had a Fulltone 2B for a bit of boost on either channel for leads. Played it for 3 sets and had it on the whole time and just put it into standby mode during breaks. The amp played awesome all night and really stood out amongst the band until the third set. Somewhere in the midst of the third set the amp started to fizzle out. I was getting no sound and couldn't figure out why. I was checking all connections and put it into standby and then back on. It came on again for about 10 seconds and then fizzled out again. At this point I put it into standby and kicked it up to 40 watts and lowered the knobs to adjust my volume. It sounded great again and I kept it like this for about two songs. I then kicked it back down to 20 watts and finished off the third set with no further problems. Has anybody else experienced anything like this with their amp before.
I was playing as a stand in extra guitarist for another band and was able to fiddle with it while everyone was still playing. It was the first time I've experienced an amp dropout like this and hopefully the last. I don't know if I should have it looked at or if it was a fluke thing. It was running for about 5 hours straight with short periods of standby. The fan was working so I really don't think it was an overheat problem but I have never played it for this long at one time. I do have a brakelite Attenuator installed but it was set on max all night with no attenuation.
Any ideas?
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Post by Maddog on Feb 28, 2016 18:56:09 GMT -7
I'm going with a tube on this one. Check all the sockets and make sure the tubes are fully inserted. Use a pencil and tap on the tubes once the amp is hot and see if you hear the fizzle again. Also check the brakelite connections, your Fulltone's battery and connections too....
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Post by Paul (TRANE) on Feb 28, 2016 19:17:02 GMT -7
Great advice from maddog. Agreed. The vast majority of tube amp issues are tube related. Go through Doc's trouble shooting guide. It is a great rsource. Let us know what you find.
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Post by doctorice on Feb 28, 2016 19:23:08 GMT -7
Troubleshooting Paul referred to are HEREDoc makes very reliable amps, but he and all other (tube) amp builders are at the mercy of current tube manufacturers.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Feb 28, 2016 20:59:57 GMT -7
It's a process of elimination. First check anything that is mechanical; your guitar, your cables, your pedal board, etc. All of those can cause this problem. If they are absolutely eliminated as a cause, then turn your attention to the amp, and I agree that tubes are the likely culprit. But do not start swapping tubes until you have absolutely eliminated all of the mechanical possibilities - they are way more likely than anything else.
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kfkm
Full Member
Revelator 61
Posts: 162
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Post by kfkm on Feb 29, 2016 10:37:14 GMT -7
I am going to plug straight into the amp and do some testing when I can. Hard to do it at home with the wife and kids but thanks for the advice. Hopefully it is just a tube but it was on for a long time the other night and that could have affected one of the tubes.
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Post by Stephen on Feb 29, 2016 11:11:06 GMT -7
I bought a new Z-28 last year and had exactly the same thing happen. It turned out to be the guitar cable!
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Post by dgabbear on Mar 1, 2016 10:14:37 GMT -7
I have had a tube problem such as that on a job before... another nightmare I deal with from time to time is crappy power causing unwanted amp sag
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