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Post by iggs on Nov 18, 2006 8:11:18 GMT -7
ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS check that you have a speaker cab connected to your amp before turning it on. I think the Good Lord was on my side this morning because I forgot to switch the speaker cable to my Route 66 before turning it on (it was connected to the other amp). Luckily I realized my error within 15-20 sec (and before turning the Standby on) and turned the amp off. It sounds good and nothing bad happened it seems, thank God because I could never forgive myself. I just hope I didn't damage something and it's just not showing up yet.
What would be the first sign of something being damaged in this situation?
So here it is again, learn on my mistake: ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS check that you have a speaker cab connected to your amp before turning it on.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Nov 20, 2006 9:04:41 GMT -7
ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS check that you have a speaker cab connected to your amp before turning it on. I think the Good Lord was on my side this morning because I forgot to switch the speaker cable to my Route 66 before turning it on (it was connected to the other amp). Luckily I realized my error within 15-20 sec (and before turning the Standby on) and turned the amp off. It sounds good and nothing bad happened it seems, thank God because I could never forgive myself. I just hope I didn't damage something and it's just not showing up yet. What would be the first sign of something being damaged in this situation? So here it is again, learn on my mistake: ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS check that you have a speaker cab connected to your amp before turning it on. You can have the cab disconnected with the standby switched off, but not with it on. When the amp is in standby, the power is not applied to the power tubes, so no damage can occur. If any damage did occur (like if you flipped the standby to "ON") you would know it very quickly, as the output transformer would arc and you would smell that smell we all want to avoid - the smell of burning electronics. It is possible for the transformer to arc without a big show of smoke and smell, but the ones I've been around when that happened were pretty putrid. GOOD ADVICE! Thanks for the reminder.
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Post by texasjim on Nov 20, 2006 11:22:33 GMT -7
Question: If your volume knob was at "0", would it still smoke the tranny? Seems like not a lot much power would be applied to the tranny.
I always have my volume at "0" when I switch the standby switch to "On". Just a habit, and probably a good one. It only took once with it way up when I was tuning and hit the bypass on my tuner and damn near deafened everyone in the bar!
Texas Jim
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Post by brad737 on Nov 29, 2008 10:36:09 GMT -7
Texasjim, I don't think it matters what the volume is set at. If the standby switch is set to play, power is being supplied to the power tubes and trannies. I know especially with EL84s, those are running at almost 100% power even with the volume off. I know it's a definite no-no to run an amp without a load connected. Although Phil had his amp on for 3 days with no load attached to his Carmen Ghia. And strangely enough, a lot of guys say Phil has the sweetest-sounding Ghia ever.
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Nov 30, 2008 6:47:43 GMT -7
That is a true story about my 1998 Ghia... about 6 months ago it was left on by my son with no load for three days.
Curt and Don were at my house playin' that Ghia last Wednesday and I think they both agreed that it was one of the best sounding Ghias they'd ever heard... ;D
disclaimer- *Don't try this at home! Dr. Z's trannies are built incredibly well, but Phil takes no responsibility for damage to your amp if you attempt to burn it in in this manner" *
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Post by brad737 on Nov 30, 2008 7:40:59 GMT -7
That still amazes me. To say that Dr. Z amps are well-built is kinda like saying Salma Hayek's pretty hot. I can't imagine running an amp unloaded, and not cooking it.
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Post by anacephalic on Dec 29, 2008 13:19:20 GMT -7
i have to admit i've hit the standby without a load on my Rx after disconnecting the airbrake but forgetting to plug in the speakers . i remembered after less than a minute but no harm done. Yep the Z is stout. my brother works at a guitar store and says kids turning on mesas without a load fry trannies instantly and unfortunatly not all that rarely. that's a bummer
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Dec 30, 2008 7:53:29 GMT -7
Say, has anyone switched to Neutri Speakons with their Dr.Z gear yet? I've been thinking about it.
Cheers, Ward I'd love to, but I'd have to change out everything here, and that wouldn't be cheap or easy. Those dang things are SPENDY.
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Post by nori22 on Jan 1, 2009 10:20:51 GMT -7
Never,ever ,have I ever had a speaker cable just "come loose",pulled out by stuff on occasion,yes. Having said that, I'm sure it'll fall out anytime now. natural law
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Post by robb on Jan 1, 2009 16:56:43 GMT -7
I've accidentally switched an amp on without load attached more than a couple of times..the Z's are still kickin'. The worst thing happened once in the studio...I plugged my speaker cable into a useless 'aux' jack (added to my Ghia by a preivous owner, right next to the speaker out, but not connected to anything in the circuit) and played through the amp for a good 30 seconds trying to figure out hat was wrong. No damage, thankfully. I was worried about that one, but the amp is still 100% and sounds great.
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Post by "Z" Steve on Jan 1, 2009 22:07:13 GMT -7
I did that on my Rx Jr just once after I first got it. In a haste to plug in the cab, I tilted it forward - the head sits on top of my Fuchs Lucky 7, which sits on top of my 2x12 cab - and I plugged the speaker cable into the footswitch input instead of the speaker input. It just took a few seconds but it was a scary moment when I trouble shot everything to see why I had no sound and realized what I had done. I love my Z's ;D
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