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I'M SCARED!! SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH MY AMP

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(@blaine)
Trusted Member
Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 52
Topic starter  

Ok... this is really annoying and.. yeah.... i have a 1988 Crate Blue Voodoo 60 with a 12" extension cabinet. Well, when i turned it on the other day.. It would work... I had to crank it to get the tiniest amount of sound out of it.. and it was all distorted and crappy sounding... It's an all tube amp so i thought maybe it was the tubes??? but i know very little about tube amps.. just the basics.... PLEASE help me!! Cause i love this amp very much....Any help would be appreciated!!

Blaine Adams


   
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(@wes-inman)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5582
 

Blaine

Sorry to hear about that. No way to know for sure, but it is most likely one of your tubes.

Ok, what to do?

First check the speaker connections. You may not have the jack pushed in all the way. Are they plugged in the proper jack? Is anything loose?

Next, with the amp off, make sure each tube is secure in it's socket. Sometimes they wiggle loose. Make sure they are snug and turn it on. Did it make a difference? You might even try pulling one out at a time and cleaning the pins with contact cleaner. Then push them in and pull them out several times to clean all contacts. Of course, do this with the amp off and use one hand only.

Next, look at the tubes. Do they all glow? If a tube glows bright red turn the amp off. I am not talking about the normal orange or even blue glow, but a bright red. That tube is about to melt down. If a tube has very little or no glow it is probably bad.

Can't tell? Well, you could take a chance and just buy a complete new set of tubes for your amp. Even if it turns out not to be a tube, you have a spare set. Make sure to note which type of tube goes where before you pull them out. Sketch position and tube type on a piece of paper. Make sure to get the proper replacements. This is the cheapest way to go.

If you are uncomfortable with doing it yourself, take it to a shop and have an amp tech look at it. This will cost you a bit more because of labor charges. But it is safe for you and guarantees the best success.

Whatever you do, be careful messing with your amp. You could get electrocuted.

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@blaine)
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Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 52
Topic starter  

Thanks for the reply.... I checked all of my connections right when all this happened and concluded that I was fine there. Then i made sure my tubes were all tightened and they all seemed to be... But what you said about the tubes being very faint colored kinda stuck in my mind.... The two big tubes aren't very bright... They aren't as bright as the 5 little ones at least... And I have one more question, just to be on the safe side and to make sure this isnt the problem..... the amp has 2 switches for powering it... the standby and the power.... do i turn on the power switch, then wait about 30 seconds, and THEN turn on the standby???? and when im turning it off i turn off the standby for 30 seconds, then i turn off the power.... IS this right>????

Blaine Adams


   
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 Taso
(@taso)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 2811
 

Turn it on, then 30 seconds later turn on standby yes. But, for turning off, u should just turn off both at the same time..

Out of curiosity, have you tried playing on it with more than 1 guitar? more than one lead line? More than one pickup posistion?

http://taso.dmusic.com/music/


   
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(@rollnrock89)
Reputable Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 342
 

got this off a site about tube amps:

How should I turn it on and off?
Turn the standby switch on (that is, to the standby position), then turn the power switch on. Wait about 30 seconds and then flip the standby switch to "play". This ensures that the heaters in the tubes are all warmed up and that the startup stresses are as low as possible.
To turn it off, don't mess with the standby, just turn the power switch off. That cuts both the main power supply and the heater power, so it all simply stops and cools off. The hot tube filaments let the tubes continue sucking current out of the power supply filter caps so the caps are mostly drained of dangerous voltages.

The first time I heard a Beatles song was "Let It Be." Some little kid was singing along with it: "Let it pee, let it pee" and pretending he was taking a leak. Hey, that's what happened, OK?-some guy


   
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(@ricochet)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

Actually, when you're working on a tube amp it does make sense to flip it on standby for a while before shutting it off. Lets the high voltage stored in the power supply's filter capacitors bleed down a little quicker.

But it doesn't make any difference in normal use.

Letting the tubes' cathodes heat up fully on startup before putting high voltage on the tubes will make the tubes last longer. 30 seconds is probably adequate. Some recommend longer times.

For the troubleshooting question, check out this site:
http://geofex.com/gtramps.htm

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@forrok_star)
Noble Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 2337
 

Without hearing it I'm going to have say the tubes all so. looks like it has three 12AX7 and two 6L6. You can pick them up fairly reasonable and then unless you know about setting the bias I would take it to a shop and have the work done. You could put the tubes in and try it. And then take it it in and have it checked.

Joe


   
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(@blaine)
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Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 52
Topic starter  

ok... yeah, the tubes in there are Sovteks.... 6L6WGC... but i think the WGC is just for sovtek... which would be better tubes to get??? Fender, or Groove tubes??? or the Sovtek??? Sovtek makes these "Classic VOX Tubes"... well, they did at least and that would be kinda neat cuz i really like the VOX amp sounds, i just can't afford them....so, what would be my best bet??? Any help would be appreciated... thanks alot for everything!

Blaine Adams


   
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(@ricochet)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

Your Crate amp's not going to sound like a Vox because you stick in tubes that say "Vox" on them. You can't draw any valid conclusions from anything anybody says about how certain tubes sound. All you know is how that person thinks they sounded in his amp. If your amp's not exactly the same as his, not set up exactly the same as his, and your tonal tastes aren't exactly the same as his, your results will differ. Tubes themselves have no "tone." They're happy running at radio frequencies, up to 30 MHz or so for 6L6s. They don't care about the difference between 60 Hz or 6 KHz in your tube amp. However, IN THE CIRCUIT of your amp you may notice some differences because of slightly different electrode capacitances of different tubes. The differences are audible but not huge. You just have to try for yourself and see what you think. A good amp will sound good with any in-spec, functional tube. A good player will sound good with just about any amp, and a bad player won't sound better with a great one.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@blaine)
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Joined: 22 years ago
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Topic starter  

haha... i wasnt saying that they would give me a vox sound... im not dumb... i was just reprinting what the name of the tubes were... and if it could improve the tiniest bit, its better than nothing.... i just need to know what kinda tubes i should get... I'm looking for suggestions on what tubes to get!!! And yes, a good player will sound good in any amp... But almost every player has preferences on sounds... And they typically aren't going to get a crappy amp if they can help it.

Blaine Adams


   
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(@ricochet)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

I'd go for the basic Sovteks.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@wes-inman)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5582
 

Blaine

If it was your tubes (which it more than likely is), they were on their way out. Your amp is going to sound much better with a new set of tubes. If you can, have the amp biased as well.

I would recommend the JJ tubes to anyone. I already do! :D

Write an e-mail to Bob at Eurotubes. Tell him what make and model your amp is and what tubes you have in there now. Tell him the sound you are after. The guy is a pro. This is all he does for a living. He will give you good advice. Plus his tubes are quality and prices are great.

Eurotubes

He's probably put tubes in your model amp dozens of times already and knows all about it.

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@taylorr)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 736
 

i have heard good things about that guy at eurotubes.

aka Izabella


   
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(@blaine)
Trusted Member
Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 52
Topic starter  

what is the guy's email address???... i didnt know where to look on the website....
thanks..

Blaine Adams


   
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(@ricochet)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

http://eurotubes.com/index.htm

Look for the big button that says "Email" at the bottom center of the page.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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