Hi people, im new to all of this and relatively new to valve amps and have come across abit of a proplem.
Today i turned on my guitar amp and began to play for about 30-60 seconds and the heard a oud pop and the evilest feedback iv ever heard and i dont mean evil feedbac in a good way. I was wondering since iv never had a valve blown on me before if this is what has happend or am i facing a much bigger problem... so realy im posting to find out two things... does anyone have any idea of what has happened to my amp and to ask if anyone could point out what i sould look for when a valve does blow... PLEASE HELP lol i cant live without my amp
Thanks All
Valves don't often "blow" suddenly (when they do, they're usually pretty new, which is a good reason not to change valves without a good reason), but it's possible that's what happened. Whatever happened, it was sudden and caused your amp to begin oscillating at an audio frequency, the ugly "feedback." A shorting power tube can do that, and usually will blow the fuse or burn up the amp shortly afterward. Best way to check tubes/valves is to substitute known good ones, and you need to keep spares around.
There are many other possible causes of popping noises (usually something arcing) and oscillation in amps. Best troubleshooting list I know is on http://geofex.com/ under the "Tube Amp Tech Pages," "Tube Amp Debugging Guide." Read the important safety guidelines for working on a tube amp. If you're not confident you can work on it safely and effectively, get thee to an amp tech.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
