OK... we were practicing last night and suddenly my amp (Rivera Clubster 45) stated to pop. Then teh power started to drop out. After running my guitar directly into the amp (instead of through the pedal board) without any improvement, I plugged back into the pedal board and noticed that the power adapter for one of my pedals was shorting against the output on my tuner pedal. The power adapter has multiple jacks so it can plug into various input jacks... well one of the extra jacks was touching the the output jack on the tuner pedal... as I was plugging my guitar back in, it was wiggling against the jack and making noises. When I moved it out of the way, everything sounded fine again and we continued to practice.
Well, today I covered the extra jacks in electrical tape and then turned on to make sure everything works OK... IT DOESN'T! The power level is really low and and I get a pop sound with a little bit of reverb-like warbling when I turn the power or stand-by switches on or off.
The power tubes are both glowing orange (I think that's OK), and so are the preamp tubes.
Did I maybe blow a fuse? Could the problem be much bigger than that?
Any advice on how to proceed would be GREATLY appreciated...
Thanks,
Jim
"There won't be any money. But when you die, on your death bed, you will receive total conciousness. So, I got that going for me. Which is nice." - Bill Murray, Caddyshack ~~ Michigan Music Dojo - http://michiganmusicdojo.com ~~
To clarify, are your amp problems now occurring when you plug straight into the amp, not using that pedal board setup?
Assuming it is, go to http://geofex.com/ and click on "Tube Amp Tech Pages," then on "Tube Amp Debugging Page." Best systematic troubleshooting resource on the Web.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Yeah, I get it even if I'm plugging straight into the amp from the guitar...
I'll take a look at the site. Thanks!
"There won't be any money. But when you die, on your death bed, you will receive total conciousness. So, I got that going for me. Which is nice." - Bill Murray, Caddyshack ~~ Michigan Music Dojo - http://michiganmusicdojo.com ~~
I think you'll find that page very useful.
And you'll soon note that many of the causes of noises and reduced volume involve a tube gone bad. There's a reason those things plug in. :D
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Yeah, it's definitely not a fuse... I noticed that when I take the fuse out, there is nothing.. no sound, no poer light, nothing.
I just replaced the tubes, but I sued some cheap Chineese stuff that I found on-line... perhaps I should go back to Groove Tubes
"There won't be any money. But when you die, on your death bed, you will receive total conciousness. So, I got that going for me. Which is nice." - Bill Murray, Caddyshack ~~ Michigan Music Dojo - http://michiganmusicdojo.com ~~
I suspected you just might have new tubes in it, because it's actually most common to see sudden failures in new tubes. Once a tube's been in service 100 hours or so, it's a tried and proven veteran that'll most likely work until it gradually fades out due to loss of cathode emission. Personally I doubt that any current tube seller's tubes are demonstrably much more reliable than any others overall; they all buy tubes from a small number of factories in Russia, Slovakia, Serbia or China. I like and use the el cheapo unbranded Russian tubes for the most part where they'll work (there's no plugin direct equivalent of the 12AX7 in standard Russian tubes), and always keep plenty of spares around. And I don't change out one that's working, I wait till there's a problem and change the one that's not working right (which is best determined by substitution.) I don't swap tubes in search of "tone," either.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Well, it's not the tubes.... I just put in a new set of Groove Tubes and I have the same problem.
The volume is real low and the tone is real flat. When I hit the bypass switch, I get a popping sound and a little bit of a twangy, warbling (almost reverb-like) sound. The pop and twangy sound seems to build up a charge... When I first turn on the amp or right after I have already switched the bypass, it's not so strong. But if I let it "charge" for a few seconds... it is louder when I hit the bypass switch.
The guy at guitar center suggested that it might be a capacitor or something to do with the inputs due to the charge from my pedal board which appears to have caused this problem. He then gave me the name of a good amp tech in case the tubes didn't work. Looks like I'll be giving him a call.
Well, at least I have a good set of back-up tubes now. Probably a good idea to keep a pair around, anyway.
By the way, you say that Slovakia is one of the few places that makes tubes? Maybe I need to schedule a business trip out that way... I believe we have a supplier out there and I have heard that some of the best looking women in the world are located there.... I happily married, but I can always look. :D
Thanks for the help. If you have any other ideas, I'd appreciate hearing them but it looks like a trip to a guitar tech.
Thanks,
Jim
"There won't be any money. But when you die, on your death bed, you will receive total conciousness. So, I got that going for me. Which is nice." - Bill Murray, Caddyshack ~~ Michigan Music Dojo - http://michiganmusicdojo.com ~~
Never mind... uh.. my amp is fine (but I do have a nice set of back-up tubes now...
I must admit that I'm a little embarrassed. When I initially tried my amp through my pedal board, it was messed up. So, I unplugged my cable from the pedal board to the amp from the pedal board and plugged it straight into my guitar... same problem.
I also notice that I get this "popping" sound when I hit the standby, even with no guitar plugged in. I check the fuse and change the tubes... still no good.
I resigned to having to take it to an expert.
So I get out my little practice amp to play a little bit (and make sure it's not my guitar that's the problem. Well, I get the same problem with my practice amp.... not good... must be that my guitar is screwed up, right?
Nope... I then switch guitar cables to the one that was originally going from my guitar to my pedal board. It works great... I plug back into my original rig with a new cable replacing the one that was connecting my pedal board to amp... and voila! Just like now.
My crisis is over...
note to self: buy a new back-up guitar chord!
Later,
Jim
"There won't be any money. But when you die, on your death bed, you will receive total conciousness. So, I got that going for me. Which is nice." - Bill Murray, Caddyshack ~~ Michigan Music Dojo - http://michiganmusicdojo.com ~~
I love happy endings! :mrgreen:
And it's a great idea to have backup tubes handy!
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
I suspected you just might have new tubes in it, because it's actually most common to see sudden failures in new tubes. Once a tube's been in service 100 hours or so, it's a tried and proven veteran that'll most likely work until it gradually fades out due to loss of cathode emission.
Lots of things fail in this way - often called the "bath tub" curve because of the shape of the failure curve. The early failures are due to bad components or bad assembly and the later ones due to wear. This is why when I buy new electronic / electric stuff I try to leave it on for a while soon after purchase to cause those early failures to happen early enough to be within warranty (or better yet store return period).
Pop music is about stealing pocket money from children. - Ian Anderson
Good plan.
Hadn't seen the "bathtub curve" explained in that way, but have a good working feel for it. That's why I never buy extended warranties. The initial failures are going to be covered in the standard warranty period generally, the extended warranties cover the bottom of the "bathtub," and the wearout's either not going to be covered or by that time you've paid enough in to more than cover it.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
I feel the same way about extended warranties Ric. I haven't been burned yet .... except one television ..... 1 yr warranty and crapped out at 13 months. The one I replaced it with is on it's 12th year of service. It only got replaced for a bigger set but lives on at my daughter's college apartment.
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
hey can I just ask what is the setup you have on your tube amp? like are there any mods to it for distortion or anything like that? i was thinking about getting my friend who does this to make me a custom one but have to figure out what kind of distortion I want on it (still know nothing! - clean sounding though i guess, what do I really need for bass) -blackdiamond13 @ Jemsite
Up The Irons!!
