Starting to get a strange sound from my amp, and no it has nothing to do with my playing ;). The only way I can explain it is that is kinda sounds like a pilot light from a furnace. It doesn't do it all the time and will stop if I turn it to stand by for a second or two. It will also do it with or without a lead plugged into it and is usually after it has been on for a while. It is an all tube amp and was purchased new about six months ago. It's played through about one to three hours a day. Could it be a bad tube, or any other ideas?
I am not an amp "techie" at all, but it's possible it's the circuit it's plugged into. There may be an electical device on the same circuit that comes on and causes interference, like a heater fan. Flourescent lights cause a lot of interference.
Amps can even pick up radio. One day I was playing my guitar and a police call started coming over. I looked out the window and saw a police car driving by.
Try plugging it into an outlet on a different circuit and see if you have the same problem.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
.....sounds like a pilot light from a furnace
Sounds like a tube problem, something is arcing. The higher voltages used in tube amps can do this if the insulation has broke down causing the electrical charge to flash over - which is exactly the same principle as an igniter from a furnace.
Possible causes can be moisture or dust on the circuit boards or a faulty tube or HV cable.
The only way to see where the problem is, is to open it up and power it up, which is DANGEROUS if your not sure what your doing. Take it to someone whos competent in this area.
Good luck
Wes, the problem just started last week and the amp has been plugged into the same outlet all along. I don't think anything else in the room has changed to cause this. Boom, I have no idea what I'm doing and have NO intention of touching it myself. Thanks for the warning though as I'm sure some have no idea how dangerous it can be!
Ok, I'm going to embarrass myself to save others the time of posting. The power cord was loose into the back of the amp :-[. Thanks to Wes and Boom for wasting their time.
