Tube Amps - Scheduled Maintenance?

Yea that's it....Ha

Just busting you Roy

looks like my Fender Custom Vibrolux Revverb is due for maintenance. the hiss is more pronounced. also, a tube is sounding microphonic. It has been many years since last serviced. It has received considerable more play time this last year.
now's the time, in two months the band starts gigging.
I will be curious how things shape up with the amp.

My epiphone asked me to post this. How could I refuse? She's despondent. (note: I did as she, um, wished, and posted word for word. I darenot do otherwise. She's quite angry.)

Log Entry
Feb 9th, 2012
Day 11

The fat one aswers the phone. It's a local caller....wait, just a few seconds more.

Nope. False alarm.

I can tell by the look in his eyes. My love, my soul-mate is not coming home today. At least not right now. BDRI is still at the mercy of this shop. What are they doing to her? will she be the same? Will she remember? Can she forget? Does she stare at the ceiling fan as I do and wonder, again as I do, how the other is doing?

The fat one assures me that it's no more than 10 days out. How can I trust him? He hasn't even memorized all of the notes on my fret board yet. I am left plugged into the tuner pedal with others behind him. They are taunting me, telling me that on the other end is the love of my life. I can see, though. She's not there. bastards, the lot of them. Well, maybe except for maybe the newer stye tube screamer. he's kind of cute.

Where was I?

Ah yes. Pedals and I are counting down the days. 10 days to go, reiterates the fat, hairy smelly one. I'm sure my days would be shorter if he'd just bring down Jet city for a while. Heck, nothing wrong with a little, ahem, strange every once in a while, is there? Well, I guess. Temptations would be so strong, though. :wink: Even that little upstart Super champ XD as long as no-one is looking. The fat one has not even thought to bring me upstairs to play with the super-model named Eleven Rack that my honey-burst sister gets to play with almost daily. It's criminal. The fat one will pay. BDRI has even told me that the 11R is my "freebie". (She get's the big-mouthed, orange German. (sigh))

Oh woe is me, a custom Epi LP with no voice nor mate to .....wait! What's this? The fat one has brought in a guitar case. Oh no he ditn't!!! It's Breedlove, from the room next door. He's, he can't be. He is! He's tuning her up. I've been replaced????? No, it can't be. The fat one will pay. I feel a burr coming on, on the grooves in the saddle for g-b-e strings. An eye for my heart? so be it. The war is on!

Submitted, faithfully yours, Black Epi LP Custom.

(It's Roy again)
Well, that's how it's been around here for 11 days. Same thing. The gear downstairs in the family room is not happy and their being quite snippy, to say the least. Well, the Breedlove is loving life. That hiss better get resolved. How could I have risked so much for so little????

:cry: :cry: :cry:

Well the good thing.... Breedloves are normaly a pretty sweet sounding guitar. :D

LP custom is going to get some loving today. Her rant yesterday was too much. I tossed and turned all night due to the heavy burden of guilt. I've done some thinking and have determined that she deserves some time with the super-model (my amp modelling effects processor - the Eleven Rack)

One of the ladies will have to pay a price, though. I've got no extra space for a rack and no open slot for an additional guitar up here. Yes, that means that one of the girls will have to go to no-amp jail. I've not decided on which one, but it's fair enough to call her "brave" and "heoric" for the sacrifice and time spent in no-amptitude. It'll be a long 9 days. The reward for such bravery? The first one on BDRI when she returns. I hope it's enough.

On a side-note, yes, it's a tiny bit odd that I would let "her" and the super-model (another "her") have time together. I will not judge, though. I love and respect them all so much. Their only wish is for the smallest amount of understanding and some privacy from others. Fair enough. I'll try not to record the session. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Well the good thing.... Breedloves are normaly a pretty sweet sounding guitar. :D
I've enjoyed mine. It was my 6-month quit smoking prize. I also had prizes for a year and two years. :lol: :lol: :roll:

Well the good thing.... Breedloves are normaly a pretty sweet sounding guitar. :D
I've enjoyed mine. It was my 6-month quit smoking prize. I also had prizes for a year and two years. :lol: :lol: :roll:
Cool!! ....darn... I dont smoke. :D

Every one I pick up I love the feel and sound of... eaven the lower end Pasport model... one day I will leave the store with one!

Cool!! ....darn... I dont smoke.
It'd be even more brutal up there. Probably pay for a Xaviere in about 8 days, Agile in 2 weeks and a USA Tele in 3 months. :roll:
Every one I pick up I love the feel and sound of... eaven the lower end Pasport model... one day I will leave the store with one!
I hear ya. Mine is a low-mid grade. An Atlas series,as they call it, model J350/EF. Basically, it's got the single cut and the thciker than normal bottom. It really booms out, even when I do what little finger picking I do. I would have gotten a Passport model if it wasn't for finding the bigger bottom one. I bet I would have gotten the Passport version if there was one. The regular sized ones had very little difference, at least for my ears and in the noisy confines of the GC acoustic room. There was a difference with the bigger bottom one compared to regular size. Even my wife said get the bigger one despite the 2X price of choice #2.

Yes, I "married up" in so many ways..... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Someone in this forum has a mega-sweet model. One of the prettiest guitars I've ever seen a photo of. Puts mine to shame on a visual level, and I really like my guitar. I think it's Nick. My memory may be off, yet again.

Your too funny Roy! I've been pulling out several of my guitars and giving them a quick blast and adjusting where necessary. Got the Jackson out. One of my "real" guitars as I refer to them. It's a MIJ Jackson Professional model and is 20 years old. You know how they fake vintage on the maple necks of some of these new low end Strat copy guitars by staining them a dark yellowed color. My Jackson looks like that and it used to be very unfinished looking. It has changed color with age. The Jackson logo is white but looks more of a cream color now. Ahhhhhh ... TRUE vintage. 1992 was a good year. Along with the Jackson my Les Paul studio and MIM Strat are 1992's. I should pay them more attention.

You know how they fake vintage on the maple necks of some of these new low end Strat copy guitars by staining them a dark yellowed color.
My Xavieres have that tint to them. Not solid yellow, but a definate tint. not sure if I've ever decided to like it or not. I guess I'm neutral.
I should pay them more attention.
I'll help any way I can. PM me your address and I'll send an empty box. Fill it with whichever vintage masterpiece you think is the most neglected. I'll take care of it, play it often and I'll even promise to not raise the action a bit or put on .10s. :D
I'll even pay for the shipping back to me. :lol: :lol:
I'd start with the LP Studio. Well, maybe the Jackson. I've never played one.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen:
J/K, of course

Not gonna send em anywhere but if your ever in the area your welcome to give em a whirl! That Jackson wouldn't like 10's though. It's pure shred. It has a sliver thin neck, giant frets and is light as a feather. Triple humbucker too!

Not gonna send em anywhere but if your ever in the area ......
You do know I was kidding, I hope. :D

Actually, My in-the-area relative actually moved closer to you. Up near Utica, about 35-45 minutes away from where she was.

So, back on topic. Friday evening, maybe 5:45 he calls and let me know the scoop. Nothing surprising. 2 of the input tubes were "bad" and the cause of the hissing. He said that he started to do the service and could tell right away that he'd be stealing money from me if her performed it, so asked if I still wanted it and that he would not if it were his. He did say that he made sure that it all looked good and it does.

I asked him to replace the 3rd input tube as well. The output tubes where within specs and did not need replacing. I asked him if they'd last 5 more years and he began to stutter. Maybe crackling in one or both within a couple of years....whatever. replace them too, I asked. He asked my preference on tubes and I told him whichever ones sounded closest to stock. No problems, he said.

Now about 5:48 or so. My wife has my car, but is a mere 3 miles form him. However, the reason she was there, working late and not at home was plain old Friday afternoon putting out fires. I couldn't ask her. She sounded so stressed not an hour before. We get the amp back on Monday.

Roy don't understand what you wrote. Stealing money? He wouldn't if it were his? Wouldn't what?

Roy don't understand what you wrote. Stealing money? He wouldn't if it were his? Wouldn't what?

Roy don't understand what you wrote. Stealing money? He wouldn't if it were his? Wouldn't what?
That is unclear. Sorry.

What I meant by the service was the original service I asked for. It was a $72 dollar cleaning, adjusting, inspecting, etc, etc. Kind of like a tune up, I guess. He said the he could tell very early into it that I didn't need anything along that line, so doing it when not needing could be un-ethical (hence, his not wanting to steal my money from me comment). He would ahve done so had I insisted, but his conscious would be clear.

Gotcha sounds like you were right probably a good guy to go to and why he's been around so long. At first I thought you meant he didn't think changing the tubes was worth it and it sounded fishy.