smurph1 Posted March 21, 2011 Posted March 21, 2011 My beloved Classic 30 has suddenly developed a slight hum..Not terrible, but it used to be totally quiet..Any ideas what might be causing it..It happened with my Seth equipped 535 at practice on Saturday..Any ideas? Thanks Scott.. I keep the volume about 2 or 3..
koula901 Posted March 21, 2011 Posted March 21, 2011 Wonder if it needs a tube? I just left my amp head on for hours and hours, then got a very loud hum. Not saying that's what's wrong with yours, just a consideration.
tulk1 Posted March 21, 2011 Posted March 21, 2011 My beloved Classic 30 has suddenly developed a slight hum..Not terrible, but it used to be totally quiet..Any ideas what might be causing it..It happened with my Seth equipped 535 at practice on Saturday..Any ideas? Thanks Scott.. I keep the volume about 2 or 3.. Maybe it just didn't know the words.
H Posted March 21, 2011 Posted March 21, 2011 Send it over to me in the UK and I'll see if it gets any worse over the next few years...
smurph1 Posted March 21, 2011 Author Posted March 21, 2011 Maybe it just didn't know the words. LOL..
DetroitBlues Posted March 21, 2011 Posted March 21, 2011 I'd bet its a tube as well. Most likely the power tubes. See if one is loose than tap each one with a pencil tip. If you hear the tapping throught the amp, that tube is going bad.
smurph1 Posted March 21, 2011 Author Posted March 21, 2011 Soooo..Do I need to get a tube tester? I have a couple of fresh AX-7s in my tool box, do I just put one in and turn it on until the hum goes away? I guess I could use my 59 for the Gig on Saturday..that thing is as old as Moses's Grand-dad and quiet as a funeral home..
kbp810 Posted March 21, 2011 Posted March 21, 2011 Soooo..Do I need to get a tube tester? I have a couple of fresh AX-7s in my tool box, do I just put one in and turn it on until the hum goes away? Your average tube tester can't test for noise, your best bet is to play the good ol' fashioned trial and error swap out game - of course the tapping thing might also be a good idea as well. I would swap some of those 12ax7's around and see if it gets better, worse, or goes away.
smurph1 Posted March 21, 2011 Author Posted March 21, 2011 Your average tube tester can't test for noise, your best bet is to play the good ol' fashioned trial and error swap out game - of course the tapping thing might also be a good idea as well. I would swap some of those 12ax7's around and see if it gets better, worse, or goes away. Cool you guys (and girl) rawk..
DetroitBlues Posted March 21, 2011 Posted March 21, 2011 Cool you guys (and girl) rawk.. Swap two tubes and call us in the morning.
Hfan Posted March 21, 2011 Posted March 21, 2011 Does the hum occur with no guitar plugged into the amp? If yes it is the amp. I would reseat them first. Then swap out one (pre amp tubes not the power tubes) at a time. I also like to clean the contacts (legs) once in a while with a spray contact cleaner. De oxit works well. Sometimes if one of the pre amp tube is microphonic, you can put it into a different position where it is not as critical like the reverb driver etc.This is good if you don't have a spare handy. No flouresent lights on in the circuit is there? Good to have extra tubes around for this stuff.
smurph1 Posted March 21, 2011 Author Posted March 21, 2011 Does the hum occur with no guitar plugged into the amp? If yes it is the amp. I would reseat them first. Then swap out one (pre amp tubes not the power tubes) at a time. I also like to clean the contacts (legs) once in a while with a spray contact cleaner. De oxit works well. Sometimes if one of the pre amp tube is microphonic, you can put it into a different position where it is not as critical like the reverb driver etc.This is good if you don't have a spare handy. No flouresent lights on in the circuit is there? Good to have extra tubes around for this stuff. No flourescent Lights, and yes it hums when there is nothing plugged into it..I'll try moving the tubes around..Thanks..
Guest HRB853370 Posted March 21, 2011 Posted March 21, 2011 My beloved Classic 30 has suddenly developed a slight hum..Not terrible, but it used to be totally quiet..Any ideas what might be causing it..It happened with my Seth equipped 535 at practice on Saturday..Any ideas? Thanks Scott.. I keep the volume about 2 or 3.. Mine has a hum too. When I bought it, it had a weird flutter when you played bass notes on the E and A strings. That annoyed me so much, I dropped it off to a friend who is an amp tech, and he replaced the stock tubes with the JJ brand. But since then, it has developed a little hum in it which is somewhat annoying also. No clue.
Guest HRB853370 Posted March 21, 2011 Posted March 21, 2011 Wonder if it needs a tube? I just left my amp head on for hours and hours, then got a very loud hum. Not saying that's what's wrong with yours, just a consideration. Did you forget to turn it off or standby it Katie? Hours and hours....not good for tubes. One thing I dislike about the C 30 is the lack of a standby switch. I have been told its because of the design. KBP weigh in on that one?
koula901 Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 Did you forget to turn it off or standby it Katie? Hours and hours....not good for tubes. One thing I dislike about the C 30 is the lack of a standby switch. I have been told its because of the design. KBP weigh in on that one? Skinslammer, Yeah - no standby switch in the Epi Valve Jr., not sure it would have helped, anyway, as I would have forgotten to flip that on, too - I just went into another room and got distracted. : S
kbp810 Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 The main purpose of the standby is to let the filaments heat up before trying to push any signal throught the tubes... signal going through a cold tube does not make for a happy tube! Amps with a 5y3 rectifier usually omit the standby, as the 5y3 itself has a slow start... Some amps also use a thermisistor as an in rush current limiter, which helps lower/cut power to the board until it warms up, thus also giving it a slow start. Otherwise, any amp design is capable of accomidating a standby switch. It basically just cuts power to the circuit while still letting the heater wires warm up the tubes. Of course a standby switch also comes in handy for other events than just firing up an amp - i.e. Koula's Scenario
DetroitBlues Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 The main purpose of the standby is to let the filaments heat up before trying to push any signal throught the tubes... signal going through a cold tube does not make for a happy tube! Amps with a 5y3 rectifier usually omit the standby, as the 5y3 itself has a slow start... Some amps also use a thermisistor as an in rush current limiter, which helps lower/cut power to the board until it warms up, thus also giving it a slow start. Otherwise, any amp design is capable of accomidating a standby switch. It basically just cuts power to the circuit while still letting the heater wires warm up the tubes. Of course a standby switch also comes in handy for other events than just firing up an amp - i.e. Koula's Scenario There are a lot of mod's for the valve jr.... Might want to find someone like KBP810 who can mod the head....
schundog Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 BillM, the Blues Junior guru, has said that lower wattage amps, 30 and under I believe, really don't need a standby switch. Funny, I think he is now offering one on his modification page, though! As a side note, I had ALL of the BillM mods done on my Blues Junior, including the pricey Heyboer transformer put in. I replaced the speaker with an Eminence Texas Heat, as well. All of this DEFINITELY improved the original Blues Junior, but it STILL didn't take it to the level of my Peavey Classic 30, IMHO. Of course, my C30 has a Weber Blue Dog speaker (awesome speaker, BTW) and JJ tubes. They are both fun, but I prefer my C30.
DetroitBlues Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 I'd like to see how the BillM Blues Jr. compares to the new Blues Jr. III. I played the Deluxe III the other day and all I can say is WOW! Too bad its a PCB board amp or else I'd consider purchasing it! I'd also like to see a comparison of the older Hot Rod Fender lineup to all of their new III series.
schundog Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 I'd like to see how the BillM Blues Jr. compares to the new Blues Jr. III. I played the Deluxe III the other day and all I can say is WOW! Too bad its a PCB board amp or else I'd consider purchasing it! I'd also like to see a comparison of the older Hot Rod Fender lineup to all of their new III series. That WOULD be an interesting comparison; according to BillM on the Fender Discussion Page, he says the newer version is an improvement, but he doesn't seem to think it will be putting him out of business anytime soon. I wouldn't dismiss a PCB board amp too quickly; In addition to the Blues Junior (I just can't bring myself to call it a BJ, haha), the Classic 30 is PCB, as are several higher end amps. KBP810 can correct me if I am mistaken here, but my understanding is that Point-to-Point doesn't necessarily improve tone, it simply makes the amps much easier to service should there be a problem down the line. Thoughts?
kbp810 Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 That WOULD be an interesting comparison; according to BillM on the Fender Discussion Page, he says the newer version is an improvement, but he doesn't seem to think it will be putting him out of business anytime soon. I wouldn't dismiss a PCB board amp too quickly; In addition to the Blues Junior (I just can't bring myself to call it a BJ, haha), the Classic 30 is PCB, as are several higher end amps. KBP810 can correct me if I am mistaken here, but my understanding is that Point-to-Point doesn't necessarily improve tone, it simply makes the amps much easier to service should there be a problem down the line. Thoughts? Well I think the fact that you enjoy your C30 so much already answers that question! I know there are some that argue that the small circuit traces in a PCB can create capacitance thus affecting the sound quality... I personally think that's hogwash; and even if it were true, would it really be that bad of a thing? Guitar sound is all about coloring the tone. Low-Fi in an artful All of the above being said, the advatages of handwired is mainly repair, modification, and variety of different components that can be used.
DetroitBlues Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 Well I think the fact that you enjoy your C30 so much already answers that question! I know there are some that argue that the small circuit traces in a PCB can create capacitance thus affecting the sound quality... I personally think that's hogwash; and even if it were true, would it really be that bad of a thing? Guitar sound is all about coloring the tone. Low-Fi in an artful All of the above being said, the advatages of handwired is mainly repair, modification, and variety of different components that can be used. I had two Peavey Valvekings. Great tone however, they are PCB designed amps. When the first one went down, I looked into Peavey's forums for help and everywhere I read, its near impossible to fix the problems with the amp because of the PCB. Even Peavey's repair center couldn't fix the amps. However, when using the old fashion designed amps, troubleshooting and repair are very feasable. While I have no doubt PCB amps are great amps, its the long term reliablity I'm concerned with. If something goes wrong on the PCB amps it may be near impossible to fix.
schundog Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 I had two Peavey Valvekings. Great tone however, they are PCB designed amps. When the first one went down, I looked into Peavey's forums for help and everywhere I read, its near impossible to fix the problems with the amp because of the PCB. Even Peavey's repair center couldn't fix the amps. However, when using the old fashion designed amps, troubleshooting and repair are very feasable. While I have no doubt PCB amps are great amps, its the long term reliablity I'm concerned with. If something goes wrong on the PCB amps it may be near impossible to fix. All True. But like it or not, we DO live in a somewhat "disposable product" society. You CAN certainly buy point to point amps, but, if built by American workers at Union wage levels, good luck affording it. When I had a ValveKing, it sounded KILLER, but I certainly didn't need 100 tube watts in the basement, haha. Also big and heavy. I simply bought it at a GC Memorial Day sale for around $300. I sold it to my pawn shop for that 3 months later. One thing I remember thinking about it was the cheapness of the knobs. But again, at 43, I MIGHT be playing for 20 more years, and I've got about 6 amps. Something tells me they aren't ALL going to take a crap in that time period, and, even if they do, good tone is becoming cheaper and cheaper to duplicate. To each their own, of course; I'd LOVE to have a KBP810 custom, but I'm not worrying too much about my PCB stuff right now.
DetroitBlues Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 All True. But like it or not, we DO live in a somewhat "disposable product" society. You CAN certainly buy point to point amps, but, if built by American workers at Union wage levels, good luck affording it. When I had a ValveKing, it sounded KILLER, but I certainly didn't need 100 tube watts in the basement, haha. Also big and heavy. I simply bought it at a GC Memorial Day sale for around $300. I sold it to my pawn shop for that 3 months later. One thing I remember thinking about it was the cheapness of the knobs. But again, at 43, I MIGHT be playing for 20 more years, and I've got about 6 amps. Something tells me they aren't ALL going to take a crap in that time period, and, even if they do, good tone is becoming cheaper and cheaper to duplicate. To each their own, of course; I'd LOVE to have a KBP810 custom, but I'm not worrying too much about my PCB stuff right now. I had the 50W combo. Still sounded great! But you're right! Too much amp for home use. That's the ONLY reason why I sold mine. I bet being a HOC member, you might get a killer deal with KBP if you ask him for an amp. I won't go into pricing, but it was a great deal. I still plan on adding another amp, perhaps something that has a lot of gain but with a master volume that can be played without causing the house to implode....
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