Buzz Kill

[Keith7940236]

So I've been enjoying playing through my Rocket II for several months now, looking forward to using it with my new KBP810 reverb unit. As usual I came home the other day and fired it up to do a little practice before dinner. I was greeted with an annoying buzzing sound that only sounded with the volume down.

 

As the amp is very old, I assumed that the tubes must be going bad. After a Google search, and some kind input from Brian himself, I went out and purchased some new preamp tubes.

The next day I hurried home from work and put the tubes in the amp. No buzz, problem solved!! Later that evening I brought my wife into the living room so she could hear how the song I've been working on sounded. I flipped on the amp and was greeted by that buzzing noise again. " Oh well, must be the power tubes" I told her.

 

So today I leave work early and make a special trip to a tube dealer to pick up a pair of 7591's, hurried home to plug them in (after of course stopping at GC to get some contact cleaner). After carefully cleaning the plugs I installed them tubes and switched the amp on. Voila!! no buzz, the amp sounds great.........Johnny Smith ain't got nothin' on me!!

 

About a half hour ago 8:30 west coast time, I go into the living room and sit down to enjoy a little time with my Golden Eagle and Ampeg Amp, a match made in heaven. I turn on the amp, sit down to play and as soon as it warms up, here comes that annoying buzz again.

 

So I've changed the tubes, spent hours searching on the internet for a solution and was resigned to having to lug it downtown to the tech shop when I thought, what on earth is different from earlier today or for that matter all of the rest of the times that I've played it?

 

I went into the dining room to turn off the light and call it an evening. When I turned down the dimmer, the buzzing went away. I brought the dimmer back up and the buzzing returned!!

 

What was the culprit? Daylight savings time. Since it gets darker earlier now, I've had to turn on lights, including using the dimmer in the living room. I have read how a dimmer can affect single coil pickups, I had no idea it would affect the amp.

 

 

Well, it looks like I've got a spare set of tubes now.

 

[FredZepp]

Ha... an excellent tale of buzz kill.

 

That Rocket seems pretty awesome, I'm glad that you worked it out. It's a good lesson for the rest of us.

 

 

( nice pic , too. )

[212Mavguy]

I have had the same experience in my home due to the same reason, but I didn't go out and buy tubes. OP has a blessing in disguise with the spares.

 

+1 praise for the pic as well.

[Steiner]

Don't forget about nature's little antenna, your instrument cable. A good, shielded cable will minimize a rheostat's influence.

[t0aj15]

I had to remove the light dimmers from my music room for this very reason. After replacing them with regular switches the problem was solved.

[Horace]

Ahha ! Dawn breaks over Marblehead as they say here in Massachusetts ! Good detective work. Those beautiful Heritages and that Ampeg look irresistible in that picture. Looking forward to reading your description of how good the new reverb sounds. Hmmm, I wonder who makes good shielded cables around here ? I might have to get a few of those myself one of these days.

[Guest HRB853370]

"As the amp is very old, I assumed that the tubes must be going bad."

 

Ordinarily, a buzz wont be caused by tubes going bad, instead you will hear crackling and cutting out of sound. But since your assumption turned out to be the blessing in disguise (extra tubes), glad you solved the problem!

 

Is that a Reverberocket or just a Rocket?

[Keith7940236]

It's a Rocket, that's why I'm getting the KBP810 reverb! My new Princeton is also non reverb.

[Kuz]

Wow, great guitars, great amp, and I learned something new!!!

[kidsmoke]

new one for me too, thanks for sharing....

 

And you're gonna make me regret letting my Ampeg go the other day....

[DetroitBlues]

Get yourself a Furman power conditioner....