You won't find another guitar based RU-vidr who shows how to diagnose problems and repair gear like Phil , the best part is that he explains things so clearly . You're a champion Phil and a gentleman too.
Jacob Reichert I did. However, I do not really fancy his attitude and style so much, so I do not follow him anymore, although I do not doubt his expertise in any way.
The "Chopstick Diagnostic Test" worked for me. I dusted off my old "Silvertone 1482" and after having replaced the original damaged speaker with a new "Electro-Harmonex 12VR" , I thought that I was ready to create some tunes. With the amp warmed up, it started making a scratchy" noise kind of like an old FM radio static that you get when the tuner is between the stations! I found your video and used your method and found the noise making culprits to be two 12AX7 tubes. I carefully cleaned the tube tips with a needle file, sprayed the sockets with electronics cleaner, carefully replaced the tubes, and at this time the noise is gone and the amp is sounding great! Thank you Phil for spending your time making these helpful videos. Your videos are always clear and to the point! (and this one saved me some money)
I know this is a pretty old vid but sure was helpful today, found 2 of my EL 84s bad using this method. One had the clanky glassy sound and the other one actually sparked inside and had a loud noise through the speaker, been chasing that one a few months thinking it was a loose wire to the speaker. Thank you Phillip , another great tip.
Given that my mum actually made tubes at one point, and that she "tuned" our old black-and-white TV with a wooden spoon, I am happy to see this trick being passed on.
That is an old trick I learned back in electronics class in school, 53 years ago. We also used an oscilloscope, something you probably have never seen, except in a museum or some old guys back room ,like me. That is a great amp . I have several Fender amps. Keep on picking Phillip, Sniper
5 лет назад
Once again simple and very effective way of letting the community know how to detect an AMP issue and fix it! Gracias!!!
Great to see that the techniques I learned in a television workshop over 50 years ago are still useful in this high tech age. I still have the very small plastic handled screwdriver (came from Woolworth's) that I always used.
My HRD had turned thin sounding and developed a 60Hz hum. Chopsticked my tubes per this video and the two 12AT7s I had put in 3yrs ago to cut the volume were both dinging high-pitched. Put the 12AX7s back (from 1998) and it's back to loud but no more hum and thinness. Thanks for the tip! Saved me a trip to the local tech. I'll switch to JJ's when I need new tubes.
Due to kicking themselves. I saw a Fender Blues Junior for sale on Reverb few days (or was it weeks?) ago. Listed for AUD416. Condition was declared as very poor due to some high pitch noise when turned on. Was sold the very next day when I checked......
This video was super helpful for me, when my tube preamp was generating loads of noise (and was super silent before) in the high gain distortion challen. Tapping against the tubes with a wooden pencil immediately showed me the microphonic tube. I replaced it with a new one and the problem was solved. Thanks so much for your practical videos! 🙂
Definitely want a review. I'd love to see a video going through each of the fender tube amps and looking at the main differences and pros/cons of each. It's so hard to work out.
Hey Phil I have a couple of tips that really make this amp shine even more. 1. Run a jumper from input 2 on the vintage channel into channel 2 of the custom channel. Plug your guitar into channel 1 of the vintage channel. Balance the 2 channels to taste. 2. Run a BBE sonic stomp in front. Try it out I promise you will be happy. I love these amps. In fact I love them so much that I originally bought the 68 custom deluxe and fell in love. So I also bought the vibrolux. I use my American strat deluxe with the deluxe and my American Tele deluxe with the vibrolux. I think that a review is an excellent idea.
I fixed a fender hot rod with this info. Thx. My endless pursuit of decent affordable guitars and amps has cost me more than it’s worth. I’ve lost so much money on deals and following advice that now I’m stuck either selling at a significant loss again or trying to get through the headache of making what I got work. The hot rod is not kind to humbuckers or to mistakes. The OD channel is just unusably bad. I felt like I arrived by getting a tube amp, lol. I think I’m going to start over with a PRS and a katana.
My amp was making a crackling noise on my saldano slo 30. Tap like you said, already had 6l6 tubes. Tap the 6L6 yeah definitely not good. Let cool down replaced it turned on. Awesomeness!! Finally play not worry about the crackling! Might be small quick thing for you. But for us it really helps us out of big holes! Thank you!!
THANK YOU! I was getting a glassy high pitched whistle on my 1996 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I tried your wooden spoon test, replaced the offending 12AT7. SUCCESS! By the way because of your suggestion, 2 years ago I replaced the first 12AX7 with a 12AT7; a great improvement. So thank you twice.
Got a Deal like this Amp was a Laney VC30 210 30W Class A all tube, looks like this was sitting on the store for a looong time got it for 450usd not sure if its damaged or something since at the moment i didnt knew anything about tube amps i watched many videos and this one will probably help me determine if its in good shape
Had the exact same issue with my Super Sonic 22 combo, and thankfully a replacement 12AX7 I had lying around in a bin did the trick. So I can verify this WORKS, people!!! :)
I finally got the 🥎's to take the covers off and tap them with a piece of wood(I used a shim). To my ears the power tubes sounded fine. Two preamp tubes sounded like broken glass. Much cheaper fix. Now the only decision is what preamp tubes for my Dr Z-Lux. Thanks for the tip.
I'll be damned... My 72 Fender Deluxe Reverb started sounding a little funny... This video popped up first on my search, and 10 minutes later I had my answer. Thanks Phil!
Yea..I’ve gone through like 4 amps shipped to me new…after hours of stuff. I’m starting to realize every amp ends up with a broken power tube(in my case eventually blew) another one had a hum, accidentally tapped the chassis with my finger nail and same sound you had on V1…so o tracked it to v1 or v2. The microphonic tubes, are picking up electrical hum and buzz at times. This is what I’ve found. I further isolate I put the amps on a DI box to rule out reverb pan and other things. Then usually can find the culprit! Preamp tubes are easy to find and swap around to see if follows. But Power Tubes can be hard sometimes if you don’t have extras. So common these days I find…especially post Covid 2020. Seems like it’s a given any new amp will have a bad or microphonic tube somewhere. I’ve had amps shipped with the glass bear traps scratching the glass, destroying the tubes…it’s just all they have for mass production!
I suspect the same thing was the case with a deal that I got! I thought the tube was microphonic but it turned out it was being pressed sideways by the spring inside the cap. The small protrusion at the top of the tube had found its way through the side of the spring somehow. Works great now!
Thanks for that .. I have a old 8040 ValveState Marshall combo that sounds terrible when it gets hot after a while . I thought it was the preamp valve & that confirmed it . . .
Totally do a review! I feel like lately the good old Vibrolux Amps have been out of the limelight, with so much going on with the guitar scene these days. Magical Amps
Thanks for this video. I plan on trying this method to diagnose the squeeling coming from my Meatsmoke's clan channel. Hopefully its just a single preamp tube
i have had to do this to a blues jr and a vibrolux that was new! from sweet water. those 12ax tubes are quite expensive, you should carry spares. love my "lady luximberg"
I've been using your vlogs for making repairs and adjustments on my guitars; great stuff! StewMac may want to thank you, too, since I've been ordering tools from them because of your recommendations; yeah, expensive but worth it. SM has unique parts, too, so I may be ordering from them, also. Anyway, thanks many times for your help.
Awesome! 👩 very good information. You deff can hear when a tube is bad having that pinging sound, thank you.. 👩 I have 2 tube amps and one of them is losing power while I'm playing and I know it's one of the power tubes, but I don't know which one...
First, I’d like to know who was the 3 bone 🦴 heads that gave this video a thumbs down. & second heck yeah we want a review of that amp! Just keep doing what you do Phill.
So is it automatically assumed that if the amp suddenly projects an abnormal level of highs that it would be the preamp tubes? Just had this happen last week with my AC30 on stage and will be definitely performing this test for sure to evaluate! Thank you so much for this!
I think had a microphonic power tube a few years back. I was playing on the neck pickup of my Strat and hit a low B note at the 7th fret, suddenly the amp spluttered and let out a really loud wailing sound that carried on even with the volume turned down. It only stopped when I put it into standby. Turning it back on, the amp would play fine, until I hit that low B note again. I used a chopstick to tap each tube, and the second I touched the right hand power tube, the amp instantly started wailing again.
Hi Phil, Great practical demonstration of diagnosing a microphone tube, yes, please review the amp. Am interested in how reliable and robust new gen Fender amps are.
