Amp Problems

[adrianlee]

I neeeeeeed help.

I've recently aquired two amps that give me exactly (well, close at least) what I'm looking for.

Music Man HD130 and a mid 70's twin.

BOTH amps are giving me real bad crap.

Both amps pop and crackle very randomly. The twin even got to the point where it begins to sound like white noise that is so unbearably loud that I almost pissed my pants in fear...You cannot control the volume of the noise, only controllable by turning amp off...Also, the whole vibrato channel doesn't work--at all. Thoughts?

The HD130 has just begun to give me some crackle and pops, not very often, maybe once every 30 minutes or so...and it's JUST begun to happen within the last few days.

The interesting thing is that neither amps had problems until i started using them at my house, everywhere else they were minty (wouldn't have purchased them if they weren't). Could I have ghosts? Incredible bad power? Incredibly bad luck? Combination of the three?


PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!

[tuffteef]

there fighting each other for your love

[adrianlee]

I wish it was that.

I, however, fear its far worse than that.

[theavondon]

Sounds like maybe you need to make friends with an amplifier technician.

[Eric!]

Don't mean to be condescending..but is it your cables?

Probably not. Yeah, get an amp tech. Tube internals scare me

[devnulljp]

Could be crappy power. Get a Variac and see.
I'd try reseating all the tubes too, just in case they got shaken up in transit maybe?
Rock the tubes in their sockets -- the sockets should be good n tight and tube pins might need contact cleaner.
There shouldn't be popping/cracking when rocking in there -- my shoulder does that, but that's a harder fix
Some good stuff on the GEO Tube Amp Debugging page:
http://www.geofex.com/ampdbug/popping.htm
http://www.geofex.com/ampdbug/intermit.htm
But I'll be damned if I'll stick a screwdriver inside a tube amp.
I'd also def find an amp tech and let them look at it.

[adrianlee]

Don't mean to be condescending..but is it your cables?

Probably not. Yeah, get an amp tech. Tube internals scare me

Tried different cables. It's not that....Wish it was, though...that's a super easy fix.

[adrianlee]

Could be crappy power. Get a Variac and see.
I'd try reseating all the tubes too, just in case they got shaken up in transit maybe?
Rock the tubes in their sockets -- the sockets should be good n tight and tube pins might need contact cleaner.
There shouldn't be popping/cracking when rocking in there -- my shoulder does that, but that's a harder fix
Some good stuff on the GEO Tube Amp Debugging page:
http://www.geofex.com/ampdbug/popping.htm
http://www.geofex.com/ampdbug/intermit.htm
But I'll be damned if I'll stick a screwdriver inside a tube amp.
I'd also def find an amp tech and let them look at it.

I keep hearing crappy power from all the forums....I'll try them at different locations. What I don't understand is...Would the crappy power make the vibrato channel not work completely? If so, I'm never plugging anything into this damn house.

[phantasmagorovich]

move to a different house..?

[adrianlee]

Haha, just signed my lease in June.

Maybe my thought process is wrong, but, shouldn't monster clean power help with this issue? I am using a clean power surge protector on all my gear.

[Companda]

In my former home, my amp would randomly crackle, pop and hiss all of the time. It turns out that it was caused by the crappy wiring/improperly grounded/electrical mess that was my former house. I get none of these in my new place. If it only started happening when used in your house, then I would assume you are experiencing something similar.

Does the vibrato channel work when not in your home? That one sounds odd.

[adrianlee]

I haven;t gotten to play the twin outside of my house yet. When i purchased it, I played it at the dudes house i bought it from, it was perfect. Got it home...Couldn't play it till the next night and bam, the worst noise ever came out.

It takes about...30 minutes or so for the noise to actually come to fruition. Before then it's just unbearable cracking and hissing.

[Companda]

I would take it somewhere else and plug it in to see if it is the electricity in your place, although the gradual buildup to noise sounds odd.

Best bet is to take them to a good amp tech.

But, I barely know anything about amps outside of general maintenance. So take my suggestions for what they are worth.

[retinal orbita]

Could it be your phone, or perhaps your wireless router contributing to the problem? I know now when I'm at our jam space any time anyone in my band gets a text message from their girlfriend/wife my amp goes "bleepadeep bleepa derp bleepeeeeeeeeerrrr!!"...... sounds like it might not the the root cause but might be aggrivating things...... maybe not though......... also perhaps try without the surge protector if you haven't already, it might be limiting the amount of AC in some way.........

I also suspect you have a ghost in your house........

[adrianlee]

I know the cell phone bleeps you're talking about, it's nothing like that. More just pops and cracks of white noisy grossness.