help with misbehaving bassman RI Ltd.

[shednz]

Kia ora koutou/ Hi all!
Hoping someone can help me out. I have a bassman Ltd Ri which has seen maybe 10-20 gigs and a little bit of home/practice use. Noticed at the last gig the light sort of pulsing - losing brightness then come back. When i would put the amp on standby it would glow bright, turn it on it would dull. There was no distinguishable change in sound. Got around to testing it out at home today. It went fine but again light fluctuating, then it stopped glowing all together. I had a look at the bulb. Seemed fine. When i put it back in amp had stopped going. Checked fuse and it had blown. Any help is appreciated as there is no tech in my city so I have to send the amp away- ends up costing more to ship it then to check it! Cheers all.
oh, by the way in case it makes any difference, I typically run this amp in conjunction with another - a swart 6v6se. Cheers!

[phsyconoodler]

Sounds like a bad power tube.Try another pair of 6L6's.

[TimmyP]

A lot of RIs don't have the bulb seated properly, so it flickers, etc. I have to put tape on them to be able to push them in and turn them to get them seated properly. (The spring in the socket is way too strong.)

Also, the pilot sockets are installed such that if you push on the bulb hard enough to compress the overly strong spring, the socket will bend and short to the chassis, which likely accounts for the blown fuse.

[shednz]

thanks timmyp that sounds most likely explanation cos the i had a hell of a time getting the light back in - I will get a new fuse tomorro and see what happens - thanks!