1972 Fender Deluxe Reverb Problem- Little/No sound

[Mr. Crow]

Hi-

I picked up a nice condition 1972 Fender Deluxe Reverb from a pawn shop for a great price. Reason being- extremely low volume, almost like a low whisper coming through. Both channels. You can hear the reverb if you turn it up and down.

So I'm getting some sound, but it's really, really quiet. About as loud as playing the guitar unamplified in the room.

All the tubes are glowing.

The owner said it was working when brought in for pawn, but it's been there over a year on a shelf and moved around quite a few times.

Anything I can try myself before bringing it to a tech? I wouldn't feel comfortable opening it up.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Oatie]

Check the speaker jack and make sure it;'s plugged into the left jack, not the ext. jack.,

if not the problem, check the reverb tank cables, the painted red tipped RCA cable goes in the far right jack.

Make sure the rectifier 5U4GB tube is all the way to the left in V9, and make sure both power tubes the n6V6GTA tubes are seated in the sockets well,
remove all the pre-amp tube covers and tap each tube with a wooden chop stick while the amp is on, and if a tube makes a loud sound, static or any other issue, replace it..

But it sounds like the speaker is the issue.

 

[The Dirty Tube]

Typical sign of old capacitors. My 1967 Ampeg Gemini II (among others) was very low volume and very distorted before I recapped it.

Capacitors wear out faster when they aren't being used. The fact that it sat on the shelf could've been enough to dry up whatever caps were on their way out.

If it's original, it's going to need a recap anyway. I play all of my amps with fresh caps and peace of mind.

Try tossing in new tubes first. If it proves to not be tubes, it'd be worth picking up a spare set anyway.

 

[Mr. Crow]

Thanks for the replies. I've checked the speaker jack and reverb cables, I'll try taking out and reinstalling the rectifier and power tubes.

 

[Oatie]

Do you have another speaker to plug into the amp's main speaker Jack to check and see if the speaker you have in the amp is blown?. If the speaker is blown it may be as you describe.

And try both channels, the normal and the Vibrato, try all four input jacks.

Can you take pics of the amp and post them here/?

You can post free pics with no acct. here,

http://picturepush.com/upa

 

[Mr. Crow]

I tried taking out the rectifier and power tubes and reinstalling them. No change.

Also, I used the Ex. Jack out into a speaker cabinet, no sound.

All four input jacks sound the same, just extremely low whisper quiet volume.

I guess that's about all a novice like me can try.

 

[Mr. Crow]

Just wanted to last mention that this morning I replaced the rectifier and power tubes with known working ones. Same thing, very little/whisper volume.

After this and all the other suggestions that I've tried, any thoughts on what it finally might be when a tech opens it up?

Could it be fairly easy, and cheap? Or am I looking at a big chunk of repair change here?

 

[Josephcarassojunior]

Hey Mr Crow, did you ever find a solution to this issue? I am having same problem w my 1964 Deluxe Reverb...