Deluxe Reverb Tremolo Ticking

[Pizzaking]

I recently purchased a new 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb silverface amp.

I like the sound but its making some noises and I'm not sure if its normal or not.

The noise that bothers me the most is a ticking sound when the tremolo is turned on. It ticks to the speed of the trem.

From searching on google it seems like this is a common problem. So I'm just wondering if all the new deluxes do this or if I got a bad one.

Thanks.

 

[Matt L]

I just got one, and it seemed to be doing it at first, but it went away.....?

Also, switching to standby seems like a louder pop than I remember from my old DRRI. The amp sounds amazing, but I did notice these things.

 

[natebernstein]

I recently picked up a used 68 CDR and have noticed the same things re standby and tremolo. The tremolo issue is by far the bigger one. Before I bought the amp I already owned a Diamond trem pedal, which I absolutely love, so technically speaking I don't need the tremolo on the amp. But when recording recently I was a bit short on time and didn't want to deal with dialing in precisely the right settings on the pedal. So I tried to go with just the speed/intensity settings on the CDR and the ticking sound simply wouldn't go away. It was audible in the cans while recording and on playback. I'm re-recording that track with the Diamond instead. It actually sounds better, so it's not a huge-enough problem that I necessarily want to bring the amp in to be serviced (though it still is under warranty and I have the signed receipt from the original owner). But I'm also thinking I could potentially get rid of the Diamond entirely (or at least keep it off my pedalboard, creating space for new toys) if the amp tremolo worked without issues. So I'm wondering if any other CDR owners have figured out easy ways to deal with the trem-ticking. Thanks!

 

[zzmoore]

I have not had my hands in the new SF amps...but the "original" and reissue amps can pretty much all be cured via simple lead-dress adjust.
Are there flying leads in these new SF Amps.?
good luck

 

[jpervin]

I recently purchased a new 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb silverface amp.

I like the sound but its making some noises and I'm not sure if its normal or not.

The noise that bothers me the most is a ticking sound when the tremolo is turned on. It ticks to the speed of the trem.

From searching on google it seems like this is a common problem. So I'm just wondering if all the new deluxes do this or if I got a bad one.

Thanks.

I just got one, and it seemed to be doing it at first, but it went away.....?

Also, switching to standby seems like a louder pop than I remember from my old DRRI. The amp sounds amazing, but I did notice these things.

Both of the DRRIs I owned had the ticking and standby/loud pop problems.

 

[Doug59]

I had the DRRI and cured the popping noise by replacing the 12ax7 tubes in the first few spots. Put a few Tungsols in those sockets and popping noise disappeared. I'm sure it would work in your amp too.

 

[Doug59]

Forgot to add, ticking noise is normal in that amp. Just the way they are made.

 

[wgs1230]

I can't remember where I copped this from, had it a long time. Found that a .022 was more effective in my old Pro Reverb. YMMV. Good luck.

 

[smolder]

^^^ this. Just did it a few weeks ago.

 

[Blue Strat]

Who knew there would be a "vibrator circuit" in a guitar amp!

 

[jayn]

I have the ticking in my DRRI and the SFDRs I've owned - I just used a trem pedal.

I had the popping on the standby too. Replacing the switch with a higher quality Switchcraft fixed it.

 

[gmann]

Not sure how close the ckts are but I have a '62 Bandmaster. When you turn the trem off you can hear the ticking. If you turn it off with the footswitch as opposed to just turning the speed and intensity knobs off it makes a difference.

 

[ken374]

My 68 twin doesnt do it thank god

 

[Jeff Scott]

Not sure how close the ckts are but I have a '62 Bandmaster. When you turn the trem off you can hear the ticking. If you turn it off with the footswitch as opposed to just turning the speed and intensity knobs off it makes a difference.

Your '62 BM should have a different kind of tremolo circuit I would think, assuming it is anything like the 1962 Concert Amp I had (harmonic vibrato type, not the signal grounding, opto isolator type). Mine was more like DC being injected into the power stage as the speakers could pump in and out pretty significantly when the intensity was turned way up.

 

[gmann]

Your '62 BM should have a different kind of tremolo circuit I would think, assuming it is anything like the 1962 Concert Amp I had (harmonic vibrato type, not the signal grounding, opto isolator type). Mine was more like DC being injected into the power stage as the speakers could pump in and out pretty significantly when the intensity was turned way up.

Yeah, I get that, I'm just sayin that with the switch it turns off, like an open in the ckt as opposed to just turning the effect down.

 

[Tompski]

I had bad ticking on my tremolo on my DRRI 65, my amp tech said it is caused by some leads being too close together below the optocoupler on the valve side of the board, so I carefully took the amp out of the cabinet, and moved some of the leads on the valve side of the circuit away from each other with a wooden chopstick so as to not die! you haveto do this while the amp is on so you can hear the ticking, so unless you are confident you know how to do this safely take it to a tech! I eventually found a thin black lead that was just below and left a bit from the Optocoupler that was the culprit, when I moved it to the right away from other cables that were close the ticking completely stopped and has remained that way after putting the amp back in the cabinet.
What a relief! the ticking is a pain in the arse!

 

[Guinness Lad]

The pop on stand by is likely due to a strong running 12ax7. I would notice this a lot with the Tone King Imperial, change out one of the 12ax7's and the problem would go away. You can also turn an amp off by hitting the power switch first, this way no pop ever. It doesn't matter which way you turn an amp off.