Tremolo ticks on my vintage amp. Help please.

[Lost_Cause]

I have a 69 Gibson Duo Medalist that is a two channel all tube amp with channel 1 having Reverb and Trem. The tremolo sounds great but it makes an faint audible tick when it oscillates when the speed is between 0 thru 7 ish. When you play it can not be heard. It is pretty faint. I have changed tubes and no change. There is a light that also turns on and off with the oscillation of the tremolo. Also, when I turn off that circuit via the footswitch the sound stops.

First, is this typical of amps with a tremolo circuit? Is this a symptom of it being vintage perhaps? Is there anything that I can do to eliminate it? Might a recap of that circuit be necessary or something like that?

If anyone had any insight I would appreciate it if you could help me out. The amp sounds killer and the tremolo sounds great but when not playing you hear a faint tick tick tick as the light flashes on and off.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Lost_Cause]

ttt

 

[gldtp99]

Try these things: http://www.geofex.com/ampdbug/vibrato.htm

 

[Lost_Cause]

Thanks, I can check only one out of those. The signal wire. It is point to point not PCB or turret board. I have not found much on line that is not Fender specific. It is not bad so I pretty much live with it but wish it would stop.

 

[Lost_Cause]

The light is large one piece rectangle and it is wired into a harness that runs down to the lower chassis.

There are two tubes that could possibly be the culprit. I will need to look at the circuit again and see what subs can be used. I want to say that one is a 12au7 and the other is a 6EU7.

Thank you very much for your help. At the very least I have an answer as to why it is doing that and what might be required to fix it. It is not that bad.

 

[brad347]

I had a look at the schmatic. It's interesting... there's a lot going on.

The tremolo oscillator is a 6EU7, V4.

What makes it interesting is that there are TWO lights... one is a visible indicator, and the other is hidden in the photocell. Either/or/both could be causing the noise.

Maybe a weak 6EU7 would help? the indicator lamp... you say it's a one-piece rectangle... is it neon? Incandescent? Not sure? LEDs were invented in 1962 so even that is possible...

As for the photocell, look for it and see if you can see a blinking light when the tremolo is on. Turning out the lights in the room might help. If it's a little orange blinking light, then it's definitely neon like the Fender style.