vintage fender need help

Discussion in 'Amps/Cabs Tech Corner: Amplifier, Cab & Speakers' started by elooong, Jan 26, 2008.

  1. Jan 26, 2008 #1
    elooong

    elooong Member

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    To start off i am not a tech head. I have an early 70's Fender Vibrolux Reverb that just got brand new tubes, caps, pilot light and a new power cable. I can't turn the beast past 3 1/2 without a hell of a buzz. Its humming through all 4 jacks, (normal 1,2 and vibrato 1,2) alot louder when the treble is up both on the amp and the guitar. The buzz is quieter when not on the bright channels. Any advice to quiet this thing will save my life. The tone is perfect but i can't turn up the amp, i need those natural hits. Please, again not a tech head.
     
    elooong, Jan 26, 2008
    elooong, Jan 26, 2008
    #1
  2. Jan 26, 2008 #2
    elooong

    elooong Member

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    even with the treble and bass knobs all the way down the amp still hums, dunno if that helps but the treble knob has the biggest effect on the amp's ambience
     
    elooong, Jan 26, 2008
    elooong, Jan 26, 2008
    #2
  3. Jan 26, 2008 #3
    slider313

    slider313 Silver Supporting Member

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    Could be a bad ground somewhere.
     
    slider313, Jan 26, 2008
    slider313, Jan 26, 2008
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  4. Jan 26, 2008 #4
    phsyconoodler

    phsyconoodler Member

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    ok,the clue is 'just got brand new tubes,caps,a pilot light and a new power cable'. Something was overlooked or done improperly when the work was done on the amp.There are a few things it could be.
    1)the power cord ground is wrong
    2)the pilot light has two resistors as a virtual centre tap.One of those resistors is disconnected or bad
    3) one or more of the input jacks have their shorting bars bent and are not making contact.
    4)one of the power tubes is shot or they are grossly mismatched,making it noisy
    Whoever did the work on your amp should have throughly tested it for noise after it was done.If it was you,you need to recheck your work and see what has been done wrong.
     
    phsyconoodler, Jan 26, 2008
    phsyconoodler, Jan 26, 2008
    #4
  5. Jan 26, 2008 #5
    elooong

    elooong Member

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    that is helpful. I got it done from speakeasy vintage. I thought it was a pretty legit place they do alot of work. I called the guy who did the work and got the answering machine. For background the amp was my uncles which he gave to me. I took it in right away because i didn't want anything to fry, before it came from me it had a long sit in a basement. Probably 10 years at least
    thanks
     
    elooong, Jan 26, 2008
    elooong, Jan 26, 2008
    #5
  6. Jan 27, 2008 #6
    elooong

    elooong Member

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    I'm concerned that its not the amp, when the amp is left off standby with the jacks free the amp is pretty quiet, does this mean its not the amp?
     
    elooong, Jan 27, 2008
    elooong, Jan 27, 2008
    #6
  7. Jan 27, 2008 #7
    mc5nrg

    mc5nrg Supporting Member

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    Did you try another cable? Are you using an instrument cable not a speaker cable? What kind of guitar? If its a single coil pickup are there sources of noise like flourescent lights, dimmers, computers, compressors on the same circuit, neon etc. around? Is the guitar properly wired/grounded?
     
    mc5nrg, Jan 27, 2008
    mc5nrg, Jan 27, 2008
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