Hi all, heres a mystery for anyone to try and figure out. That wasnt necessarily so in 1965 when techs made house calls but it is in 2008. I played for 20 years thru peavey solid state amps, primarily a tele thru and ltd with boss compressor. Here are some things to look for if your tube amp is making intermittent crackling type noises. A buddy of mine got a little 2x8 solid state guitar amp given to him but it has something wrong with it. While subtle, these kinds of characteristics are fairly noticeable when taken away, which is why a lot of people think solid state amps dont sound as good. Peavey solid state guitar amplifiers for sale ebay. I show how to repair a guitar amplifier with volumetone controls that snap, crackle, pop, cut out when you. It disappears after a few minutes, its as if it needs to warm up. Is the amp making crackling or popping noises when youre not. A guitar amplifier or amp is an electronic device or system that strengthens the weak electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which are typically housed in a wooden cabinet. How to fix noisy crackling knobsscratchy controls on guitar amp. Sep 04, 2018 so i have this old spectra 125 solid state amp i bought a month or so ago.
When i turn it on everything works fine, but after heating up whan ive played for 1530 minutes it starts crackling and buzzing, probably a short circuit. What causes an amp to have major volume changes and crackling. The volume level on the amp didnt seem to affect the crackling volume. Whats strange though is that i did not hear the crackling when i took it back to the store to play it there. Ive had this problem with a few amps, mainly ones that have sat in my cellar for a year or two. Wow, that those sounds have annoyed me all my life. With a guitar unplugged, there is a bearablei would say normal amount of staticwhite noise that comes through the speaker at volume past 12 o clock, but once the guitar is plugged in, even with a solid state fully clean amp, the aforementioned problem persists. Try a little wiggle of the input jack with the cable plugged in. What causes idle amp noisehiss discussion in amps cabs tech corner. You can actually see it happen in the tubes as well. A guitar amplifier may be a standalone wood or metal cabinet that contains only the power amplifier and. Hi, my dcm 40 transistor amp makes a pop noise when i push the power. Are you saying that if you move the phono stage different distances from the turntable, that change in distance results in a repeatable, consistent variance in the level andor frequency of occurrence of the crackling noise. Music man is one amp that comes to mind that used both tubes and solid state elements.
In my case, it was the build up of a film of corrosion on the pots in the amplifier head. These pesky noises can come and go or be triggered by certain notes. How to fix a crackling tube amp top tube amplifier. Trace elliot elf 200w micro solid state 1ch bass amp head w 3band eq e. Nov 21, 2006 i think you may be right about me not being used to how a tube amp is with gain cranked. Oct 12, 2011 i got my hd650 not too long ago, and ive been noticing in many songs a subtle crackling noise slight distortion at certain points. Crackling popping riptide noise what happened to my jvms. However if the noise is also happening with another amp, especially a line 6 which is a solid state amp, no tubes, if i am correct, then this is probably not the case. Crackling noise in dt25 dt50 dt25 line 6 community.
Oct 06, 2018 coming in after this has been getting answers for well over a year. Valve amp heads, also known as tube heads, use vacuum tubes to amplify the signal. Vintage fender vibrolux tube guitar amp repair static noise fix dlab how to duration. If i turn the amp off while its crackling and turn it back on it starts crackling again immediately. The crackling wasnt loud, and it continued even as i turned the amp s volume knob all the way down. Even at zero its loud music amp peavey ask metafilter. Finding the cause of the problem is often the hardest part. This channel features slide guitar and 6 string guitars and musical antics. This protects primarily the output transformer from overcurrent, usually the result of an output tube short. Every guitarist who plays a tube amp, whether its a combo or a head and cab, should have the following tools and spare parts on hand to address low level firstaid needs. Both my amps have humming, buzzing, ticking, and crackling. Ive had a guitar technician look at it, but he couldnt find anything.
I swear it was fine the first few times i played it. Mainly with the clean channel and on the lower strings. You adjust it by ear with the amp turned up to max to hear the hum best. There are some hybrid amps that have both solid state parts and tubes. My tube amp makes a weee sound line 6 spider valve. My integrated tube amp makes a popping noise on start up occasionally. The seven most anticipated tube and solidstate amps of. Replacement with a carbon or metal film type will cure this. Earlier this week i heard a crackle or popping noise coming from my speakers. This reduces the chance for noise and crackling as well as provides the best sound and reliability. So i have this old spectra 125 solid state amp i bought a month or so ago. The amp is completely dead if the amp is completely silent no speaker hum or hiss at all then the problem can be just about anywhere in the amp but you should suspect a bad tube, blown fuse or the power supply in that order. Do real guitar amps sound better than amp modelers.
If you get a response the input jack may have a broken solder joint on the pc board. While its perfectly normal for a tube amplifier to produce fairly significant amounts of noise especially when compared to a solid state amp. Once the knob is in place, and no longer rotating the signal is clean with no problems. They make a range of amplifiers, including tube, solidstate guitar and bass amps. If your amp has a solid state rectifier skip this step and move to the fixed bias. If it is a tube amp, leave it to cool for ten minutes.
Solid state fender making popping noise when turned off. As i increased the volume and gain a low frequency hum started, got worse as gain and volume were increased. Also, if your amp is designed for high gain settings, it will most definitely make more noise than an amp designed to run cleaner. Turned the amp back on for the first since turning it off when the issue started. In general most solid state amps do not have tubes. You can bet buddy emmons would sound just fine in my living room with a solid state amp. If you have a 100watt tube amp, its probably going to make more noise than a 15watt tube amp. Coming in after this has been getting answers for well over a year.
I had heard a popping noise that would occur randomly for a couple of days. Just this morning, i started getting a crackling sound from my ac30. Most often, it will stay the same volume regardless of how loud you turn up the volume knobs. If i wait for a few hours, and plug the amp into a different socket it will be crackle free againfor five minutes.
Ive got the head version of that amp, and it pops when i turn it off. On a vintage amp intermittent crackling can be caused by a few different things. I get this hum and crackle noise in my dt25 headcab amp. My solid state orange crush 12 is making a whistling noise, specifically when the volume goes to about 4, the treble is past 5, and the gain and overdrive knobs are at 5 or past. Btw, ive ruled out a bad cable or bad guitar output jack, as this happens with any cable. I have a fender frontman 65r solid state guitar amp that. Even with the volume and gain dimed the amp wasnt very loud at all.
Switched from tube amp to solid state page 7 general. I picked up this amp today off of craigslist and i plugged it in, i noticed after it warmed up give or take 1530 seconds that there is an. Any experience with the orange solid state pro amps. I realize its solid state, but ive owned other ss amps before, cheapo amps too, that would blow this cr120 out of the room. Our website and phones are open, but shipping may take a few extra days, for the safety of our team. A constant crackling noise,or crackling that comes along after playing for a while is not the same. Holo as in holographic a well designed class a solid state amplifier has a natural warmth, as do many recent class b designs.
Brought it out today, and noticed a weird crackling noise. Why is my electric guitar amp making crackling sound when. The crackling wasnt loud, and it continued even as i turned the amps volume knob all the way down. When a control affects the noise it usually indicates the noise is entering the amp before that control but i have seen a volume control that caused noise in a bad power tube increase so this isnt a hardandfast rule. Later, i heard the noise when the tv was off and no source component was being used. Solidstate amp crackling to the point of being useless discussion in amps and cabs bg. I have a fender frontman 65r solid state guitar amp that makes a scratchycrackling noise while turned on,with answered by a verified electronics technician. I have really bad brain crackling for the last 9 yrs, i am 47 years old, it started after i contracted a terrible disease from the tropics, i live in canada, i have a positive blood test for lyme disease as well. Usually pretty stable and reliable, resistors can be the cause of several problems. How to build a tube guitar amp top tube amplifiers. There are a few things that can make an amp crackle and i will try to give you guys some things to look at so you can try to diagnose the issue and possibly fix it yourself.
Why is my electric guitar amp making crackling sound when i. My only complaint is that there is a pretty drastic noise gate on the distorted settings that chokes off notes as they fade away and doesnt allow superlight picking to come through. Solid state amps such as those in peaveys vypyr series, use transistor technology. In the guise of the fender deluxe reverb in particular, the format has been part of untold numbers of recordings over the decades, and, of course, when the session was over this workhorse was often carried straight to the live gig for more hours of delivering great tones. My mri of my brain show many lesions and punctures, i. I think you may be right about me not being used to how a tube amp is with gain cranked. Unlike tape echo units or their solidstate equivalents, which may use multiple heads to. I keep the amp on at all times the integrated amp is a rega mira and is about a year old. Get the best deals on peavey solid state guitar amplifiers when you shop the largest online selection at. I have a crackling sound from my amp when i first turn it.
Solid state talk all about solid state amplification. The noise is there with or without a guitar plugged in. The seven most anticipated tube and solidstate amps of 2015. A rotary potentiometer, like this volume control, have a friction surface inside, so a. Depending on the level of gain used, valve heads can create a warm tube driven overdrive, using less gain can achieve bright, punchy clean tones. The classic 1x12 tube combo has long been one of the most essential tone tools ever created for guitar players. Fender forums view topic amp making crackling noise. I have a crackling sound from my amp when i first turn it on. Solid state guitar amp heads read our guitar amps buying guide.
Crackling sound from amp page 2 fender stratocaster. I really dont have a clue as to whats wrong with it. Dont let the inexpensive price tag fool you, as this tube amp can go head to. My solid state orange crush 12 is making a whistling noise, specifically when the volume goes to about 4, the treble is past 5.
The best way i can describe it is like playing with a bad patch cablethe sound never cuts out altogether, but jumps from normal to quieter, then back to normal, as though you were jiggling the plug of a bad cable in your guitar jack. The difficult part is determining which is which and how much is too much. Jul 17, 2008 if you are not at least something of a tech yourself or have someone onsite or on call solid state is just a lot more economically feasibleif you buy a good reliable solid state amp. Get the best deal for solid state head guitar amplifiers from the largest online selection at. So what pedals do work with solid state modelling amps. This flow chart is the work of aspen pittman, the author of the tube amp book and reproduced from the complete guide to guitar and. There may be fuses in some other circuits in the equipment, particularly in other parts of the power supply, or, for example, in solid state channel switching. When moving it if the contacts are dirtyworn it will make noise but may still show the proper value of resistance on a multimeter. Get the best deals on peavey solid state guitar amplifiers when you shop the largest. If the amp fails to power up entirely, the problem is located in the power section of the amp.
Matter of fact buddy is welcome anytime, just come on over. I have a markbass head doing this and its only three years old if that. If the amp fails to power up entirely, the problem is located in the. Solid state amp heads use electronics such as transistors to amplify and they are versatile in tone. A lot of amps, both tube and solid state, will experience failure in electrolytic caps, particularly ones made during the capacitor plague era of the early 2000s. This time the crackling noise started as soon as i switched the amp on and the power tubes were both glowing bright blue from the get go. This flow chart is the work of aspen pittman, the author of the tube amp book and reproduced from the complete guide to guitar and amp maintenance by ritchie fliegler. Strum the guitar as you do this so you have sound going into the amp to listen for.
Just like digital systems, solid state amplifiers measure and sound their worst at. Unfortunately im in the uk so sending to and fro to the us is not ideal for me. I have a marshall jmp1 and the whenever i adjust the volume knob it crackles and distorts very loudly. You should always have a good set of tubes in your amp. A reader asked me how to troubleshoot an amplifier that makes a loud popping noise every time its powered on.
Amp crackling and popping live sound guitar noise forum. Solid state guitar amp forum diy guitar amplifiers. Check if it makes the noise if it stops you got a bad v1 tube. Newer solid state technology is designed to mimic the soft clipping aspects of tube amps more closely, but still not enough to some peoples tastes. It ruined a couple of my favorite songs because its so distracting. There are no speakers or speaker cabinet included in the auction. In solid state amplifiers it can be aggravated by by lowdollar components, particularly opamps that have high noise figures. Solidstate guitar amps are back and heres why theyre. This is actually a common problem with guitar amps, stereo amps, and other devices that send an amplified signal to a speaker.
I tinker around with a lot of things so he dropped it off here hoping i could figure it out. Fixing pots on amps crackles n vol jumps simple, cheap, quick fix. A bad cap is less likely in a tube amp because these coupling caps will be small film or ceramic caps that rarely fail, but when it happens you will not solve the problem by replacing or cleaning the pot. Ive tested it with more than one headphone to make sure its not them. This is a low wattage solid state head with tremolo. This sound is very very annoying, subtle tho it may be, its agitating. When i switch my amps on, wait some minutes to head up, and turn on standby i get crackling, popping noises that gets l.
Minimising noise in electric guitar rigs sound on sound. Turning knobs has no effect on this, and different eq and gain settings have minimal effect on the crackle. I was told over and over that was a great sounding tube amp. The amplifier s power rating wattage can impact the noise floor level. The tremolo speed knob is also the onoff switch for the tremolo, but if you have a footswitch there is a jack. Solidstate amp crackling to the point of being useless. While its perfectly normal for a tube amplifier to produce fairly significant amounts of noise especially when compared to a solid state amp there are several reasons an amp can produce extraneous noise. I got my hd650 not too long ago, and ive been noticing in many songs a subtle crackling noiseslight distortion at certain points. So im pretty sure ive isolated it to my tube amp or dac. We all know that distortion and overdrive pedals arent exactly amazing when used with solid state amps, and neither are pedals that have their own co. One of these is a crackling noise which results from moisture being trapped inside older carbon composition resistors usually in the plate load position of the circuit. Electrical noise in solid state amps another thing, if your ac plug isnt keyed then you might lose the noise if you put the plug in the other way. My 80s peavey standard 260 solidstate amp head keeps on.