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Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Amp Repair Video Part 2
By Gary |
In this amp repair video, I’m showing how to clean the pots. Just a little spray into each (small opening in the pot casing) and then work the knob.
I WOULD RECOMMEND TURNING OFF THE AMP AND UNPLUGGING FROM THE WALL FIRST.
Clean the jacks also and make sure they are nice and tight to the feel. By that I mean plug in and out the guitar chord to make sure there is a tight grip. If not, I recommend changing the plug which will require solder/unsolder chops on these units. Notice the soldering video, I will cover unsoldering in another video.
Topics: amp repair (Fender) | 177 Comments »
July 14th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Hi Gary,
I just bought a Fender Twin off some guy. It hums loud even while not playing and makes a huge clashing sound as if a symbol is being hit. Can’t find info on the clashing sound anywhere. Seems to happen more when the amp moves. It is in casters.
Thanks,
Tom M
Las Vegas
July 14th, 2008 at 2:00 am
Hello,
Sounds like your reverb pan in the bottom is plugged in backwards…the two silver RCA plug cords on the back panel, try unplugging, notice where they are,,write it down if you need to…switch them… hopefully amp works correctly now…
other than that, you have problems,,,
some twins the reverb line cords could be grey, one I believe will have a red ending…also make sure they are plugged into the reverb send/receive jacks,,
Gary
July 19th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
you were absolutely right. I fixed it. Now I here a buzz though very loud with nothing plugged in, any ideas?
Tom
July 19th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
On the amp, are you saying, now it works but you have buzz…with nothing plugged in?
Is the buzz too loud to deal with or is it tolerable?
Could be the wiring of the room you are in
Could be the amp is not grounded correctly, see if there is still 3 prongs on the AC cord,,if there is great,,switch the ground on the switch on the back..
If it still buzzes too loud, you may have real problems…could be someone went into it trying to figure it out and didn’t hook it up right when they put it back together, thus the reverb wires were backwards….make sure it is not your guitar or guitar cord causing the hum.
can’t think of anything else right now, other than take it to another building and try it.
Gary
August 21st, 2008 at 9:09 am
hi,Gary…thx a lot for the video..i love it…thx!! btw, i just want to ask your advice for my amp’s problem : the volume is decreasing suddenly in both channel: clean and lead channel and it always synchronized…(if my clean channel volume is decreasing, the lead channel is also decreasing,..visa versa..) it sounds like that there is a sound that want to goes out but it can’t … this problem came in no precise time and paroxysm…sometimes in the middle of my playing and sometimes it already came just as i start turning on the amp volume…
i have tried to isolate the problem by using my amp’s “return” to know if the damage is on the preamp or power amp, but i think the power amp is still ok..(the “master” volume is still in perfect condition and no volume decreasing there)….
i also use another guitar and cable or even using another amp to find if the problem is on my guitar or cable but i found that my guitar and the cable are just fine…i also always keep my amp away from the wall to keep a proper ventilation for my amp..
and then, yesterday, i found that i can have the volume back to normal if i turn the volume knob to the maximum position or strum really hard to the strings of my guitar…so as an example: if i have my volume decreasing in some position(x position), then i can fix it if i turn the volume knob to maximum position and the amp volume is back to normal…(if i turn the knob to x position again, the volume produced by my amp is normal for the x position again) ……but then i found also that it won’t stay long, the problem will come again and again…
what happened with my amp?
August 21st, 2008 at 9:13 am
oh ya, some people suggest me to clean the input and the pots with the contact cleaner..but how should i apply the contact cleaner to the input?in your video, i realize that u are applying the contact cleaner by spraying the jack..but some website, told me to spray the input socket n jiggling it with the jack..is it ok to do that?
and also, should i always open my amp’s case for cleaning the pots like you do in that video?
thx u
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Hello,
Sorry I missed your questions. I “sounds” like you have a loose component in the preamp section somewhere. On those units it could be near the tube, like say a resistor that feeds the plate voltage on an input tube. They are famous for pulling away from the circuit board over time because of heat. Could be anything really. I’m not sure where you are on the tech chops. Finding the problem may not be that hard, getting the board out to resolder the component correctly takes a bit of skill.
On the pots, it doesn’t hurt to spray into the shaft, I just spray the jack and then work the jack back and forth to scrape/clean the connections. Also use top of the line cleaner especially for this type of work.
Gary
November 20th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Hi Gary
Was watching your video on How To Clean The Pots on a Fender Amplifier. I have a 1980 Fender Twin Reverb amp.
All the knobs are really noisy/ scratchy as it has not been played in about 10 Years.
Where can I purchase ” Funk Out Cleaner ” ??
Can not find any reference regarding this product on-line .
Is there another equivilant more common cleaner you would recommend ?
Thanks
Gerry
UPDATE: This is a Peavey product,most Peavey dealers carry it or can get it. I should say it’s a Caig product but I don’t know which one. I get as funk out from Peavey.
February 9th, 2009 at 11:31 am
hello Gary, how are you?, thanks for the video it’s very informative.
I have a Fender Hot Rod Deville 212 amp that had a problem with the treble knob and the c48 .47uf 63v capacitor in the foot switch area of the board, this was replaced and the foot pedal appears to work normally again (OD boost light was dim, not any more)(can’t tell if the treble knob is fixed). Lol, now the amp has no clean channel sound at all and distortion only comes in if you put the drive and master volume all the way up, which results in a rather low (compared to usual) buzzing, chattering distortion sound.
I’ve checked the soldering and the tubes “appear’ to be okay, one of the pre amp tubes looks a little dimmer than the rest, but thats about it, they all still light up.
If you could send any helpful information my way I would really appreciate it, I already have the schematics and wiring diagams.
Thanks a lot,
Daniel
February 9th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Hello,
From what I understand of your problem, – you had a treble pot problem and footswitch problem, got it repaired and now it doesn’t work right?
If your channel problem occurred upon getting your amp back then I would take it back to where ever and tell them you have new problems since the repair.
If this is not the case then I would check the channel switching circuitry first, which is going to be some FET’s…best thing to do with FET’s is just replace them, don’t try to trouble shoot them..there like a buck a piece and your time is more important if you suspect them…
This is a start.
Gary
February 15th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
thanks,
Unfortunately I cannot get ahold of the guy who replaced the treble pot and the capacitor, I noticed that the same type of capacitor (.47uF 63v) is in spot C17 on the board and was loose, I replaced the solder, but it made no difference to the sound. I already spent too much trying to get it fixed the first time, so I’ll have to do the repairs myself this time. I am an Electrician by trade (residential/commercial, building), but have some board/soldering skills. Are the capacitors in C17 and C48 actually capacitors or something different?, I notice offer “C” designated spots are positive and negative and that the type that I had replaced is not, also it looks more like a little two pronged tooth rather than the others which are cylindrical. Sorry if I’m asking uneducated questions, but no one else seems to want to help.
If the treble pot wasn’t replaced correctly would that have the same effect as no clean channel at hearable levels or the distortion being low and static filled at full volume?. I’ll start diagnosing the voltage/tolerances and what not, I guess without a diffinitive problem or by not knowing if the “tech” (used loosely) fixed it in the first place I’m kind of up the proverbial creek.
Sorry for writhing so much and giving you any headaches,
Thanks a lot for your help,
Daniel
February 21st, 2009 at 4:09 am
Hi Gary,
Thanks for the informative video! I just bought an amp (Crate TD-50C, hybrid tube pre-amp, solid state amp) used off a guy. It worked great when I first bought it, but in about a week, it stopped putting out sound after about 4 strums of the strings and stopped recognizing the Channel A/B switch. I realize your videos focus on Fender amps, but I’m wondering if you have any insights as to why my amp will draw power just fine and recognize the chorus switch (even if no sound comes out) without putting out any sound from guitar? I’ve also hooked it up to my drum kit with no luck there, either, so I really don’t think it’s the guitar or the cord.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts,
Jason
February 21st, 2009 at 4:28 am
Hello,
It’s a little hard over the net to pick up on your repair. Getting an amp back from a tech or whomever and it not being repaired correctly presents 2 problems. You have to fix what he did and you have to repair the original problem.
You’re going to need a service schematic so you can look up part numbers, ratings, and also it will have the component layout so you can make sure parts have the correct polarity, such as caps.
Of course if you could a/b against another unit it would save a lot of time but other than that you need the schematic. Fender usually had them with the amps in the newer units.
I can’t imagine a tech putting in the wrong pot or in wrong, in these units it’s pretty straight forward, I would say you going to have a component in wrong, or the wrong component, or a trace not making connection because it was butchered somehow.
I would start off eyeballing everything on the board, follow it on your schematic using your ohm meter..like I said over the net this one would be a hard nut to crack.
Gary
February 21st, 2009 at 4:36 am
Hello Jason,
You must have popped in while I was answering above.
Maybe I need to put up a forum for answers. I don’t really understand what you’re asking. Are you saying you can hear the chorus making it’s swirling noise but you can’t hear the guitar coming out of the amp?
If so, then your losing your signal at the front end.
If it’s has a send/receive plug your guitar straight into the receive jack and you should hear it quietly, that will verify it’s the front end or not.
If I got your question wrong let me know.
Gary
March 4th, 2009 at 2:48 am
Gary, thanks for the quick response. Oddly enough, the solution turned out to be disturbingly simple. Crate’s online support wrote back (they were running 2 weeks behind in responses, they said) and mentioned that if the amp didn’t receive regular use, the jacks could oxidize. I sprayed the end of a q-tip with WD-40, swabbed the inside of the jacks and presto, crisp, clean sound. Thanks again for taking the time to answer the question.
March 4th, 2009 at 3:21 am
Hello Jason,
Well it was an easy front end but I must tell you, do not use WD-40 on your amp from now on. You didn’t really hurt anything. I hope the Crate tech didn’t tell you to use that. It leaves a residue that is just plain messy, even the cheapest tuner cleaner at Radio Shack is better. So at a later date if it’s starts cutting out again you may need to go in and clean the WD-40 out with a real good electrical cleaner spray like Funk Out by Peavey which is a Caig Product.
Cheers,
April 4th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Hello there.
I have encountered a problem with my fender hot rod deluxe amplifier. This problem only concerns the drive channel, the clean channel is not being affected. When the bass knob is turned to 4 or higher a low buzz occurs. This buzz decreases in frequency as the knob is turned higher but gets higher in pitch. Whilst buzzing, if the drive knob is turned down, the buzz gets louder. If the gain is turned up, the buzz gets more frequent and oscillates to a squeaky pitch. The problem is present even if a jack plug is not in.
many thanks
Gus
April 4th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Hello,
That’s a little strange to diagnose over the net. Make sure it’s not something simple like a bad jack.
By that I mean it’s not shorting to ground. Like the effects loop or even the input jack not making a good connection to the guitar cord or to ground when it’s not being used.
That’s a real shot in the dark answer since it’s only in one channel (at this point) other than that it may be a component like a cap on one of the tube circuits in the drive section or in the supply itself, common to all circuits but showing up in the high gain section first…again this one is a little rough to diagnose just typing.
You could try switching the drive tube out with the tube next to it to see if the problem goes away or moves to another circuit.
Hope this helps.
Gary
April 4th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
hi thanks for the quick reply.
I have swapped the two preamp valves and the problem hasn’t changed. All jack leads are out of the amp, so there is no jack lead going to the inputs or effects loop.
it looks like I’m gonna have take it to a shop
many thanks for your help.
April 4th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
woah, just switched it back on at there was a faint crackle. even on the clean channel.
April 4th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Hello,
Hmmm, probably a power supply problem or something in the output section, the suspicious hum that started to be noticed in the high gain section.
Unless of course you mean the amp is working now with just a faint crackle but I don’t think that is what you mean.
If you’re not up on repair chops I would take this to a tech that knows what he/she is doing.
Gary
April 5th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
hey there. sorry to keep bothering you all the time. i understand that my explanations are not brilliant so i made a video outlining the problem.
thanks again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EquzqRmBj8g
April 5th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Hello Gus,
Hey no bother, interesting video. I’m going to have to think on this one a bit, I’ve seen it before.
First off, usually when I get something like this in someone has been playing with the circuit recently.
If that’s not the case, you got a cap breaking down someplace is what I would suspect, either a coupling cap or some type filtering cap on a circuit or in the supply. Which sums up the role of caps.
It’s a little hard to trouble shoot this one over the internet. If it’s not common to both channels then it’s going to be a little shot in the dark to isolate it.
Gary
April 17th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Hi,
I am torn between buying a hot rod deluxe or a hot rod deluxe bluesman. From what I can see the speaker Celestian Vintage 30 and the knobs colour is the only difference.
However I cant find any review or comparrison with the hot rod deluxe. Can anybody advise. PS I use a 175t gibson, Strat 93. Like the jazz clean tone, with the addition of a full tone pedel for overdrive. Thanks.
April 18th, 2009 at 2:12 am
Hello,
Can’t help you there, usually musician’s friend has decent reviews.
Gary
April 29th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Hey man! Top video! You can almost charge money for this kinda thing!! Great idea!
SO!
I’m borrowing my friends Fender Hotrod Deluxe…
I’m in trouble… It worked fine one second…
then one time turn it on, and I got no red light… no sound, no nothing!!
I tried changing the fuse… nothing…
I’ve tried different power sources.. nothing.
God help me, I’ve even tried jiggling the power supply cord !!!!
(obviously I’m just another mindless muso, lost in the world of sound and art and ignorant to everything else.)
Should I take it in to get repaired? And risk being charged a fortune cause I don’t know anything about it???
Please save me wise man gary!!
April 29th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Hello,
2 things, you sure the fuse you put in was good? Are you sure you’re plugged into a hot wall socket?
Since you don’t know much about amps, there’s not much I can suggest. Do you know one of the people at the music store that can look at it real quick. Usually when it’s working one minute and then you turn it on and nothing works it’s going to be something simple. I say usually, anything is possible but chances are it’s not that bad of a repair job. Are you sure the bulb is not blown and the tubes are warming up and it just looks dead?
Take it to another wall socket where something plugged into it is working to verify the socket is hot.
Hope this helps and tell you’re fiend what happened.
Gary
May 26th, 2009 at 1:42 am
Gary,
I have the same Amp as Jason, the Crate TD-50C, and you mentioned, “If so, then your losing your signal at the front end. If it’s has a send/receive plug your guitar straight into the receive jack and you should hear it quietly, that will verify it’s the front end or not.”
I have this problem! You plug in, and you can hear the distortion/amplification very softly (happens on clean channel too). I can turn the amp off and on a couple of times and it comes back. But once I start playing, after anywhere from 2 to 30 minutes, it goes soft again. Switch the amp off and on a few times and it’s back.
What do you think could be the issue?
Thanks,
Sal
May 26th, 2009 at 2:01 am
Hello Sal,
I believe Jason’s problem ended up being oxidation build up on the jacks. If this is the case, you want to get a good electronic contact cleaner, like the Peavey funk out that is one of my videos, or just about any Caig product at an electronic parts store.
If you’re in a real jam tuner cleaner at some tv repair shop if they still have that stuff. Do not use WD40.
Clean all your jacks very well by spraying a guitar cord jack and inserting it a bunch of times in the different jack holes and see if that does it.
I got an email in to Jason to see if that kept his problem cured.
Cheers,
Gary
May 26th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Yeah, I will go ahead and do that. It’s weird because like I said, you can “hear” it at very low volume. The other weird thing is that turning the amp off and on solves it. Do you think that could be oxidation? It sounds like something more amplification-related or power-related.
Sal
June 2nd, 2009 at 4:54 am
hi there,
i just got my amp back from a friend of mine after touring and now my amp has this weird buzzing noise. its subtle when at about level 2 but anything passed 5 is just an annoyance. any ideas as to what it could be?
June 2nd, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Hello Shaun,
I guess the first thing you want to do is determine if the buzz is an electronic component failure or the speaker. If you can run the head through another speaker cab or whatever and see if you still have the buzz.
If it is a self contained combo amp there are ways to check the speaker.
If you switch cabs and the buzz is coming out of the new cab you have an electronic problem. There are different kinds of buzzes, for instance like an annoying ground buzz. Or a kazoo buzz that follows the note as it dies, a constant buzz in the background just on certain channels.
Caps leaking can cause a buzz, check what I said so far and see what’s up.
Gary
June 24th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Hi Gary,
I’ve got a Fender Twin Reverb 1980 Silverface (135W with push/pull master volume) which had hum problems, needed retubing and had static (sometimes could pick up radio) in the background too.
I’ve just retubed, replaced filter caps and cleaned the amp (no contact cleaner yet so need to go back in) and used the ‘Hum Balance’ and ‘Output Tubes Matching’ pots to reduce the hum and get the tubes looking rather nice.
The hum is still there but I think is the transformer??? This is slightly improved after the work. The sounds is clean but there is a problem with static in the background still. Any ideas for sorting the static?
Fantastic site by the way. Great information.
Thanks in advance,
Martin.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:17 am
Hello Martin,
That hum could be a lot of things. Here it is off the top of my head. First I would try to isolate the hum, pull the drive tube and move forwards and backward from there. If you still got it with the drive tube or leave the drive and pull the inputs and reverb, etc then it’s in the supply, if not check caps in the cathode circuit.
I’ve seen guys take the hum balance out and go to an earlier design. Do the 100 ohm to ground off the power light mod.
Not quite sure what you mean about the static, as the amp sits idle?
I don’t know about the transformer causing the hum, which one are you talking about?
Make sure you have good chassis ground for all circuits.
I guess the main thing at this point is you have to isolate the noise to get an idea of what the problem is.
Gary
June 24th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Thanks for the swift reply Gary! I’m with the amp now so here goes…
Tube layout from Left – 4 6L6′s, 12AT7, 7025, 7025, 12AT7, 7025, 7025.
When I pull the 2nd and 4th from Left 7025′s the static/dirty electrical sound clears up completely but the hum remains softly. If either of these tubes get plugged in the static and hum comes back.
I’ve read someone else had this problem, did the pilot light 2 x 100ohm resistors mod and it didn’t solve the hum but I will try it if I can figure it out!
FYI – The amp doesn’t hum in standby mode with ALL tubes plugged in.
I’ve checked all ground solder points and all look fine.
Any ideas welcome!
Thanks again.
June 24th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
PS.When I’ve pulled the 1st and 4th 6L6 power tubes out, the hum is pretty much gone 100%. I’d be perfectly happy with this level of hum…now how the heck do I get rid of it!?!?!?
Thanks for helping me narrow it all down.
June 26th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
An update in case anyone else has similar problems:
1.The 2 100 ohm resistors to ground from the Pilot Light work a treat (don’t forget to disconnect the Hum Balance Pot) and get rid of my hum issues nearly 100%!
2.Cleaned contacts, tightened pots and transformers, checked all grounds and cleaned them.
The amp sounds clean, tight and loud now with very little background noise at all.
Thanks for your input Gary!
July 12th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Hi how are you?
I hope you can help me. I am having a problem with my fender deluxe
I use the 4 cable method to connect my boss gt-8 and it works for a few minutes then the volume goes off. So I checked connecting directly to the input and the amp works great. Then I checked connecting to the power amp in and it doesn’t work. Do you know how can I fix this?
thanks, have a nice day
July 12th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Hi,
Well lets see, you say when you go with guitar in to the input of the amp is works great, and then when you use the guitar to go into the amp in it doesn’t?
Is that what you are asking or your effects are going into the amp in?
If it’s the guitar into the amp in then the volume will be very low, you probably know this but just for time sake I’ll throw it in.
Gary
July 12th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
I got I boss gt-8 which has preamps already so I use 4 cables to connect it to my amp. So sometimes I use the fender preamp through the loop on the boss gt-8 and sometimes I use the boss gt-8 preamps. But the problem is the power amp in. It doesn’t work anymore.
I can here the guitar for a couple of minutes then it fades out.
So I try connecting the boss gt-8 directly into the input, and the amp works great but it doesn’t sound that good. And then I plug the gt-8 directly to the power amp in and it doesn’t work at all.
July 12th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Hello,
well since we’re on the internet I would assume between the amp in jack and the output you have a problem. Make sure your tubes are lit up about the same and all are lit. Just for grins hook another good speaker *shot in the dark)to the amp make sure it’s not the speaker connection or speaker.
Other than that you have internal problems, could be anything from a bad amp input jack to component failure in the output section. Might be shop time.
Gary
July 12th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
thanks for the help. I’ll check it
have a nice day
July 15th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Hi how are you? I checked what you told me. I changed the tubes to my old ones and I have the same problem. When connected to the main input it sounds great. When connected to the power amp in it sounds great for a few minutes then the volume fades. Hope you can help me, thanks have a nice day
July 16th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Hi,
If whatever you’re plugging into the amp to generate a signal, make sure it is constant, other than that sounds like the amp in jack or something in that area is bad.
If your amp has preamp out you could come out of preamp out to power amp in with a guitar cord, just completing the circuit. and then play your guitar into the main input on top like you’ve been doing when it was working.
This would verify if it’s the power amp in jack.
Gary
July 19th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
I have a DeVille that defies repair. It pops and snaps then it won’ no matter what you do. Turn it off, back on and it’s at it again or not. I have changed all power caps and the two 330 ohms resistors on the main board. The only thing left is replacing the phase inverter resistors and the 6L6 plate resistor change from 470 to 1K. Any further Ideas? I have seen this noise throughout the amp. Even on the B minus tube bias pot. When I jack in to the main amp nothing. The noise is in the pre amp. I am changing the resistors as a recomended up-grade of the amp. I need to find the pre-amp problem.
July 19th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Hello,
Well it’s easy for me to suggest things but it sounds like you’re on top of it, maybe need to back off a bit and let the inner tech mind do some crunching and the answer might pop in,,works for me sometimes,
With that said here’s some things:::
If you go amp in with the signal you say the noise goes away, well then I don’t think looking in the output section is the place to start unless you feel there is some common thread like the power supply. Off the top of my head unless you’re front end ground is not exactly with the back end ground maybe there’s a gradual buildup of different ground voltages that discharges, otherwise I would look in the front end.
Does pulling a preamp tube do anything?
I would replace the cathode components on the pre amp, cap and resistor on the front end, sometimes in real old amps you get a frying sound when resistors drift or caps leak in the cathode.
Look at your grounds real well, on these newer Fenders the connectors can cause problems, also the way the wires can get crimps in them, the way they attach to the board.
Make sure you have good solid ground throughout. When you say you can see the problem on the bias pot but the noise can be isolated to the front end, again it’s got to be something is more ground than the other, as rear section is at 0 ground, pre fluctuates between 0 and .005 and discharges back to 0 or something like that…
Good Luck…
Gary
July 24th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Hi
I have a really annoying problem with my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. All the channels work fine but when i connect the footswitch it randomly switches between all three channels and sometimes switches back to the channel you’ve selected if you tap the footswitch. I connect the footswitch with a known good guitar lead so its not that. Any help would be greatly appreciated. PS I can handle a soldering iron, but I’m no electrician!
Thanks very much
Lee
July 24th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Hi Lee,
The easiest thing to do is see if you can borrow a foot switch from another unit and make sure it’s not in the foot switch. Other than that it could be aswitching FET in the amp. Which takes a little finesse to replace. If the problem is in the amp might be best to take to a good repairman.
Cheers,
Gary
July 25th, 2009 at 7:26 am
Hi Gary
Thanks very much for the quick response. I’ll try it with another footswitch today and if it’s not that I’ll take it to a repair shop. Thanks again, I’ll be recommending your site to all my friends!
Lee
September 16th, 2009 at 12:52 am
Hello Gary -
Great website and video. Not sure you can help me. I have Fender “The Twin” with only the clean channel working at the moment. The dirty channel give no sound at all. Also, after warming the amp up for about 15 mins and playing for a short time the clean channel increases in volume. Do you think the two problems are related?
Jerry
September 16th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Hi Jerry,
If you have a channel out, you got problems right? (no pun intended) if you noticed both problems at about the same time, they probably are related.
Are all your pre-amp tubes lighting up? You can switch pre-amp tubes and check if it’s a tube, (not sure if you have a re-issue or like my Keith Richard’s tour video) Just make sure you’re switching 12AX7′s,, don’t switch out a 12AT7 by mistake.
Not sure where you are on your repair chops, might be shop time.
Gary
September 26th, 2009 at 4:39 am
Hello Gary -
I still giving “The Twin” the once over to find out why the gain/lead channel is dead. All the 12AX7′s light up although dimly. Jiggling the tubes does nothing and I did switch around the 12AX7′s which by the way are brand new. I tried sending guitar signal feeds to monitors suing the preamp and amp through connections on the back of the amp. Only the clean channel comes through. I do not see any loose wires.
Can the amp choke or any of the LDRs cause this problem? Or should I be looking elsewhere?
Thanks for any assistance you can provide.
Jerry
September 26th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Hi Jerry,
From listening to your problems I would say you are going to need test equipment to zero in on this one.
It’s not the choke, and the LDR’s, I’m not looking at a schematic, but I’m not sure this unit uses them.
Usually they are switching FET’s are used in channel switching ciruits, could be wrong on this unit but a lot of the re-issues use FETs and they are prone to go bad. But that may not be your problem. I would say you need to follow the signal path in the dirty channel and see where you are losing it.
At bare minimum you’re going to need a good volt meter and a schematic. And remember one wrong poke inside a working circuit and you got 2 problems. I’m all for learning/teaching electronic repair but like I always say, don’t get your chops on amps that you depend on.
Let me know what you got for repair equipment. sometimes
Gary
October 20th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Hi,
Has anyone solved the “buzz in drive channel” -problem that Gus had?
My HRD does same thing now. Clean channel works fine (so far), but drive channel starts buzzing when i’m turning bass knob up to ~”4″-position and over.
Any ideas?
October 20th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Hi,
Do you remember what post that was? I don’t see it in this thread. I’m at the point I may need to turn the site into a forum, would be easier to navigate.
Gary
October 20th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Hi,
Oh, ok I see it now. Single channel problems are hard to diagnose over the net. I would need detailed info and the person looking at the amp would need decent repair equipment.
Other than changing out tubes, and hooking up different speaker cabs there’s not much that can be done.
Gary
October 28th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Hi Gary. Been looking at your helpful site and can see that my problem is common. My HRD has been making a low buzzing and popping sound too. Recently got much louder and blew altogether. Shop replaced two valves. Good to go? No! It’s came back, low hum with pops/crackles even with no instrument plugged in and at low/no volume.
Help!
October 28th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Hi,
If you’re saying it came back from the shop still humming, you may need to take it back and tell them they missed something. The low hum could be different things, power supply, bias, pre-amp, drive section but if it’s loud enough for you to notice you may point it out to the tech.
Depends on which tubes that were replaced, when it blew did it pop a fuse or just the tubes, was it pre-amps or outputs…Regardless I would take it back to the shop and see if they can rectify the situation, might of sounded good during final checkout but still have something wrong with it.
Cheers!
November 29th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Hey, great Q & A. Fender Hot Rod Deluxe issue:
The drive channel works, but it sounds like it’s got a humming vibrato effect. The repair shop suggests it might be a loose tube. Does that make sense, or is it a shot in the dark?
November 29th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Hi,
Maybe what they mean is there’s a component connected with one of the tubes is loose from the board. The tube itself, I doubt is causing the problem.
All you would have to do is make sure they are all pushed in and tight.
I would suspect component failure, but always check the simple stuff first.
Good Luck!
December 8th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Hi Gary,
Great site, your knowledge and advice is very much appreciated. I have a question about my Hot Rod Deluxe. At my last show, I turned the amp on in standby mode. Set up the gear and when I flipped the standby switch to “On”, the amp lost power. When I got home I saw that the fuse had blown. I did some research and read that failing power tubes may be the culprit, so I replaced both power tubes and fuse. Again I turned the amp on in standby mode and it powered on, but as soon as I flipped the standby switch, the fuse blew again. Any thoughts on what may be the cause of the problem? Thank you for your time!
December 8th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Hi,
If I had to guess off the top of my head I would say it’s one of the power diodes. The downside is on this amp the pc board has to come out to get to it correctly which is an ordeal if you haven’t done much repair.
I’ll try to post a snapshot of the power supply. There are other things in the high power section that could blow the fuse but this solid state diode array is probably the answer if you switched out the tubes.
Other thing could be the output transformer, but hopefully it’s a power diode, which usually goes out. Sometimes also, I can’t remember on these amps but if there’s a lot of stage light activity in a small club there are some protection diodes on the output transformer that will short also instead of the transformer, but again I bet it’s a power diode.
I would say it’s shop time, you want this repair done correctly, I can’t think of anything besides of what you already performed unless you’re up on repairing amps.
Good Luck!
Gary
December 8th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Thanks Gary! I truly appreciate your help.
February 4th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Hello Gary,
First of all, thank you for posting such great and informative videos, they’ve been extremely helpful! However, I have a question in regards to the Peavey Funk Out you’re using. I was just curious as it’s difficult to notice in the video if you’re shaking the can or spraying it, but are you solely using the spray to clean the pots / inputs, or are spraying the product directly onto the circuit board?
Thanks in advance for any help and thank you again for your useful videos!
All the best,
Michael
February 4th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Hi,
Thanks for the comments. I’m just shaking the can to build up pressure inside the can. I’m spraying inside the pots, in most pots in amps there is a little indention (hole) or an opening near the lugs (points where the circuit is connected).
I usually spray the guitar jack (end of the audio cord) with cleaner and work that inside the jack, or you can spray inside the amp input jack and work the guitar plug in and out to clean.
With Funk Out you only need a little squirt. I try to keep it off the circuit board.
It won’t hurt anything, it’s not conductive but sometimes cleaners will leave a filmy residue on the board. I usually turn the amp off while cleaning anyway.
Gary
February 4th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
Gary,
Thank you for the taking the time to reply to my question, it’s greatly appreciated.
All the best,
Michael
February 16th, 2010 at 2:48 am
hello,
having a problem with the reverb not working on a hot rod deville 212. checked the connections on the circuit board, the rca jacks on the reverb tank, all intact. still doesn’t work. rest of amp works fine. any ideas?
February 16th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Hi,
I assume you checked the reverb driver tube? Also the pan transducers inside. Are the wires still connected, sometimes they break, (the part that attaches to the springs)
If you have done all this, do you hear the pan “crash” if you shake it, while it’s hooked up? That will tell you the problem is before the pan, if you don’t hear anything suspect the pan or what’s after it.
Gary
February 16th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
gary thanks so much. but that’s just it: i’m not sure which is the reverb driver tube. there’s 5 tubes altogether: 2)6L6gt’s and 3)12AX7′s. is it one of these or is the reverb tube something totally different? at any rate, thanks for the quick response.
February 17th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Hi,
For some reason my Hot Rod Deluxe schematic PDF is unavailable so I pulled up a Blues Deville schematic and noticed the drive is an IC so if the hot rod is the same you’re out of luck on the troubleshooting.
best thing to do is pull your preamp tube covers and make sure they’re all lit. small glow at the base of the tube is the heater.
You could switch tubes BUT some may be 12ax7 and a couple 12at7, you do not want to get these mixed up, the amp will still work but the quality of the sound will suffer greatly.
SO until I can find a schematic I would just make sure of the things I told you so far, make sure it’s not the pan.
And if you’re unsure about anything I’ve said just don’t do anything to your amp till you get with someone that knows a thing or two or it can cost you more money when you get it fixed.
Gary
February 17th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
Hi Adrian,
Just noticed you said there are 3 12ax7 tubes, I would say this has IC reverb driver, this is a whole different layer of troubleshooting that will need to go to an experienced tech.
Gary
February 17th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
gary,
i can’t thank you enough for taking the time out to look. i’ve done some extensive research on it and have come up empty. but to my surprise, i’m still covered under a 5 year warranty even though i bought it from a friend last year who bought it new. thanks again.
June 28th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
i have a fender blues deluxe and recently started crackling after playing for a little while and losing volume not got gone completely but lower
June 28th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Hi,
Well there are a couple of things to check…next time it does it, check out the large output tubes, is one glowing brighter than the other? If so, turn it off an take it to a shop.
Or you could have a component coming loose from a circuit board which again is a shop repair if you are not experienced at working on amp.
The simple thing would be a tube, so make sure they are all pushed in and seated correctly the next time the amp is off and cooled down.
Also switch out guitars and cables and such, make sure it is the amp.
Gary
June 28th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
i checked the tubes one of them i could barely see the pins could that be it the other one u couldnt see the pins and they are pretty easy to pull out is that normal
June 28th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
HI,
I assume you’re talking about the output tubes. If you made sure they’re pushed in and you still have the problem, it’s probably something else.
If you do have loose tubes, the socket pin holders need to be tightened and that will need to be done correctly and safely at a shop.
The tubes should be snug but not hard to pull out.
Gary
July 6th, 2010 at 12:25 am
so i tested my amp for about an hour it seems to make the noise when turn the amp up louder and the tubes were warm but not real hot
July 6th, 2010 at 1:54 am
Hi,
It’s kinda hard to say what it is. If you have some spare tubes you could switch out tubes and see if the problem goes away. If not it would probably be easier and cheaper to have a shop check it out. Sometimes having some good used tubes on hand is nice but I wouldn’t spend a lot for them because it still might be something else like a component.
Gary
July 6th, 2010 at 2:00 am
i dont know if old tubes bias are different shouldnt they be the same
July 6th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Hi,
With the diode and small input, drive, reverb tubes bias would not be an issue. With the output tubes yes, but what you’re trying to do with switching the tubes out is to see if you’re problem goes away. Then you’ve located your problem and move forward with buying new output tubes or biasing your amp to fit the new (used) tubes. If you still have a problem then you know your problem is something else and proceed accordingly. If you’re a tech then you start checking voltages and eyeballing the circuit, watching it on a scope at the different stages, etc. If you’re not a tech it’s shop time.
Gary
July 6th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
so i tried both tubes and both times my sound was not as clean as usual alittle distorted even turned down low volume
July 6th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Hi,
Sounds like it might be time for the shop.
Gary
July 12th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
it was a bad plate cost 80 bucks to fix
July 12th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Hi,
Are you saying that one of the tubes were bad or a component connected to the plate circuit on the tube?
Thanks,
Gary
July 21st, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Hi Gary,
Have a HRD that emits very loud low-pitch hum noise even with all controls @ 0.
Checked for cracked solder joints ’cause I’ve had that issue before.
July 21st, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Hi,
I would suspect the power supply if you haven’t checked it already…if you have noise with all volume turned off. Also check around the output tubes, does the sound go away if you pull them? Is one output brighter than the other? Of course be careful, I don’t know your skill level, I would assume if you’re repairing solder joints you know something about repair.
Gary
July 21st, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Noise still there w/ tubes pulled, same luminosity from both.
What would I be looking for when checking the power supply? I’m fairly competent with electronics, particularly signal processors, but I don’t know much about amplifiers.
July 21st, 2010 at 6:03 pm
Hi,
You probably have a problem in your power supply, it’s going to be a cap or a power diode. I don’t know the age of the amp but, I would eyeball everything in the supply with the power off. Lots of time you can see a cap leaking or possibly the diode created heat. Also you can check the diodes, just make sure to discharge caps and such when working in there for safety and preventing false readings.
If you can’t see anything, you may want to take voltage readings or look at your amp on a scope.
Just remember these can pack some current, so you don’t want it discharging through you or your equipment. I usually use a 100 ohm 5 watt to bleed caps to ground before poking around.
Good luck!
July 21st, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Hi,
I need to quit doing 2 things at once :), it’s probably not a power diode unless it opened because if it was shorted it would probably be blowing fuses.
You probably have a bad cap but kinda hard to troubleshoot without hearing the sound and taking measurements on my end..
G
July 24th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Unfortunately, all the caps (& diodes) look to be in great shape. It looks like one of the power resistors has gotten hot at some point, perhaps I’ll try flipping it for a new one.
Thanks so much for your thoughts!
July 24th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Hi,
On the power resistors, possibly, depends on which ones. If it’s the step down FP, those generate some heat which could be that the legs have pulled away from the board or a component near them. Continuity test would tell.
If it’s the resistors leading to the 15 volts feed, now that may be your problem…did you check the voltages 15 v rails? May have lost a zener or an Ic.
There’s a schematic at http://www.fender.com/support/amplifier_schematics.php if you don’t have one.
Gary
July 30th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
I have a 2002 hot rod deluxe. If you tap about any where on the amp it crackles. I opened the back and when i tap around the curcit board, knobs, or compontents it crackles. It seems worse when i tap on the GT6L6B tubes. and one tube worse than other. Would bad tubes cause it to crackle even when i tap on the outside case?
July 31st, 2010 at 1:13 am
Hi,
It may be a tube, if you have a known good tube to replace each one and see if the noise goes away would be the quick thing to do.
Gary
July 31st, 2010 at 1:50 am
switched the 2 tubes now it is dead, so i think re tube it all. Is there matched 6L6 and the other 2 in a pair then 1 single?
I will start with only 2 6L6 and see.
Unless you have a better thought.
July 31st, 2010 at 2:09 am
Hi,
I’m assuming you switched the output tubes with tubes that are not from this amp? It shouldn’t be dead. Something doesn’t sound right.
It’s really hard to troubleshoot on the net, from what you said so far, I would take it to a shop or to a friend that works on amps. You could buy tubes and still have the problem.
Just my 2 cents.
Gary
July 31st, 2010 at 2:18 am
no switched 1 output tube for the other. same tubes different plugs. Is that bad?
July 31st, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Hi,
So you’re saying you switched one GLG for the other?
If you did, the amp shouldn’t quit working, even if one was noisy. Are you sure the bottom part (plastic) guide tip (inside the metal pins circle) is not broke off? You would be able to see the glass of the tube from the bottom if it was.
And besides, tubes going bad ( unless they cause a short from the above problem or a tube destructs internally) is not going to make your amp dead.
I would put it back the way it was and see if it comes on. I’m not saying it’s not your tubes but at the same time I can’t say it is the tubes. There’s nothing worse than buying 2 6L6′s and still have a problem. No one is going to take tubes back.
Gary
July 31st, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Thank you for all your information.
Turns out one of the solder connections on the ribbon cable to the preamp tubes had a loose connection on the curcuit board. The ground wire was also loose on the circuit board.
I removed the board and re soldered the 2 connections. I put it back together and it sounds great and every thing seems to work. Thanks again and have a great day, I know I will be rocking.
July 31st, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Hi,
Fantastic…good eyeballing there!
Gary
September 7th, 2010 at 12:30 am
Hi,
Great tutorial. I have a question about my 410 deville. Whenever I use any type of gain or distortion there is a loud humming and buzzing noise. As i increase the volume and/or the gain on the amp the buzzing noise gets louder. This happens even when there is no guitar being plugged into the amp. Do you know what could be the problem?
Thanks
September 28th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Hi,
It could be a switching FET, I have an article on here about those: http://www.aztechmusic.com/213/guitar-amp-channel-switching-problem-and-how-to-repair-it/
could be an op-amp also, if you’re not a tech it’s probably shop time, I doubt that it’s a simple repair.
Gary
October 28th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Custom that will make an intermittent VERY LOUD (hard to describe) noise just every once in a while. This is not effected by the volume control and sometimes will go on until I shut the amp off. I can be playing at 2-1 or less and then this loud shrieking/buzzing (almost like a horn sound) happens waking up my neighbours and really annoying me. What could this be? thanks for any help.
George Miller
October 28th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
HI,
If it’s not affected by the volume control I would suspect the power supply first. I would get it to the shop before it does a number on your speaker.
Gary
January 7th, 2011 at 12:43 am
Dear Gary: I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (2002), my problem is: At first it has good sound, but later it goes into very hard noise. I checked out the large output tubes, and one is glowing brighter than the other, I changed them, but the problem is there. I checked out the Tp24(one anode from the 12ax7 v3A) is marked with 11.5volts, but i read 250v, and the another anode it checks good. I changed R57 82K resistor and the C26 .1 microF/630v cap, but is the same. Would you help me. I am in Mexico. Thanks.
January 7th, 2011 at 12:53 am
Hi,
If both your output tubes are the same brand, etc and one is glowing noticeably brighter than the other, your problem might be the grid resistor leading to the output tube. It’s probably pulled away from the board from heat or opened up. I forget where they are on that unit, might be on the output tube board or maybe on the main board. There should be schematics on the net, usually are on Fenders. It’s going to be a 5 watt or possibly a 2 watt resistor which means it’s going to be large in size if I remember correctly.
Another test is to switch the outputs and if the glowing stays in the same location I would definitely look there. Your grid input voltage is probably going near 0 from a neg voltage.
A little hard to troubleshoot over the net.
Good Luck!
G
February 21st, 2011 at 2:47 am
I think i killed my amp.Bought a re cap/mod kit for my Hot Rod Deville 212,installed it and found that all i have now is the clean channel.Can you help?what does it cost to fix this mess?
February 21st, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Hi,
If you installed this kit your self, I would un install it and put the amp back to what it was and see if that fixes the problem. You may have put something in backwards or connected to the wrong place. I’m not familiar with a recap/mod kit install so I can’t help you there.
G
February 23rd, 2011 at 2:01 am
I just bought a used Hot Rod Deluxe. It worked great for about 1/2 hour. The next day when I turned it on, there was a very noticeable hum with nothing plugged in and all levels down. I plugged in the guitar, hit a couple of notes and they sounded like a harmonizer was on it….very odd sound. I have another Hot Rod which works fine. I swaped the tubes out and no change. PCB cold solder?
I also pushed in all the connectors I could see on the back of the PCB.
Thank You for any help
February 23rd, 2011 at 2:17 am
Hi,
hmmm.. Make sure you’re reverb lines are making good connection at the pan. Sounds like the power supply, possible loose cap or ones going bad possibly. If it is the supply you’re going to want the work done by someone that knows what they are doing.
Not sure on the harmonizer sound though, that doesn’t sound like the supply usually because it’s not in the audio chain but I guess it could effect it somehow.
Go into the line in and see if it goes away, maybe you gimped up your input jack and it’s bent open…
All I can think of on the internet…
G
February 23rd, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Thanx Gary. Great advice…Glad your here for the help. I did try the line out into another amp. It was clean at the other amp while the bad amp still had the wierd sound and the hum. I will try going line in and see what happens. I will also check the reverb RCA connectors to make certain they are in and tight. Although it does have the classic sound of a bad cap as I have heard that before. If that does not work, it will go into the shop….This is as far as I can go.
Again thanx for the advice.
W
February 23rd, 2011 at 7:52 pm
Hi Wayne,
You know if it sounded clean through the line out, I doubt it is the supply also. It could be one of your send receive jacks have oxidized. Also try running a guitar cord between them and see if it goes away.
G
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:41 pm
I will do thst and let ya know…It will be tomorrow when I have the chance to do the test’s.
Thanx again for the help….
W
February 24th, 2011 at 6:16 am
Hi Gary, I checked the Reverb RCA and the moldex connectors where they plug into the verb springs to make sure they were in thight. They were in good. That is not the problem. I then did the other test where I took a cable out of the “Pre amp out” and plugged it into the “Amp In”. No change, the problem still exist’s. So off to the shop it goes.
I will let ya know what happens when it is fixed. It is either a cap and or perhaps a trany winding or tap has gone bad I think….. The hum with nothing plugged could be cap or output tranny related but then the ghost type sound with the notes is very odd….
W
March 8th, 2011 at 11:34 pm
Hi Gary. Just found your site and it looks great. I have a first generation hot rod deluxe I bought new years ago. When it craped out I stuck it in a corner and barley ever used it. What started happening about 2 years after I got it was and still is:
After a minute or two of playing(used to be longer), I would loose the reverb and gain and what was left was a drab volume decreased sound. Sometimes it pops back but I loose it again quickly. What do you think?
March 8th, 2011 at 11:43 pm
Hi,
Doesn’t sound too bad. Usually when something is intermittent, something not making a good connection. could be as simple as oxidation on input jacks or worse case something needs to be resoldered. Or possibly reseated like a molex connector or something. First thing I would do is go into the receive jack of your effects loop and see if the volume is constant, it will be quieter if your playing your guitar but it will verify the problem is in the effects jacks or before or after.
G
March 9th, 2011 at 9:24 pm
Hey Gary,
Just recently, my beloved hot rod has developed an annoying buzz. It’s mentioned in post 32 briefly and describes my problem perfectly. It’a a kazoo like buzz sound that comes after i kill a note quickly. Have changed guitars and leads etc so i know it’s something in the amp! I’m a complete novice when it comes to maintenance but can’t afford the repair quite yet and would love some assistance! Ps Great site!
Cheers
Rick
March 9th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Hi,
First thing I would do is make sure it’s not the speaker. See if you can run the speaker out to another speaker cabinet or have a buddy do it for you if you can’t figure it out.
Will tell you real quick if one of your speakers is blown.
G
March 15th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
Cheers Gary.
Funnily enough i tried a different speaker and the noise stopped. Then i plugged back in the cab speaker and there was no noise either!? It seems to have cured itself?
Rick
March 15th, 2011 at 7:48 pm
Hi,
Yes sometimes that happens. Oxidation can build up on connections and just by unplugging and plugging back in you clean the connection. Hopefully your problems is in the past.
Sometimes it’s the simple stuff!
Gary
March 15th, 2011 at 8:11 pm
Thanks for the assistance though! Much appreciated.
Rick
March 24th, 2011 at 4:41 pm
Hi Gary, and all. I posted a Hot Rod Deluxe problem I had on Feb 23rd. Post # 108. So here is the results from the problem. I sent the amp to my tech. There was a couple of caps that died in the power supply circuit. He also had to re-solder a few other connections as well. The amp is like new again. Cost was $100.00. Well worth it for me.
Great site here….thanx Gary for all your advice.
Wayne
April 28th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
Hey Gary,
Very informative website u have… I have a 2009 hot rod deville 410 that I picked up used… Sounded awesome when I bought it , plugged it in at home and on the clean channel only there is this background static with a little bit of crackle… Sounds almost like a radio that Cant pick up a station… It’s not super loud and only on the clean channel… With no volume it does this, with no guitar plugged in it does it too. The drive channel is perfect. Pretty weird eh? Hope u can help. Thanks
April 28th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
Hi, Off the top of my head this could be a tube problem or a component around the tube is failing.
Gary
April 28th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
I have a 90′s Fender Deluxe and I have very little sound coming out of it when I try to play. If I turn the volume up to around 7 or higher I can here what I am playing but it is very quiet and distorted, I have checked the speakers with another amp and they are not the problem, the tubes all seem to be working fine I am not sure where to go from there I would be thankful for any suggestions.
April 30th, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Hi,
If that amp has a send and receive effects loop, put your guitar in the receive and see if you get a signal, not loud but louder than what you are getting.
G
May 7th, 2011 at 6:52 am
It has two input guitar jacks, a pre ampout jack, a foot petal jack and a power amp in jack so not sure what to do next. THANK YOU for any help you could give.
May 8th, 2011 at 7:55 pm
Hi,
I don’t know what your question is, looks like it got cut off?
G
May 12th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
Hi,
I have a 410 Hot Rod DeVille. A little over a year ago, one of my power tubes stopped working and I took the amp in to get it checked out. They ended up ‘fixing’ the amp but when I got it back home and tested it out I had a problem. I called the shop and they told me to bring it back in but I’d had several issues even getting the thing serviced in the first place and after all that trouble plus it still not working as intended, I decided I’d rather not deal with them anymore. My schedule got busy and I never got around to taking it elsewhere to have it looked at. Here is my problem:
My clean channel is great, but when I switch to the Drive channel there is a faint clicking sound, and somewhat of an LFO type sound accompanied by it; it pulses. When I switch the channel back to clean, it takes a second and then pops ever so slightly, and then goes to the clean channel. Thanks for any help!
May 12th, 2011 at 7:22 pm
Hi,
Your tube being out should have nothing to do with your last paragraph talks about. Since I’m arm chair quarterback here I would say, the shop fixed your tube problem, I assume you’re talking output tube. If you are talking small tube then it’s possible it wasn’t fixed correctly.
The symptom you have now sound like a channel switching problem but those usually just go out. The motorboat thing sounds like something is not in the right place but again I’m not there to look at it.
Maybe a supply problem. sorry can’t be of much help. I would talk to the pro players and usually a local guy’s name will come up a lot that knows his stuff, he may not be cheap but chances are it will be fixed.
Gary
May 15th, 2011 at 12:43 am
Yes it was a power tube problem initially. I’ll probably end up taking it to another shop at some point. I can’t say I was expecting to come out of this with an answer, but in the event you may have somehow encountered the same problem at some point I was giving it a shot haha. Thanks for the time though, I appreciate it.
May 16th, 2011 at 10:54 pm
Hi Gary,
I have a Hot Rod DeVille 410 (ca. 2000). The power amp section distorts and sounds ‘mushy’ at low volumes. This is true using the DeVille preamp section or other suitable sources. The DeVille preamp out into another amp’s power section sounds OK. I have two sets of matched 6L6′s for her and get the same results with either set. Thanks.
Gary A.
May 17th, 2011 at 12:51 am
My Fender Hot Rod Deluxe I was askinging you about in messages 124-127 I am not sure what to check next I have replaced all the tubes and it still has the same problem. When I put my ear up to the am I hear a hum if that helps any. I just dont know what I should check next because I dont know what could cause a problem like this.
May 17th, 2011 at 6:31 am
Hi again,
A bit of an addenda to #131. The amp tends to sound good in ‘drive’ and ‘more drive’- especially at higher volume settings-there seems to be no sag or other audible indication of a problem. Pretty much comes out in the clean setting at lower volumes where you expect to have a pretty decent clean tone.
Again thanks for taking the time to help us lost souls.
Gary A.
May 18th, 2011 at 8:18 pm
Howdy Gary-
It turned out to be a lifted pad on the pcb- a capacitor @ v3 (c26 on the Fender schematic). It didn’t show up the first couple of times I inspected the boards looking for just that kind of thing. I finally found it using a fairly high magnification lens and a really bright light. Thanks for the great site and all the time you devote to helping folks.
Gary A.
June 15th, 2011 at 12:41 am
its still making the crackling and popping sounds and sometimes boost in volume by
itself
June 15th, 2011 at 12:55 am
Hi Dwight,
I think you’re last post was from July. Might want to take it to the shop again.
Gary
July 30th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
Hi Gary, I am writing from India. I have had a tough time keeping my beloved hot rod deluxe amp functional ever since I brought it back from the US. Recently I replaced all the capacitors to fix some volume/tone issues. It worked fine for a few weeks after that but then one day it blew its fuse. Now after replacing the fuse when I switch it on, it only outputs a loud power hum, no sound and none of the knobs/inputs function at all. The red jewel lamp dims down whenever I flip on the standby switch and the loud power hum comes on. The power transformers red terminal seems to output nearly 300V ac. Shouldn’t it be more for 431V dc? I don’t get 431 V Z+ either. Very odd readings like 300V or so and AC readings are pretty high too. I’m really cracking up trying to figure out what it is. Till now checked most of the resistors/diodes. nothing looks suspicious except for the odd Z+ power readings which seems to be too low in general. Have you ever fixed a problem like this one? Thanks for sharing your valuable knowledge with us.
August 8th, 2011 at 5:17 pm
Hi,
It’s hard to say. I don’t know what kind of mod was done, was everything to specs, etc.
Make sure one of your caps didn’t pull loose. I don’t quite understand what you’re saying about the trans voltage. You should be seeing dc on the secondary unless you unhook it.
Also, your mod could have stressed original components next to it, I don’t know. Shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.
Gary
August 27th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
Hi Gary. First, thanks for your site, extremely informative.
I’ve been looking on the web for hours, can’t find what I need, hope you can help. I have a Hot Rod Deville 4×10, bought new about 2004. Perfect except for the CLEAN channel volume control. Goes from no volume on notch 1 to monstrously loud at notch 2, very sensitive and almost impossible to dial in appropriately (too loud or too low volumes). I found replacement volume pods for the DELUXE (Fender original, Hot Rod Deluxe 250K audio pot), not the Deville, and I’ve also found the pot for the DRIVE channel on the Deville, not the CLEAN channel. Question 1: would the pot for the Deluxe work on the Deville? 2.difficulty level to replace, on a 1-10 scale? 3. Other options…the THD Hot Plate power brake Attenuator($300) and the Volume Box Attenuator ($25). The difference between these? I’m gigging pretty often and this issue is killing the fun….Thank you in advance Gary,
Fernando
August 27th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
I bought a preowned 1994 twin amp model pr266. Great sound except when a crackling sound intermittently occurs with and without the guitar plugged in. (Not on standby) I secured a loose on/off switch in the back and vaarious loose pots. I opened it up an looked for anything unusual, it looks new inside. I blew it out. It got better, still not perfect. Power tubes have been changed, biased and balanced. Still occurs but not as often. Looking for direction, Help!
August 27th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
Hi,
I wouldn’t necessarily assume it’s a pot problem (there’s a joke there somewhere) Have there been any mods recently? It could be a pot but usually in my experience that is not how a pot breaks down, look for solder breaks and such, there’s probably a simple solution and you can buy all that stuff and still have a problem.
G
August 27th, 2011 at 9:45 pm
Could be a preamp tube spitting or an associated cap (like a cathode cap in the preamp section) but that’s a guess.
G
August 28th, 2011 at 5:55 am
Thanks, just finished a gig using another twin, model pr449 awsome. To be continued…
August 28th, 2011 at 5:40 pm
Gary, hi again. Regarding comment 139…these amps came out of the factory with that defective pot, apparently a known issue that Fender Fans were willing to accept, including me (the new version of the Deville now boasts to have the “new and improved graduated volume”). I tried several Devilles at the time of purchase, all the were same. I am having a problem finding the answer to the first question.. 1: would the pot for the Deluxe (Fender original, Hot Rod Deluxe 250K audio pot) on the Deville? Thanks again
August 28th, 2011 at 8:19 pm
HI,
Maybe all the Hot Rods I looked at had this pot replaced or there was a production run til they caught it, I don’t know.
If you’re having trouble finding this pot I would call Fender Parts in Scotsdale AZ and get an exact replacement or whatever they have for a replacement.
That way you know you’re not getting into the same old part. Also their pots have mounting legs also and you want to make sure everything lines up. Now there might be someone that sees this and knows what you need but unless they do, call Fender parts and get exactly what you need the first time.
As far as the job goes, it’s a bit of a hassle, all knobs and washers come off, the board is going to have to come out and slide down, make sure you don’t break any wires when you do it. Just take your time you can figure it out or take it to a shop and find out in advance how much they are going to charge.
Hope this helps,
G
August 29th, 2011 at 9:46 pm
Thanks so much for the info Gary, great advice, great site!
September 7th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Hi Gary,
First of all, i love this site. I have read a lot of it. My problem is that i have a problem with the reverb on my super sonic 22. Whenever, i turn the knob past 4 on the dial the reverb seems to feedback on itself until it becomes a loud squeal! Do you have any idea what could cause this? the amp is new and i’m thinking of taking it back. Also, i have heard that is is normal for an amp to get a bit of static (especially tube amps) but how much static is normal? this amp seems to have a fairly loud static, even when nothing is plugged in.
Cheers Alex
September 7th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
Hi
If this amp is new to the point you can take it back, I would take it back for starters. You’re experiencing too many problems for a new amp. Not sure what the reverb thing is without listening. If I remember correctly if someone put in the wrong pan (transducers don’t match the amp) you would not hear it or you would get your problem but a new amp shouldn’t have this issue.
Again a new amp shouldn’t have static to the point that you notice it. Of course the 2 issues could be related but too broad for a website repair.
G
September 8th, 2011 at 12:29 am
Thanks a heap, yeah. i think i’ll take her back :)
Alex
September 19th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
Hey Gary,
I bought an Ampeg 220 bass combo amp almost two years ago. It has recently begun to take on a faint buzzing sound, almost like distortion, whenever I play on it. I took my bass to Guitar Center and tried it out on the very same amp just to make sure that the bass wasn’t the problem, and sure enough, it sounded fine on their amp. It isn’t a huge problem but it is very annoying. Any idea what’s up?
September 19th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Hi,
That sounds like “possibly” the speaker but not a sure thing. I’m not familiar with that model but I assume it’s a St Louis Music ampeg. The best thing to do is figure out how to use the head to run a known good speaker or play another head through the 220 speaker and see if you still get the buzz.
You can also pull the speaker and have a speaker tech check it or sometimes if you press on both sides of the speaker cone with your hands so it’s an even push in, you can hear the speaker scrape but I wouldn’t do this unless you know what you’re doing, get an experienced tech to do it.
If it’s not the speaker, sometimes a clamping FET or other component going bad will cause it, possibly even an IC on the input or even a smaller cap in the supply but 80% of the time it will be the speaker.
G
September 27th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Hi,
I have a Hot-rod deluxe I’ve been troubleshooting.
After dealing with the plate load resistors on the phase inverter, the amp is loud and crackle free again, but now I can hear this strange ghost note that hangs, distorted and much lower, only when I hit a ‘C’ note. On sustain, the ghost note will start cutting in and out sort of like a gate with a sharp threshold. It only happens on this note.
My first thought is that 1) one of the chips is bad or 2) one of the filter caps to the chips is going bad.
Any thoughts?
Cheers!
September 27th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
You know I think I’ve seen some reissues do this but I can’t remember what it was right now, it will come to me. I doubt it’s an IC or supply, they’re usually not that selective when they start going out.
I assume it’s a low C? Possible resonant frequency of the amp cabinet (so to speak) shakes something loose that gets in the signal path or another idea will be small component in the signal path. Have you tried different input and drive tubes? The cutting in and out is the strange part or I would say run to a different set of speakers.
September 27th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Hi Gary,
Thanks for the response!
The issue actually happens at octaves too…
it is very strange.
The reason I thought it chip related has the nature of how the ghost note cuts out when the sustained note rings down. It seriously sounds like its hitting the threshold of a noise gate, cuts in and out a few time (literally on and off, like a gate) and then cuts out. Also, I have to dig in playing a little to get it to happen…
Also, this issue happens on both channels in the same manner.
very curious…
Thanks again, Gary!
September 27th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Hi,
Is there an IC in the signal path common to both channels on that amp?
Since it is on both amps I would pay attention to the supply, possibly reverb and back at the output.
Was it doing this before your work? If not go over what you were doing and check your components.
Only happening on C is the strange part. Does sound like a cap charging and discharging but I’m just guessing. since it’s only happening on C, I would look for simple things first.
September 27th, 2011 at 3:03 pm
I meant to say since it’s in both channels. Also I’m not sure what blew before your repair but look at components that were in the vicinity or attached to the circuit that blew, one could be taxed to the limit now because of the failure.
September 27th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
The amp had low volume and intermittent squeals.
A little research led me to the issue with the plate load resistors fatiguing (I read somewhere that Fender actually had a bad batch of 100K 1/2Ws at the plant).
I replaced the 100K at the PI (r58) but haven’t done the 82K (r57) yet.
Coulda sworn there was a TL072 in the audio path somewhere…
September 27th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Ah ha!
You were correct. I replaced a tube with another bad tube in the V1. Totally microphonic.
So far, the amp sounds good.
You, sir, are a great resource.
Cheers!
September 27th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Hi,
Great!! It’s always nice for the problem to be something that you have in stock.
G
October 8th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
Gary
I have a fender hotrod deluxe and I’m having an issue
I just put in a celestion g12h and I turned it on and the volume is very low and my tone is really off.
any suggestions?
October 8th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
Hi,
Was the amp working before you switched the speaker? IF it was then check your wiring or the speaker you put in could be bad.
G
November 10th, 2011 at 6:59 am
Have a 1976 Silverface Fender Deleuxe reverb which recently had all the tubes replaced by a authorized Fender tech about a year ago. My problem is that when I plug in on the Vibrato channel side there is faint low level of volume leaking when the volume knob isturned down to 1 for some reason – I mean you can still hear your guitar even if you turn the knob down to 1. It’s not loud but it is there!
Other than that the Normal channel volume, treble, bass knobs and all other Vibrato channel knobs work at all levels.
November 11th, 2011 at 11:33 pm
Hi,
One thing you can do is try and isolate the problem, if you know how, pull the small input tube at the far end ( if you don’t know what I mean, best to not do it because you have to put it back in correctly, line up the pins with the socket) see if your problem goes away. If it doesn’t there’s a couple of things to look at in the reverb vibro circuit.
G
November 18th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
Hey man,
I have a deville 4×10 and last night channel one pretty much died. At first I removed my pedal board from the signal path and went directly in but all I got was a crackly sound which eventually stopped all together. So I tried Channel 2 and made it through the night with it. But Channel 1 remains dead. Any ideas?
November 18th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Hi,
Could be an input jack, tube or switching FET for starters. Make sure tubes are seated properly, like the 2nd one in (the small ones) You could switch input tubes but unless you know what you’re doing it could just cause more problems. Might be shop time.
G
November 18th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
I’m a “Pro” with some amp building under my belt. I made the original Fender Champ years ago. So I have some decent tube amp knowledge. although I know that the deville is a printed circuit board… so my vintage knowledge is a little useless here! ahaha
I’ll try the 2 things you suggested and let you know.
Thanks for the quick response! I appreciate your time.
November 18th, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Hi,
In that case drop me a line at buckapple at gmail and I’ll give you some tips.
G
November 28th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Hey hey!
Sorry if you’ve been asked this question before, but I barely made it through my audiotronics course and am a moron when it comes to amps and circuitry…
My 1×12 Hot Rod Deluxe combo has a mind of its own at times and the sound drops out (usually after about 1 hour of playing above 4 which is pretty loud–I’ve never played at 10) but does not completely go out. I see that the pilot light gets very dim, and brightens only enough to coincide with how hard I am strumming my guitar. This is all with me going straight plugged into the amp. I’m thinking I need to replace the tubes since I bought it used, but could this be an issue with the fuse instead? AND how often is it recommended you change tubes/fuses?
Usually just as a temporary fix, I unplug the amp and plug it back in which seems to give it some juice enough to keep playing full blast for a little while. Is that normal?
I’d appreciate any advice. I just hope I don’t have to solder anything, hahaha. Thanks a bunch!
November 28th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
Hi,
Before taking a look at the amp. Does it exhibit this symptom at different locations? Sometimes amps will do this if too much equipment is going to the same power source.
If that’s not the case, as far as the power light dimming, something could really be sucking the current but not enough to blow the fuse but it seems like over time it would go ahead and breakdown. Make sure you have the correct rated fuse for this amp.
It could be something intermittent, if it’s not a location problem and you have limited repair chops I would take it to a good repairman and have him/her locate and fix the problem before it blows and really cost some bucks.
G
December 2nd, 2011 at 3:16 am
Hi Gary,
I just stumbled across your site and would like to pick your brain a little. It sounds like I am having the EXACT same problem with my Hot Rod Deluxe that “Gus” outlined here (beginning on post #17). I have barely played the amp since new since it doesn’t really fit my style, so I have decided to sell it. The clean channel sounds okay, but breaks up MUCH earlier than normal, but the gain channel is doing the same buzzing thing. The only thing that seems to affect it is the bass knob when it’s on the gain channel. I tried to watch his video that he posted but it has been removed. Did you ever come up with a solution? I can’t imagine it would be anything serious. Like I said, I have BARELY played it an when it wasn’t being used it was kept in my climate controlled studio unplugged. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Jeron
December 2nd, 2011 at 7:44 pm
Hi,
Well it could be a tube, a cap in that area, a switching FET, an active component. So it might be time to take it to a tech if you’re not up on repairs. Seems like some people are having some cap failure right in that area. What I ran into was FET switching failure most often. Make sure it’s not the tube other than that it’s not an easy amp to work on.
G
January 8th, 2012 at 11:52 am
Hi My Fender Ultimate Chorus amp crackles when i play, thought it was a lead problem but have bought a new one and it still does it. The sound is as if its the input jack on my guitar is faulty but that has been checked and is ok. I do use foot peddles , but have tryed it with just the fender foot switch and it still does it. It a bit inconsistant, as in the past it cracked but then stopped, however now it seems to be getting worse and is constantly crackling. Have you any ideas, hope iv explained it well enough.
January 8th, 2012 at 1:40 pm
Hi,
Not sure what you mean by “lead”, I guess you’re saying cable? Anyway it’s hard to say. The easiest thing to do is run a guitar cable from the effects send to effects in and see if that is it.
Sometimes those jacks need cleaning. If not, could be something inside needs resoldering and it doesn’t separate until the amp is vibrating from playing.
Unless it’s something simple like a jack cleaning, probably time to take it to a shop. Shouldn’t be too bad, repairs like this are “usually” not that involved.
G
March 19th, 2012 at 2:04 am
A friend gave me a one year old HotRod Deluxe. With no guitar plugged in, if I select the drive channel and put the master and gain up around 10 there is a very loud roar. Is this normal for a tube amp? I’d like to use this for more blues oriented gigs, but I mostly use very clean solid state amps for my much more frequent jazz work. One one gig, however, even using the clean channel I heard a few sudden loud nasty “blap” sounding distortion events which tended not to happen if I avoided low notes/chords.
March 19th, 2012 at 12:42 pm
Hi,
NO it’s not normal for a tube amp to do that. I would say it’s time the amp went to the shop, could be anything from bad jacks, speaker, component failure, a combination of two of these like the loud hum with the flap noise for example.
G
April 29th, 2012 at 7:32 pm
Gary,
I have a 1994 Super 4×10 Combo, amp # PR 244 that has started making the “bacon frying” noices intermittantly. Is it due for all new capacitors and resistors? The tubes all check out good, pots have been cleaned, sockets are good. I’ve heard many Fender amps get this problem. Can you recommend a good cap/resistor replacement kit?
Thanks,
Mark Cate
April 30th, 2012 at 12:09 am
Hi,
Sweet amp you got there. Please don’t let anyone hack on it…LOL
Basically what I would do is change anything that has looked at high voltage over the years, resistors, caps in the supply and output section. The 100k plate resistors on the preamps at least.
As for kits, I haven’t kept up with that but would imagine there are some that touch the bases I mentioned and then some.
Cheers!
Gary