amp cleaning

[Randy Jane]

I just got an original ’68 Fender Princeton Reverb 110 combo for my 412 cab. Ok, the Reverb doesnt work, it has three tubes, (never had a tube amp, never liked them, but oh well, so i know nothing about tubes). The pots need to be cleaned badly! It pops a lot.
Will the electronic Endust work on it? What all do i need to clean? I think im going to put a new fuse in it maybe, because i dont know how old this one is.
It sounds really good clean or distorted. I played it at practice tonight, on 4….I always turned the half stack up to 6 or 7. Other than popping, its a great amp for me. The reverb is the least of my problems.
Yeah, RJ.
Oh yeah…..I have blonde hair now!

[Randy Jane]

Oh yeah, im going to use that amp in conjunction…(hehe) with my 60’s Ampeg 115 cab. I tried it, and it rules! bye.

[malcom]

If ENDDUST is that "air in a can" crap, It should work. You also should try turning the pots a few times, it doesn’t matter if the amp is on or off, but moving the capacitors tends to work dust out of the pots. This should be done to all of your amps every week or so (or so being the likely candidate. <img>

[Randy Jane]

I already turned the crap out of the pots….but it still pops. I put 3 different speakers in it and still it pops. I got the feeling i should kick it, so i smacked the top of the amp instead, and it went crazy, all sorts of crappy noises came out of it. I turned it all the way down and still had noises, the only way i got it to shut up, was by turning it off. Does it need new tubes? A proper grave? A foot to the Ninny?

Endust isnt air in a can, its like pledge, but for electronics. I bought it at like Office Max or Depot or whatever.

Anything else needed to be known, ask me.

[Bartman]

You could have a bad connection somewhere. Maybe the tubes need to be replaced? For more info you can always check out alt.guitar.amps or their website http://aga.rru.com/ which contains some useful tips http://aga.rru.com/
Good luck
B

[Mattman]

So does it randomly snap, crackle, and pop when it just sits there, like when you’re not touching or playing through it?

That sounds like interference. Might be a grounding problem, or it might just need to be moved to another part of the room, or a different outlet.

I used to sometimes get the catholic AM radio on mine at my old house. <img>

[Randy Jane]

hey Matt, Ive tried it in two houses, and it pops all the time. I havent picked up any radio stations with that amp, but my solid state amps always do….i dunno. Its in the head, I dont know if the tubes need to be replaced or not, but wont that cost a lot? And how often do you have to change them? I have a list of tubes that the amp takes, and Sovtek makes all but one of them, (that I could find anyways). ok, 5U4GB, (2) 6V6GT, (2) 12AX7A, 12AT7, and 7025. Anyhelp on those would be great. Sovtek had most of those for under $10, so I think I like them…hehehe.

[Bartman]

Tubes prices can vary from $5 to $50 or more. Bare in mind though that when you replace tubes the amp might possibly need to be rebiased, you can read about that here:
http://aga.rru.com/TechTips/disp.cgi?file=LV/BiasAdj.tt

More on your crackle and pop problem here
http://aga.rru.com/FAQs/technical.html#noisy_1

Good luck
B

[Randy Jane]

hey Bman…..and Mattman,
thanks, though I now know a little bit more about tube amps and stuff, Im going to go over to my dads house (hes an electronics tech) he can try to fix it. I would just kill it. Maybe he’ll buy the parts (if needed) and fix it for my birthday (Feb 16). HEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!!!!!

RJ.

[Mattman]

Hey, about tubes, I’m pretty sure that Prinecton Reverbs use 6V6 type power tubes. Just to let you know, and to save you the trouble and money that I had to go through… The Sovtek Electro-Harmonix 6v6’s are the ONLY currently manufactured tubes that can take a Fender amp for any decent amount of time… The good part is, most places that sell tubes realize this, so they shouldn’t be hard to find… <img>

<img>

<small>[ 01-31-2002, 10:29 PM: Message edited by: Mattman ]</small>

[Randy Jane]

yeah, i posted all of the tubes that it takes/uses in my last post, and the amp is from like 72 i think, not 68…oh well. Still a great trade I think, the $150 412 cab for that amp.

So how often should you replace tubes?

[Bartman]

Hey Randy, you’re welcome.
If your dad is an electronics tech you should have no problem getting it fixed. Just show him the info on the links I gave earlier and he should be able to diagnose and cure your amp.
About what tubes to choose: there’s this amp/tube guru "Lord Valve" who fixes amps and sells tubes. He will certainly be able to tell you what tubes fit best in your amp. The tubes he sells are really high quality and well matched. I never bought anything from LV (I’m in Europe), but according to what I’ve heard and read in newsgroups he’s real good, has fair prices and he’ll give you excellent advice. His website: http://www.nebsnow.com/LordValve
How often you need to replace tubes? Depends on the quality of your tubes, your amp, how often you play and how hard you drive your amp, and also on the biasing of your amp. More on biasing in a previous link, LV can also give you tips on this and your dad should be able to bias your amp properly. Tell him to be very careful though, there are really high voltages in play here.
To have a guess about the age of your amp you can always look at the numbers on the back of the pots, there should be a 7 digit code where the first 3 numbers stand for the manufacturer and the last 4 stand for year and week of production, eg 137 7043 stands for CTS – week 43 of 1970.
Good luck
Bart

[Randy Jane]

Hi, my amp is still at my dads house and he said hes going to try to find me some new tubes for it!!!! Thats so strange that hes going to do that for me…….odd. Any way, hes going to clean it and redo whatever needs to be redone, and have it about like new.

I told him about rebiasing it, but he was a bit confused as to why it would need that, so ill have to show him the article you sent me Bartman.

He’s also fixing one of my microphines for me…the switch broke and he has to bypass it. Its cool that he’ll do that for me.

RJ.

[Mattman]

Biasing is very necessary… Too much will sound like crap, too little can damage the transformer (very expensive.) It’s not hard though, I’m sure your dad knows how to do it… I do my own biasing with a digital multimeter I got from Radio Shack for like $40, I think… Just gotta be careful not to get yourself killed… Lots of voltage in those things. <img> I’d leave it to your dad, unless you’re willing to learn proper electronic safety…

If he has trouble finding it, the bias deal on my amp is a small potentiometer that you have to turn with a screwdriver. It’s located on the bottom of the chassis, behind the tubes… Kinda hard to find. I’d bet that yours is in a similar spot… <img>

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