# Amp died



## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

Gaaaaah! My amp just died dammit!
A weird alignment of the stars meant my Timmy just arrived _and_ I'm not up to my ears in work...on a Saturday. So I sat down to play and fizzzzzzzzle 

A stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! Pushing up the daisies! Metabolic processes are now 'istory! Off the twig! Kicked the bucket, shuffled off this mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!!

Off to see JC Maillet tomorrow for some voodoo. 
All the tubes are glowing orange...is that good or bad?
Any thoughts on groove tubes? That seems to be what JC's using these days...


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## Wild Bill (May 3, 2006)

devnulljp said:


> Gaaaaah! My amp just died dammit!
> A weird alignment of the stars meant my Timmy just arrived _and_ I'm not up to my ears in work...on a Saturday. So I sat down to play and fizzzzzzzzle
> 
> A stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! Pushing up the daisies! Metabolic processes are now 'istory! Off the twig! Kicked the bucket, shuffled off this mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!!
> ...


Well, my psychic powers are not what they used to be. What the heck kind of amp is it? Does the pilot lamp come on? Do you hear any sounds at all, strange or otherwise?

All tubes glow orange at the top and bottom of the centre sections. That's the filament, or heater, which always is hot to make them work. They can also glow on the sides of the internal sleeve, which is the plate. This is totally different.

There are a million and one things that could be wrong with your amp. Could you give us just a teensy bit of info to work with?

So far if your amp was a car you would have said "My car won't go. I won't tell you the colour. It stopped. It goes 'grrr-grr'. Please tell me what's wrong with it!"

As for Groove Tubes, thinking it's the brand of tubes is like thinking your car is stalled 'cuz of the brand of tires.

:food-smiley-004:


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

Thanks Bill, 
I know I get that all the time with computers..."_The computer stopped. it doesn't work. A box popped up and said something about some error or something. What's wrong with it?_"
I really thought your psychic powers would do the trick though 

It's a 70s Traynor YGM3. Nothing weird happened, it just kinda cut in and out a bit like a bad cable (it's not, I checked a bunch of cables, two different guitars) then nothing. Pilot light's on, tubes are glowing orange. 

I'm going to take it over to JC, so I guess I'm just venting. Just so rare to have a stretch of time to play, and then foiled by Murphy's law. 
The groove tubes thing is just because that's the brand JC uses, so that's what's probably going to go in it when he's done.


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## Wild Bill (May 3, 2006)

devnulljp said:


> Thanks Bill,
> I know I get that all the time with computers..."_The computer stopped. it doesn't work. A box popped up and said something about some error or something. What's wrong with it?_"
> I really thought your psychic powers would do the trick though
> 
> ...


Ah, an IT guy. Retributive justice!

Seriously, you have one big thing in your favour. It's a Traynor! Well built, reliable and very easy and quick to work on! It shouldn't cost you much. I just had to tell the owner of a beautiful old vintage HiWatt that the power trannie was toast! It will be several hundred dollars to fix this one. Losing a power trannie is incredibly rare, in my experience. It's like breaking an axle in your car. You might have heard of some friend or relative somewhere having it happen but it's like winning a lottery.

As for Groove Tubes, they're nothing special. They just buy Chinese or Russian and rebrand them. I just don't buy in to the mojo of different brands sounding different. I know there are lots of guys who claim to to able to hear differences but somehow they never sit still long enough for a blindfold test.

That being said, there are some differences in gain 'cuz some manufacturers vary a bit from the data book specs. And there ARE some BIG differences in quality! Some brands just don't last as long as others or are prone to mechanical loosening inside which makes them go microphonic or noisy. Others, like some Chinese EL34s a few years back can't handle plate voltages above true specs. Some Traynors and HiWatts ran very high voltages and within weeks or even hours some brands would go off like fireworks inside and arc out.

YGM3s usually have very high plate voltages, way above safe spec for today's tubes. I'd call Jon at www.thetubestore.com and ask for some Russian equivalents to EL84s he's got. They're not goofy expensive and they seem to last great in GuitarMates. Other brands burn out early, start to get noisy or both.

The better way, of course is to lower the plate voltage. I use a small 6 volt filament trannie wired out of phase to buck the incoming line voltage down to 115 vac, which is what was normal in 1968. There's lots of room on the Traynor chassis to mount it. It's a trick I got from R Keen at www.geofex.com
The man's a genius and a helluva nice guy!

:food-smiley-004:


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## sc02ma (Dec 7, 2008)

*Help with a Peavey Delta Blues*

I had my peavey delta blues for about 4 years, playing it on average 1-2 times a weeks at significant volume. The last gig I played, it was making a really annoying, high pitched whistle. So I changed the preamp tubes. It made it a little better, but I have realized the amp is still alot more noisey then when I first got it. So......

Will it help to replace the Power amp tubes?
When I replace them, should I get them biased?
Any other ideas?

Specifically for Wild Bill, I drive by Stoney Creek every few days. Would you be interested in taking a look? I hear you do really good work.


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## Wild Bill (May 3, 2006)

sc02ma said:


> I had my peavey delta blues for about 4 years, playing it on average 1-2 times a weeks at significant volume. The last gig I played, it was making a really annoying, high pitched whistle. So I changed the preamp tubes. It made it a little better, but I have realized the amp is still alot more noisey then when I first got it. So......
> 
> Will it help to replace the Power amp tubes?
> When I replace them, should I get them biased?
> ...


Glad to help!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

JC knows Traynors intimately. You're in good hands, but I'm sure you knew that. Please give him my very best for the holiday season.

Mark Hammer


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

mhammer said:


> JC knows Traynors intimately. You're in good hands, but I'm sure you knew that. Please give him my very best for the holiday season.
> 
> Mark Hammer


Message relayed (along with the bit about the salsa :food-smiley-004: )


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## Buzz (May 15, 2008)

This one time I thought my Traynor ygm-4 was dead, it turned out that I just had to turn up the bass and treble. kqoct

At least you still have that silvertone amp in case amp ang guitar, that I shouldve keptkqoct.

I have a surplus of amps, mayeb I have one that your intersested in.kkjuw


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