Guitar Gear Forum

Hey fellas, HC defector here. I'll just cut to the chase. So I've been very busy with work this year and fired up my amp for the first time in months and months today and ran into an issue. I struck one chord and not a half second after I hit it, the sound cut out and I couldn't hear anything. I fiddled with the amp volume and with the volume at about 7 I could faintly hear sound again, and at max volume it was still below talking volume but still audible. I turned the volume down again to half, played a chord and it cut in again for only a half second scaring the piss outa me. After fiddling with different cables, other guitars, it never cut in again, and I could only faintly hear it at high volumes. Now my limited knowledge has caused me to suspect a couple things. I've had the amp for over two years now, I have never changed the stock tubes, but then again it hasn't seen heavy use. So could it be tubes? The fact that it cut out and in and out has me thinking it could be a connection issue somewhere, or potentiometer issue. Before I rip the bad boy apart or take it to a tech, does anyone have any insight into what this problem may be? Thanks fellas, and I apologize for the long winded post.

Check da Tubes

Mesa/Kramer wrote:Check da Tubes

Do you think it's a pre or power issue? Or is a complete retube in order? Is Doug's tubes still a good place to go? Sorry fellas I've been out of the loop for awhile.

Sorry for the bump fellas, just wondering if anyone else has any insight.

When it does it, are your tubes glowing bright red? If so, definitely replace the power tubes.

To me, it sounds like a power tube issue...It could be a pot or a ground, but not likely. Tubes are the easiest to verify. Do you have another amp you could pop the tubes out of and test?

Good luck man!