Amp-problems

[Seedawakener]

I own a 40 watt peavey xxx combo. I have 2 problems with it, and since you guys are always so wise when it comes to equipment maybe you can help me.

1. Like... yesterday my amp just died. The sound just faded away and died. So I turned the amp off. Later on I tried to start it and it went fine but after some minutes it died again. Anyone have a clue why?

2. The gain in the amp is not that hi-gain anymore. When I have it at 10 now its like if the gain is at 6 if i played it some months ago. might these problems have anything to do with the tubes?

thanks in advance.

 

[the phish]

my gut says get new tubes.

 

[Det Som Engang Var]

I want a xxx combo so bad

 

[JBroll]

Sounds like tubes, as has been said before. Dying tubes lose it all faster than Catholic girls at their first rock show, so switch those out before you try anything else. If that doesn't work, it might help to visually inspect the inside of the box to make sure no wires have been disconnected or might be crossing another electrical path and that no parts inside have blown (this could look like a lot of things, all of which are very easy to notice, but in case it all looks foreign anything that's covered in black or melted plastic over a large portion of its surface - or exposed innards - in an irregular pattern might be the culprit). Apart from that, defective speakers (very unlikely given the period of function before dying again), or the tubes, I can only think of a power supply or transformer issue - if the lights all stay on, it's probably not a power supply problem; if the sound was close to normal (disregarding the loss of gain - might want to examine clean channel) then it's probably not the output transformer. Fortunately, tubes are the most common problems and they're not at all hard to do, so read up on forums to find the ones you'll most likely enjoy the most and find a good tutorial on replacement, and good luck with the amp.

By the way, in recording how does that combo hold up? Do you have original speakers or aftermarkets? And, apart from this issue, would you recommend it to someone looking to sound like bloody murder on a budget? I'm looking very seriously at these, your comments would help greatly.

Jeff

 

[the phish]

I want a xxx combo so bad

you and me both brother

 

[Seedawakener]

Well, The lights got turned off. MAybe I forgot to say that but that is the case. It just completly died, started working again. tried it the day after and there was nothing. Then I tried it again and it was working. just tried to turn it on now and the lights went on and off after like a second...
luckily I have my guitarport, it works ok.

But to your question about the amp. I havent used it for recording since I own a guitarport and well... im a bit of an amateur. But I love the sound of the amp. at least I loved it a while ago. But its kind of dirty (in a good way) and evil.

 

[cobhc]

If the lights aren't staying on, check the fuses, tubes generally affect the sound of the amp, not the actual operation, so since it's not even staying turned on, I dont think it's tubes, after fuses, I'm guessing the output trannie, which probably wont be cheap to replace.


Edit: Try looking for things yourself, and after that, take it to a tech. Most decent tech's will probably give you an idea of what they suspect the problem is, for free, or for a small fee.


Good luck with it dude.