Fender club vintage tube amp problem

B

bradthefattest

New member
Crate club vintage tube amp problem

the guitarist in my band has a crate club vintage all tube 3x10 combo amp. it normally works great. but lately it hasnt been working properly. when you turn it on at first it works ok for a couiple minutes, and then after that it starts messing up where even if you have all the gain and level and volume nobs down it will still come out pretty loud, and if you set it on the distorted channel and turn it up at all it just is very loud and fuzzy and horrible sounding. Just wondering if anyone would know what was wrong with it. hopefuly it just needs new tubes or something simpler. Any help is greatly appreciated.

-brad
 
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Check the pre-amp tube(s) (the small ones).

If they're okay, then the power tubes.
 
Do you have a meter (VOM or multimeter) to measure resistance? If so, set the level/gain/volume knob to 0, plug a guitar cord into an input, and check the resistance between the tip and the sleeve on the other end of the cord (while the amp is on and acting up.) If the reading is anything other than 0, (or of you get a huge pop from the speakers when you test it), then there is probably a grounding problem at the inputs.

Edit: On second thought, I could be wrong on this - I just assumed the volume pot grounds the wiper at the 0 setting, but this is not necessarily so. You'd really need a schematic. It would seem that something is heating up and then not working right - could be the preamp tube, or a resistor or capacitor. As suggested, you could try changing the preamp tube - if that doesn't work, you'll need to take it to a shop.
 
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ok, i have already looked at the tubes. They look ok. but i didnt know how to test them, i will do what you said crazydoc tonight. Also. if i buy matched tubes can i just put them in myself, or is there more to it than putting them in(if so could i do it, i have taken a class on electronic, i know how to solder and know basic electronics.) also recapping it, can i desolder and solder in new ones, i heard those have to be replaced every so often also.
 
Are any of the tubes the same (have the same number)? If so, you can just switch them and see if it makes a difference (like creates a different problem.) Or if you can find a place or know somebody with a tube tester you could test them - not likely these days. Or you could buy a new tube or two and switch them out, depending on the type and cost. I assume the tubes are socketed, so should be no problem to remove or insert.

Recapping might be a time consuming and relatively expensive job (for parts), and likely might not fix the problem. If switching out some tubes doesn't help, I think you'd be better off in the long run taking it to someone who knows what they're doing. In the end it usually costs less to have something fixed by a professional rather than by an amateur. :)
 
ok cool, thanks for the help, yeah there are 4 12ax7 tubes and 4 el84 tubes. ill try switching them around and see if anythign happens. and yes they are socketed. i found a siate(eurotubes.com) that i can buy tubes from. unless someone else knows of a better place to buy from?
 
Try warming up some solder joints especially the ones on the pots that are board and chassis mounted. From time to time these things get metal fatigue and break thus becoming intermitent.
 
Konanian said:
Try warming up some solder joints especially the ones on the pots that are board and chassis mounted. From time to time these things get metal fatigue and break thus becoming intermitent.
Click to expand...

After of course draining the filter caps so you don't get your ass killed poking around in your amp.

I, too, have found that many amp problems can be solved with resoldering. :)
 
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