Fender Deville 2x12 - Is it dead?

[Supercreep]

Tubes went bad, guy replaced them and a couple of resistors.

Less than an hour of playing the thing is cracklin' and buzzing. Channel switching doesn't really work, and causes horrible buzz and crackle.

I've already spent almost 200 fixing this thing once. I don't want to spend 400 bucks fixing a 700 dollar amp.

Should I persevere or prepare to buy a new rig?

 

[capnkid]

I would suspect the guy isn't a very good amp tech. It sounds like a wire, or a connection is failing, and is loose somewhere. A good tech could trouble shoot it down.

But don't throw it away, send it to me.

 

[RandyW]

Please tell me this wasn't a Fender authorized repair facility.
So it played okay for an hour then went south?
What was it doing when you originally took it in?
If you let it sit and cool off will it work for a while?

It seems like a lot of people have problems with
the lower priced fender tube amps. It's to bad because
they sound great and are a lot less than say a twin reverb.

 

[rileykill]

I agree - wouldn't give up just yet. Probably an easy fix if you can get it to the proper repair guy.

 

[Flamin Lip]

Take it back untill the problem is fixed!!!!!! Prolly a PCB connection or problem. Fender is good about their waranty work if you stay within the rules/timeframe.

 

[Supercreep]

No problems for fifteen years. It isn't a fender tech, it's a local guy with a good reputation.

 

[jimistone]

Man I love my 2/12 hot rod deville.

I have modified it to hell and back....but it kicks ass!

I would suspect it probably needs a circut board....I had to put one in mine.

 

[visa]

it's probably the power resistors on the pcb. they need re-soldering job.

don't open that amp and try to fix it by yourself tho unless you know how to drain filter caps or else it might kill you.

 

[Supercreep]

First off have you told the tech it isn't fixed right? He might do good by you.

Is it quiet when first turned on and then after it heats up starts the snap, crackle, and pop? Any sensitivity to a gentle whack on the chassis that makes it worse? One channel worse than the other? Does the amp have a smoky smell to it ? Put a plug in the return jack and see if the noise stops. This might tell you if it's the preamp side or power amp side causing the problem. New tubes can go bad. I just replaced some 12AX7 preamp tubes in a Fender amp and one of them failed in two days (filament somehow shorted- cheapo Russian tubes). If it seems like a preamp problem, pull those tubes (small 9 pin tubes, 12AX7's, 12AT7's) one by one and see if it clears the problem up. If you know which one is the first stage of the channel start there.

He's cool. He's going to take a look at it tomorrow.

You pretty much nailed it, except I didn't whack on it much. Channel switching makes it much worse. After a while it just settled into a mellow buzzing sound. It didn't smell much at all, and we played on it about an hour before it started acting up.