fender problem

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daveblue222

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ok, awhile back i had a problem with my deville, it kept sounding rough and had loss of volume. realised one of the valves had gone. replaced them with 6l6c (as it states to on the sticker inside the amp) then suddenly realise that one tube still isnt working (maybe a connection problem of some sort between valve connections and amp?)

so, i put old tubes back in which are 6l6b (confused now,as the sticker says 6l6c tubes)

take it to shop to get it repaired. gets fixed, on invoice the guy wrote that it probably broke due to valves being replaced with 6l6b (even thos these were the ones that came with the amp) instead of the stated 6l6c on the sticker.

so i refer to the manual and online only to find that it says to always use 6l6b hotrods.

im now trying to work out why my amp broke in the first place and if it had the correct tubes to begin with. or have fender made a huge mistake and been installing the incorrect tubes in their deville range. many others have had problems with this amp even though it sounds great when it work.


any ideas?

dave
 
I believe that the 6l6c tube is just the Chinese manufactured version of the 6l6. GT had them for awhile and they were pretty low end. I expect that other vendors sell them as well. Output may be slightly different than other 6l6 versions, but I doubt that it would be different enough to cause any problems.
 
daveblue222 said:
ok, awhile back i had a problem with my deville, it kept sounding rough and had loss of volume. realised one of the valves had gone. replaced them with 6l6c (as it states to on the sticker inside the amp) then suddenly realise that one tube still isnt working (maybe a connection problem of some sort between valve connections and amp?)

so, i put old tubes back in which are 6l6b (confused now,as the sticker says 6l6c tubes)

take it to shop to get it repaired. gets fixed, on invoice the guy wrote that it probably broke due to valves being replaced with 6l6b (even thos these were the ones that came with the amp) instead of the stated 6l6c on the sticker.

so i refer to the manual and online only to find that it says to always use 6l6b hotrods.

im now trying to work out why my amp broke in the first place and if it had the correct tubes to begin with. or have fender made a huge mistake and been installing the incorrect tubes in their deville range. many others have had problems with this amp even though it sounds great when it work.


any ideas?

dave
Click to expand...

All 6L6's are interchangeable, though some amps will want a bias set/check whenever you change power tubes. How do you know that one tube isn't working?
 
because i changed them but one still wasnt lighting up.

its working now as the problem was the circuit was broke or something. its just the confusion between the manual and sticker inside them amp. one says 6l6cs and the other 6l6bs

i just dont want it to happen again
 
basically a 6L6 is a 6L6 in terms of whether an amp will work with them or not. Whether it's a c or b suffix will have no effect as far as making the amp not work.
I yhave a couple of deVilles and I have had constant problems with fractured solder joints which might be described by a tech as a 'broken circuit'. So if that's what it was, it had nothing to do with the tubes.
 
daveblue222 said:
because i changed them but one still wasnt lighting up.

its working now as the problem was the circuit was broke or something. its just the confusion between the manual and sticker inside them amp. one says 6l6cs and the other 6l6bs

i just dont want it to happen again
Click to expand...

If one wasn't lighting up, then the problem was in the heater filament circuit and didn't have anything to do with which 6L6 you were using. It was probably just a cold solder joint.
 
I assume you brought this issue of B or C to the techs attention? If you did that was a mistake...unless you know the guy. Rule number one of repair work, don't say anything you don't have to. Its like talking to the cops. You give them an inch and they might take a mile.
 
I have a DeVille that I play shows with constantly. It is INCREDIBLY easy to fracture solder joints from being bumped around, or being hauled in the back of a car. The power tubes have no shock absorbing material whatsoever.

The warranty only covers tubes for 90 days... but the 5 year factory warranty should cover all electronic issues. I brought mine in recently for cracked plate load resistors which is another common problem. They told me, at first, that since it was in the 'phase inverter preamp tube circuit' it was a 'tube' issue and I had to pay. Call them on their bullshit. And if it doesn't work, call fender.
 
starbuck26 said:
I have a DeVille that I play shows with constantly. It is INCREDIBLY easy to fracture solder joints from being bumped around, or being hauled in the back of a car. The power tubes have no shock absorbing material whatsoever.
Click to expand...
Yep ...... and the solder joints on those 'puter ribbon type cables that connect the preamp to the power section also fracture easily when you bump it around.
I fix my own amps but it's enough of a pain that I don't take mine to gigs anymore ...... can't count on it.
 
I have repaired a few Fenders from that Deville, Deluxe series. A common problem is plate load and other resistors. Apparently Fender had a bad batch of resistors that develop a hairline intermittent fracture. Symptoms are crackling and loss of power. It is fairly easy to replace them but hard to diagnose because they are so intermittent.
VP
 
yep that was it "plate overload" obviously there isnt much i can do to prevent this if it decides to happen again. may try and trade the amp for something similar and smaller as this is one heavy amp to move about.


cheers
 
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