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Hurling a valve amp


danbowskill
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I was taking my beloved svt head out of my car this morning (in a rocksolid soft cover). a few foot steps to my house and I tripped over a carport bar on the path..went proper arse over tit,Amp went airborne and it landed bottom corner full whack :-( the tubes seem in tact and no rattles,but I cannot try it for another week as my cab isn't here.
Seriously gutted and pray it's ok :-(
Anyone done this n gave their valve head a good crash and it's been ok?

Fairly new valves as well.

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I did this with my guitar combo a couple of months ago. It was fine immediately afterwards, but about a week later one of the power valves started arcing and I have to wonder whether the bump had loosened something inside the valve and shortened its life. Everything else was fine after I'd replaced the valves though. Just to be cautious I'd give it a close visual inspection for damage and keep an eye on the valves when powering it up so that you can pull the plug quickly if any of the valves are red-plating or arcing.

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I once dropeed by '70s Fender Bassman 135 head down one flight of metal fire-escape stairs. No damage whatsoever to parts or operation, just a few scuffs in tolex and a small dent in one of the chrome corner protectors. I reckon the metal stairs may have absorbed some of the impact.

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Amp hurling - nothing like welly wanging.
I recall a wet Friday night many moons ago when my (then) girlfriend was carrying my Marshall Plexi 100 (original!) across a quarry-tiled pub entrance floor.......
She went one way and the amp went another, both hitting the floor with a dreadful crash. Being the perfect gent, I left her to get up and rescued my amp, which rattled 'orribly. I took it to my local tech the next morning who replaced every valve and tutted over the split in the corner bend of the chassis.
He ran it up, and it worked flawlessly (& continued so to do until I sold it on, about 18months later, with the split still there..) - Probably says a lot about early Marshall amps (and girls in wet shoes).

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[quote name='taunton-hobbit' timestamp='1410197378' post='2547046']
Amp hurling - nothing like welly wanging.
I recall a wet Friday night many moons ago when my (then) girlfriend was carrying my Marshall Plexi 100 (original!) across a quarry-tiled pub entrance floor.......
She went one way and the amp went another, both hitting the floor with a dreadful crash. Being the perfect gent, I left her to get up and rescued my amp, which rattled 'orribly. I took it to my local tech the next morning who replaced every valve and tutted over the split in the corner bend of the chassis.
He ran it up, and it worked flawlessly (& continued so to do until I sold it on, about 18months later, with the split still there..) - Probably says a lot about early Marshall amps (and girls in wet shoes).
[/quote]

at least you know your priorities :-D.............would have done the same.

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Sometimes it doesn't work out so well. Kleenex time, anyone..?
Arrived at the resto for a 2-piece 'function' gig. The PA amp was a Hiwatt DR205, 200 w 6-channel valve amp. I'd not bolted the chassis back into the cab; this allowed it to slide slowly but surely onto my knees, which went through all the glass in there. I sat in the gutter surrounded by shards of KT88, cursing. We did the gig using a Carlsboro guirar amp as a PA.
It gets worse, though. I put the amp aside, to replace the glass later (they're not cheap valves...). My kids were just tots, hardly big enough to hold a hammer. That didn't stop them from finding the amp, and, with afore-mentioned hammers, rendering the poor thing almost flat. Yes, trannies an' all were pulped. I found out a few weeks afterwards (looking for a hammer, as it happened...). It's taken me around 30 years to replace the amp, which now serves as a uber bass head...
[attachment=171274:Hiwa_1.jpg]

Edited by Dad3353
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Dropped my 1970 Fender Bassman 100 head on its end so hard one of the trannies is now at an angle. Still works fine.

Valves are tougher than you'd think, as long as you don't actually hit them with anything. Even then when you consider a common fault finding technique is to whack em with a screwdriver handle, which I used to do all of the time when I repaired radio & TV for a living I rarely broke any. If your amp is hard wired on a chassis it will most likely be fine, if its built on a PCB..then perhaps not.

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I carried my newly purchased Burmans from Discreet's in SE London to mine in Slough. Well, not carried all the way, but between all the changes on the trains. By the time I got to Paddington my hands had turned to jelly and no matter how much my brain told them too, they refused to grip anymore. That and my arms were 3 inches longer.

However, not one hurl was to be had.. and all worth it for that pure valve goodness :D

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[quote name='Norm' timestamp='1410266526' post='2547625']
Mmmmmmmm........Burmans!
[/quote]

+1 to that........just bring a fork-lift when you want to move them!
If it hurls itself, at least you'll only have to replace the fork-lift and not your unfortunate foot.

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Well I tried it last night ( first time since I wanged it)
I warmed it up all good, after 30 mins of playing the volume dropped a little and it had a high pitch noise?
I switched it off changed the socket it was plugged into and noticed it wasn't biased right... So did that as well. My instinct was telling me it might have been the fan making the noise (as the grill with the fan flew out when dropped)....... Gave it a bang,3 hours playing afterwards and no problems at all :-)

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[quote name='danbowskill' timestamp='1410797961' post='2553275']...3 hours playing afterwards and no problems at all :-)
[/quote]

Ouf..! Glad it turns out that well. They're tough old things, really, but it can all go wrong very quickly. Continue to be so lucky, and give that carport bar a lick of hi-viz paint, perhaps..? :D[size=4] [/size]

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