binky_bass Posted November 2, 2023 Share Posted November 2, 2023 (edited) Technical question for you technical lot... Why would two amp, both not played in 3 weeks, both not moved or touched since last played and both worked perfectly 3 weeks ago, suddenly now both seem to be producing much less power and making their respective cabs sound a little farty? I've tried different cables, basses, etc. the problem seems to lie with the amps. One amp is a Mesa Big Block 750 and the other a Purple Chili Phatt Bass 750. Both have matching cabs. Both are vavle pre-amps with solid state power sections. Without having much of an idea about anything, could it be possible that we had a power surge and it affected the pre-amp valves in both heads simultaneously? That's the only thing I can think of that might have affected both of them at the same time... Any insight would be much appreciated! Thanks, Russ. Edited November 2, 2023 by binky_bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted November 2, 2023 Share Posted November 2, 2023 Tubes and recent change of temperature? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunderwonder Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 (edited) Lightning strike. Nuclear explosion. Flat batteries in your basses. Edited November 3, 2023 by Downunderwonder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binky_bass Posted November 3, 2023 Author Share Posted November 3, 2023 4 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said: Lightning strike. Nuclear explosion. Flat batteries in your basses. As a precaution, all batteries in the basses I used yesterday had their batteries checked and changed. The issue remains. Curiously, on the other side of my little studio is a Marshall JVM410H and a Blackstar Series One 100, both with plenty of valves between them and both functioning without issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 (edited) Dodgy mains sockets ? Are the sockets they're plugged getting full juice ? (I appreciate any electricians in the audience are muttering "You stick to your books, mate.... ) Edited November 3, 2023 by ahpook 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binky_bass Posted November 3, 2023 Author Share Posted November 3, 2023 24 minutes ago, ahpook said: Dodgy mains sockets ? Are the sockets they're plugged getting full juice ? (I appreciate any electricians in the audience are muttering "You stick to your books, mate.... ) Could be... I didn't have the minerals left in me to move everything around yesterday (recovering from a few weeks of illness). That's definitely my next port of call before potentially re-valving. Might also look at getting a Furman power conditioner... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 Are you absolutely 100% sure that this isn't a problem elsewhere in your signal chain? IME power conditioners are all but useless in the UK. They are aimed at countries with far less robust electricity supplies like the US. Any problem here that was serious enough to affect electrical equipment would nearly always require a full UPS to solve. Also is this occurring in your very newly built studio? If so and it really is the mains then you should be getting the electrician who installed it back to fix FoC rather than spending money and unnecessary additions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binky_bass Posted November 3, 2023 Author Share Posted November 3, 2023 40 minutes ago, BigRedX said: Are you absolutely 100% sure that this isn't a problem elsewhere in your signal chain? IME power conditioners are all but useless in the UK. They are aimed at countries with far less robust electricity supplies like the US. Any problem here that was serious enough to affect electrical equipment would nearly always require a full UPS to solve. Also is this occurring in your very newly built studio? If so and it really is the mains then you should be getting the electrician who installed it back to fix FoC rather than spending money and unnecessary additions. Definitely not a problem in the signal chain. I do run a Line6 Helix, but for the purposes of troubleshooting, I ran direct into both amp with multiple different basses using both heads with both cabs and the problem remained. The studio is nearing 18 months old, not had issues before, but I'm certainly not ruling it out. I think my first port of call will be to run the amps through a different power outlet, see if that has an impact - if it does, then that's the issue. If not, then maybe re-valve one of them and if that works then I'll do the other. I suspect now it may a power supply problem... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 1 hour ago, binky_bass said: Could be... I didn't have the minerals left in me to move everything around yesterday (recovering from a few weeks of illness). That's definitely my next port of call before potentially re-valving. Might also look at getting a Furman power conditioner... Hopefully it's something easy to sort. Fingers crossed. Wishing you a swift recovery too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted November 7, 2023 Share Posted November 7, 2023 Tried the amps on different cabs? And the cabs with different amps? Checked for leaks or damp conditions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binky_bass Posted November 7, 2023 Author Share Posted November 7, 2023 4 minutes ago, Bolo said: Tried the amps on different cabs? And the cabs with different amps? Checked for leaks or damp conditions? Already done that and no, no leaks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted November 7, 2023 Share Posted November 7, 2023 Do they get better the longer they’re left powered on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binky_bass Posted November 7, 2023 Author Share Posted November 7, 2023 Unfortunately not - the Mesa was on for a good 3 hours last Thursday (the day I noticed the issue) with no gradual improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted November 7, 2023 Share Posted November 7, 2023 5 minutes ago, binky_bass said: Unfortunately not - the Mesa was on for a good 3 hours last Thursday (the day I noticed the issue) with no gradual improvement. There goes my theory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huge Hands Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 I had a similar issue with my setup last week - found I had taken the head out of the case and somehow spun the tube preamp gain up to full without noticing. Sound would be fine, then would fade to much lower volume, then cut out, then full power again, and then it would all happen again. Thought I had wrecked the input stage of my amp, but then after messing around found it was a dodgy jack lead in my signal chain. I only found it by starting with guitar straight into amp, then working backwards and plugging each device back up, test, add the next one, etc. I know you said you had swapped cables but I thought worth mentioning. I always thought jack leads would either work, be intermittent or not work, but over the years I have had a few that do this drop in signal to the amp=drop in output power. I assume it is my clumsy heavy feet standing on them and damaging the cores without fully breaking them.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binky_bass Posted November 8, 2023 Author Share Posted November 8, 2023 Yup, changed cables and cut out everything from the signal chain and still getting the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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