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Post subject: Tips 4 general care of tube amps?
Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:10 am
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Hi i own a hot rod deluxe, recently replaced the original tubes that lasted 15 years with sovteks, I just want to know if someone can give tips for general care of my tubed amp, my friends say that if it´s slammed, or jerked, the tubes can be affected, also, is it a must to have a voltage regulator?
Love the amp with my custom ash stratocaster, best sound.
cheers.


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Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:08 pm
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Yeah Vintage, your friends are absolutely right about reasonable handling of an amp. But I get the feeling, you're treating that amp well. I'll offer a few ideas: 1. clean tube pins,speaker plug,and reverb plugs with contact cleaner every year( I use a preserver or Pro Gold after the cleaner which extends the the time frame); 2. keep amp clean, covered, and in a stable enviornment; 3. play amp at least every 3 months(to keep electrolytic capacitors formed); 4. take amp in for routine maintenance once a year or so depending on use and enviornment; 5. take amp in at the first sign of problems that you can't fix with cleaning or tube replacement. It's all pretty much common sense. A voltage regulator would only be needed if you suspect questionable wall voltage or will be playing outdoors, using a generator. ART

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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:20 am
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The biggest tip of all is be very, very careful when pulling the tubes on any Hot Rod series amp. The tube sockets are soldered to the PCB which is very cheesy and fragile and prone to solder joint failure. The boards in these things are thin, single sided boards and prone to heat damage and eventual failure.It just depends on how much and how hard you run the amp.


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Post subject: Just in Case...
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 12:45 pm
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Excellent suggestions so far.

If you're playing out a lot (every week), you may want to invest in a good case that protects your amp, like
http://www.audiopile.net/products/Cases/Guitar_amp_cases/FHR-212/FHR-212_cutsheet.shtml
Bonus - can also be used to elevate your amp to get the sound out of your ankles.

This is one example; I wouldn't go cheaper on a case if you're going to get one. If you don't gig a lot, at least a good cover.


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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 1:10 pm
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Or, maybe get an amp you can gig with and not have to treat it like it's made of glass. That's one of the dozens of reasons I dumped mine.
Road cases will protect it cosmetically, but they still get jarred and bounced around. Even the high density can't protect the amp from it real enemy which is heat, poor construction and design. :wink:

I never had a road case for any of my amps. Just covers and they've been loaded and unloaded thousands of times with no problem. The HRDlx was the only Fender amp I've owned that was unreliable.


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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 5:42 pm
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While I don't have a HR Dlx, our other guitar player does (tweed).

What problems are there that are common, and what have people done to prevent them ahead of time (besides selling the amp)?

thanks.


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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:26 pm
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The biggest problems by far are bad solder joints on the tube sockets and excessive heat build up on the 5 watt cement resistors. The PCB's on the HRD amps are really thin and loaded with Taiwanese caps and other cheap components with ribbon connectors. Even the jacks are cheap. Some people have them for a long time with no problems. I had problems after just a few months that just kept recurring and developing new problems. I even had to have the filter caps replaced after a short time.

Mine was a total turd so I sold it. It had six months on the warranty so I didn't feel bad. Hopefully the person who bought it is having better luck than I did with it. It sounded decent, but I couldn't rely on it. It's a crap shoot. Look around on different forums and you'll see all the same problems with them. My Egnater was great right out of the box. I fine tuned the gain on it with a NOS JAN/Phillips 5751 preamp tube and now it's one of the best sounding amps I've ever owned.

I would wrap the cord around the handle to prevent breaking the input jack and when you change tubes, try not to wiggle them too much to get them out because you may fracture the solder joints. Carry spare tubes too because the stock GT's aren't that great either. I re-loaded mine with JJ's. Not to be the bearer of sad news, but theonly difference in the Tweed is mostly cosmetic with a speaker change. The construction is no better. Just the speaker is a bump up.

Good luck with the amp. If it starts giving you problems, just dump it.


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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:07 pm
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Preach on, brother. :cry:


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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:25 pm
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Hey Vintage, maybe a fan would be a cool idea!!! If it's OK, I want to ask a question. Supro, the amp Vintage has was built over 15yrs ago, do you think the boards could have been thicker? I thought I read here that the older boards were the green ones, don't know the years, just wondering if it has any bearing on his amp? ART

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Post subject: great tips!!!!
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 7:12 am
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Thank you all for your responses, great tips, now my hotrod will last me even more, and will be in perfect functioning 4 good.

My hortod, i can´t recall if i bought it in 94 or 95, as i said the tubes lasted me 14-15 years, well, 2 be precise, the 3 small original tubes are still working and connected. During 15 years, as u can xpect, the amp has done gigs/recording/rehearsals extensively, and folks, i have nothing to complain, and it has never ever let me down, or malfunctioned in any way. Maybe as u say mine is older and could be better built?

One last question is.....do the tubes get affected or have a shorter life if i start using my amp a bit more and I have to obviously be switching on and off more often?......The amp is in a very stable and cool dry enviroment.

thnx!


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 1:52 pm
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aclempoppi wrote:
Hey Vintage, maybe a fan would be a cool idea!!! If it's OK, I want to ask a question. Supro, the amp Vintage has was built over 15yrs ago, do you think the boards could have been thicker? I thought I read here that the older boards were the green ones, don't know the years, just wondering if it has any bearing on his amp? ART


Actually no. There have been a couple revisions to the original boards to help reliability. I think the OP has been extremely lucky. I know dozens of people who like the way the HRDlx sounds and have two and one person who has three and just rotate them into the shop as needed. I never had too big of an issue with the way it sounds and at one point I was going to have the tube sockets mounted to the chassis ti take some of the heat away from the board until I started losing some caps, so I figured why bother.


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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 2:27 pm
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63supro wrote:
aclempoppi wrote:
Hey Vintage, maybe a fan would be a cool idea!!! If it's OK, I want to ask a question. Supro, the amp Vintage has was built over 15yrs ago, do you think the boards could have been thicker? I thought I read here that the older boards were the green ones, don't know the years, just wondering if it has any bearing on his amp? ART


Actually no. There have been a couple revisions to the original boards to help reliability. I think the OP has been extremely lucky. I know dozens of people who like the way the HRDlx sounds and have two and one person who has three and just rotate them into the shop as needed. I never had too big of an issue with the way it sounds and at one point I was going to have the tube sockets mounted to the chassis ti take some of the heat away from the board until I started losing some caps, so I figured why bother.


Hey 63supro, How are you bro?

Do you think 90mv is too hot to be running my JJ's in my DeVille? Your advice would be very much appreciated.

Cheers,

CC

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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 2:39 pm
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I ran my HRDlx around 86-88mv with JJ's. I liked the early breakup. 90mv Could be a little high though. I know Bob at Eurotubes runs them pretty high. Knowing the plate voltage would help. If you like the way they sound and they're not red plating you should be okay. You'll probably wear your tubes out a bit quicker, but I would sacrifice longevity over tone any day. YMMV


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 2:44 pm
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Thank you!

CC

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Blackstar HT-5


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