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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 3:14 pm
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My tips are

Always use the standby switch, where your amp doesnt have one lower the volume before powering up or down.
Put a desktop fan behind the amp for better air circulation.
Always give the amp 15 minutes to cool down after any extended use before moving it. Its not good to shake em up when hot. This is especialy true after gig. I've even sat on my amp when we had bands on after us, so they couldnt shift it till I was happy it had cooled down.

Thats kept my marshall going for 15 years without a valve change.

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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 3:27 pm
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nikininja wrote:
My tips are

Always use the standby switch, where your amp doesnt have one lower the volume before powering up or down.
Put a desktop fan behind the amp for better air circulation.
Always give the amp 15 minutes to cool down after any extended use before moving it. Its not good to shake em up when hot. This is especialy true after gig. I've even sat on my amp when we had bands on after us, so they couldnt shift it till I was happy it had cooled down.

Thats kept my marshall going for 15 years without a valve change.


Thats one of the reasons I don't take my DeVille to the rehearsal studio anymore. We would play right up til the time limit and then have to clear the room immediately. I never liked moving it that soon after powering down.

CC

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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 8:37 am
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Wow, i had no clue about the 15 min cooldown!!. Now i see these amps are fragile, i suppose in the old days they were "tougher"??.

Well i guess for gigs and rehearsals i´m gonna get a solid state amp that can take some abuse, say a Crate for xample, any suggestions?


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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:08 am
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VB

Mate if anything newer amps are stronger than older ones, especialy the old point to point wired ones without component boards.

What basicaly happens is that the heat from the valves warms solder to a degree. Now granted valves dont generate as much heat as a soldering iron. If you consistently shake a hot amp up though you can weaken solderjoints. If you have a capacitor or resistor floating on the end of a wire this added weight makes the solder weaker when shaken hot.
Look at this for example. Some components are fairly secure, others are just floating, suspended by wire.

Image


CC your deville should be ok mate. They are quite robust. If you turn off, unplug, wrap your leads up, wipe your guitar, it should have cooled enough to move out of the way. Load your other gear up, or help someone else load theres up and come back to it. If your really that tight for time, ask em if you can pick it up at opening the next day.

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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 1:47 pm
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The true point to point amps were bulletproof. That's why most of them lasted for 50 years or longer, radios too. I have to respectfully disagree that any HRD series amp is robust. I'd actually worry more about the board than the tubes. Just a normal cool down of 10 min. or so should be fine. My Twin was jostled around for over 30 years cold, warm, hot you name it with no ill effects. It's the old "They don't build them like they used to" scenario that comes into effect. If your amp is the last piece of equipment out, you'll be fine. Making solder less toxic hurt things too. The solder really shouldn't soften fro the tubes, it usually get brittle from cheap components getting too hot. Just look at some of the boards from the heat generated by the 5 watt cement resistors on the HRD series amps. Scroll down the thread to see the photos. Same thing happened to mine after a few months.

http://www.thefenderforum.com/forum/sho ... rned+board


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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 2:22 pm
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I suppose i have been real lucky with my Htrod then!!

Tell me something, after playing, cool down means turning the standy switch off and then after 10 min turn off the main power switch?

Sorry 4 asking such ignorant questions.


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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 2:36 pm
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I go power on 30 secs to a minute then standby on. The opposite for powering down. Once completely powered down leave the amp 10 minutes before throwing it in the back of the van.

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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 2:54 pm
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I'm about to bias my DeVille colder, those pics just scared the life outta me. I've had no trouble in 6 years but maybe I'm due it and my JJ's are sitting at 90mv!

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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 3:18 pm
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It's cheap components, thin boards and poor design that does that, not the bias. There is no room for airflow under the resistors. There's other horror stories as well as photos on www.thefenderforum.com those guys are a great resource. One guy actually converts HRD series amps to ptp amps using some of the original iron! Very cool.

And yes Vintage Blonde, you are very,very lucky or don't play it that hard. My problems happened with the bias set at 62mv, so it really makes no difference. I'd still go around 80mv with JJ's.

Here's one from a Blues Deluxe

Scroll down to the photo.
http://www.thefenderforum.com/forum/sho ... rod+deluxe


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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 6:28 pm
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Preach on, egg man. :cry:


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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:36 am
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Not preaching. Just giving some heads up on some possible potential and common problems down the road. I didn't mention my amp of choice but only a couple of times.

Don't think because it says Fender on the front that it's the finest made amp in the world and it's all roses and cotton candy. Those days are long gone and just because it has tubes in it don't make it a tone monster. I find the 600, Blues Jr, and Pro Jr really boxy sounding as a combo but great with a good extension cabinet. I'd seriously rather buy a Marshall Class 5 over a Fender Champion 600 or just hand build a clone.

Fender, Marshall, Ampeg and other big guys are huge corporations interested in making huge profits. That's it. No more, no less. That's why there are so many boutique builders around and doing well.
YMMV
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:33 am
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When I gig I have 2 amps...a SS and a tube. Depending on the set list is how I work my amps...sounds silly but it has kep my gear in good shape..I also have ATA foam lined cases so my gear is protected...it was worth the money to protect my gear. I also leet my gear cool down around 10 minutes after I am done playing before moving...but all in all alot of sound advice here.


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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:21 pm
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wow, that's some scary stuff about the HRD. so basically, the common factors in all the horror stories are cheap PCB and components, and damage/failure of these due to prolonged heat exposure. would you agree?

so, are there any rules of thumb to avoid this from happening? or perhaps it's inevitable, so in other words, are there any precautions or habits that one could take to prolong the longevity and health of such components and the PCB?

furthermore, consider small combo amps like the Pro Jr. we all know these are more prone to heat damage than other larger amps and heads. they're almost destined to get burned at one point. but can we somehow delay or stall the negative impacts and damage done to these amps by the tubes' heat? is there a way we can help soften the blow?


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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:50 pm
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The best advice is and this is only my opinion, is sell it and buy a DRRI, Bassman, Super Reverb or Princeton and have an amp instead of a time bomb.
Look other places than the manufacturers own forum for opinions and reviews. www.thefenderforum.com is a good place to start. They are not affiliated with FMIC. Search for HRDlx problems and notice how far back the problems go. Even here people say I love my HRD... but it makes crackling sounds, or what mods do I need, what speaker is best blah, blah blah. Some guys say I preach, but I consider many of you my friends even though we don't see eye to eye on everything. I hate seeing my friends spend their hard earned cash on something that's not a great value for the money. I'm a long time musician and Fender customer and what I see on the mid level amps is a disgrace.

My HRDlx failed me three times on stage n less than a year and the volume was only on 4.Go figure. :oops:


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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 2:17 pm
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63supro wrote:
The best advice is and this is only my opinion, is sell it and buy a DRRI, Bassman, Super Reverb or Princeton and have an amp instead of a time bomb.
Look other places than the manufacturers own forum for opinions and reviews. www.thefenderforum.com is a good place to start. They are not affiliated with FMIC. Search for HRDlx problems and notice how far back the problems go. Even here people say I love my HRD... but it makes crackling sounds, or what mods do I need, what speaker is best blah, blah blah. Some guys say I preach, but I consider many of you my friends even though we don't see eye to eye on everything. I hate seeing my friends spend their hard earned cash on something that's not a great value for the money. I'm a long time musician and Fender customer and what I see on the mid level amps is a disgrace.

My HRDlx failed me three times on stage n less than a year and the volume was only on 4.Go figure. :oops:


haha fwiw, i am not a HRDlx owner, but hence my post, i am a Pro Jr user. now, you may say it's no better, that's one thing i guess :roll:
i've probably heard more bad stories about the HRD than the PJ though.

i dig the PJ for what it is, in all honesty. its not the traditional "blackface" sound, but i do like what it does. sure, i kinda miss having reverb and 3-band eq, but i've been using it live and i can't say it's affected me much to be lacking these things. love the plug-n-play ability. just guitar and amp. i've always played this way so this amp is probably ideal for me.
anyway, not trying to go off-topic. that's just to prove that i'm happy with it and did not buy it with modding in mind. stock speaker doesn't bother me much, yet... :lol:

i certainly agree with you about amp quality. it's appalling to see the shortcuts they take and yet the high prices attached. pitiful.

you might say i should just save up the cash, but i'm a young guy and really can't afford the top of the line. i bought this amp when i converted from SS, and didn't need much. a 15watt little hothead is a great choice for me, and the $400 was the top margin of my "reasonable and affordable" budget. again, i actively gig and i kinda needed to do something quick if i was to get a better sounding amp. seems like $1000 point is where the good quality enters the scene.
i can deal with the small plywood cab, it's the cheap board that scares me with those board-mounted socket's right underneath.

i always try to wait about 10 min. after shutdown before moving the amp, so hopefully that helps avoid loose solder joints.

also, i wonder if tipping the amp back can help alleviate heat issues to a small degree. since heat rises, it wouldn't be making a direct assault on the board and components, but rather it'd be offset going behind the chassis. only thing is those pins still conduct heat, but the biggest issue here would probably just be the socket joints. if the theory stands, the bulk of the stuff inside the chassis would receive less punishment. i guess that all sounds a bit naive, but it's a thought.


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