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Post subject: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 1:20 am
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:evil: Hi All :roll:

I posted here a while ago with some problems i was having with my USA Blues Deville - SHimmi was alot of help diagnosing in all probability that the screen gridf resistors were fried - A trip to the amp tech confirmed this and the were duly replaced - the amp was given a full service, with all the soldering being re done and all the hotspots attended to.

Next gig, they one SGR blew right off the board, i soldered it back on and next show it fried again - Back to the tech and he said that one of the 6L6's look bad as there were bits of mica clearly Visible on the inside.

We revalved the whole thing with a combination of valves to give max clean headroom and all was well with the exception of one problem – with the strat all is good, nice clean tone up to about 5 on the master volume

Put a humbucker through it and you have absolutely zero clean headroom – surely this isn’t right for an amp like this? I know the BDV’s were supposed to be a little more edgey than their stable mates but this is ridiculous. My tech said that when he tested it after repairing it, he though it was breaking up a bit, but as he was in his house he couldn’t crank it to check it out

Can any of you fine chaps enlighten me on this before I have to spend more money on it – its already cost £150 and I cant really justify spending any more on it, before having to consider moving it on. It’s a shame as when its working, I loved it to bits!!!! -


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Post subject: Re: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 1:49 am
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Personally, I'd say it's well past time to cut your losses and find something more reliable -- especially if you intend to gig professionally.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 4:48 am
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Did your tech check the 6L6 bias ?and reajust it if needed it. This is a must on those amp.
If you find bad grid resistor you MUST suipect tube and / or bias. Job is not finis if you only replace grid resistor without more test.

First a all, is it a real good "tech" ? Many guy are not good "tech", they are simply not a electronic tech. Be sure who is fixing your amp if not you'll loose money and amps and...time

Too hot bias burn tubes and bad tubes burn grid resistor. Bias too hot break up earlier.

Also a bad resistor in Phase Inverter do the amp breakup too earlier.


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Post subject: Re: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 9:55 am
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squier84 wrote:
Put a humbucker through it and you have absolutely zero clean headroom – surely this isn’t right for an amp like this? I know the BDV’s were supposed to be a little more edgey than their stable mates but this is ridiculous. My tech said that when he tested it after repairing it, he though it was breaking up a bit, but as he was in his house he couldn’t crank it to check it out


Which input are you plugging into? Input #2 has 6dB less gain than input #1 and is designed for use with high output (like a humbucker) or active pickups. I plug single coils into input #1 and humbuckers into input #2 and have no problems with my Blues Deluxe Reissue.

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Post subject: Re: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:12 am
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Doesn't seem to make a difference which input I use


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Post subject: Re: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:16 am
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What is the new valves name ?

Did you change only the Power 6L6 or also the signal 12ax7/ECC83 ?

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Post subject: Re: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:22 am
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squier84 wrote:
Doesn't seem to make a difference which input I use


Ok.

Which channel are you using? Clean or drive? I am assuming that since you said "with the strat all is good, nice clean tone up to about 5 on the master volume" you are using the drive channel. If so, what do you have the gain/drive control set to? With my Blues Deluxe Reissue I use the following tubes:

V1 - Philips JAN 5751
V2 - JJ 12AX7
V3 - JJ 12AT7
V4/5 - JJ 6L6GC

I plug my humbucker equipped guitars into input #2 and set the gain/drive contol to "4" and the Master control to "8". Nice and clean. If you want a clean sound in the drive channel, you need to set the gain/drive control low and the Master high. Setting gain/drive high WILL result in preamp overdrive regardless of the Master setting no matter what pickups you are using, especially if you have 12AX7s in V1 and V2.

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Post subject: Re: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:33 am
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Tubes are tung sol 6l6 and jj 12ax7

I only ever use the clean channel. Drive channel isn't all that grand in the bdv, but the clean, is.biblical when it works


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Post subject: Re: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:44 am
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BTW I've noticed less headroom with the JJ in preamp compare to the original sovteck on my BDR, today I test Mesaboogie Spax7-A that produces very clean sound. For infomation I use the normal input with my 7ender's guitar and low -6dB input with my casino due to the fact that the pickups P90 are very powerfull.

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Post subject: Re: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 12:00 pm
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Lots of good advice here, sounds like it was a bad output tube that took out the screen resistor, and you have that sorted out. The thing that sticks out in my mind is what stratele52 asked, what is the bias setting?

If it sounds great clean with a single coil, and distorted with a humbucker, the bias may be off. Usually, any change in output tubes results in a very different bias and it needs to be adjusted. :idea:

If you have a bias probe, or have a good meter to measure resistance and DC voltage, you can check the bias yourself.

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Post subject: Re: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 1:01 pm
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Cheers shimmi

Where's the bias point on these beasts


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Post subject: Re: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 1:24 pm
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squier84, there lethal voltage in tubes amp.


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Post subject: Re: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 1:30 pm
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squier84 wrote:
Cheers shimmi

Where's the bias point on these beasts


Your's is a USA Blues Deville, not a MIM Blues Deville Reissue. You don't have a bias test point or an adjustable bias pot. One would have to be added. There are kits available to do this. I think Shimmilou has done it.

http://www.torresengineering.com/fenbluesdevn.html

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Last edited by bluesky636 on Thu Jul 07, 2011 1:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 1:31 pm
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stratele52 wrote:
squier84, there lethal voltage in tubes amp.


Nothing that can't be handled with proper tools and technique.

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Post subject: Re: More Blues Deville Issues.........ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 1:32 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
Personally, I'd say it's well past time to cut your losses and find something more reliable -- especially if you intend to gig professionally.

Arjay

+1 :mrgreen:

Time for a Super Reverb, if you're looking for a 4x10 6L6 amp...


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