PLEASE help amp issues (power maybe)

[fiestabender]

First thank you ahead of time for any assistance. so first i play a tele. a nocaster ri. My band and i recently got a rehearsal space. First i brought down my old webster rawlings. an old tube amp from 39 converted to a guitar amp. it hummed so loud and made anything with dynamics impossible. being impulsive i sold it and bought something more durable and less valuable for gigging. i bought a line 6 bogner spider valve. the one with tubes. it sounded great with my guitar both in the store and in my apartment. i used an amp just like this at guitar center studios with my tele and it sounded great for what we were doing. i brought it down to the studio and it hummed like nobody's business. ground lift no help. nothing but hum on any high gain sound. i returned this to the store. upgraded to a marshall haze 40 watt tube combo. it hummed but not as much. but sounded like death mushy and undefined. i returned this to the store. i could not find anything at sam ash in my price range so i resorted to craigs list. i sold an additional old small amplifier to finance the difference, and got a mesa stiletto in perfect condition for 850.00 i brought it down to the studio and it hums beyond anything i have ever heard. by the end of the rehearsal, it seemed not only to hum but to sound like it was dying. is there power problems. with doing some extra grounding on my tele help. what can i do. i almost don't want to go back to the rehearsal space because nothing i have sounds good.

[Groovey Records]

Any Chance you have Florescent lighting in your studio?

Is the studio plugs grounded (get a plug ground checker fro lowes or HD good to have when you play out.

Single coils are always more susceptible are the amps humming before you plug in or after?

[fiestabender]

now that i brought the amp home. the amp distorts on the clean channel at minimum volume. does that mean there is a tube problem or did i somehow fry the output transformer.? i am very frustrated at this point

[eugenedunn]

Groovy Records has the right idea about isolating where the hum is coming from. Does the amp hum without a cord plugged into it?

If so, then there's probably a power / grounding issue at your rehearsal space. Fluorescent lighting or dimmers are key culprits in creating hum also. If there's a dimmer switch nearby, either turn it off or fully on to minimize hum. It it's your room light, plug an incandescent lamp in one of the plugs and turn off the room light instead.

Make sure the plugs you're plugged into are well grounded.

Does the hum increase or decrease when you switch your tele out of the middle position?

[Jahmbie]

It sounds like you have a low voltage / wiring problem at your rehearsal space. It may be the whole building or even isolated to a specific outlet. I've seen outlets "lose" the neutral wire and the voltage drops out without tripping a breaker or blowing a fuse. Now the big problem is that you may have damaged the PT or OT in your amp. Have the landlord of your rehearsal space check the wiring, this could be a big fire hazard too, if a burned wire or loose wire nut creates resistance and heat.