5E3 Noise Issue

[teleman78]

Hello Friends, I have a 2-3 year old 5E3 Tweed Deluxe that was build by Anthony Pace from Vintagetone Amps in Alabama. It has Classic Tone transformers and quality components. The amp has been great up until now.. the issue started after I installed some belton tube retainers to avoid tubes getting loose and falling out. I was extremely careful while installing the tube retainers, I made sure not to disconnect any wires or move any components. After putting all back together I started hearing a lot of noise.. but the noise only comes once I play the low E and low A strings and the noise stays present once it comes. I though maybe it's one of the tubes so I started checking that out since I have have a spare set, I replaced one tube at a time and after replacing all tubes the noise problem still remains. What could be causing the noise? The amp seems to be working well other than the noise issue. I’m trying to attach sound samples of the problem but for some reason the website doesn’t accept the files, they are quite small.

Your help is greatly appreciated

 

[King Fan]

If it's just on a couple low notes, the hope is it's a mechanical buzz, not an electrical one. The harmonic buzzes often seem to get amplified and sound like they're in the circuit. You did some mechanical work. Make sure all nuts, screws, etc. are tight and secure, inside and out, and there's nothing loose floating around in there.

 

[loopfinding]

If it's just on a couple low notes, the hope is it's a mechanical buzz, not an electrical one. The harmonic buzzes often seem to get amplified and sound like they're in the circuit. You did some mechanical work. Make sure all nuts, screws, etc. are tight and secure, inside and out, and there's nothing loose floating around in there.

yeah, mechanical vibration usually seems to be the case for low notes.

of course, it could be speaker voice coil rub (can happen over time just from the speaker hanging one way). try the amp outside of the chassis with its original speaker and also with a different speaker cab and see if that takes care of your issue

 

[dan40]

You should also double check all solder connections on the power tube sockets since the noise started after you added the retainers to them.

 

[teleman78]

Thank you so much guys, I’ll check out the suggestions and revert. You guys ROCK!!!!

 

[teleman78]

Ok, went back to check the suggested troubleshooting steps.. first I noticed that stupid me had connected the speaker 1/4” Jack into the wrong output. I believe it’s a extension cabinet output and not to the speaker output. I plugged it in to the correct output and tested out the sound and the problem still persists. I then checked all solder joints on the tube sockets and they all seem solid. Lastly I tried out a different speaker cabinet with the amp and still have the noise issue. I’m attaching some pictures of the inside of the amp for you to take a look and see if you see anything that might be creating a problem.

 

[printer2]

Have you tried removing the tube retainers?

 

[Lone_Poor_Boy]

Are the new tube retainers rattling against the tubes? Or some part of them rattling?

Try removing them or focusing on them while playing a low E and A.

Can you tell if the sound is coming out of the speaker or from the amp chassis?

 

[printer2]

Are the new tube retainers rattling against the tubes? Or some part of them rattling?

Try removing them or focusing on them while playing a low E and A.

Can you tell if the sound is coming out of the speaker or from the amp chassis?

Think he said he still had it using a different speaker.

 

[teleman78]

I really don’t wanna remove the tube retainers … it was a nightmare to put them on

 

[teleman78]

I tried a different speaker and speaker cabinet I have and still have the same issue. The noise is definitely coming from the amp chassis. I will do a test playing the amp and focusing on the tube retainers looking for some rattling, however as I mentioned I used a different speaker cabinet for a test so logically there wouldn’t be any rattling since the amp was in a different cabinet than the speaker..

 

[printer2]

I tried a different speaker and speaker cabinet I have and still have the same issue. The noise is definitely coming from the amp chassis. I will do a test playing the amp and focusing on the tube retainers looking for some rattling, however as I mentioned I used a different speaker cabinet for a test so logically there wouldn’t be any rattling since the amp was in a different cabinet than the speaker..

Unless the retainers are rattling against the tubes. You could try putting the speaker in another room?

 

[Jasonpatrick]

5e3s rattle… turn the amp on its side, front , back and see if it still does it? Take back panel off, does it still do it?

 

[printer2]

5e3s rattle… turn the amp on its side, front , back and see if it still does it? Take back panel off, does it still do it?

And put a lamp shade on your head, spin around three times and replete the following chant, "....

 

[teleman78]

I have to say that the noise does not sound like rattling, it sounds more "radio interference"

 

[teleman78]

Gentlemen, I' happy to report that the issue has been solved. I picked up an extra pair of 6V6 tubes locally and installed them, the noise issue is finally gone! I guess the tubes I had in there were not good and the spare set of power tubes I had tested were just as bad as the the initial set.

I thank you all very much for your input.

 

[King Fan]

Good fix! Yeah, the Tube Police (in France) have the motto: "Cherchez les tubes."