Ticking reverb on a Princeton

[caspersvapors]

Got a Princeton Reverb and the Reverb has started to tick when turned up. Theres a lot of white noise as well and they both increase in volume as the knob is turned up.
Doesnt happen with the trem. Tried swapping v2 tubes and that didnt fix the issue.

 

[Jasonpatrick]

Weird. You sure you ain’t picking up EM noise? Dimmer switch? Cell phone? Does it tick with the trem is turned off via the foot switch?

 

[Jon Snell]

Worn 6v6s or incorrect bias will make it tick.

 

[caspersvapors]

Weird. You sure you ain’t picking up EM noise? Dimmer switch? Cell phone? Does it tick with the trem is turned off via the foot switch?

The ticking is only occurring with the reverb. I never use the footswitch so its not something Ive been toggling on/off.

 

[Jasonpatrick]

The ticking is only occurring with the reverb. I never use the footswitch so its not something Ive been toggling on/off.

Yeah I just wanted to make sure it was off off. Even turned down it’s still doing its thing.

 

[caspersvapors]

Did a bit more troubleshooting. Looks like its an issue with the reverb pan. When I connect the RCA cables to another pan I had the issue went away. Unfortunate because the pan I had in the amp was an original US Made Accutronics pan from the 90s and it sounded great. Maybe Ill try one of the surfy pans.

 

[Michael Smith]

Did a bit more troubleshooting. Looks like its an issue with the reverb pan. When I connect the RCA cables to another pan I had the issue went away. Unfortunate because the pan I had in the amp was an original US Made Accutronics pan from the 90s and it sounded great. Maybe Ill try one of the surfy pans.

I recently bought 2 MOD reverb tanks. They seem to be very close to the originals. Just make sure you get the correct input and output impedances.

 

[Geo]

Does the ticking occur with nothing plugged into the amp?

 

[caspersvapors]

ok so its really more of a throbbing I guess. heres a video of the issue:

 

[Mexitele Blues]

Does it tick when mounted in the cabinet? I notice that the only time it ticks in the video is when the inductor is over the tremolo tube. You place the other pans perpendicular over the preamp circuit.

Does the speed change with the trem speed knob? This will tell you right away if it is even related to the trem circuit.

Any shielding on the bottom of your pans? One of my amps likes to pick up the ceiling fan in the room downstairs.

 

[caspersvapors]

Does it tick when mounted in the cabinet? I notice that the only time it ticks in the video is when the inductor is over the tremolo tube. You place the other pans perpendicular over the preamp circuit.

Does the speed change with the trem speed knob? This will tell you right away if it is even related to the trem circuit.

Any shielding on the bottom of your pans? One of my amps likes to pick up the ceiling fan in the room downstairs.

The throbbing occurs regardless of the pans location and the trem knobs have no effect on it. The MoD pan has nothing on the bottom of it and the accutronics has some cardboard glued to the bottom

 

[Sparky2]

So one reverb pan displays the anomaly, and the other one doesn't.


One bit of troubleshooting recommended.

Plug the noisy one back in, roll the volume and reverb up, and listen for the throbbing/clicking.

Once it is heard, go unplug your house's WIFI internet router, and see if the noise goes away.

I had an old amp that did not like the router at my drummer's house.
Made the same noise.

 

[Mexitele Blues]

The throbbing occurs regardless of the pans location and the trem knobs have no effect on it. The MoD pan has nothing on the bottom of it and the accutronics has some cardboard glued to the bottom

Set the offending pan on a cookie sheet and see if it still ticks

 

[Jasonpatrick]

So one reverb pan displays the anomaly, and the other one doesn't.


One bit of troubleshooting recommended.

Plug the noisy one back in, roll the volume and reverb up, and listen for the throbbing/clicking.

Once it is heard, go unplug your house's WIFI internet router, and see if the noise goes away.

I had an old amp that did not like the router at my drummer's house.
Made the same noise.

Yeah mine ticks because the apartment internet box is located under my apartment unfortunately. Every 35 seconds.. tick…. Tick … tick

 

[caspersvapors]

So one reverb pan displays the anomaly, and the other one doesn't.


One bit of troubleshooting recommended.

Plug the noisy one back in, roll the volume and reverb up, and listen for the throbbing/clicking.

Once it is heard, go unplug your house's WIFI internet router, and see if the noise goes away.

I had an old amp that did not like the router at my drummer's house.
Made the same noise.

So weird

 

[Sparky2]

So weird

Yep.
And no other amp I ever used at Bob's house did that.

Just the one.

It was a very old TubeWorks Tube Driver combo.

:/

 

[caspersvapors]

So I ripped the cardboard off the bottom of the reverb pan and resoldered the ground wires and that seems to have done the trick! Thanks for all the help folks!

 

[caspersvapors]

scratch that...just fired it up today and the throbbing and white noise is back with the reverb knob.

 

[corliss1]

Did you try new RCA cables? Don't get the $5 ones, get the $10 ones

 

[Mexitele Blues]

I gather from the video that the Accutronics tank is the offender, and that it did not come with the amp, correct?

Fender used reverb tanks with isolated inputs and grounded outputs to prevent ground loops. Reference the part number or check continuity between grounds on the RCA jacks to determine if yours is correct, or grounded at both ends.

And as @corliss1 alludes, use shielded cables.