Amplifier Trouble

[thatswhatshesaid]

I have a 1981 Peavey Classic VTX series. It is an excellent amp and sounds amazing, but recently i have been having a problem. when i am playing through the amp, it cuts off as if someone has unplugged it. sometimes it cuts in and out very rapidly too. when i was in high school, i had a peavey bandit that did the same thing. i was wondering if any of you guys who have owned a peavey (or not) have had this problem and what you did to fix it. or any of you that might have experience with electronics in general would might be familiar with these symptoms. i would appreciate any advice anyone might have. thanks!
ben

[Angry Ewok]

My amp was having similar issues... ended up being the wiring in a fuzz box, not the amp itself. Probably not very helpful, but worth a shot. Definitely check the cables, too.

[thatswhatshesaid]

My amp was having similar issues... ended up being the wiring in a fuzz box, not the amp itself. Probably not very helpful, but worth a shot. Definitely check the cables, too.

well, i use the on-board distortion on it and i just now started an effects pedal collection. it has been doing this since the end of last year and is progressively gets worse.

[Angry Ewok]

Thankfully it was just a pedal, for me.

Guitar leads into fuzz, fuzz leads into crybaby, crybaby leads into reverb, reverb leads into echo, echo leads into amp. I had to check every single cable and pedal, what a nightmare.

[tomEisenbraun]

does this line of amp use tubes?

Also, could you turn it on and wiggle around the cable in the jack? Also, have you consistently used the same cable for the last year? Perhaps try a different cable if so?

[thatswhatshesaid]

does this line of amp use tubes?

Also, could you turn it on and wiggle around the cable in the jack? Also, have you consistently used the same cable for the last year? Perhaps try a different cable if so?

it is a "partial tube" meaning that it has power tubes but the rest is solid-state. the reason why i know its not a cable is because when it does this craziness, the power LED goes off like its been turned off or unplugged. i have wondered if its a problem with the AC. might be a short or something.

but, when it rapidly cuts in and out, the power light stays on. so i dont know if the problems are related or if there are two separate issues with the amp.

the first thing i did was try different chords and that made no difference. the input jacks are solid. the problem is definitely within the amp.

[tomEisenbraun]

hmmm...

That definitely does sound more like trouble with the power inside, but I really don't have a clue when it comes to anything beyond tubes inside an amp.

Might be some info of use to you in here though: http://www.netads.com/~meo/Guitar/Amps/heritage-vtx.html

[LizKing531]

I sent the info to a couple of the electronics & music gurus of my family - at least one of them should know something - they're all electrical engineers & musicians

[mjkoehler]

Sounds like a short somewhere in your power supply. Have you checked your main power chord? Does it have an noticable wear/damage? May seem like nothing but I had an issue where I was getting nothing. Turned out it was just a nick in the power cord.

Different issue...since the gate has been opened. My amp is fairly new (Crate GTD65). Anytime I palm mute or hit a really low/heavy chord there is a rattling in the case. I have made sure all the screws are not loose. It looks like the magnet on the speaker is loose and that is what is rattling around. The sound from the speaker is fine, just the rattling. Is this something I need to be concerned about? Thankfully it's still under warrenty but the service shop I need to take it to is way out of the way for me and it will be a chore to get there. I'd rather not have to make the trip unless I need to.

[Hawkeye]

Sounds like a short somewhere in your power supply. Have you checked your main power chord? Does it have an noticable wear/damage? May seem like nothing but I had an issue where I was getting nothing. Turned out it was just a nick in the power cord.

Different issue...since the gate has been opened. My amp is fairly new (Crate GTD65). Anytime I palm mute or hit a really low/heavy chord there is a rattling in the case. I have made sure all the screws are not loose. It looks like the magnet on the speaker is loose and that is what is rattling around. The sound from the speaker is fine, just the rattling. Is this something I need to be concerned about? Thankfully it's still under warrenty but the service shop I need to take it to is way out of the way for me and it will be a chore to get there. I'd rather not have to make the trip unless I need to.

I had the same problem when I first got my Orange Crush 30R off of ebay.  There was this horrible rattling sound when I hit a note with any force.  I was looking inside and all over the place on the amp.  It turned out to be a loose input jack.  I felt silly  :-[

[thatswhatshesaid]

i wondered if it was the power cord, but when it kicks off, i have to lightly slap the top of the amp to get it to come back on. that tells me that there is possibly a short somewhere inside the amp itself rather than the cord.

i have never had anything rattling like that before. is your crate a tube?

[mjkoehler]

I had the same problem when I first got my Orange Crush 30R off of ebay.  There was this horrible rattling sound when I hit a note with any force.  I was looking inside and all over the place on the amp.  It turned out to be a loose input jack.  I felt silly  :-[

i have never had anything rattling like that before. is your crate a tube?

Nope, it's their Flex Wave design solid state that is supposed to sound like tubes. The sound is great, other then the rattling. I've checked every cable and plug that I can find. I've actually had my son hold the magnet when I hit a low chord and no rattling.

[thatswhatshesaid]

I had the same problem when I first got my Orange Crush 30R off of ebay.  There was this horrible rattling sound when I hit a note with any force.  I was looking inside and all over the place on the amp.  It turned out to be a loose input jack.  I felt silly  :-[

i have never had anything rattling like that before. is your crate a tube?

Nope, it's their Flex Wave design solid state that is supposed to sound like tubes. The sound is great, other then the rattling. I've checked every cable and plug that I can find. I've actually had my son hold the magnet when I hit a low chord and no rattling.

i would imagine that the magnet might be loose. since it's still under warranty i would definitely have crate fix it. if not, you could void the warranty and that would suck.

[kyjed48]

I have a 1981 Peavey Classic VTX series. It is an excellent amp and sounds amazing, but recently i have been having a problem. when i am playing through the amp, it cuts off as if someone has unplugged it. sometimes it cuts in and out very rapidly too. when i was in high school, i had a peavey bandit that did the same thing. i was wondering if any of you guys who have owned a peavey (or not) have had this problem and what you did to fix it. or any of you that might have experience with electronics in general would might be familiar with these symptoms. i would appreciate any advice anyone might have. thanks!
ben

Dude, I figured it out...your amp has penis envy!  ;)

[thatswhatshesaid]

I have a 1981 Peavey Classic VTX series. It is an excellent amp and sounds amazing, but recently i have been having a problem. when i am playing through the amp, it cuts off as if someone has unplugged it. sometimes it cuts in and out very rapidly too. when i was in high school, i had a peavey bandit that did the same thing. i was wondering if any of you guys who have owned a peavey (or not) have had this problem and what you did to fix it. or any of you that might have experience with electronics in general would might be familiar with these symptoms. i would appreciate any advice anyone might have. thanks!
ben

Dude, I figured it out...your amp has penis envy!  ;)

well that figures.