michael saulnier

Myles... I think I'm in trouble with my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. In the last several weeks, I've been noticing what seems to be a "crackling" sound, even with no guitar plugged in... sort of like a gieger counter with a bit of uranium nearby. Sometimes it was real loud and noticable, sometimes not so loud... But the amp seemed to be working ok, otherwise. In retrospect this was certainly a warning sign. Now, my amp powers up fine, but all the volume is nearly gone. It's like 1/10th the volume output. Fully cranked, it's like a tiny transistor amp... the gain channels all do their gain thing, just with little volume, and running my UniValve into the poweramp in as I normally do, hardly provides any volume at all. Of course I changed all the tubes and looked for any obvious mis or disconnected parts... no luck... even with different tubes... same problem. What's weird is that it works at this "reduced" volume... instead of not at all. So... any idea on what it might be? Who can I trust down here in San Diego land to help me? Thanks in advance for your input or advice! guitplayer

I'm thinking about submitting this for Complilation #7... and as required, it's a improv solo over a simple backing track... I'd welcome your feedback... Snow Day Thanks! guitplayer

Ziggy.............. You cannot do this. Your amp's input is expecting a very low level signal at very high impedance. This will damage both amps. Except of course, if you have a THD UniValve that is DESIGNED to do exactly this with a proper impedence output in addition to the regular speaker out... A UniValve works GREAT for this! guitplayer

Hey Myles! I was down at my local GC pokin' through the blow-out box when I spied a pair of Mesa Boogie 6V6's like these... http://store1.yimg.com/I/mesa_1727_58967 They're called the 6V6 STR-417 Chinese... Any comments on them? They were only $18 for the pair out the door so I thought... what the heck. They sound ok, are they the Chinese ones that can take a higher plate voltage from my UniValve or should I stay in the Low V zone? guitplayer

James, Myles hasn't gotten to this yet, so I'll take a stab at your questions. First, I have the AX7 in the input and the AT7 in the drive... I do believe they are V1 and V2 as you guessed. At least they ACT like it... If you run your 6V6 on HiV, you'll quickly burn it up if I understand it correctly. I recall Myles saying somewhere that he DOES run a 6V6 sometimes on HiV, but then he has a pretty easy availability to replacement tubes compared to us! One other comment, I assume ALL of our tubes wear a bit more on HiV, and I personally LIKE the "spongier" sound of LoV with my tube set... However just from a "sound" standpoint, you should try your HiV capable ones on both settings and see and hear the differences for yourself. guitplayer

And bless us, every one. guitplayer

Yahoo... My 10 tube ultimate Class A vacuum tube kit arrived today. Thanks Myles! For letting me know you had these available and for the speedy service in sending them out! I feel like a kid at Christmas. I'll probably be up till morning trying different ones in my UniValve. What fun! guitplayer

James-Italy .... I am sure you will go nuts with your Univalve. They are amazing amps. If you want what is so far, a steal, to make your Univalve do almost everything, I have one tube set on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1782530048&rd=1 which has no bids yet (I have a $50 reserve on it, but at three times that, these are pretty cool tested tubes), and a few kits at a fixed price of $60 each ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1781128780&rd=1 ) that are smaller. Your powerbrake will work fine with your amp, just realize that you are going to eat up output tubes much faster, and Marshall output transformers don't like to be run flat out for long periods of time. Keep feeling the output transformer of the amp, and if it starts to get hot ... back off. Keep the impedance matched. If you are going to use a 8 ohm cab, set your amp to 8 ohms, the powerbrake to 8 ohms, etc. Myles, I've bid on the 10 tube set... at your reserve price... this deal looks like it's MADE for me! Now I've got to get a similar set of pre-amp tubes... do you have any thing like this? guitplayer

OK, I found the answer to this on my own. Fender.com has a .pdf version of the user manual that explains the main speaker out and the external speaker are in parallel and if the main is disconnected, the external jack is also. But I suppose I could just connect the speaker cable to my iso cab directly into the main speaker output, unplugging the internal speaker. The iso cab's 8 ohms, the same as the internal speaker, so there would still be the correct speaker load, right? guitplayer

Myles, I can't say enough THANKS for your advice about getting a THD Univalve and using it as a pre-amp for my HR Deluxe. It has become "my sound" and I can't imagine playing without it. As I've recently said a few times here... I am AMAZED at how good this sounds. I'm finding LOTS of different THD settings that work great and I know I need to contact you soon to expand my selection of tubes... but even with the ones I have, the choices you have from tweaking the amps settings are awesome. I find the instrument level line out -> AMP IN on my HR Deluxe to be an awesome combination. I can adjust the line out level from no sound to WAY LOUD, and I'm still hitting the HR Deluxe's poweramp and speaker... This is an great feature of this amp, and one that gives me access to the THD sound at virtually ANY volume level. I do have one question I was hoping you would know the answer to... I have my Randall Iso cab connected to the extention speaker jack on my HR Deluxe. This works well, and gives me reverb from the HR Deluxe on the iso cab. I know you shouldn't run the HR Deluxe without the load of a speaker. But what if I've got the extention cab plugged in? What I'd LIKE to be able to do is still use the poweramp and reverb of the HR Deluxe, along with the volume reduction of the iso cab. Does the extention cab create enough of a "speaker load" that it's safe to unplug the main speaker? Thanks in advance. guitplayer

My wife just walked in the room and asked me what that silly grin plastered on my face was for... did I dare tell her it's because I just listened to Woogman in the Jungle? From that first ...who who ha, who who ha ha... you had me... then that analog lead sound... mmmmmmm... was that ANDY talkin'? Fat, Analog, Funky... If all "rap" songs had this kind of artistry and vocals behind them... well I'd be a rap fan. The background vocals are PERFECT for this part... almost over the edge... but not quite... I loved the lead synth licks. great sound, not too "shrill" but nice and juicy... great feel on the bends... just like a guitplayer! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif The whole thing just made me smile... like a good Disney song might... (absolutely meant as a compliment)... I just imagined Simba, Timone and Pumba boppin' along to this as they cruised their jungle territory... (OK, I confess I've got a 5 and 7 year old and I've seen a LITTLE TOO MUCH DISNEY)... another gem... compared to your other new song... it's so different that the casual listener wouldn't even guess it was from the same artist. as always I'm just a lil ole guitplayer

Holy cow Dave! I just listened to Tapdancer and I'm almost speechless. Really incredible vocal performance... soul and fire mixed with excellent technique and timbre. Do I smell "single" here? Or maybe as part of a soundtrack for an "inspirational" movie... The kind that makes you feel "it's all gonna be ok"... The lyrics had an interesting phrase that reminded me of something... some classic rhyme or poem perhaps? Deja Vu all over again... I hope you don't get tired of me saying this... YOU KEYBOARD GUYS ROCK!!! plus the guitar tracks sounded perfect for the part... I love that edgy single coil snarl. A tele perhaps? guitplayer