Author Topic: Tribute & Fender Blues Deluxe Amp & too much gain (Read 360 times)

jx2638 · « **on:** December 09, 2008, 09:46:47 AM »

I just picked up an all-tube Blues Deluxe Reissue for use with my 2005 Tribute. I only use the clean channel...volume, low, mid, high and reverb....real simple. I found that when I started pushing the amp volume the sound quality began breaking up (kind of heavily/overly gained if you will)...and especially on the low 3 strings. So I dug into the cavity and decreased the gain on the neck pickup...which seemed to work but now I need the amp volume up on nine...and that's just at home let alone while playing out...I'd have no higher to go.
Just wondering if anyone has suggestions???
Thanks so much!!

tdukes · « **Reply #1 on:** December 09, 2008, 11:02:03 AM »

Not that it really helps you much, but I can tell you I don't really get that with my 2001 Tribute with an all tube Fender Twin Reverb 65 reissue.

I just played it a little while turned up to 5. Pretty loud, pretty clean. I did notice that my neck pickup seems to hum more than the middle or bridge pickup. My gain knobs inside the cavity are between 1/4 and 1/3 of all the way up. The guitar is still a little louder than some of my others. I usually don't use the volume all the way up.

Do you have another guitar to try with the amplifier? Maybe you have a bad tube. Even if it is new, if it set on the floor of the shop where you got it, it may have been turned on a lot.

Todd.

jx2638 · « **Reply #2 on:** December 09, 2008, 12:40:57 PM »

Thanks Todd...never had a blown tube with years of fender and musicman amps...anyway to test the tube without the tech biasing meters?

tdukes · « **Reply #3 on:** December 09, 2008, 01:20:19 PM »

I really have no idea. I have only had a tube problem once. It was different though. The amp just made intermittent staticy noises after it had warmed up. I replaced a tube and the problem went away. I don't even remember how I decided which tube to replace. I think it was on someones suggestion (probably the person selling me the tube). This was a long time ago, before I owned an Alembic, with a Fender Deluxe Reverb.

Todd.

jx2638 · « **Reply #4 on:** December 09, 2008, 03:32:35 PM »

Thx Todd...Would love to hear if anyone has other suggestions or similar stories.
Thanks!!

grateful · « **Reply #5 on:** December 10, 2008, 02:48:42 AM »

Jim: my Further overdrives the clean channel on a Fender Blues Deville (60 watts, 2 12 inch speakers) with the amp volume at 4. I suggest you reset the presets, then try your amp volume high and start with the Tribute volume low and slowly turn it up. At some point, you will start to overdrive the amp: but it should be creamy, not seriously distorted. If it is distorted, then Todd's right and you probably have a defective tube.

Mark

jx2638 · « **Reply #6 on:** December 10, 2008, 05:20:38 AM »

Thanks Mark...you mean reset the pickup gains in the guitar?

jx2638 · « **Reply #7 on:** December 10, 2008, 06:51:02 AM »

If the tube is illuminated, is it still possible that it is defective?

grateful · « **Reply #8 on:** December 10, 2008, 06:57:58 AM »

Yeah: reset the pick-ups to their original levels (as near as you can). My Further is still at the Alembic preset level, and at full volume has a higher output than any passive guitar I've encountered.

Mark

tdukes · « **Reply #9 on:** December 10, 2008, 07:07:50 AM »

>If the tube is illuminated, is it still possible
>that it is defective?

I don't know a lot about tubes, but I think the answer here is yes. There are parts of the tube that can fail that are not responsible for it glowing.

I would think if the tube didn't get hot enough to glow, you wouldn't hear any sound. Someone may correct me if I am wrong.

Todd.

adriaan · « **Reply #10 on:** December 10, 2008, 07:12:55 AM »

Distortion might also be caused by the battery going dead.

eardolin · « **Reply #11 on:** December 10, 2008, 08:59:39 AM »

Hey Jim-
I run my Alembic through a Fender 'Twin Amp' (100W) and have a deafening amount of clean headroom. I've noticed that when I play through a lower powered amp like one of the Tweed Deluxes they have at the rehearsal space we sometimes book I have a difficult time keeping the signal clean past 4 or 5. This is a problem I have encountered with both active and passive guitars so I don't necessarily think it's accountable to Alembic electronics. I suppose it's possible that your particular amp (40W) doesn't really want to be clean past 5 and you may be over-driving your preamp tubes or power tubes (a trait of a lower powered amp). I believe this is one of the sought after characteristics of the circuitry found in your amp as well as a number of other vintage oriented amps: Low-Powered Twin, Vibrolux etc. It's also probably the reason that a company like Mesa Boogie makes a 20 Watt studio power amp (low volume power tube breakup). Even a Twin will eventually break up if you push it hard enough but at the point of breakup it would be extremely loud. One thing you might consider doing is trying your Tribute through a higher powered amp like a reissue Twin to see if you encounter the same problem. If it's the same then you may need to replace your battery or adjust your settings. If you experience more headroom than you may want to consider whats going on inside your amp. I've heard that some tube resellers will put together a set of tubes (both preamp and power) geared towards a cleaner signal but I have no idea how much credibility there is to this claim. Also you may consider replacing the speaker with something rated for higher power: JBL E-120, Beyma, EV. Speaker breakup is also a common attribute of a 'blues' tone so it may be something worth looking at.
Hope this helps-
-Ezra

gtrguy · « **Reply #12 on:** December 10, 2008, 10:42:01 AM »

Yes, I'd consider a higher powered amp. You might try replacing the 1st preamp tube with a lower gain version, but you would lose some headroom and power at higher volume. Another speaker could help also, somethng that does not break up as easy. I think the early breakup is a selling point of these amps for most players.

jx2638 · « **Reply #13 on:** December 11, 2008, 04:22:58 AM »

First off...thanks for all the discussion and suggestions. I did replace the 9V battery as a first step. I also own a 100 watt Fender Twin Amp...Evil Twin. I broke a power tube in it a while back and pulled a 2nd power tube which makes the max output 60 watt...I was never thrilled with the sound quality at the 60 watt ouyput. I think I'll revert back to the Twin...first to see if I experience a similar break-up and 2nd to replace tubes bringing back the 100 watts of power. The funny thing is...the sound I'm getting out of the Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue with the Tribute neck pickup gain set very low and the amp volume extremely high is outstanding. Maybe even worth mic'ing the amp for gigs...then the power issue wouldn't be as big of an issue?

jx2638 · « **Reply #14 on:** December 13, 2008, 01:49:30 PM »

Anyone think string gauge would impact this?? I've always used 12's on the Tribute.