[ Up ] [ How Amps Work ] [ How Tubes Work ] [ Safety ] [ 5E3 Mods ]

[ 5F6A Mods ] [ How the AB763 Works ] [ AB763 Mods ] [ AB763 Models ]
[ Silverface Mods ] [ Amp Mods ] [ Marshall ] [ Set Bias ] [ Tube Bias Calc ]
[ Amp Voicing ] [ Overdrive ] [ Reverb ] [ Build an Amp ] [ Amp Startup ]
[ Troubleshooting ] [ Deluxe Micro ] [ Bassman Micro ] [ Champ Micro ]
[ SixShooter ] [ How the Ruby Works ] [ VHT Mods ] [ Android Bias Calc ]
[ LTSpice ] [ Tele Mods ] [ Contact ]

Tube Guitar Amp Troubleshooting

By Rob Robinette, edited 12/9/2017

Here's my technique for troubleshooting a tube guitar amplifier. Many of these

techniques apply to solid state amps too.

If you are turning on a new build amp or heavily repaired/modified amp

for the first time I recommend you use a light bulb current limiter and
follow my Amp Startup Procedure. Following it will minimize damage due to
a miswired amp.

The more you know about how tube amps work the easier they are to
troubleshoot, so keep learning.

WARNING: A tube amplifier chassis contains lethal high voltage even

when unplugged--sometimes over 700 volts AC and 500 volts DC. If you
have not been trained to work with high voltage then have an amp
technician service your amp. Never touch the amplifier chassis with one
hand while probing with the other hand because a lethal shock can run
between your arms through your heart. Use just one hand when working
on a powered amp. You must drain the filter caps before doing any work
inside an amplifier chassis. See more tube amplifier safety info here.

Preliminary Troubleshooting
Divide and conquer. Does a volume, tone or master volume control affect
the noise? When a control affects the noise it usually indicates the noise
is entering the amp before that control but I have seen a volume control
that caused noise in a bad power tube increase so this isn't a hard-and-
fast rule.

Always suspect a bad tube as they are the most common failure point in
a tube amplifier. Having a spare set of tubes to swap into the amp one at
a time is a must for gigging tube amp users. A bad tube can cause lots of
different symptoms including everything from complete signal loss, hum,
hiss, static to something that sounds like whale sounds. You name it and
a bad tube can cause it. Power tubes usually wear out quicker than preamp
tubes but as they say, "tubular morghulis," "all tubes must die." Don't forget to
try a new rectifier tube--they can cause all kinds of problems including weird
noises. Reverb driver tubes often have over 400 volts on their plates and die
quicker than preamp tubes.

Loose or dirty tube socket pins can cause all kinds of hard to diagnose
intermittent problems including complete loss of signal, weird noises, static,
crackle & pop, weakening or thinning of signal output, loss of tube heat, higher
than normal plate voltage, zero voltage on the cathode of a cathode biased
amp--almost anything. Sometimes you can gently wiggle a tube and listen for
noise. You can clean the socket by spraying contact cleaner on a tube's pins
and inserting it into the socket a couple of times. See this for how to re-tension
the tube pin holders.

In many Fender 1960 and newer two channel amplifiers the first tube on the
right, V1, is for the Normal channel only and can be pulled out and used to
replace all the other small tubes in the amp to find a bad tube. Play through the
Vibrato channel and test the amp after every tube swap.

Contrary to popular belief, the power and output transformers are the least
likely cause of amp problems.

Always try another guitar, guitar cable, speaker and speaker cable.

Make sure a speaker or dummy load is connected to the amp every time it is
powered up.

Click on your amp's symptom:

The amp is completely dead. No lights, no sound, no speaker hiss.

The amp is blowing fuses.

The amp shows signs of life but does not put out any guitar audio. Lights
are on or you can hear speaker hiss.
The amp powers up but makes weird noises likes squeals, oscillation,
static or motor boating.

The amp powers up but the guitar audio sounds weak or bad.

The amp has excessive hum or buzz.

Troubleshooting spring reverb.

Testing Diodes.

The Amp is Completely Dead

If the amp is completely silent (no speaker hum or hiss at all) then the
problem can be just about anywhere in the amp but you should suspect a bad
tube, blown fuse or the power supply in that order.

Try a new rectifier tube.

First try plugging in a guitar cable, turn up all the amp's volume, gain and
master volume controls up a little and touch the tip of the guitar cable's other
end. You should hear loud noise. If you hear noise jump to The amp shows
signs of life but does not put out any guitar audio.

If the pilot light does not light you can remove the bulb and test it for continuity
across the bulb terminals using a multimeter's continuity or "beep" function. A
blown bulb will not show continuity.

If none of the tubes show any heater glow (dimming the room lights can help
you see the tube glow) the problem is probably with a blown fuse or the power
supply.

Most older amps have a mains fuse holder on the control panel or on the back
of the amp chassis (usually with a push-and-turn cap). Most Fender guitar amp
fuses are MDL type "slow blow" or "time delay" 1/4 inch (6mm) wide by 1 1/4
inch (30mm) long.

Many newer amps have the mains fuse built into the IEC power cord socket.
You have to pry open a little cover to get to the fuse. Check the fuse for
continuity with your multimeter. They can look good but still be blown.

IEC Power Cord Socket

Many amps have internal fuses mounted on the circuit board or on wires in in-
line fuse holders. Any one of these fuses can make the amp silent. Again, test
all the fuses for continuity with your multimeter. You should remove a fuse to
test it because if left in-circuit you can get a false "good" reading.

If after replacing the fuse the amp blows the new fuse see the If the Amp Blows
Fuses section.

If you see heater glow in all the tubes then swap out all the tubes one by one.

If the amp is still dead move on to the Going Inside the Chassis section.

If the Amp Blows Fuses

If the amp is blowing fuses at power up replace the fuse and plug the
amp into a light bulb current limiter and power it up. A light bulb limiter
allows you to power up a new or problem amp and limit damage to the amp
from miswiring or other defects. If an amp is blowing fuses the limiter will allow
you to power up the amp, not blow a fuse and troubleshoot. The limiter keeps
the current flowing through the amp low enough to not blow the fuse. The bulb
should initially go bright as the power transformer and filter caps charge,
then the bulb should dim noticeably if the amp is healthy. If the bulb
burns at its full brightness then a problem is allowing too much current
to flow through the amp.

If you don't use a light bulb limiter then substitute "blows a fuse" for
"light bulb goes full bright" below.

Simple Light bulb Current Limiter

Note: The amp will sound funky and voltages will be lower than normal when
powered by the limiter. If you can't find a 100 watt bulb for your limiter a 150 is
the next best thing. You can not use an LED or fluorescent bulb.

1. Plug the amp in to the light bulb limiter and turn the amp on in
'standby' mode if available. If you don't have a standby switch jump to Power
Transformer.

If the bulb glows dim, which is normal, jump to Step 2.

If the limiter's bulb burns at full brightness in standby then a problem is

in the power cord, power transformer, heater wiring, fixed bias circuit (fixed
bias amps only) or rectifier. These are the only things usually powered in
standby.

Remove the rectifier tube and power up the amp.

If the bulb goes dim then the rectifier tube or socket is the problem. Try
another rectifier tube and inspect the rectifier tube socket.

If the bulb glows bright check the rectifier tube socket and its wiring. If
you don't find a problem move to the Power Transformer.

Power Transformer
Remove all the tubes and power up the amp with the power and
standby switches on (fully powered). If the bulb glows dim then jump
to Step 2.

Warning: With no tubes installed many amps will leave their

filter capacitors fully charged. You must measure for DC voltage
at the filter caps and drain the caps if voltage is over 30v before
doing any work inside the chassis.

If the bulb glows bright drain the caps and disconnect all the
power transformer secondary wires and tape them off individually so
they can't short to the chassis or make contact with one another.

Power up the amp, if the light bulb glows dim jump to the next
paragraph. If the bulb glows bright then the power cord or transformer
winding is shorting out internally. Drain the caps and disconnect all three
power cord wires, wrap each one in electrical tape and plug in the amp.
If the bulb glows dim the transformer is dead and must be replaced. If
the bulb glows bright inspect the wiring from power cord to the
transformer (fuse, power switch, leads) and try a new power cord.

If the light bulb dims with all the secondary wires disconnected
then there is a short in the wiring after the transformer primary
leads downstream in the rectifier, 6.3v heater wiring, 5v heater wiring or
bias circuit.

Power down the amp and drain the caps. One at a time connect the
power transformer secondary wires. Start with the high voltage
wires to the rectifier. Power up, if the light bulb goes dim then then its
downstream wiring is OK. If the bulb goes bright you know there is a
problem downstream of the connection in either the rectifier tube socket
wiring or in amps with a solid state rectifier the problem can be in the
rectifier, filter caps, output transformer or tube socket connections.
Unsolder the connection from the last filter cap that supplies the
preamp. If the bulb goes dim the preamp wiring is OK, disconnect the
power tube screen connection and test. If it's ok then you probably have
a shorting capacitor. Unsolder them and test.
 If the high voltage connection tested good power down, drain the
caps and connect the 6.3v heater wires. Power up and if the bulb is
dim the heater wiring is OK. If the bulb burns bright then there is a
wiring problem in the heater wires, heater artificial center tap or tube
sockets. Using a magnifying glass carefully inspect every heater wire
connection. If you don't find a problem and your amp has an artificial
center tap then replace both resistors.

If the 6.3v circuit tested good power down, drain the caps and
connect the 5v heater wires that power the tube rectifier. If your
amp has a solid state rectifier skip this step and move to the fixed
bias circuit. Power up, if the bulb glows dim move on to the bias
circuit. If the bulb goes bright carefully inspect the rectifier tube
wiring--there's a short somewhere.

If the 5v circuit tests good and your amp has a fixed bias circuit,
power down, drain the caps and connect the fixed bias. If the bulb is
dim the circuit is OK. If it goes bright there is a problem in the bias
circuit. Carefully inspect the circuit looking for shorts to ground. If
your fixed bias circuit runs wires under the circuit board then that
wire may be shorting to the chassis. Test the bias circuit
components.

You can also test a power transformer by measuring the resistance

between leads. A healthy Hammond 270AX 240-0-240v power
transformer measured: 14 ohms between primary leads, 223 ohms
between the secondary center tap and HT wire 1 and 250 ohms from
center tap to HT wire 2, 0.3 ohms between the 6.3v leads. Your power
transformer should measure somewhere near these values and not
show an open (mega ohms) or shorted (0 ohms) connection.

2. Power down the amp and insert the tubes one by one, starting with the
rectifier, then preamp tubes, then power tubes. After inserting each tube, power
up the amp and check the light bulb.

If the bulb goes dim (normal) pull that tube and insert the next tube (don't
remove the rectifier tube, it is needed to power the other tubes). Repeat until
the bulb goes bright.

If the bulb goes bright then power down, it means you have found the
problem area.

Replace that tube with a known good tube. If the bulb stays dim with the
new tube you had a bad tube and should be good to go.
 If the bulb goes bright with the known good tube then there is a short in
the circuit near that tube. Closely inspect the tube socket with a magnifying
glass for anything that would short two pins or short a pin to ground. Use
your meter to check for continuity from socket pin to ground. Read the ohm
rating color stripes of all the resistors in the circuit to verify their value.
Closely inspect the components that are connected to that tube socket on
the circuit board and check them for continuity to ground.

No Guitar Audio
The goal of early testing is "divide and conquer." We'll try to find what
general area of the amp is causing the problem to narrow our search.

With the amp's power and standby switch on (fully powered) and all
volumes turned full up can you hear any hiss or hum coming from the
speaker? If you can then you know the mains fuse, power transformer, power
tubes and output transformer are powered and at least partially working. The
problem is probably between the input jack and phase inverter (or driver for
single ended amps).

Some amps have multiple volume, gain and master volumes so make sure
they are all turned up for testing.

If the amp powers up but is quiet or sounds bad you should always suspect
a bad tube. You should have a spare set of known good tubes on hand so
swap out all the tubes one at a time and see if that fixes your problem.

Try another guitar and guitar cable.

Try all the input jacks. If one channel works and the other doesn't you know
the problem is in the bad channel between the input jack and where the two
channels join.

Dirty or bent FX loop jacks. Insert a jumper or guitar cable from FX Out to FX
In to see if that cures the problem. If the jumper cable does fix your problem
then try cleaning all the jack contacts, especially the switch contacts. If that
doesn't fix it replace the bad jack.

For a new amp startup a very common "no guitar sound" problem is incorrect
input jack wiring. To test your input jack wiring, with the amp off, insert a guitar
cable into the input jack, then measure the other end of the cable from tip to
sleeve for resistance. The Hi jack should measure about 1 megaohm which is
the standard value for the input resistor which is connected across the input
jack's tip and ground terminals. The Low jack should measure around 136k.
If you measure near 0 ohms between the tip and sleeve the tip of the guitar
cable is making contact with ground and sending all the guitar signal to ground.
Inspect the input jacks carefully and make sure the switch (shunt) terminal is
really the middle terminal as shown on amp layouts. On some Switchcraft
clone jacks the switch terminal is not the middle terminal. Make sure the jacks'
switch disconnects when a guitar cable plug is inserted.

If your amp uses the Fender standard Bright/Normal High/Low four input jack
circuit you can test the circuit by plugging a guitar cable into the High jacks and
measure the resistance of the cable's other end. Both High jacks should
measure around 1 Megaohm from tip to sleeve. The two Low jacks should
measure around 136k from tip to ground.
If the amp has an effects loop try plugging the guitar into the FX loop
Return jack. That will bypass the gain stages and circuitry upstream. If that
works you know the problem is upstream of the Return jack.

Check the speaker and speaker cable. A speaker cable with a break in it can
fry the output transformer. Make sure the speaker is plugged into the
correct speaker jack. Many Fender amps ground out the signal if you plug
only one speaker into the Aux speaker jack. Try all the speaker jacks.

Play another amp through the speaker to verify its tone and function. You
can also connect another speaker to the problem amp, if the amp sounds
good you know you have a bad speaker.

Inspect the speaker connections at both ends of the speaker cable. Slide-on
spade connectors can make intermittent connection and cause buzz, static and
audio drop out. I do not like spade connectors--solder that speaker cable to the
speaker terminals because you can blow the output transformer and/or power
tubes if that connection breaks.

If the "no guitar audio" problem persists continue to: Going Inside the
Chassis.

Weird Noises
Weird noises, including squealing, wooshing, clicking, static, honking, motor
boating, etc. can be caused by:

A bad tube so swap out the tubes one at a time for known, good tubes.

A microphonic tube or other component can cause rattles, buzzes, rings

and other strange noises in combo cab amps. If you connect your amp to an
extension cab and disconnect the internal speaker and the noise goes away it's
probably caused by a microphonic component or possibly a cab rattle. You can
gently tap the tubes with a chopstick or wooden pencil with the amp on and
listen for excessive noise. You can also put light pressure on each tube using a
chopstick or gloved hand and then play the offending note to try to identify the
noisy tube. High temperature o-rings placed on preamp tubes can help in
combo cabs but metal tube shrouds won't fit over them.

Dirty or loose tube sockets can cause everything from no signal at all to
intermittent static, pops, whooshing and hum. If wiggling the tubes causes
noise then put some contact cleaner on the tube's pins and insert them into the
socket two or three times. You can also re-tension loose sockets for solid pin
contact.

Inspect the speaker connections--both ends of the speaker cable. Slide-on

spade connectors can make intermittent connection and cause buzz, static and
audio drop out. I do not like spade connectors--solder that speaker cable to the
speaker terminals because you can blow the output transformer and/or power
tubes if that connection breaks.

In combo amps the cab, speaker or speaker baffle can vibrate, rattle and
buzz. Try sitting on the cab while playing or have someone put pressure on the
baffle board to identify the problem area. Try a separate extension cab to verify
it's a cab issue. You can glue and screw small braces to tighten up loose joints.
To help troubleshoot you can use a signal generator (or phone ap) connected
to the amp and play with the signal frequency to find the resonant tone that
causes the rattle or buzz. Once you get a continuous buzz it will be easy to find
the rattle using your hands to dampen different parts of the cab. You can also
use a chopstick to put pressure on amp components to look for a microphonic
component like a tube or capacitor.

Electric sounding arcing or zap noises can be caused by tube arcing or

loose grounds. You can sometimes locate an actual arc by opening the chassis
and playing the amp in the dark. Look for little flashes of light when the "zap"
sound occurs. Look for loose, broken or unsoldered joints, especially on the
ground bus and where the bus ties to the chassis.

Dirty FX loop jacks. Insert a jumper or guitar cable from FX Out to FX In to

see if that cures the problem. If it does fix your problem try cleaning all the jack
contacts, especially the switch contacts. If that doesn't fix it replace the jacks.

Dirty or worn pots. Dirty pots can cause intermittent contact, signal dropout
and static. Most pots have a hole in their shells so you can squirt contact
cleaner into them. Run the back and forth through their full travel very quickly
several times right after you squirt them.

Positive feedback from the negative feedback circuit. When you start up a
new build amp with NFB or replace an output transformer you have a 50%
chance of getting a squeal from positive feedback. Swap the output
transformer's secondary wires to make the feedback negative.

Lead dress causing capacitive coupling which can cause hum, noise, squeals
and oscillation. Chopstick the amp. You can use a non-conducting wooden
chopstick to move wires around with the amp operating and volume full up to
find the source of noise. It can also be used to apply pressure to components
and solder joints to identify weak components and joints.

Silent oscillation (above human hearing) can cause lower than normal amp
voltages, lower than normal (or no) output volume and temporary signal
dropout. Use lead chopsticking to find lead dress issues that can cause
oscillation. Snubber caps can be used to filter above human hearing
frequencies.

Weak or failing filter caps can cause hum, oscillation and squeal especially in
high gain amps. You can alligator clip a new cap in parallel with an existing
cap. If the hum or oscillation goes away then replace the old cap.

Defective plate or cathode resistors can cause constant static, crackle and
pop noise. Sometimes putting some pressure on the resistor with a chopstick
or spraying it with freeze spray will change the noise and help you identify the
bad resistor.

Popping or squealing when a guitar cable is plugged in. A bad 1M input

resistor (usually mounted on an input jack) will allow the first gain stage grid to
float in the short time between the jack shorting switch opening and the cable
plug making full contact. You can test this by opening the jack switch, if it
squeals the input resistor is bad. Measure the resistance across the resistor
and if it measures good re-flow its solder joints and check the input jack
ground.

Intermittent noise or noise that begins or goes away when the amp
warms up is sometimes caused by a weak component or bad solder joint that
is affected by heat. You can sometimes identify the issue by waiting for the
problem to occur then carefully spray freeze spray to cool amp components
and solder joints. If spraying a part or solder joint causes the issue to go away
or come back you've located the problem.

For more info see Going Inside the Chassis

Bad Guitar Audio

Nasty sounding guitar audio can be caused by many things including:

A bad tube so swap out the tubes one at a time for known, good tubes.

Dirty FX loop jacks. Insert a jumper or guitar cable from FX out to FX in to

see if that cures the problem. If it does fix your problem try cleaning all the jack
contacts, especially the switch contacts. If that doesn't fix it replace the jacks.

Dirty or worn pots. Dirty pots can cause intermittent contact, signal dropout
and static. Most pots have a hole in their shells so you can squirt contact
cleaner into them. Run the pot back and forth through their full travel very
quickly several times right after you squirt them.

A bad solder joint. Applying pressure with a chopstick and hearing noise can
identify a bad joint. Freeze spray can also help identify bad solder joints.

Cone Rub. The speaker voice coil rubs its surround. Typically happens during
loud, low notes. Try another speaker to identify a bad speaker. Sometimes
mounting the speaker upside down will keep the cone from rubbing. You may
have to have the speaker re-coned to get rid of cone cry.

Inspect the speaker connections--both ends of the speaker cable. Slide-on

spade connectors can make intermittent connection and cause buzz, static and
audio drop out. I do not like spade connectors--solder that speaker cable to the
speaker terminals because you can blow the output transformer and/or power
tubes if that connection breaks.

For a new or recently repaired amp using the incorrect value of a component
can cause funky audio. Verify the value of all resistors and caps.

A disconnected component. Component leads can break and wires can pull
loose. Chopsticking components and wires can help identify the loose
connection.

A bad component:

Blown power tube screen resistor. This is a common cause of a weak

sounding amp. When a power tube blows it can short the plate and screen
and cause the screen resistor to burn and blow. Measure the resistance
across the resistor.

Leaking coupling capacitor. A leaking cap can cause scratchy pots and
affect preamp and power tube bias. Measure the DC voltage on tube grids
and look for anomolies.

Shorted resistor. Measure the resistance across the resistor. A shorted

resistor will show 0 ohms.

Open resistor. Applying light pressure to the resistor and hearing noise
can sometimes identify a bad resistor. Measure the resistance across the
resistor. An open resistor will show a very high resistance well beyond the
resistor's rating.

Output Transformer
If the output transformer shorts between windings it can lead to no output,
weak output or funky sounding output. You can test the transformer by
measuring the resistance between its leads. Drain the filter caps and
remove the rectifier and power tubes before making the following resistance
measurements:

For push-pull transformers you should see approximately the same

resistance between each secondary wire at each power tube and the
center tap--typically somewhere between 10 to 200 ohms.

A shorted primary winding will have much lower resistance compared

to the other winding and typically measure at less than 10 ohms.

The secondary windings will often measure less than 1 ohm between
all the secondary leads so it is difficult to detect a shorted secondary.
 If a transformer winding is open (break) it will show a very high
resistance between the primary leads or between the secondary
(speaker) leads (typically 500k or higher).

A short between the primary and secondary windings will typically

show less than 10 ohms resistance between the primary and secondary
leads.

Measure the resistance between all the leads and chassis ground--low
resistance of less than 10 ohms indicates a short to the transformer's
iron core.

For comparison my healthy Hammond 125C push-pull output

transformer measured: red enter tap to brown 150 ohms, red center tap
to blue 116 ohms, brown to blue 268 ohms. All secondaries measured .2
to .6 ohms between them. A Hammond 125GSE single-ended output
transformer measured 53 ohms between the two primary wires. All of
the secondaries measured .2 to .3 ohms. Both transformers measured
an open circuit between their primary and secondary and to the
transformer outer metal shell.

If any of the above faults are present your best bet is to just replace the
output transformer. For valuable vintage transformers it is possible to
have them rewired.

For more info see Going Inside the Chassis.

Hum and Buzz

Start with the basics. Does any volume or master control affect the hum
or buzz? If yes then the noise is getting into the circuit before the control.

Is the noise in both channels? If yes then the noise is entering the circuit
after the channels merge.

Loud hum from a newly built amp is almost always caused by a bad or
missing ground. Check for continuity between everything that should be
grounded and the chassis. A joint with no solder can cause intermittent
loud hum. Inspect every solder joint with a magnifying glass. It's very
common to leave a joint or two without solder.

Be sure and try another guitar and guitar cable. Also try the amp in
another location because noise is often caused by dirty power (perhaps
caused by a refrigerator's compressor motor) or radio frequency interference
(RFI) caused by a noisy light dimmer, fluorescent lights or other electrical
equipment. Before taking the cover off your amp try it in another location,
preferably in another building.

A dying tube can cause 50 or 60Hz hum from heater-cathode leakage but can
also cause 100 or 120Hz hum so swapping out every tube should be done
before going any further. I have had brand new preamp tubes hum loudly
so try swapping them all.In combo amps the cab, speaker or speaker
baffle can vibrate, rattle and buzz. Try sitting on the cab or putting pressure
on different parts of the cab, speaker baffle and speaker frame (it helps to have
a friend play while you prod).

Dirty, corroded or loose tube socket pins can cause hum and buzz. You
can clean them by spraying contact cleaner on a tube's pins and insert it into
the socket a couple of times.

Microphonic tubes can rattle, buzz and ring. Touching the tubes gently with
your chopstick or a gloved hand while playing something that makes it buzz
can help you identify the bad tube.

Inspect the speaker connections--both ends of the speaker cable. Slide-on

spade connectors can make intermittent connection and cause buzz, static and
audio drop out. I do not like spade connectors--solder that speaker cable to the
speaker terminals because you can blow the output transformer and/or power
tubes if that connection breaks.

Adding aluminum or copper foil tape to an amp cab to cover the chassis
opening can help reduce RFI. The tape will need to make good contact with
the chassis for it to act as an RFI shield. For the 5E3 Deluxe and other tweed
amps the tape would be applied to the inside of the wooden back panel to
cover the chassis opening.

If your amp has an unused triode you should connect the unused plate,
cathode and grid to ground.

After trying different tubes the next step is to identify the type and frequency
of the hum or buzz. Buzz has a sharp tone to it where hum has a smooth
sound. A "buzz" is caused by noise that can be seen on an oscilloscope as a
waveform with sharp spikes.

In the United States hum and buzz usually comes in two frequencies, 60 and
120Hz (Hz means cycles per second). If your power runs at 50Hz like in
Europe you will have 50 and 100Hz hum and buzz. Determining the frequency
of the noise will help you track down the source. See this Youtube video at 2:15
for samples of both types of hum.

"Chopsticking" the Amp

You can use a non-conducting wooden chopstick to move wires around with
the amp on and the volume up to find the source of noise and identify lead
dress problems. On my first amp build I had the V1A plate and grid wires lying
on top of one another which created a moderate hum. Simply moving those
wires apart made the amp almost silent. A chopstick can also be used to apply
pressure to components and solder joints to identify weak components and
joints.

Sometimes you'll have to resort to using an oscilloscope and signal

generator to track down the source of a difficult to identify hum or buzz. See
the oscilloscope section for more info.

50 or 60Hz Buzz
50 or 60Hz buzz is sometimes caused by power line noise and can be
addressed by applying a small, high voltage filter cap across the high voltage
rectifier input wires. This .02uF 3KV (3000v) ceramic disc cap works well for
this. I usually solder one across the rectifier tube socket where the two high
voltage power transformer wires connect. For a solid state rectifier solder the
cap across the rectifier inputs.

Buzz can also be caused by AC components. I had a nasty 60Hz buzz that
was caused by the placement of a 120v pilot light too close to the amp's signal
wires.

Radio Frequency Interference or RFI can sometimes be heard as a 50 or 60Hz

buzz. Adding copper or aluminum foil tape to the back of a chassis cover can
help reduce RFI. Moving sources of RFI like cell phones, light dimmers and
fluorescent lights away from the amp can also help.

100 or 120Hz Buzz

100 or 120Hz buzz can be caused by a bad tube so swap in a new set of
tubes. Buzz can also be caused by a noisy rectifier. This can usually be
eliminated by placing .02uF 1KV caps in parallel with each rectifier diode. If the
rectifier is inside a housing then running caps from the two rectifier inputs to
the + and - terminals usually works well.

50 or 60Hz Hum
50 or 60Hz hum usually comes from the power transformer or its wiring, the
tube heater wires or from external RFI caused by fluorescent lights, dimmers
and other sources.

Assuming you've tried the amp in a different location 50 or 60Hz hum must be
generated by the power transformer or its wiring. Keep as much distance from
the power transformer's wires and the amp's wires and circuitry as possible.
Heater wires should be twisted and the untwisted wire that goes to each tube
pin should be as short as possible with no big loops. Signal wires should cross
the heater wires at 90 degrees to minimize coupling.

You can temporarily power your 6.3v heaters with a 6 volt lantern battery
(available at Walmart). If the objectionable hum goes away under battery
power you know your hum is coming from the 6.3v heater circuit.

Higher than standard heater voltage can increase hum. If your heater
voltage is higher than approximately 6.6v it would be a good idea to reduce the
heater voltage to 6.1 to 6.3 volts. See this link for information on how to reduce
heater voltage.

If your amp's power transformer has no 6.3v heater center tap then the amp
needs an artificial center tap. Verify there is an artificial center tap installed
and check the resistance of its two resistors. A missing 6.3v center tap or a
burned out resistor will usually cause loud hum.

You can usually get the lowest amount of 60Hz heater hum by replacing a
real 6.3v center tap or artificial center tap with a Humdinger pot. A
Humdinger pot allows you to adjust the resistance between the two 6.3v heater
lines to ground to achieve minimum hum. You adjust it by ear with the amp
turned up to max to hear the hum best. You can also connect a Humdinger's
ground connection (wiper) to a cathode biased amp's cathode resistor to
elevate the heater ground reference for even more hum removal. See this link
for more information on installing a Humdinger pot.

Push-pull amps should have their power tubes wired in phase so the tubes can
use common mode noise rejection. For in phase wiring each heater wire
should connect to the same heater pin on the two power tubes. This is why it's
a good idea to use two colors of heater wiring so you can keep the phase
correct.

Parallel power tubes should be wired out of phase to help cancel hum between
the power tubes.

100 or 120Hz Hum

This is probably the most common hum in an amp. It can be caused by:

A bad tube so swap out the tubes for known, good tubes.

An input jack that doesn't ground out when nothing is plugged in. If the jack's
shunt switch does not make good contact with the jack's tip connector you will
get loud hum when no guitar is plugged in but the amp will sound fine when
you plug in a guitar.

Worn out filter capacitors. Electrolytic filter caps have a typical lifespan of 15
to 20 years. You can test for bad filter caps by alligator clipping in a
parallel cap. If the new cap reduces hum then replace the original cap. If your
amp is fixed bias don't forget the fixed bias circuit filter cap(s).

Missing ground. Loud hum can be caused by components that should be

grounded but aren't. Forgetting to solder a volume pot's ground wire or a cold
solder joint on a cathode resistor's ground are two common causes of loud
hum. I like to use an alligator clip wire and connect one end to the
chassis and carefully probe all the amp's ground connections to see if I
hear an improvement. Touch the ground probe to all volume pots' ground
terminal, the ground side of preamp cathode resistors, etc. Pressing solder
joints with a chopstick can also help find bad ground solder joints.

Loops in the ground circuit. If your input jacks are grounded to the chassis
and you also run a ground wire between them then a ground loop is formed
(chassis is one side, the wire is the other) which can act as an antenna and
pick up RFI noise and hum. You will also form a ground loop if you use
shielded cable inside the amp and ground both ends. You should only ground
one end of shielded cable.

Lead dress (wires too close to one another causing capacitive coupling)
Chopstick the amp's wires around with the amp on and the volume up to see if
you can decrease the hum. Pay close attention to the tube grid and plate
wires--keep them as far apart from one another as possible. My first amp build
had a loud hum because the first preamp stage's grid and plate wires were
sitting on top of one another. Separating the wires silenced the amp.

Chasing Down a Nasty Buzz

After I finished testing and tweaking the Deluxe Micro prototype in bare circuit
boards I mounted them in a Hammond blank chassis. When I fired up the
newly mounted amp I had a nasty buzz at max volume that wasn't there before
I put it in the chassis. It didn't sound like smooth 60Hz heater wire hum or
120Hz power supply ripple hum so the investigation began.

The amp with no guitar cable plugged in was absolutely silent at max volume.
The buzz could be controlled by both the volume and master volume controls.
The amp's tone control could almost entirely eliminate it when turned full down.
The guitar's tone control could completely eliminate the noise when turned full
down. Hmmm. The buzz didn't change with guitar movement or when touching
the guitar's strings or grounded metal bridge.
Since the volume and tone controls affected the noise I knew it was
entering the amp before the control--somewhere between the guitar and the
volume pot.

My first instinct was I had a bad cable or a guitar issue. I tried another
cable--no change. I tried my Strat--no change. I tried a cable with no guitar
connected and got the expected crescendo of noise.

My next suspect was the fluorescent lights that light the basement
workshop. I turned them off and the amp looked cool in the dark as it spewed
forth The Buzz.

Maybe it was power line noise. I diligently moved the amp to another part of
the house and tried again--no change.

Time to get into the chassis. My first thought was a bad ground connection
so I alligator clipped a wire to the chassis and carefully probed all the ground
connections in the amp to see if I heard an improvement but found no success.

My next step was lead dress. I used a wooden chopstick to push around
wires while listening for an improvement in noise. I did find that the input
jack wires that ran by the power switch and across both circuit boards were
picking up some 60Hz hum from the power switch. I replaced the input jack
and headphone jack wires with RG174 coax which eliminated the hum but had
no effect on The Buzz.

Time for the oscilloscope. I injected a 500Hz .1v signal into the amp's input
jack. I connected the oscilloscope's ground probe to the preamp ground and
connected the probe to the input jack tip. I zoomed in on the 500Hz signal and
played with the tone control to change the volume of The Buzz but couldn't see
any signal artifact change with the guitar tone change. I jumped to the speaker
output jack and tried again with no success. Next I tapped into V1A's output
just after the coupling cap (to avoid high voltage DC on the probe) and
repeated the tone change and again I couldn't see any change on the
oscilloscope. I moved the scope probe to V1B's output and repeated the
guitar tone knob dance--and there it was. A vertical spike that grew and
shrank with the tone control's movement. I zoomed in the scope's display
and confirmed it was THE BUZZ.

I used the scope's horizontal scan knob to move the waveform left and right so
I could measure the time between spikes--17.4 milliseconds. Off to the internet
to convert the time interval to frequency and the answer was--60Hz, it was wall
power related after all, or so I thought. I pulled out my trusty H&K Tubemiester
5 and plugged it into the same wall power socket and fired it up--no buzz. I
figured the H&K might have some power line filtering built in so that test proved
nothing.
I have seen some amps with a .01uF 3KV (3000V) disk capacitor across the
rectifier tube socket's high voltage input pins to pre-filter high freq noise so I
gave that a try. It did help a little but THE BUZZ still lived.

I sat there staring into the amp's chassis wondering what it could be. I noticed
the 120V pilot light (not a standard 6.3V light) sitting next to the input jack. This
was my first build using a 120V light so I had no experience with them. I hauled
the amp back to the solder station and de-soldered the light's neutral wire and
fired up the amp--success! THE BUZZ was no more. It was that damn noisy
bitch of a pilot light.

The fact that the amp was silent when no guitar cord was plugged in was a big
clue here that I missed. With no cord plugged in the circuit from the input jack
to V1A's grid is grounded so THE BUZZ was being shunted to ground. I should
have focused the investigation on the input circuit from the start. 20/20
hindsight and all that. . .

When I stuffed the prototype B9A boards into the chassis I put them to the far
left to make room to mount the power transformer on the far right. After getting
the boards mounted I realized I had no front panel real estate on the left side of
the chassis away from the inputs and preamp stages. I ended up having to
mount the power switch, pilot light, guitar input and headphone jack right
next to each other--which is not good--it's a cardinal sin of amp building
actually and I had to pay a penance to atone for my sin.
Notice the power switch, input jack, 120v pilot light and headphone jack. Not a
good idea. If possible keep the power switch and light on the power
transformer end and put the input jack on the preamp end of the chassis.

The little prototype is now nice and quiet and just sounds killer.

Going Inside the Chassis

WARNING: A tube amplifier chassis contains lethal high voltage even
when unplugged--sometimes over 700 volts AC and 500 volts DC. If you
have not been trained to work with high voltage then have an amp
technician service your amp. Never touch the amplifier chassis with one
hand while probing with the other hand because a lethal shock can run
between your arms through your heart. Use just one hand when working
on a powered amp. See more tube amplifier safety info here.

Look for internal fuses. Many amps have several fuses inside the
chassis, both in-line and circuit board mounted to protect the power
transformer and other circuitry.
Inspect the circuit board, sockets, pots and controls using magnifying glasses
and flashlight to help spot bad or broken solder joints.

If an amp is completely dead take a look at the tubes to see if they have any
heater glow. Dimming the room lights can help see the glow. Most amp pilot
lights are powered by the heater circuit, but not all so don't assume a lit pilot
light means the tubes have heat. If a tube isn't lit measure the AC heater
voltage from heater-wire-to-heater-wire, it should be around 5.7v to 6.9v which
is 6.3v +/- 10%.

Dirty or loose tube sockets can cause everything from no signal at all to
intermittent static, pops and hum. If wiggling the tubes causes noise then
put some contact cleaner on the tube's pins and insert them into the socket two
or three times. You can also re-tension loose sockets for solid pin contact.

My next step is to take DC voltage readings starting at the rectifier output and
filter caps (B+1, B+2, B+3). It's good to have a baseline voltage chart for your
amps so you know what voltage to expect. A higher than normal B+ reading
can be caused by a non-functional tube that's not drawing current from the
power supply. A lower than normal reading can be caused by a tube that is
pulling too much current which can be caused by a short, bias problem or in
new build amps an incorrect component value.

If voltage is completely missing there is a break in the power supply. Back

up toward the power supply and find where there is voltage and where there is
no voltage and look for the cause. A blown power resistor between the filter
caps is a common cause of a break in the flow of voltage.
Next measure the voltage at the power tube socket closest to the power
transformer. For octal power tubes (8 pins) I look for 5.7 to 6.9v AC heater
voltage between socket pins 2 and 7.

Warning: The power tube plates can have over 500 volts DC on them.

Octal Tube Socket Numbers

Plate is pin 3, Screen pin 4, Grid pin 5 and Cathode is pin 8. Arrow points to
the insertion index notch. Pin numbers start after the index notch and increase
clockwise around the socket.

The power tube pins 3 (plate) and 4 (screen) should have high voltage DC and
pin 5 (grid) should pop when probed with the meter. For fixed bias amps the
grid should show a negative voltage but cathode biased amps will indicate near
0 volts on the grid. Pin 8 (cathode) will show 0 volts in fixed bias amps or show
voltage between 10 to 25 volts DC in cathode biased amps. Nine pin power
tubes like the EL84 have different pin functions so Google their data sheet to
see their pin functions. You should always hear a pop when probing the
grid of any tube in the signal chain. Tubes that run the reverb or tremolo
may not pop when probed.

If you get no grid pop then you have a problem somewhere between that
tube and the last tube that popped. The first thing to try is to replace the
tube. Next measure the voltage at every pin of the troubled tube's socket for
clues to the problem.

Higher than normal voltage on the plates can be caused by no electron flow
through the tube. This can be caused by no heater voltage or a disconnect
between the tube cathode, the cathode resistor (if used) and ground. High
voltage on the plates can also be caused by a higher value cathode resistor
like using a 15k resistor instead of the specified 1.5k.

Lower than normal voltage on the plates is caused by too much current flow
through the tube. This can be caused by an incorrect bias voltage on the grid.
A leaking coupling cap can let DC voltage through to the grid and heat up the
bias current. A lower value cathode resistor can also allow too much current to
flow through a tube.

Cathode biased power and preamp tubes should show the bias voltage
on the tube's cathode pin. If there is voltage on the plate but the cathode is
zero this can be caused by a bad cathode resistor connection or no heater
voltage. With the amp off measure the resistance from the cathode pin to
ground. It should equal the cathode resistor value.

Fixed bias power tubes should show the cathode as connected to ground
and show a negative voltage on the grid, usually between -30 to -50 volts DC.
An incorrect grid bias voltage can make an amp sound bad.

Unwanted Grid Voltage Most preamp tubes should show no voltage on their
grids (12A*7 tubes' pins 2 & 7) except tubes that function as phase inverters or
cathode followers where grid voltage is normal. If the preamp tube's grid leak
resistor is tied directly to ground it should not have any voltage on it. If there is
voltage on the grid it's usually caused by a leaky upstream coupling cap (that
must be replaced) or grid current. To verify the source of grid voltage you can
pull the tube and see if the voltage on the tube socket grid pin goes away. If the
grid voltage is still present then it's coming from a leaking capacitor or a wiring
mistake. No voltage on the grid pin means the unwanted grid voltage was
being generated by grid current. Try another tube and look for incorrect
component values or wiring mistakes associated with that tube circuit.

Blown power tube screen resistors are a common cause of weak or nasty
sounding output. When a power tube blows it often shorts the tube's plate to
the screen which results in a blown screen resistor. A blown screen resistor will
normally fail open with infinite resistance. The amp can operate with one power
tube but it will sound weak and funky. When you replace the blown tube it will
still function poorly because the blown screen resistor will not allow any voltage
to the screens so the amp will sound different than with a blown tube but still
not sound good due the huge output imbalance between the good tube and the
tube with no screen voltage. Verify the resistance across the screen resistor.

If the first power tube checks out then move to the next tube up the circuit
which will be another power tube for push-pull circuits or the driver tube for
single ended amps. Make sure all the volumes, gains and master volumes
are turned up a little when you check the preamp tubes so you can listen
for a pop when probing the preamp tubes' grid.

Again listen for a pop when probing the grid and plate pins and look for
voltage anomalies. The pop should get louder as you test each tube up
the amplification chain toward the input. Continue moving toward the
first preamp tube. If you don't get a pop, or a weaker pop than expected
when probing a tube's grid then you have found a problem area. Carefully
check the voltages of that tube to find clues to why it's not working.

For 9 pin preamp tubes verify 5.7 to 6.9v AC between the heater pins 4
and 9, and 5 and 9 and verify you have DC voltage on pins 1 and 6 (plates), 3
and 8 (cathodes). You should hear a pop when probing the grids, pins 2
and 7. Nine pin tubes should have 0 volts on their grids unless the triode is
being used as a phase inverter, cathode follower or uses grid bias.

If you have unexpected voltage on a tube's grid you may have a leaky coupling
capacitor upstream allowing DC voltage through to the grid.

Troubleshooting Spring Reverb

The reverb driver tube is pushed very hard with high voltage in many amps so
the tube tends to burn out sooner than all the other small tubes. A bad tube
can also cause excessive hum in the reverb. Swap out both reverb tubes
with known good tubes and test the amp.

The reverb tank cable connectors (all 4 of them) can corrode and cause
hum, pops, crackling, weak or no reverb. Clean the connectors (male and
female) with contact cleaner. Spray the male connectors and insert them into
the female connectors several times. If the connectors are heavily corroded a
toothbrush, small brass brush or steel wool may be needed to get them clean.

Try another set of tank cables. They can cause intermittent signal drop out.

The fine wires in the reverb tank are a common failure point and they are
difficult to repair. Replace the tank if any of the wires are broken. I'm a fan of
the MOD tanks for around $20.

If you bang on the side of the cab with the power on and reverb turned up
and hear the reverb spring crash you know the reverb tank's springs, output
transducer and reverb recovery amplifier are functioning (the second half of the
reverb circuit).

You can switch the tank's input and output cables and bang on the amp
again. If you hear the spring crash (it will be quieter this time) you know the
input transducer is working. After this test you will know the problem is
upstream of the tank, which is the reverb driver circuit including the reverb
transformer. Swap the tank cables back to normal.

Loose transducers can cause funky problems. If they are loose put some
glue on them to hold them solid or just replace the tank. MOD replacement
tanks are my favorites.
Isolating the reverb pan with a pan bag, rubber grommets and foam
padding between the cab and pan can help cure reverb problems, especially
those that occur at high volume and high reverb settings.

Adding a noise cap to the reverb circuit can sometimes quiet a noisy
reverb. See this for more info.

A weak or bad V4A (Reverb Recovery) cathode bypass cap can cause a
reverb oscillation (squeal) due to positive feedback between V4A and V4B
(Vibrato channel third gain stage).

Hum
Try turning the reverb pan 180 degrees to reduce interaction between the
power transformer and the pan's output transducer.

There are many reverb pan grounding schemes and an incorrect set of cables
can lift the pan's ground or cause a ground loop. Look at your amp's schematic
to verify what part of the tank and cables should be grounded and what
shouldn't.

See How Spring Reverb Works for more info.

"Chopsticking" the Amp

You can use a non-conducting wooden chopstick to move wires around
with the amp on and all the volumes up to identify lead dress problems
which can cause hum and oscillation. On my first amp build I had the V1A
plate and grid wires lying on top of one another which created a moderate
hum. Simply moving those wires apart made the amp almost silent. A
chopstick can also be used to apply pressure to components and solder
joints to identify weak components and joints. You can also lightly tap on
tubes to identify microphonic tubes. Don't forget to chopstick the speaker cable
connections.

Freeze Spray for Intermittent Problems

Intermittent problems are sometimes caused by a weak component or bad
solder joint that is affected by heat as the amplifier warms up. You can
sometimes identify the issue by waiting for the problem to occur then carefully
spray freeze spray to cool amp components and solder joints. If spraying a part
or solder joint causes the issue to go away or come back you've located the
problem.
Break Out the Oscilloscope
For really tough troubleshooting tasks I break out the tone generator and
inject a 500Hz 100 milliamp (.1 amp) signal at an amp's input jack and trace it
through the amp with an oscilloscope by probing the tubes' grids. Start at
the input jack and work towards the speaker and watch for the wave shape to
disappear or change shape. There are tone generator apps for your phone but
you will need an adapter with a 1/4" mono TS plug to plug into the amp's input
jack. You can play a single string on a guitar to generate a waveform but it's
kind of a pain in the butt.

I also use a dummy load when doing this test so I don't have to listen to the
damn tone coming through the amp's speaker. Be careful with your
oscilloscope probe because the very high voltage on the tube plates can
damage it unless you use a high voltage rated probe. The grids normally have
zero or low DC voltage so I take my signal sample from the grids unless I really
need to examine the plate signal.

When searching for low-level noise turn down the tone generator signal
to around 5 milliamps (.005 amp) to make seeing the noise easier in the
early preamp stages. The tone generator signal will be a smooth sine
wave on your scope. The noise can be just a little "hair" or small spikes
on the tone signal wave.
 60 Hz signal with noise spikes.
Oscope Basics
Set the oscilloscope to AC coupling. It's safest to connect the scope probes to
the amp chassis with the amp's power off.

Examine the amp from amp input to output and look for the tone generator or
guitar signal to change shape (distort) or disappear (loss of all sound).

To examine the guitar or tone generator signal before amplification clip the
scope probe onto the input jack center conductor and the probe ground clip to
the preamp ground bus. This will be the smallest, lowest voltage signal you will
encounter. Amplification through the amp will make the signal larger (higher
voltage).

Adjust the scope time and voltage setting knobs until you can see at least one
full wave on the screen. If you set the scope's trigger line to just above zero
volts the signal wave should stabilize on the screen (the trigger line needs to
touch the on screen signal to stabilize the signal for viewing).

To see the signal at the first gain stage grid move the probe to the tube socket
grid pin. Tube grids are usually at zero volts DC (phase inverters and cathode
followers can have up to 80v DC) so grids are safer to probe than plates which
can have over 500v DC on them.

Move the scope probe to the second gain stage grid and lower the scope's
voltage setting knob to shrink the signal to fit on the scope screen.

When probing the power tubes move the scope probe ground clip to the power
amp ground.

Oscope Tips
Pay attention to the max AC & DC voltage ratings of your scope and probe.
This is especially important when probing tube plates with high voltage DC on
them.

Set the scope to AC coupling. This inserts a cap between the probe and scope
circuit to keep high voltage DC out of the scope.

Set the X10 switch on the probe if needed for higher voltage signals.

Clip the ground clip to an appropriate ground point with the amp turned off. For
example use the preamp ground bus or last filter cap ground when probing the
preamp and use the power amp ground or first filter cap ground when probing
the power amp.

Testing Diodes
To test a diode make sure the circuit is powered down (drain the caps) and
measure the diode's resistance both ways across it (measure, then reverse the
meter probes, measure again).

A good diode will show resistance of 7 to 15 ohms in one direction (forward

resistance) and almost infinite resistance in the other direction (reverse
resistance).

Reading an open circuit (infinite resistance) both ways means the diode is
open.

A zero resistance reading in either direction means the diode is shorted.

A diode with a resistance reading below 7 ohms should be replaced.

Measuring a series of diodes in a row should show about 12 ohms of

resistance per diode in one direction and infinite resistance in the other.

The striped end of a diode is the cathode end, the other end is the anode.

If you'd like to help with the cost of running this graphics heavy website
you can make a PayPal donation to

By Rob Robinette

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ How Amps Work ] [ How Tubes Work ] [ Safety ] [ 5E3 Mods ]
[ 5F6A Mods ] [ How the AB763 Works ] [ AB763 Mods ] [ AB763 Models ]
[ Silverface Mods ] [ Amp Mods ] [ Marshall ] [ Set Bias ] [ Tube Bias Calc ]
[ Amp Voicing ] [ Overdrive ] [ Reverb ] [ Build an Amp ] [ Amp Startup ]
[ Troubleshooting ] [ Deluxe Micro ] [ Bassman Micro ] [ Champ Micro ] [ SixShooter ]
[ How the Ruby Works ] [ VHT Mods ] [ Android Bias Calc ] [ LTSpice ] [ Tele Mods ]
[ Contact ]