A question for tube experts ...

Inkstained

New member
... or those who fancy themselves tube experts.

My stock, unmodded 1999 Fender Blues Jr. is making strange noises. But only occasionally. Like the soft tearing of paper or gentle static. The noises are low, but they rise when I turn up the volume. And they deepen when I hit the "FAT" button.

Tonight, the BJ made the sounds about 20 minutes after I first turned the amp on; it made the noises for about two minutes or so. Then it stopped.

Otherwise, the amp sounds and looks fine. The bass is strong and clear. The volume is as powerful as ever. The tubes glow a vivid orange, but not overly bright. The glass isn't clouded and there are no strange colors. No smoke or strange smells.

I don't gig. I used to take the amp every Saturday night to a friend's carpet warehouse to jam, but I haven't done that in years. Mostly, it just stays in my basement. Sometimes, I'll take it up to my garage on summer afternoons.

Everything is original on this amp, and I mean everything. I dust it off and cover it when it's not in use, but otherwise, it's packing the same speaker and tubes as it did when I bought it in May 1999.

Thoughts? Accusations? Recriminations? : private:
 
Re: A question for tube experts ...

At most, it sounds like the preamp sockets might benefit from a little cleaning. With the amp on grab each of your preamp tubes by the end and gently rock it in a circular motion in its socket, one at a time. At first, you will hear all kinds of noise but after a rew rotations, the noise will go away. If this solves the issue, get some DeOxIt from Radio Shack and clean them in the same way with the amp off.
 
Re: A question for tube experts ...

Thanks, glassman. Don't know a lot about tubes, but it's tough to believe there's a power tube issue.
 
Re: A question for tube experts ...

yes glassman is a guru...but if cleaning doesnt work...get some jj's for that little amp...it cant hurt to have some spare tubes at the very least, yours are 13 years old, but even if they were brand new some jj's would be an improvement over the stock rebadged sovteks.
 
Re: A question for tube experts ...

yep they will sound cool. Jjs in the front end will give you a little more headroom and beef in the low end too - which i think is what most people are after when they go tube swapping or modding the blues junior.
The blues junior is fixed bias, so thats another reason jj's are good...they can handle whatever it dishes out as well as if not better than any tube out there. Juts plug em in and enjoy the extra meat with your potatoes!
 
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