Has anybody else accidentally touched the speaker cable while it's on ?

Frazer Stockton

Frazer Stockton

New member
I was playing through a JCM800 and one of the tubes burnt out, or at least that's what i assume happened. Not smelling anything at first i stupidly put my hand around the back of the amp to check the connections without turning it off and got a heck of a nasty shock.

Anyone else ever done this?

Kind Regards
Frazer
 
Re: Has anybody else accidentally touched the speaker cable while it's on ?

In my teens, the band I was in played an eighteenth birthday party gig in a room with partial slate flooring and wall-covering. My brother had an early Seventies Marshall Super Bass 100w head with metal power and standby switches. During the soundcheck, whilst wearing my own guitar, I stepped over to the bass amp to flip its standby switch. I got the kind of shock that you would expect to get off the high tension circuit of your car.

You could say that we both have well-grounded personalities. :biglaugh:
 
Re: Has anybody else accidentally touched the speaker cable while it's on ?

no, but now i never will because i didn't know it chould shock you!:thanks:
 
Re: Has anybody else accidentally touched the speaker cable while it's on ?

That shouldn't have happened. That amp needs prefessional attention. There should be no voltage on the speaker cable (AC or DC) when the amp is not making sound and the level of AC when it is playing is not significant enough in voltage and current to be felt.
 
Re: Has anybody else accidentally touched the speaker cable while it's on ?

glassman is not kidding, something is wrong. It sounds like you have a hot chassis which would not be from you speaker connection anyway. If you do not know how to do it, have a tech check your amp before something bad happens......
 
Re: Has anybody else accidentally touched the speaker cable while it's on ?

glassman said:
That shouldn't have happened. That amp needs prefessional attention. There should be no voltage on the speaker cable (AC or DC) when the amp is not making sound and the level of AC when it is playing is not significant enough in voltage and current to be felt.
Click to expand...

Remember that a valve amp behaves as a current source, not a voltage source. Easily capable of giving you a shock.

If you step up to PA amps the speaker connections are potentially lethal, hence the use of safer connections such as Speakon.
 
Re: Has anybody else accidentally touched the speaker cable while it's on ?

I touched the cable once.

And I died.
 
Re: Has anybody else accidentally touched the speaker cable while it's on ?

I'll get make sure to get the amp checked out/serviced, it worked fine after replacing the tubes, kind of odd thing to happen i guess.
 
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