i think my valvetronix head just died

[man-in-moon]

I was getting ready to play about 2 hours ago plugged in my guitar turned on the amp and nothing. it powered up but there was no sound at all. i let it sit there for a minute or so and still nothing . i made sure it wasn't in mute and made sure all my cables were plugged in. still nothing so i turned it off and then back on a few times. that didn't work. i even changed the tube in it still didn't do anything. i checked all my cables agian then i turned it off agian unhooked everything and hooked it all back up then when i turned the amp on the volume was set on about 3 i hit the top string on my guitar and it was as loud as when its cranked. the note rang out for aobut 3 seconds then there was a loud pop. loud enough that i still can't hear good out of my left ear. then it died agian. it was still on the led's were all on. then after a few seconds it smelled like melting plastic. theres no smoke or anything. i noticed it started making a low pop about 2 weeks ago but always worked fine and i could lay it face down and it didnt pop at all. so what ya guys think should i bother with trying to get it fixed or just get a new amp?

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

I was getting ready to play about 2 hours ago plugged in my guitar turned on the amp and nothing. it powered up but there was no sound at all. i let it sit there for a minute or so and still nothing . i made sure it wasn't in mute and made sure all my cables were plugged in. still nothing so i turned it off and then back on a few times. that didn't work. i even changed the tube in it still didn't do anything. i checked all my cables agian then i turned it off agian unhooked everything and hooked it all back up then when i turned the amp on the volume was set on about 3 i hit the top string on my guitar and it was as loud as when its cranked. the note rang out for aobut 3 seconds then there was a loud pop. loud enough that i still can't hear good out of my left ear. then it died agian. it was still on the led's were all on. then after a few seconds it smelled like melting plastic. theres no smoke or anything. i noticed it started making a low pop about 2 weeks ago but always worked fine and i could lay it face down and it didnt pop at all. so what ya guys think should i bother with trying to get it fixed or just get a new amp?

Now that sucks! Sorry to hear that....To the shop sounds like...:smack:

Look in your owner's manual about doing a system restore and maybe that'll take care of it? The smell of something burning isn't good though!

 

[man-in-moon]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

i checked the manual and did all the stuff it said to do but nothing worked.

 

[Grandor]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

ahh digital gear... such joys..

 

[JeffB]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

I hate to say it, but this is typical of the VT line...regardless if it's the high end ones or the low end ones. MY 50 died like that. My 30 did some weird stuff on occasion. 2 of my friends bough one after hearing mine, and one had one die on him, the other has had weird problems as well.

HC is full of.."Sounds great...BUT...it died on me" reviews. Reliability is not the VT's strong suit...and the same could be argued about their all tube amps historically as well.

I understand the service is pretty poor too from Korg. Good luck

 

[zionstrat]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

ahh digital gear... such joys..

On the other hand I'm running been running a Roland GP100 4 days out of the week for 10 years and have never had to replace as much as a battery

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

I hate to say it, but this is typical of the VT line...regardless if it's the high end ones or the low end ones. MY 50 died like that. My 30 did some weird stuff on occasion. 2 of my friends bough one after hearing mine, and one had one die on him, the other has had weird problems as well.

HC is full of.."Sounds great...BUT...it died on me" reviews. Reliability is not the VT's strong suit...and the same could be argued about their all tube amps historically as well.

I understand the service is pretty poor too from Korg. Good luck

Guess I got lucky and got one of the good ones cause my VTX series head has alot of gigging/practice hours on it at high volumes...0 problems so far.Let's hope the luck continues? It's not like this is the only amp I own though...:burnout: :dance: :laugh2:

 

[schecterplayer]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

if you are lucky it is somthing simple like a broken input jack which could explain the lack of sound and the occational popping. If the volume was really high and the input jack came loose it could make quite a bit of noise. Somehow I doubt that that is the problem though but it might be.

 

[JeffB]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

John...it seems they either die real quick or people have no problems at all with them... :shrug:

My 50 died real quick...my 30 did some weird stuff for about a week..then cleared up and never had another problem....

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

John...it seems they either die real quick or people have no problems at all with them... :shrug:

My 50 died real quick...my 30 did some weird stuff for about a week..then cleared up and never had another problem....

Yeah and that's too bad cause I really like my VTX 120! It's pretty much all I play through...I Love the AC 30 and the BF 2x12 models...

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

Sorry to hear about your amp. I had some similar problems when I first got my AD60H, but a system reset seemed to fix the problem. Did that a few times over a period of a few weeks and it's been working great ever since. Low to high output 5 days a week for at least an hour a day for the last 8 months.

 

[ErikH]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

Sheesh. Hearing things like this make my little GX-15 sound better and better. It's 10 years old and hasn't burped once. Doesn't sound too bad hooked up to an extension cab either. Sure, it's now high wattage amp but works for practicing and jamming at home just fine. Doesn't stop my GAS for a Cube 30 though.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

I actually fried the motherboard on mine, but it was my fault....long story.

The good news is that they have a pretty long warrantee on them, and will take care of it, if you bought it new and can have the store ship it to one of their service centers. If you lost the reciept, the store may have it on file.
If you bought it used, good luck!

The bad part about Vox service is that if it needs a part, like a new board, it can take 2 months!!!

I like modelers, but here lies the problem. Tube amps are gig worthy, and computer amps aren't.

 

[ErikH]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

WTF, are these things running Windows or something?

 

[Metalman_666]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

WTF, are these things running Windows or something?

:laugh2: that's the first thing that came to my mind when I saw "system restore"

But seriously, tough luck man. I suggest you make sure the jack on your guitar is still good, as well as any connections on your cables. My friend had the same problem with his guitar/amp and it just turned out to be a faulty input jack on the guitar.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

Call me crazy or lucky? I'm gigging with a Cyber Twin since 2001 that I bought new...And now I'm doing the same with the Vox VTX 120 head...I use surge protection and baby my stuff.So far so good...Fingers crossed! ;o)

 

[man-in-moon]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

i thought that it might be my guitar but a buddy of mine brought one of his by and still nothing he even brought a little 1x12 combo and we tested my cables all of them worked fine. i talked to a few dealers and repair shops today mine was one of the first 200 heads made and they told me that the first batch ended up with alot of problems with the boards getting fried. i got the amp used from a store so it didn't come with a warranty. from the way they talked i would come out alot cheaper buying another amp. i have checked out a few already i don't have much money so for now i have to go with a cheap fix. does anyone know about the LANEY TF 700 II i think i have the model right i saw some on ebay and they were only $300 new. its solid state with a single preamp tube in it.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

i thought that it might be my guitar but a buddy of mine brought one of his by and still nothing he even brought a little 1x12 combo and we tested my cables all of them worked fine. i talked to a few dealers and repair shops today mine was one of the first 200 heads made and they told me that the first batch ended up with alot of problems with the boards getting fried. i got the amp used from a store so it didn't come with a warranty. from the way they talked i would come out alot cheaper buying another amp. i have checked out a few already i don't have much money so for now i have to go with a cheap fix. does anyone know about the LANEY TF 700 II i think i have the model right i saw some on ebay and they were only $300 new. its solid state with a single preamp tube in it.

Man that really sucks! The VTX series I have has been great.

 

[mnbaseball91]

Re: i think my valvetronix head just died

Open it up and tripple check that the problem isn't the input jack on the amp. That seems to be the most common problem with the VTs, and as someone arleady said, the sypmtoms would be similar to what you're experiencing.