new amp problem?

[The Rossness]

So I just bought a 2010 splawn quickrod 2nd hand. I think there might be a problem with the head as don't know what it causing it. The volume seems to have a mind of it's own. It will randomly work, then it will not work. Sometimes when I play, I can hear a crackling sound. I've tried different guitars and different cables and I get the same problem with them too. (so i know it's not my guitars or cables).

Does anyone know what might be causing this problem? It really quite a shame, because this amp really does have nice tone when it's working.

Here's a video showing the problem-

[DonP]

I have issues I think with my AOR 50 fading in and out. I think it's our power tubes needing to be replaced. Sometimes mine is fine as well. Check your guitar to amp cables too. I have a flakey lead and the volume works when I dick with the cable.

Also, just use guitar -> cable -> amp, no crap in between.

My kids are disappointed that your hair doesn't glow in the dark any more.

Oh, and before you start complaining that the amp is fairly new and the tubes should be good, my DSL100 that I purchased brand new in 1998 right after the dealer took shipment blew a tube months after I bought it. I bought a single Svet tube and have been running these tubes ever since (12 years). Tubes have "infant mortality syndrome", which means when tubes are new, they either fail or live a long life.

[The Rossness]

I have issues I think with my AOR 50 fading in and out. I think it's our power tubes needing to be replaced. Sometimes mine is fine as well. Check your guitar to amp cables too. I have a flakey lead and the volume works when I dick with the cable.

Also, just use guitar -> cable -> amp, no crap in between.

My kids are disappointed that your hair doesn't glow in the dark any more.

Oh, and before you start complaining that the amp is fairly new and the tubes should be good, my DSL100 that I purchased brand new in 1998 right after the dealer took shipment blew a tube months after I bought it. I bought a single Svet tube and have been running these tubes ever since (12 years). Tubes have "infant mortality syndrome", which means when tubes are new, they either fail or live a long life.

I dunno. All my power tubes light up and it happens on both channels which leads me to think its not a preamp tube that needs to be replaced either. I filed a paypal claim. If I get a refund, I'm going to buy another quickrod and its got that tone I've always wanted. It just sucks to have a problem with it.

Tell your kids I'm sorry I don't glow anymore

[jimmbo118]

Have a tech check your caps. Had a similar problem before,and those things were the culprits! Shame though,those are badass amps!
The reason why I say this is that when I've had tubes go bad,it was usually a CONSISTENT volume problem,not really intermittent. The caps sound as if they are having a problem storing and releasing energy in the way they were meant to.
But hey, I ain't no amp tech! Just been around that bush a time or two myself. 8-)

[DonP]

I dunno. All my power tubes light up and it happens on both channels which leads me to think its not a preamp tube that needs to be replaced either. I filed a paypal claim. If I get a refund, I'm going to buy another quickrod and its got that tone I've always wanted. It just sucks to have a problem with it.

Tell your kids I'm sorry I don't glow anymore

Tubes lighting up tell you nothing about the condition of a tube.

The fact that it happens on either channel helps the argument that it's the power amp because the power amp is used for both preamps.

Here's an easy way to tell. Run the pre-amp line out to some other amp that is known to work. If you don't have issues and it runs solid, that points to the power amp and power tubes. Second, take a pedal and run it into the line-in bypassing the preamp. If it fucks up, once again that proves it's the power tubes.

You probably don't know this because you weren't arround back then, but in the 80's US Marshalls came with 6550's because they were a lot less prone to issues after being shipped from the UK. Tubes are fragile. Shaking them up while they are running can fuck them up. They don't like being smacked around in shipping.

I feel sorry for the dude that sold it to you but this is a reason I'd never buy a mail order tube amp or sell a tube amp in the mail.

[DonP]

Have a tech check your caps. Had a similar problem before,and those things were the culprits! Shame though,those are badass amps!
The reason why I say this is that when I've had tubes go bad,it was usually a CONSISTENT volume problem,not really intermittent. The caps sound as if they are having a problem storing and releasing energy in the way they were meant to.
But hey, I ain't no amp tech! Just been around that bush a time or two myself. 8-)

I'd say for sure caps if it was an old amp, but this one is fairly new. Although there are many many crappy caps out there (I've replaced them on motherboards, power supplies, you name it) so there's a chance this splawn might have come with some crap caps. You can visually look to see if they have burst there seams.

[The Rossness]

The seller was gracious enough to give me a full refund. I just sent the amp back. He had seller's remorse, so he was kind of glad to get the amp back. He thought it was a power tube problem too.

When it was working, the QR was beyond fantastic. I need another one!!!!!! Maybe I can order glow in the dark snakeskin tolex. I've heard Splawn head shells are pretty cheap.

[warlok]

I can't see the video from work and I see you're sending it back but just to throw it out there, I just got a Randall RM100 shipped to me with new 6L6's bubble wrapped separately. When I put them in, I cleaned the sockets, biased, let them warm up, and when I hit standby, there was a faint crackle and one of the tubes bias was jumping around a bit. Pulled that tube out, cleaned socket, biased again, same thing. Then I swapped that tube to another socket and everything is perfect. Just saying that yours probably is a tube issue but may not be a bad tube per-say.. Just a glitch..

[MetalDaze]

DSS = Dirty Socket Syndrome

Someone a while back told me to always spray some electrical contact cleaner on the pins of the tubes and work them in and out of the sockets when changing them. I don't know for sure that it ever solved a problem for me, but then again, I've never had to worry about DSS!

[chimaira]

Ross, hey man I had a similar situation come up on a Soldano I bought. I bought it and it was shipped from the west coast. It got here mo sound output. I called the seller and asked him, he knew nothing and asked me to call soldano tech dept. Good call! They were very helpful and walked me thru what I needed to do to get it up and running. Turns out one p.a. tube had fallen out. the tech told me to take the amp out of the shell and re tension the sockets and voila! fixed. He told me Soldno are built to take a beating and most likely either tubes or sockets. This case was the sockets.

[Chief_CrazyTalk]

Bummer. Good to know, though...I thought better of Splawn. Did you ever check the input jack? I had a similar problem on my 30 year old amp. Finally replaced it. Are those PC boards?