Marshall Artist 3203 Head Problems: HELP!!!

[Charvel1975]

Hey guys I need advice/help with my Marshall artist 3203 head. A while ago I took it to Canton Music in canton, ohio to have it looked at and at that time they said it needed all new tubes, cleaned, biased and a new transformer.

Now at that time mine was all stock/original even the original Drake transformer except the footswitch crapped out so they took a peavey 2 button footswitch and made it work with the amp and the transformer crapped out as well and I didn't have the money at that time for a replacement/upgrade to a Mercury Magnetics or Heyboer transformer so the guy there found some transformer out of a Fender amp so it was used and installed it in the Marshall.

Well I decided to hook it up today, and I only played through it once after the repairs a while ago, and when I fired it up the master volume was on 0 but when I went to turn up the volume on either the clean channel or overdrive channel the amp got really loud but then would cut out completely??!!

 

[Charvel1975]

BTW, when it was in for service it had all new JJ EL34's and JJ 12AX7 preamp tube put in.

 

[FUZZboat]

was it a loud howling feedback with the volume barely cranked ?


if so , the OT is wired backwards


& if thats the case, then the asshat who "fixed " your amp never tested it before it left



hopefully its just a simple matter of swapping the 2 primary wires
on the OT

 

[blackba]

Which transformer crapped out, the output or power transformer? I do remember reading that the output transformers on the Marshall artist amps had issues. Sure hope you get yours working.

 

[facefirst]

Canton Music

Contact Jeff Scarborough at rockshop44107 at yahoo dot com

First off, his work is awesome. Second, his rates are outstanding. I bought a '67 Bassman with a blown OT. He replaced the OT, biased it and fixed a few other issues (someone tried to mod it unsuccessfully) within 2 days and it was inexpensive. Plus he's a cool guy to deal with. Very knowledgeable.

 

[Lord Toneking]

Keith, is it still that same dude down there? If so, that guy is a freakin whacko, man. He tried to feed me a bunch of bs a few years ago. Told me he knew a guy who roadied with VH back in the day and Eddie would have a truckload of amps for the road because he blew one up every night..and that there was a Marshall shortage or something because Eddie bought all the amps


I wouldnt trust that guy working on my HT-5

Good luck with that bro

 

[Charvel1975]

Canton Music

Contact Jeff Scarborough at rockshop44107 at yahoo dot com

First off, his work is awesome. Second, his rates are outstanding. I bought a '67 Bassman with a blown OT. He replaced the OT, biased it and fixed a few other issues (someone tried to mod it unsuccessfully) within 2 days and it was inexpensive. Plus he's a cool guy to deal with. Very knowledgeable.

Hey thanks for the heads up!! This guy Jeff is he in Ohio and where at? I just got done checking all the tubes and I was wrong about the JJ's except for the preamp tube which is a JJ, the 2 EL34's are Electro-Harmonix. Lord Toneking whats up man, bneen a while!! Yea it was that old guy, Chuck, that worked on it a while ago. I heard he's not there anymore cause he had a stroke or somethin??

 

[Charvel1975]

Which transformer crapped out, the output or power transformer? I do remember reading that the output transformers on the Marshall artist amps had issues. Sure hope you get yours working.

It was the original Drake output transformer that originally crapped out and Canton music replaced it with an output transformer from some fender amp??

 

[BeZo]

There is a guy up in Kirtland that can fix it. He has my Red Bear right now. His name is Kirk. He's modded a few amps for me and people I know. He does real good work, and he is really reasonably priced. He can take care of any problem you have with your Marshall.

Tube Tech INC.
(216) 324-9938

 

[JerryP]

My first guess would be broken solder joints on the pots or a grounding issue.
Jerry

 

[muudrock]

Canton music is still around??? I took a Marshall there about 20 years ago to get it retubed and biased. The assmonkey that did it screwed it up and the amp blew the tubes and charred the board 2 days later. I never set foot in that store again.

+1 for Jeff Scarborough--great guy, does good work. I think Dane Beamish is still around as well and he was THE Marshall guy for repairs for a long time.

 

[Charvel1975]

My first guess would be broken solder joints on the pots or a grounding issue.
Jerry

Hey Jerry Yea I'm almost thinking the same thing, tried to use it again last night at band rehearsal and everything was set up right, ohms, etc. and when I went to go mess with the Master Volume knob it kept cutting out I was also trying to run an old Marshall The Guv'nor distortion pedal in front to boost the gain channel too and was also running a boss chorus ensemble pedal and a boss ns-2 noise gate all running through the front of the amp. I even tried running my old blue MXR 10-Band EQ pedal through the Effects loop but same thing, the volume just kept cutting out

I have a Mesa Tremoverb my brother in law converted to a head but it's sounding really fizzy, something just doesn't sound right on it either and everytime you turn on the reverb it starts making a really bad humming and buzzing noise, I was just trying to go for a different sound as our band plays modern metal tuned to Drop B and I thought the Marshall's 30 watt tube output section would keep up with the other guys I really wish I had a higher tax return or qualified for that earned income tax credit, if I did I would join Lord Toneking and have a Splawn Quickrod or Nitro and 2 matching Splawn 4x12 cabs

 

[Charvel1975]

Canton music is still around??? I took a Marshall there about 20 years ago to get it retubed and biased. The assmonkey that did it screwed it up and the amp blew the tubes and charred the board 2 days later. I never set foot in that store again.

+1 for Jeff Scarborough--great guy, does good work. I think Dane Beamish is still around as well and he was THE Marshall guy for repairs for a long time.

That was probably Chuck that worked on your marshall, my brother in law went to take his bogner uberschall down there some time ago and they got another guy down there now, think they said Chuck had a heart attack or stroke??

 

[kirk]

you should becarefull running a tube amp with a known problem,you WILL just damage it further,get it to a good tech asap ,if im too far away mr scarborough is well qualified,also empirical has a good tech and they are the authorized repair shop,bit of a wait time ,but they will fix it
Those artist have a common power supply problem with the divider network resistors cooking,changing values etc,.i would not wait or keep trying to "get it to work" your just gonna let the smoke out,then it will cost ya!

 

[Charvel1975]

you should becarefull running a tube amp with a known problem,you WILL just damage it further,get it to a good tech asap ,if im too far away mr scarborough is well qualified,also empirical has a good tech and they are the authorized repair shop,bit of a wait time ,but they will fix it
Those artist have a common power supply problem with the divider network resistors cooking,changing values etc,.i would not wait or keep trying to "get it to work" your just gonna let the smoke out,then it will cost ya!

Yea I haven't messed with it since

 

[Charvel1975]

you should becarefull running a tube amp with a known problem,you WILL just damage it further,get it to a good tech asap ,if im too far away mr scarborough is well qualified,also empirical has a good tech and they are the authorized repair shop,bit of a wait time ,but they will fix it
Those artist have a common power supply problem with the divider network resistors cooking,changing values etc,.i would not wait or keep trying to "get it to work" your just gonna let the smoke out,then it will cost ya!

Kirk, are you the one that owns TubeTech Inc. in Kirtland, OH? I'm located in Akron, OH but I just found my receipt from the last time my Marshall was worked on at Akron-Canton Electronics and that was back in 2007, they put on the receipt No Output replaced blown output transformer, I think it was a fender transformer, replaced both EL34 tubes and 12AX7 tube, moddified a Peavey 2 button footswitch to work with the amp, resoldered numerous connections on PC Board (cracked, loose), reassembled and tested 30 watts RMS

 

[EchelonEngineering]

you should becarefull running a tube amp with a known problem,you WILL just damage it further,get it to a good tech asap ,if im too far away mr scarborough is well qualified,also empirical has a good tech and they are the authorized repair shop,bit of a wait time ,but they will fix it
Those artist have a common power supply problem with the divider network resistors cooking,changing values etc,.i would not wait or keep trying to "get it to work" your just gonna let the smoke out,then it will cost ya!

+1 for kirk. Thats my homeboy. He makes everything sound better. Especially fenders and marshalls. take the drive up to Kirtland. it'd be worth your time.

 

[goldwing68nv]

do a Google search on that amp for "issues",etc....i seem to remember that there is a problem sometimes on those amps that has something to do with the fx loop circuit "cutting out volume" to the amp.cant remember all the details,or the fix,but your situation rings a bell...hope that helps!

 

[kirk]

you should becarefull running a tube amp with a known problem,you WILL just damage it further,get it to a good tech asap ,if im too far away mr scarborough is well qualified,also empirical has a good tech and they are the authorized repair shop,bit of a wait time ,but they will fix it
Those artist have a common power supply problem with the divider network resistors cooking,changing values etc,.i would not wait or keep trying to "get it to work" your just gonna let the smoke out,then it will cost ya!

Kirk, are you the one that owns TubeTech Inc. in Kirtland, OH? I'm located in Akron, OH but I just found my receipt from the last time my Marshall was worked on at Akron-Canton Electronics and that was back in 2007, they put on the receipt No Output replaced blown output transformer, I think it was a fender transformer, replaced both EL34 tubes and 12AX7 tube, moddified a Peavey 2 button footswitch to work with the amp, resoldered numerous connections on PC Board (cracked, loose), reassembled and tested 30 watts RMS

well i wouldnt think they would use a fender transformer because of the impedance issue in the output stage,.fenders dont use el34's,but i can look at it for you im in kirtland ohio,estimates are free,shoot me an email at:kirk5443@gmail.com

 

[Charvel1975]

you should becarefull running a tube amp with a known problem,you WILL just damage it further,get it to a good tech asap ,if im too far away mr scarborough is well qualified,also empirical has a good tech and they are the authorized repair shop,bit of a wait time ,but they will fix it
Those artist have a common power supply problem with the divider network resistors cooking,changing values etc,.i would not wait or keep trying to "get it to work" your just gonna let the smoke out,then it will cost ya!

Kirk, are you the one that owns TubeTech Inc. in Kirtland, OH? I'm located in Akron, OH but I just found my receipt from the last time my Marshall was worked on at Akron-Canton Electronics and that was back in 2007, they put on the receipt No Output replaced blown output transformer, I think it was a fender transformer, replaced both EL34 tubes and 12AX7 tube, moddified a Peavey 2 button footswitch to work with the amp, resoldered numerous connections on PC Board (cracked, loose), reassembled and tested 30 watts RMS

well i wouldnt think they would use a fender transformer because of the impedance issue in the output stage,.fenders dont use el34's,but i can look at it for you im in kirtland ohio,estimates are free,shoot me an email at:kirk5443@gmail.com

I remember the guy Chuck at Canton Music that worked on it at that time called me and said he called Marshall who is owned by Korg and they didn't have any transformers and said the only companies that make the replacement upgrade transformers for them are Mercury Magnetics and Heyboer. I didn't have the cash at the time for either of those and he said he found a transformer there from some Fender amp and put that in