New to me Be100 doa

  • Thread starter Thread starter jthomps123
  • Start date Start date
J

jthomps123

New member
So I purchased this used via the Internet auction site, and it looks mint, but is not working properly.

There is very little volume, and that volume fades away after just a second...

I replaced preamp tubes one by one, no help. I don't have any el34s but they look normal and light up as I think they should.

Seller has offered my $ back, but I was wondering if this sounds like a garden variety tube amp problem with a simple enough fix, or should I just send it back. Thanks for any input.
 
Hard to say, could be tubes or maybe a failed silver mica cap. No channels work? If you turn the loop on and plug into the return and turn the loop return volume up do you get sound? What era amp is it?
 
Hi Dave, thanks for the response, all channels seem to be equally afflicted: the HBE channel gets more "volume", single coils are barely audible - but humbuckers/hi-output pickups give more 'signal'.

What do you mean by 'plug into the return'? Do you mean plugging the guitar into the return? If so i'll give it a try.

Jason
 
Ok, all channels do the same thing, also plugging into the loop return does the same. Its just a really muted/buzzy/farty tone at a very low volume, then the sound kind of gates and goes dead until you strum again.

Guess i'll send it back to seller and keep the search alive.
 
Did you try the phase investor tube? Closest to the power tubes. It might be bad, that would make sense.
 
Yeah I tried replacing them all, with what i thought was a known-good tube. I guess i can try with other in the PI just to be sure.

THanks,
Jason
 
Just for the shit of it replace the fuses. I kid you not I once had a fuse causing this same issue. It was somehow not burned but sacrificed. Also, I would open it up and move some leads around. Could also be a cold solder joint. Clean all pre tube sockets and jacks
 
try wiggling the PI preamp tube to see if the volume comes back. Listen to Dave. or call him to get this fixed by some trial and error tests , sounds like something simple enough.
 
Tried swappinG outside power tubes for inside pair, and running at 1/2 volume. Same result. Also tried more tube in the phase inverter. Also v1 preamp (furthest from powers tubes) seems to barely get hot.

I guess I'll go pick up new fuses and replace them as a last ditch effort. I opened it up, and to my untrained eyes all joints and components looked healthy.
 
Could be the OT to from what you're describing, but that wouldn't happen in shipping.
 
jthomps123":33kgnzif said:
Tried swappinG outside power tubes for inside pair, and running at 1/2 volume. Same result. Also tried more tube in the phase inverter. Also v1 preamp (furthest from powers tubes) seems to barely get hot.

I guess I'll go pick up new fuses and replace them as a last ditch effort. I opened it up, and to my untrained eyes all joints and components looked healthy.


I'm thinking it might be a cold or broken solders joint in V1-V2 maybe I don't know. Like I said interacting with Dave is the best way. But do try all the obvious things as mentioned by the other members.
 
have you tried another cabinet?
My main Marshall cabinet is a stereo cabinet and one of the jack was bad
And not making a conection right.it was doing wired crap. No volume,low volume,and popping. I since hard wired to a single jack.
 
So I finally got it to a tech, and now its home. The tech said he'd never seen this problem before: all 4 screen resistors were blown. He thinks the previous owner put in a set of wrong power tubes.

Anyways the wait was worth it. It screams! Paired with a new Friedman 412 its thunderous.

Anyone know where I can get a PDF version of the manual? Is there an archive for older versions?
 
So the POS that sold you the amp knew it wasn't working. That's fucked up.
 
Back
Top