negativedan
New member
Hi guys,
New user here (with some mild lurking in the past) and proud new owner of a used VH4 blueface reissue! I did a lot of searching but couldn't find anything exactly what I'm experiencing so forgive me if this has been answered.
Anyways, here is what I'm experiencing. I received my amp a few days so of course my first instinct was to see what this thing can do. I get everything plugged in and throw it in standby. The first thing I noticed was a hum from the transformer, not sure if this an issue but a google search tells me it's nothing to worry about if it's not coming from the speakers. So I start playing around a bit and everything sounds good to me otherwise. Day 2 I turn it on and immediately hear some loud crackling through the speakers which I initially thought was my cable/guitar jack, this only happened for a couple seconds and played fine afterwards. Day 3 play for a quick 10 minute jam and on shutdown I hear the crackle through the speaker again (very brief) but then at the same time I notice my wall light up blue. I check behind the amp to see what that was and see 3 of the 4 power tube fault lights are on. I believe these may have been on the whole time and the fault led only got brighter/noticeable when the crackle occurred. Have only played at bedroom level so wasn't really pushing it if that matters.
Another issue that happened only once and may or may not be related, on Day 1 or 2, when switching from on to standby, channels 1-3 lit up and channel switching became unresponsive until i powered off and on again.
So, I want to conclude that the tubes must've been damaged on their long journey from CA to NY and caused them to short and blow the fuses. (new to tube amps as well so I didn't think to check this) I'm looking into buying a new set of tubes and fuses but my main questions/concerns are:
-Is it possible a damaged tube could have caused more damage that is not immediately visible/apparent, and if so what should I look out for, like any resistors or caps etc.
-Are tubes still supposed to glow once a fault is triggered?
-Could this be the cause of the transformer hum? If not, is this actually normal or is it generally supposed to be completely silent and is there another fix? I wouldn't say it's loud but definitely audible in a quiet room
-Lastly, looking for any thoughts on the channel freezing on going back into standby
This is basically my dream amp (right after an original blue) and want to keep it in tip top shape, I'm so excited to finally have a VH4 but now I'm a little scared to turn it on until I know it's safe lol. I also feel pretty comfortable tinkering if need be.
Any input would be greatly appreciated and thanks for your time!
New user here (with some mild lurking in the past) and proud new owner of a used VH4 blueface reissue! I did a lot of searching but couldn't find anything exactly what I'm experiencing so forgive me if this has been answered.
Anyways, here is what I'm experiencing. I received my amp a few days so of course my first instinct was to see what this thing can do. I get everything plugged in and throw it in standby. The first thing I noticed was a hum from the transformer, not sure if this an issue but a google search tells me it's nothing to worry about if it's not coming from the speakers. So I start playing around a bit and everything sounds good to me otherwise. Day 2 I turn it on and immediately hear some loud crackling through the speakers which I initially thought was my cable/guitar jack, this only happened for a couple seconds and played fine afterwards. Day 3 play for a quick 10 minute jam and on shutdown I hear the crackle through the speaker again (very brief) but then at the same time I notice my wall light up blue. I check behind the amp to see what that was and see 3 of the 4 power tube fault lights are on. I believe these may have been on the whole time and the fault led only got brighter/noticeable when the crackle occurred. Have only played at bedroom level so wasn't really pushing it if that matters.
Another issue that happened only once and may or may not be related, on Day 1 or 2, when switching from on to standby, channels 1-3 lit up and channel switching became unresponsive until i powered off and on again.
So, I want to conclude that the tubes must've been damaged on their long journey from CA to NY and caused them to short and blow the fuses. (new to tube amps as well so I didn't think to check this) I'm looking into buying a new set of tubes and fuses but my main questions/concerns are:
-Is it possible a damaged tube could have caused more damage that is not immediately visible/apparent, and if so what should I look out for, like any resistors or caps etc.
-Are tubes still supposed to glow once a fault is triggered?
-Could this be the cause of the transformer hum? If not, is this actually normal or is it generally supposed to be completely silent and is there another fix? I wouldn't say it's loud but definitely audible in a quiet room
-Lastly, looking for any thoughts on the channel freezing on going back into standby
This is basically my dream amp (right after an original blue) and want to keep it in tip top shape, I'm so excited to finally have a VH4 but now I'm a little scared to turn it on until I know it's safe lol. I also feel pretty comfortable tinkering if need be.
Any input would be greatly appreciated and thanks for your time!
