Help, did I just fry my OT using the Boss Waza TAE or tubes?

E

ErikT

Well-known member
So I just got the Boss Waza TAE today and just a few minutes ago hooked it up with my Wizard MTL and Marshall 2x12. I connected everything first before powering on the TAE, had the speaker cables in the right jacks and the ohm selectors both set to 8ohms (on amp and TAE). I start to play using the attenuation and after about a minute or two I switch on the FX (prob unrelated) and then I start getting some volume drop and crackling. Even after plugging the amp straight to cab I'm now noticing volume dropping then coming back up and crackle and fizz. I noticed a weird burning electronics smell coming from the back of the amp or TAE and turned everything off. Amp in on the TAE smelled a bit weird and the OT area on my Wiz too. Fuses are fine.

Wondering if I hosed my amp (defective TAE) or just need new power tubes? Thanks ahead for any advice.
 
Erik... did you look at the rating of the fuses in your Wizard to see the values? I know I changed mine because what Rick had in there would blow my tranny before it blew the fuse.. something to consider. Maybe someone can chime in on the burning smell.. in the meantime check out this: http://www.geofex.com/ampdbug/smoke.htm
 
2A 250V 313 in the HT and BUSS MDL 4A in the mains. Thanks for the link, reading now.
 
I replaced mine with 1A and 2A slo blo fuses just to be safe.... high plate voltages and crappy power tube choices = potential problems I would like to avoid.
 
Thanks for the info, I'll give that a try. I think have some here. Tried the TAE with another amp and it worked fine so I'm hoping it's just the power tubes. Have a set of EH6ca7s I'm gonna throw in. Cheers.
 
ErikT":3fwdu8in said:
Thanks for the info, I'll give that a try. I think have some here. Tried the TAE with another amp and it worked fine so I'm hoping it's just the power tubes. Have a set of EH6ca7s I'm gonna throw in. Cheers.
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Those amps really pummel the power tubes with over 500v on the plates. I know the JJ EL34L, and vintage Siemens 34s can handle it along with the GT EL34LS which isn’t made anymore; they have larger heat wings than the JJ EL34L but are made by the same company. Winged Cs work too.
Good luck! My first Wizard was also a MTL 50.
 
First time I used the Waza TAE with my amp it blew a power tube and a fuse. I double checked everything and I know it was connected properly, updated to the latest firmware version, and the units turned on in the proper order.

I've had terrible luck with the Waza TAE. Everyone else seems to love it and the guitar tones on Youtube seem to be good. But I've tried two of them with my Super Lead, and that combination has produced some of the most awful guitar tones I've ever heard. Seriously. Sounds like the thing is broken as there's this horrendous dissonant "whooshing" sound that just won't go away, plus it sounds like it has a wet blanked on it through a set of Dynaudio LYD48 studio monitors. I've tried all the rig setups and have played around with most of the settings, but all that accomplished was to make the sound go from horrendous to terrible.

The headphone port seems useless as the tones which come from there are just bizarre and, quite honestly, unlistenable. I don't mean Line 6 bad, I mean completely useless.

I was certain my Waza was broken, so I sent it back for a replacement. Same results with the new one.

As I said, I had it set up with studio monitors. But in an attempt to troubleshoot what's going on, I tried it as an attenuator in between the SL and a 4x12 cab. It works, but I felt it robbed the amp of its signature Marshall vibe. Just seemed flat and kind of "plastic" sounding. I'm aware with the TAE that you're always going through the SS amp, and there's no way to take that out of the mix.

Same amp sounds killer straight into a 4x12 cab, so I don't understand what I could be doing wrong. Maybe the Waza just hates Super Leads. Got me.

Sent the second TAE back. Haven't tried the Ox or the Suhr yet.
 
Racerxrated":14s1g2qt said:
ErikT":14s1g2qt said:
Thanks for the info, I'll give that a try. I think have some here. Tried the TAE with another amp and it worked fine so I'm hoping it's just the power tubes. Have a set of EH6ca7s I'm gonna throw in. Cheers.
Click to expand...
Those amps really pummel the power tubes with over 500v on the plates. I know the JJ EL34L, and vintage Siemens 34s can handle it along with the GT EL34LS which isn’t made anymore; they have larger heat wings than the JJ EL34L but are made by the same company. Winged Cs work too.
Good luck! My first Wizard was also a MTL 50.
Click to expand...

Thanks man, I do have some KT77's that I might try first, was reading the Wizard sub forum and those are supposed to handle high plate voltages better. It's an amazing amp, drained the amp gas tank right quick.

dm426":14s1g2qt said:
First time I used the Waza TAE with my amp it blew a power tube and a fuse. I double checked everything and I know it was connected properly, updated to the latest firmware version, and the units turned on in the proper order.

I've had terrible luck with the Waza TAE. Everyone else seems to love it and the guitar tones on Youtube seem to be good. But I've tried two of them with my Super Lead, and that combination has produced some of the most awful guitar tones I've ever heard. Seriously. Sounds like the thing is broken as there's this horrendous dissonant "whooshing" sound that just won't go away, plus it sounds like it has a wet blanked on it through a set of Dynaudio LYD48 studio monitors. I've tried all the rig setups and have played around with most of the settings, but all that accomplished was to make the sound go from horrendous to terrible.

The headphone port seems useless as the tones which come from there are just bizarre and, quite honestly, unlistenable. I don't mean Line 6 bad, I mean completely useless.

I was certain my Waza was broken, so I sent it back for a replacement. Same results with the new one.

As I said, I had it set up with studio monitors. But in an attempt to troubleshoot what's going on, I tried it as an attenuator in between the SL and a 4x12 cab. It works, but I felt it robbed the amp of its signature Marshall vibe. Just seemed flat and kind of "plastic" sounding. I'm aware with the TAE that you're always going through the SS amp, and there's no way to take that out of the mix.

Same amp sounds killer straight into a 4x12 cab, so I don't understand what I could be doing wrong. Maybe the Waza just hates Super Leads. Got me.

Sent the second TAE back. Haven't tried the Ox or the Suhr yet.
Click to expand...

Dude! This is 100% what I've been experiencing. Blown power tube(s) and wet blanket with a SUPER woofy low end that I can not dial out. Been using the MTL fine with my Two Notes Captor and CabM so I'm going to keep them and ship the TAE back. No thank you Boss. Oh well.
 
What is the right order to turn them on then?

My TAE sounds great don’t know why it’s not working for u guys.
 
ErikT":wi9aypqz said:
Dude! This is 100% what I've been experiencing. Blown power tube(s) and wet blanket with a SUPER woofy low end that I can not dial out. Been using the MTL fine with my Two Notes Captor and CabM so I'm going to keep them and ship the TAE back. No thank you Boss. Oh well.
Click to expand...

I keep thinking I must be doing something wrong, but it's actually a pretty straightforward process to get the TAE set up, so if I am doing something wrong I don't know what it is. What I do know is that the tones I got were not just bad, but horrendous bad. Like something is broken bad.

It could be that the TAE really doesn't do well with certain amp designs. Without a whole lab and a bunch of amps to experiment with, it's really hard to know what's going wrong. And I don't have unlimited amounts of time to fiddle around just to get a passable tone. One of the selling points for the TAE is that it is supposed to be easy to use to get great tone, and so far I have not found that to be the case.

I don't know if the Captor, Ox, or Suhr IR would be better. I certainly hope so.
 
thenine":19ql6prc said:
What is the right order to turn them on then?
Click to expand...

You're supposed to turn on the TAE first, so that the load is already there when you turn on the amp.

thenine":19ql6prc said:
My TAE sounds great don’t know why it’s not working for u guys.
Click to expand...

I can only speculate that the TAE doesn't do well with certain amps. The only other thing I can think of is that it's not liking my Dynaudio LYD48's. But I don't why that would be the case, as they're top quality studio monitors.

The fact that I got such laughably horrendous sound from the headphones (and I mean so bad it almost doesn't even sound like a guitar at all) makes be believe that it has nothing to do with the monitors. The TAE just doesn't seem to like that amp for some reason.
 
Goat":tl5xpsua said:
What's with the attenuator? Does your Wizard MTL not have a MV?
Click to expand...
On the lead channel of the MTL, after the master volume, the signal flows through 2 triode stages to a plate fed tone stack.
If you don't get the master vol level up, the amp does not sound it's best.
If the amp has a loop, the loop is after the tonestack, and there may be a return volume control. ( I think Rick has had a few versions of his loop )
Use the return volume as the master, or insert some other device to attenuate signal in the loop, and turn the channel master up.
Amp will sound :rock:
If no loop, then you have to live with either thin tone at low volume, or the db's. ( or use attenuator / load box )
 
fusedbrain":23c5iubs said:
Goat":23c5iubs said:
What's with the attenuator? Does your Wizard MTL not have a MV?
Click to expand...
On the lead channel of the MTL, after the master volume, the signal flows through 2 triode stages to a plate fed tone stack.
If you don't get the master vol level up, the amp does not sound it's best.
If the amp has a loop, the loop is after the tonestack, and there may be a return volume control. ( I think Rick has had a few versions of his loop )
Use the return volume as the master, or insert some other device to attenuate signal in the loop, and turn the channel master up.
Amp will sound :rock:
If no loop, then you have to live with either thin tone at low volume, or the db's. ( or use attenuator / load box )
Click to expand...
That's a fucked-up way to design a circuit. I once had an amp that was designed similarly, though I don't recall what it was? Increasing the MV would increase the effects input level... May have been a Bogner? Boogie? Bedrock?
 
Goat":g6s3eqlj said:
fusedbrain":g6s3eqlj said:
Goat":g6s3eqlj said:
What's with the attenuator? Does your Wizard MTL not have a MV?
Click to expand...
On the lead channel of the MTL, after the master volume, the signal flows through 2 triode stages to a plate fed tone stack.
If you don't get the master vol level up, the amp does not sound it's best.
If the amp has a loop, the loop is after the tonestack, and there may be a return volume control. ( I think Rick has had a few versions of his loop )
Use the return volume as the master, or insert some other device to attenuate signal in the loop, and turn the channel master up.
Amp will sound :rock:
If no loop, then you have to live with either thin tone at low volume, or the db's. ( or use attenuator / load box )
Click to expand...
That's a fucked-up way to design a circuit. I once had an amp that was designed similarly, though I don't recall what it was? Increasing the MV would increase the effects input level... May have been a Bogner? Boogie? Bedrock?
Click to expand...
Rick designed his circuits to be used in arenas / stadiums, not basements and bedrooms.
Apparently, newer versions have better low level tones, but Wizard circuit DNA is intended to be played LOUD
Should also have noted that the Wizard loops I have seen that have the return level control, also have a send level control.
My 2016 MCII has this loop design. ( MCII lead channel is similar to MTL design, but only one triode between master vol & TS)
Unfortunately, the version of the loop in my amp sucks tone, so ...... it gets played loud :D
Newer Wizard loop designs may be better in this regard :dunno:
 
fusedbrain":3rqohnvq said:
Rick designed his circuits to be used in arenas / stadiums, not basements and bedrooms.
Apparently, newer versions have better low level tones, but Wizard circuit DNA is intended to be played LOUD
Should also have noted that the Wizard loops I have seen that have the return level control, also have a send level control.
My 2016 MCII has this loop design. ( MCII lead channel is similar to MTL design, but only one triode between master vol & TS)
Unfortunately, the version of the loop in my amp sucks tone, so ...... it gets played loud :D
Newer Wizard loop designs may be better in this regard :dunno:
Click to expand...
How many arena level bands there are left today, I wonder? I suppose festival gigs will need to be billed as a BLM/ANTIFA events, to get around mask and social distancing restrictions.
 
Holy shit man I'd be freaking out if my shit was giving that electric smoke smell. So far so good with my TAE, trying to picture what could be turning the tone to shit. Maybe try different speaker cables? Also in the software check to see if the speaker out eq is off or not set to something crazy? Good luck dude.
 
To the OP: hopefully your amp is OK and this was just a case of the power tubes being close to failing anyway and running the amp hard into a load box pushed it over the edge.
If there was a tube failure, be sure to check all the screen grid resistors.
 
thenine":e80m2189 said:
What is the right order to turn them on then?

My TAE sounds great don’t know why it’s not working for u guys.
Click to expand...

Same here! I’ve had mine for more than a year now and have used many different amps with it and let a few friends borrow it to try out with no issues whatsoever.

Best thing I have purchased to date other than my Axe III. Before the pandemic hit, I was using the unit live every week.
 
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