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Posted by: SDMF75 Oct 23 2007, 12:15 PM

Do amp tubes go out all at once or do they slowly die out and make your amp sound progressively worse? It started out sounding like a crack in the speaker but now it's really fuzzy sounding and seems to have lost power.

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Oct 23 2007, 08:12 PM

Amp tubes have a service life, and towards the end they usually sound dull and uninspired ... I would have an amp tech look at replacing your power tubes as a first step, although it could actually be a crack in your speaker - can you try it with a different cab just to check? How old is the amp BTW? It could also be bad capacitors if it is 20 years old or more.

Posted by: jammer91 Oct 23 2007, 08:16 PM

My Vox amp has started to sound really muddy since i put the volume at full blast in a band practice.

Posted by: SDMF75 Oct 23 2007, 09:01 PM

I haven't tried it with any other cabs. It's an ART combo that's probably at least 11-12 years old. I pulled the grill off over the weekend and there are no cracks in the speaker but there was one small area around the cone that looked as if it may be separating so I put some sealant in there, let it dry and tried again and it made no difference. It just got really bad last night just as I was getting ready to record my part of the Instyle of you collab. The volume dropped and it started busting in and out and just sounded awful. Thanks for the help! I'm gonna try to find a repairman today.

Posted by: MickeM Oct 23 2007, 10:13 PM

Now I don't know the part names of a speaker but cones etc are sometimes made worn in the edges (comes with a name that I don't recall atm) and I'm not sure glue or sealant is the way for that. Now maybe what you found was something broke, I don't know.

Issues with volume drops could very well be the tubes. Could also be from bad pots. I had an amp once which had both and I experienced just that. They fixed the pots (volume one causing it), changed tubes and spayed with electric spray and it was like new again.