Why stranded wire???

[cbass]

I like solid wire for heaters I use 18ga that i steal from old flourescent light ballasts.

[GVC66]

Here are my pics (aka before shots). Now the amp works so I am debating with myself regarding surgery or a splint... I am still new at this amp stuff so if you guys see something I would greatly appreciate some advice!

Hope all is well in Minnesota...

I did the three way tone stack switch and ppimv.

[Structo]

If the amp is quiet and sounds good, leave it alone.

If on the other hand, it is noisy, I would shorten wires and concentrate on the lead dress.

[GVC66]

The amp has a persistent hum the interferes with playing. I have just finished pulling enough wire (that was surrounding the heaters) to make another amp. The output lead from the impedance switch was also running parallel to the heaters. Here are the after pics. Cross your fingers for me. I can see a LOT more I can do but I didn't want to go crazy.

[pops]

If this doesn't do it, don't rule out filter caps just because it is a newer amp some of the newer caps are prone to failure.

[GVC66]

95% of the hum is gone. I must have clipped something in the bright channel cuz I am only getting faint signal. The normal channel is great!!!

[Structo]

Congrats.

It is amazing to me to see some of the professional commercial builds that have lead dress worse than any Fender silverface amp ever dreamed of.

The mantra of the modern amp builder, keep all leads short and only use shielded cable when absolutely necessary.

[GVC66]

Now I've done it. I have gone through the amp and cannot figure out why the bright channel is not working. Could it be tube related?

[Kazooman]

Back to the stripping wire part of the thread. I used to have a lot of trouble with smaller gauge wires breaking right at the board connection (mostly in effects pedals). I got a thermal stripper and the problem vanished. Almost as good an investment as a good soldering station.

[GVC66]

Part of my trouble is that I do not think this amp is exactly a 1987x when compared to the layouts I have seen. Since I am a newbie I do not know which direction to turn without a schematic or layout. The normal channel is great. I have checked the leads to and from the board and the leads on the input jack as well as the bright volume. I need batteries for my multimeter at the moment. Once I get back I guess I will do some resistance measurements to and from the board to check for broken leads. Any suggestions? Again the is just the bright channel...

[Zippy]

Now I've done it. I have gone through the amp and cannot figure out why the bright channel is not working. Could it be tube related?

What do you mean by "I have gone all through the amp..."?

Have you tried changing tubes? They certainly can - and do - go bad. You could also have issues with the sockets not making good contact with the tube (either dirty or loose pin contacts).

[GVC66]

Now I've done it. I have gone through the amp and cannot figure out why the bright channel is not working. Could it be tube related?

What do you mean by "I have gone all through the amp..."?

Have you tried changing tubes? They certainly can - and do - go bad. You could also have issues with the sockets not making good contact with the tube (either dirty or loose pin contacts).

I do have to get better at communicating what I have done. I think I try to say as little as possible out of fear of sounding foolish. Well, that sounds foolish so here goes, I did a visual check of the leads that I shortened and cleaned up and made sure that nothing was disconnected at the board. At this point I am wondering where I should focus my energy. It seems to be only the bright channel so I think I can ignore the power section and the PI. I am not sure how to check for a faulty tube socket. I will search for that in the interweb next. Any help is appreciated...

[GVC66]

Back to the stripping wire part of the thread. I used to have a lot of trouble with smaller gauge wires breaking right at the board connection (mostly in effects pedals). I got a thermal stripper and the problem vanished. Almost as good an investment as a good soldering station.

Thanks! Any recommendations on brand or where to buy?

[GVC66]

http://valvestorm.com/Products

If you get the amp wiring bundle, you will have enough for two or three amps, maybe more depending on how neat you are with the wiring. You might want to get some extra black wire--that always seems to run out first.

We're used to it in Minnesota. It does slow down the mosquitos and wood ticks.

Thanks for this! I got some in a couple of days ago. I only got red and black since I wanted to test it out and the shipping seemed to go up exponentially as I added items to the cart.

[GVC66]

Ok,

This does appear to be a 1987x. I have followed the schematic and checked all the points on the board to v1a and the bright inputs to the board for continuity. All checks out using this

http://taweber.powweb.com/store/6m45p_schem.jpg

I have read about loose pins but I am still unclear on tightening the pins? Is their a way I can check if that is actually the problem using my multimeter?