19th September 2012
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#1 | | Gear interested
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 2
Thread Starter | help with reverberocket
So I took a trip back to my parents place for the weekend, and brought my amp (64 reverberocket) with me. I live in Illinois, also known as the land of shitty roads. It was a bumpy 3 hour ride, and the reverb tank affirmed every pothole hit. Anyway, I got home, and excitedly plugged in my amp ready to crank it up....but no sound....I turn it off, and quickly realize that one of the speaker wires isn't connected. I reconnect it, and turn the amp back on, and it works...but not as well as prior. When the amp starts to break up, it is harsh, and thin. It gets progressively worse as it warms up as well. I haven't been using it, and will likely take it in to a tech, but I hoped there would be some words of wisdom on here, or at least some guesses as to what is wrong. Thanks
Last edited by jiris; 19th September 2012 at 03:26 AM..
Reason: shitty grammar
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19th September 2012
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#2 | | Gear addict
Joined: May 2011 Location: Birmingham, AL
Posts: 365
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Start with the things that you can do yourself. Make sure the tubes are firmly seated. If the problem persists, start swapping out tubes one by one with tubes that you know to be good. If you feel up to it, you can examine solder joints and look for things like cracked resistors, but observe safe practices like draining the capacitors. At the point where you feel uncomfortable with moving forward, call in the tech. They are very simple amps and it should not be expensive to fix unless a transformer needs to be replaced. If you don't have a regular tech, check around for one that is well recommended.
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19th September 2012
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#3 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Oct 2005 Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 868
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Congrats on re-connecting with your amp! Those little babies have a really incredible, really unique sound. Best reverb on earth, and punch for days. I know mine is never leaving.
Sometimes finding the right tubes can be a little tough on these, I found the online resources to be helpful. Do you have the 6v6's or the 7591's in yours?
Once again, awesome find and congrats!!
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19th September 2012
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#4 | | Gear addict
Joined: May 2011 Location: Birmingham, AL
Posts: 365
| Quote:
Originally Posted by softwareguy  Congrats on re-connecting with your amp! Those little babies have a really incredible, really unique sound. Best reverb on earth, and punch for days. I know mine is never leaving.
Sometimes finding the right tubes can be a little tough on these, I found the online resources to be helpful. Do you have the 6v6's or the 7591's in yours?
Once again, awesome find and congrats!! | I grabbed a pair of the EH 7591s and tested them against the originals that were in my amp. Surprisingly, I preferred the EH tubes and tucked the originals away. I generally prefer NOS tubes, but the EH tubes sound great in my '67 Reverberocket.
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19th September 2012
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#5 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,092
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Very likely one of the tubes shook loose, in particular a power tube not making contact is going to give you a VERY harsh overdrive! If that's not it, then a tech is necessary...
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20th September 2012
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#6 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Dec 2005 Location: A stoned throw from ground zero
Posts: 6,582
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If the amp has an original Ampeg label CTS 15 watt speaker, it's a very low
efficiency speaker to begin with that is perfect for recording, but also
cutting the amp's potential output volume by 50% literally.
They are quite fragile and easily blown.
The amp should break up at about 4.5 volume with a hard attack & tone on 6.
Worst case, if you ran the amp for very long without the speaker connected,
there's a chance, the output transformer may be damaged.
Clean the pots and tube sockets with Deoxit, verify all cables and connectors
are making good contact.
I've had occasional bouts of the power tubes vibrating loose, causing the reverb section
to make the output crackle and break up, so verify all tubes and sockets have a good connection.
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21st September 2012
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#7 | | Gear interested
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 2
Thread Starter |
I replaced the speaker with a Vintage 30, and checked the tubes. Heading over to a tech is my next step I'm afraid. I have a nasty little feeling that it's the OT..
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21st September 2012
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#8 | | Gear addict
Joined: May 2011 Location: Birmingham, AL
Posts: 365
| Quote:
Originally Posted by jiris I replaced the speaker with a Vintage 30, and checked the tubes. Heading over to a tech is my next step I'm afraid. I have a nasty little feeling that it's the OT.. | No worries. I replaced the OT in mine, and they are readily available and a good one isn't very expensive. I also replaced my CTS with a V30. I did a little shootout with six speaker contenders and the V30 sounds great.
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21st September 2012
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#9 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Oct 2010 Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 2,639
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I used to have one of these but sold it, kinda miss it now 
Sounds like the issue is tube-related or perhaps something came loose internally. If swapping tubes doesn't resolve your issue you might have to take it to a tech
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