So, the other day I finally had a chance to crank my Rectoverb. My old band has gotten back together for a reunion show (and more as a memorial for our drummer who pasted away 10 years ago) and rehearsals started last week. As a whole the practice went well and our 'hired' drummer did his homework and sounded on point for the most part.
But much to my disappointment, my RoV sounded 'off'. At first I noticed that it simply didn't have as much volume as I thought it should (again, this being the first time I got the Output past 9:00). It lacked bottom end and sounded a wimpy. My other guitar player has a 5150 head, and his tone simply shit all over mine. At one point I had him turn down because my amp couldn't keep up. At this point I should say that we were both running into identical Marshall cabs (8 ohm). I dissabled the internal speaker in my RoV and ran into the cab.
The worst and most disturbing part was when I noticed this 'penny rattling in a jar' sound coming from my amp. It scared this shit out of me, and I immediately put the amp in Standby and checked for smoke and odd smells. Everything appeared normal, so I proceeded to flip the amp back on and tap the PT's to check for a bad tube. No microphonic tubes, but I noticed a few things:
1) The left tube was running much hotter (physically burned to the touch). I flipped powertubes and still the left tube socket ran hotter. Not sure if that's normal?!
2) I noticed a screw loose and seemed to be rattling around. It's a long black screw in the middle of the chassis. Not sure if it was always like that or what, but I noticed a mechanical sound coming from the speaker when I wiggled it. That said, I also noticed said mechanical sound when I simply tapped on the amp enclosure. Really weird shit going on.
So, with practice over, I go home and check out the preamp tubes. I try swapping each with a known good preamp tube. Didn't notice any changes, good or bad until I got to V4. I swapped in my Tung Sol for V4 and all sound ceased to exist. Oh fuck I thought, so I put in the original Mesa tube, and still no sound. The amp powers up fine, but nothing but the faintest of sound only with the channel master dimed (output knob does nothing). I tooked the FX send and ran it into my computer and inserted a Cab Sim plugin, and the preamp section of the RoV appears fine.
Anyways, long story short. I'm taking the amp into the shop this afternoon, dreading the repair bill. Based on my description anyone have any guessing as to what the problem could be? The rattling tone and overall lack of volume sucked enough, but now I fear that I somehow fucked things up even more.
Side note, a 50 watt Recto SHOULD be able to keep up with a 5150 head, right?!
But much to my disappointment, my RoV sounded 'off'. At first I noticed that it simply didn't have as much volume as I thought it should (again, this being the first time I got the Output past 9:00). It lacked bottom end and sounded a wimpy. My other guitar player has a 5150 head, and his tone simply shit all over mine. At one point I had him turn down because my amp couldn't keep up. At this point I should say that we were both running into identical Marshall cabs (8 ohm). I dissabled the internal speaker in my RoV and ran into the cab.
The worst and most disturbing part was when I noticed this 'penny rattling in a jar' sound coming from my amp. It scared this shit out of me, and I immediately put the amp in Standby and checked for smoke and odd smells. Everything appeared normal, so I proceeded to flip the amp back on and tap the PT's to check for a bad tube. No microphonic tubes, but I noticed a few things:
1) The left tube was running much hotter (physically burned to the touch). I flipped powertubes and still the left tube socket ran hotter. Not sure if that's normal?!
2) I noticed a screw loose and seemed to be rattling around. It's a long black screw in the middle of the chassis. Not sure if it was always like that or what, but I noticed a mechanical sound coming from the speaker when I wiggled it. That said, I also noticed said mechanical sound when I simply tapped on the amp enclosure. Really weird shit going on.
So, with practice over, I go home and check out the preamp tubes. I try swapping each with a known good preamp tube. Didn't notice any changes, good or bad until I got to V4. I swapped in my Tung Sol for V4 and all sound ceased to exist. Oh fuck I thought, so I put in the original Mesa tube, and still no sound. The amp powers up fine, but nothing but the faintest of sound only with the channel master dimed (output knob does nothing). I tooked the FX send and ran it into my computer and inserted a Cab Sim plugin, and the preamp section of the RoV appears fine.
Anyways, long story short. I'm taking the amp into the shop this afternoon, dreading the repair bill. Based on my description anyone have any guessing as to what the problem could be? The rattling tone and overall lack of volume sucked enough, but now I fear that I somehow fucked things up even more.
Side note, a 50 watt Recto SHOULD be able to keep up with a 5150 head, right?!