Tube Amplifier Debugging Page


Designed and written by R.G. Keen, keen@eden.com.
Copyright 1997. All rights reserved. No portion of this page may be reproduced by any means, including but not limited to written or electronic, without written permission from the author. The text and graphics on this page may contain random imbedded "mistakes" which are changed periodically to enable tracking of file origins. Or I may just have made mistakes...
Only the following sites have permission to present this infomation as of 6/18/00: http://www.geofex.com
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This page is designed to lead you through debugging a problem with a tube-type guitar amp. Just click on the appropriate links, making the appropriate tests as needed. This page fits older Fender and Marshall amplifiers best, especially in the sections relating to amplifier specific things like preamps, reverb and tremolo. However, the sections on power problems, hiss, and hum should work pretty well for any tube amplifier.

This page has proven useful to quite a number of people by the reports I've received. It's always possible that you'll find a bug in it, and I know that there are some situations that aren't covered, although I believe that over 90% of bugs are. If you find an error, or have a bit of debugging info to contribute, please email so I can include it.

SAFETY WARNING AND DISCLAIMER

Read this warning before doing any of these operations. The life you save could be your own.


Order of Suspicion
Debugging Step #0 - Being Prepared