Amp Question

los_sentidos · Post by **los_sentidos** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:38 pm

I got one through the UK distributor Adam Hall. I fired it up and took it for a spin tonight. The head and matching cab was sounding so sweet with my 3001. Amazing in fact and the rest of the band were in awe for all of 5minutes...

Then I noticed one of the tubes was glowing much, much hotter than the others, and then a burning smell hit me! I decided to power down rather than risk it because I'm a tube amp novice!

Do you think I may be over-reacting and that because it was sent over to the UK a year ago and sat around in the box it may be dusty or something?

I have sent a message to the store I got it in to see wha I should do.

Any ideas as to what the problem could be?

I was using a good quality speaker lead etc.

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:45 pm

Could be a tube shorting and the cathode resistor overheating. I would trade it for another, or if they can't or won't, have them repair it.

los_sentidos · Post by **los_sentidos** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:20 pm

Thanks - I'm just waiting to hear back from them. As it's within 7 days of me purchasing it from their website I should be able to return it no questions asked if they do get funny. But the UK distributor does cover the warranty.

Just as an aside - I was sent a YBA200 - 1 head - apart from the graphics on the front is there any difference between the yba200-1 and yba200-2 heads?

los_sentidos · Post by **los_sentidos** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 6:40 am

OK - sorry to sound like a real novice here. But should there be a blue hue to any of the valves when you're playing?

I've heard from the comp - they said make sure they're seated right and let them 'soak in' and if I'm still not happy they will replace it at the start of next week.

I've done all that and there's a burning smell but the sound is ok. Is this normal?

teb · Post by **teb** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 8:42 am

Mine never had any kind of burning smell (or very much smell at all that I noticed) - either when new or now two years later. The four power tubes (Sovtek 6650 originals) glow orange at the top and bottom, but I don't see any blue color. I did burn out one power tube recently, but it still didn't smell and it has a lot of hours on it as I use it when playing bass, when playing twelve-string and also normally use the pre-amp and tone-shaping stuff when recording with the balanced line out.

Mine was sealed in the factory box when I bought it, so it hadn't been burned-in at a store or any other such stuff. It was just like it was when it left the factory, so I would expect yours to work similarly and any kind of strong smell would tend to suggest to me that something needs to be fixed.

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 12:40 pm

Ronan, usually blue glow means gassy tubes (were not sealed under full vacumn). But if you smell a burning smell, something isn't right.