2C+ diagnoses help

[akamouzis]

Bought my 2C+ on ebay about a year ago. ever since i bought it ive had weird problems with it. ive been trying to get the really scooped metallica tone with it and i have gotten that tone but only a couple of times. now the weird part is that i noticed that when i would turn the reverb up it would kind of focus the tone and it would become tighter, scoopier, and gainier(bad english), basically it would produce the tone i wanted. and when i would turn it down it would become loose and weak. the best analogy i can think of is if you think of the reverb knob like the focus control on a camera. you turn it up and you get a really clear picture(tight tone) turn it the other way and it gets unfocused(loose tone). now it has stopped doing that at all and im left with bad tone all the time. my actual tone settings never changed, i got the good tone and bad tone on the same settings, so its not that. and i have changed the tubes, so i know its not that either. i called mesa and they said that the reverb circuit goes in right before the phase inverter. i actually sent it to mesa, to make a long story short they didnt tone test it so they didnt find anything( apparently you have to ask them to test the tone specifically or they dont do it). has anyone had experience with this? anybody have any ideas?

 

[akamouzis]

..and i recently got the chance to play someone elses IIC+ on my settings and compare and now i know for a fact there is something internally wrong with my amp. his sounded exactly the way i thought it should. so no its not me, it is the amp. any help at all would be appreciated. i am desperate to get to the bottom of this.

p.s. mine is 100 watt head, reverb, eq, 60/100.

 

[Boogiebabies]

 

[akamouzis]

what if its the cathose itself?

 

[akamouzis]

does anyone have sound clips of their C+ on a high gain setting?

 

[Elpelotero]

http://www.musicv2.com/artist/danyeo/

not my clips...belong to a fellow forumite.

 

[Boogiebabies]

 

[akamouzis]

boogiebabies, what you said is exactly what Mike B did to it when i sent it in. he thought it was a inproper grounding of the reverb tank. what would it sound like if it had a blown transister or a bad cap? i really dont thinkmit had anything to do with the reverb i just think that it is some how related to that circuit. i really dont know jack about electronics so im basically talking out of my *** but i think thats pretty logical. is there anything else you can think of? think really hard. please. i dont want to sell it but im really fed up with it by this point.

 

[Boogiebabies]

 

[Boogiebabies]

:shock:

 

[akamouzis]

now, wether the reverb is on or off it doesnt make a difference anymore it just sounds bad all the time. like its just doesnt have that articulation and focus. its seems that when i first bought it, it was on the verge of a complete failure but if i fiddled with the reverb knob in conjunction with wiggling the reverb input jack it would kinda kick back in. but now i think whatever it was is completely burnt out because it just sounds bad all the time. i never use the reverb but i just tried it again and now when i turn it up the tones gets very weak and thin. very nasal. i took the input jack out and put it back in and it didnt help. honestly the difference was like night and day when i got it working right. like i said i dont know **** about these things but im not retarted and its not something simple like me not turning the presence up, believe me. i completely respect Mike B and You and i know you guys know these things like the back of your hands. i know you can get to the bottom of this i just think that whatever it is is a very rare phenomenon and your just not thinking of something.if its circuit related it could be a hundred different things right? if it was something simple like the improper ground then Mike would have fixed it. c'mon you can do it!

 

[Boogiebabies]

 

[stokes]

Without actually having the amp in front of myself or any other amp tech,diagnosing from descriptions is a crap shoot at best.In your last post you said it sounds weak and has no "focus and articulation".Based on that I can only suspect the caps and or tubes have never been changed.Caps are only dependable for about ten years,not a hard and fast rule,but one many techs go by.Tubes can be even more unpredictable.If the caps or tubes are still original,and it was my amp I would change them before looking any further.I do in fact own a 2c+ from '84 and have changed my caps even though I had no "severe" symptoms.The amp sounded fine before recapping but did improve a lot afterwards.I did the recap in '98 when I got the amp and will do it again soon since both my sons are now using the amp regularly when they gig.To me its cheap insurance against an inevitable failure that can do considerably worse damage when they do eventually fail.Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[akamouzis]

well as far as paying for it, i made it clear i would pay whatever it took to get it fixed but anyways, i dont have a footswitch. what kind of wire and where exactly should i wrap it? as far as a visual inspection is there a gneral area i should be looking at? or just everywhere. now the tubes are fairly new but i am interseted in changing the caps. how many are there? should i change all of them? the advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[stokes]

You should change all the caps in the power supply.If you are not familiar with this procedure you can email me,I will explain how to do it,it is not hard to do but it is extremely dangerous,there can be a lot of voltage present even if the amp is off.Let me know if you want to try it.Boogiebabies,exactly what would wrapping a wire around the ground cable accomplish?If you are suggesting that he make a new ground connection dont you think the other end of the wire should connect to a ground someplace?I see you made reference to soldering or wrapping a wire to the ground cable in 2 separate posts but didnt tell the guy to actually ground it.

 

[Boogiebabies]

 

[Boogiebabies]

 

[akamouzis]

i really dont know what to do about this, but i have to do something. does anyone know any REALLY good amp techs in the boston area. just tell me EVERYTHING you could possably think of to have checked out. so when i go see someone i can at least tell them what i want checked/done.

 

[stokes]

Boogiebabies no ego trip here, just dont understand what you mean by wrapping a wire around the cable.In his last post he said it was weak,thin and nasally all the time,sounds like caps to me.As far as a novice performing this task, I did my first one at 15 yrs old in 1965.It is really quite simple.Yes this guy is a novice,so I am quite sure he doesnt understand what "wrapping a wire around the reverb cable " means either.
Dont know what your reference to "ethics" is about,maybe you should check your ego.I am sorry you took offense to my questioning the wire around the cable,but it isnt very clear as to what you are getting at.No offense was intended.I dont know who Mike B is and yes he did not change the caps,but he didnt fix it either.Good luck with this fix,I will keep my self out of it,And again I appologize for asking you to clarify,meant no offense.

 

[Boogiebabies]