Call me whatever but

[Mr.Hetfield]

Is it normal to hear a sound from the tubes (kinda a crackle) from the back there...I don't think its a problem but I would also like to know the sets you take to turn off your dual rec.

 

[tele_jas]

Ok, you asked for it............ "Whatever Butt"!



Feel better?

 

[tele_jas]

Ok, now to be serious

The warmer my tubes get and the older they get, I hear them make more and more little popping/crackling sounds. I guess this is just normal since I'm noticed it for a long time, even on my old Deluxe.

 

[Elpelotero]

i have some tubes i got in a 92 dual rec and they crackle every time. then i hit a chord. i quickly forget they crackle. Hopefully the noise will stop when i retube.

 

[Mr.Hetfield]

Ok well they crackle once I turn the amp off, and I don't think you can turn it off wrong :roll:

1) put on standby
2) zero volumes
3) wait a minute or 2
4) turn off amp

 

[tele_jas]

My tubes do crackle after I turn my amp off, while the tubes are cooling down. That's definately normal, it's just the glass and metal in the tubes cooling down.

 

[Mr.Hetfield]

Ok yeah cooling down but I am saying that right after I turn my amp off I get about a second of the crackling really qiuckly then it just crackles once and awhile cooling down.

 

[tele_jas]

I'm pretty sure I know the sound you're talking about and I think it's normal. I play tonight, but not with my Boogie. It's a small acoustic/semi electric gig and I didn't want to bring my big ole Boogie so I just brought my old Deluxe. I'll see if I can hear that on my Deluxe tonight and try it on my Boogie this weekend to see if I hear it.

 

[MesaENGR412]

I think that's just the current leaving the tubes, while it's crackling you should notice that the orange (or bluish) glo in your tubes fades. I believe what you are hearing are the electrons settling back down because of the power cut. I might be wrong though, but my amp does the same thing. I also get a slight hum from the tubes when the amp is on. Another person on here once said that it was just "Lightning in a bottle" becuase I asked the same question, only about when the amp was on, not being shut off. If i'm wrong, i know someone here will correct me. Hope this helps my friend.

-AJH

 

[jbird]

Do you turn the volume off before power-down?

 

[Micah]

Derived from a previous post for enlightenment and amusement:

For the record (but off the record): Something Mesa didnt tell us about out Rectifiers when we bought them is that it also has a bug light feature in the rear of the amp in the section where the tubes are @. The "ZZZZZAP" sound that you are hearing is some poor little bug that happened to be in the wrong place @ the wrong time... Sometimes there is a bug zaping into it and sometimes there isnt. This is an inside secret of Mesa's. They secretly Hate Bugs! Please help me to keep this quiet--I dont want a member of the Mesa Mofia to hunt me down with a machetti or something and cut my toungue off...!

 

[Russ]

I think the crackling is a tube thing.

I have heard it from time to time with both my Mark IV and my other amps (Marshalls and Ampeg). I even heard it in my old rack that was all tube preamp and power amp. I think it is just a residual amount of charge in the bottle that is being let go. It happens. I have heard it on new tubes and older tubes. Just part of tube life I suppose. I have been playing tube amps for a while. (Not disclosed to try to maintain sanity) Let's just say it is over 20 years (on the conservative side...) No worries... Game on.....

Just be aware of anything else your amp does that seems out of the ordinary, like a phasing in and out of your sound or an inconsistency of performance a la workie-no-workie or even having to smack your amp to wake it up. I had this old SS practice amp years ago that needed a little slap once in a while a la caveman electronics. I assumed it was a short somewhere but it wasn't worth fixing, the cost of repair outweighed the value of the amp. I just replaced it after it finally quit completely. That was the last SS amp I ever bought with the exception of a little Valvestate power amp for a lightweight rack rig a few years back.