Help? Ch2 & 3 on Triple Recto crapped out. Ch1 works fine.

[dhorvath]

I recently changed the power tubes out on my Triple Rectifier. About a week ago. Everything has been working fine until today. Ch's 2 & 3 died but, ch 1 works fine. I don't think it's a bad tube because ch 1 still sounds fine. Ch 2 & 3 sound very faint. I hardly hear a thing. Any ideas of what the problem might be?

 

[mikey383]

Swap out V2 and/or V3 with a good tube. You have a bad 12AX7 in one of those spots.

 

[dhorvath]

Thanks for the tip. I will try that. I hope that's all it is. Man, I am sweating this.
I can hear, what appears to be, crackling noises. I don't know what this is. It reminds me of Rice Krispies.

 

[mikey383]

I'm certain that's what it is. One of the triodes in the V2 or V3 went bad. Those 2 tubes serve the gain channels.

 

[dhorvath]

You nailed this one Mikey! That's exactly what it was. It was a bad 12AX7 preamp tube in the V2 position. All is well now. Thanks for your help.
I grabbed a spare tube, just in case I need one down the road sometime.

 

[mikey383]

Good to hear you got it working again.

Always keep spare tubes around. The majority of problems with tube amps end up being bad tubes.

 

[Anonymous]

Should you ever find yourself in a tight spot where a preamp tube fails and you don't have a spare, like at a gig, you can swap the bad tube with the one in V4 - the effects loop buffer.

Better to have the spare, but again, it works in a tight spot.

 

[mikey383]

Should you ever find yourself in a tight spot where a preamp tube fails and you don't have a spare, like at a gig, you can swap the bad tube with the one in V4 - the effects loop buffer.

Better to have the spare, but again, it works in a tight spot.

Only if you don't use the effects loop.

Always carry a spare to a gig. Tape it to the inside of the shell with some gaffer's tape.

 

[Anonymous]

Only if you don't use the effects loop.

Good point; guess I don't have that issue! 8)