Lonestar Classic 212 - rumble noise when playing an E.

[pauljohnson]

I have a Lonestar Classic 212 V2. I am very happy with the tone, allthough the amp is way too heavy.

I have just noticed a low rumble coming from the speaker. This happens on both channels, all power settings, both rectifier settings, reverb on or off, loop in or out. I can only hear this when I am playing at home. At gig volumes it is not noticable. The noise happens when I play the note E. It is more noticable when playing the higher octave E's but this may be because the lower octave E's drown the noise out.

Has anyone come accross this fault. The amp is two years old and I have not changed the tubes.

Any help would be appreciated

Paul

 

[djw]

It almost sounds like something in your home is vibrating. Are you sure it's actually emanating from the speaker? It can be hard to tell, the way acoustics work in some spaces.

 

[plan-x]

If it's a vibration, I had noticed that with say a low G or G# note on high volume. Don't notice it much anymore cause I use an ext cab with the combo. I remember sticking my head back there and hearing it come from the chassis and or the speakers but not the cab. Beam blockers also vibrate. I wouldn't be surprised that alot of 100w combo's do that.

 

[ripit007]

Maybe a blown speaker. I just had to replace my C90. Ok at lower volume but soon as I would turn it up a bit, the bass strings would cause the speaker to pop and flub. Blown speaker.... not sure why though... I very rarely crank it past 11 o'clock. Oh well. And yes, it is a 1x12 combo.

 

[Telemaster]

Sounds like a good excuse to tune in Eb and bump up to 14 ga strings! :lol:

but seriously...might tighten up all the screws and bolts and see if that makes a difference...
and to rule out the room try the amp in a different room.

 

[pauljohnson]

Tried tightening up everything (in fact just done the Reeder Mod pot swap, so I have had the amp chassis out and refitted it).
Tried it in a different room, different power supply.

Just come back from rehearsal where I noticed that at volume on the clean channel there is a bit of nasty grit. Could be that a speaker is on the way out.

Is it ok to disconnect one speaker and try the amp? I am not actually with the amp at the moment and have forgotten the impedance ratings of the speakers.

Cheers Paul

 

[plan-x]

Yeah that's fine. One speaker runs a 16 ohm load.

 

[pauljohnson]

Cheers Plan,

I'll give it a try tonight. Hopefully one of the speaker is blown. I'll be able to try another type then..........Maybe the California that BobL gave rave reviews.

Paul

 

[pauljohnson]

So, last night I tried disconnecting one speaker to see if the rumble noise went away. The noise was still there. So I soldered that speaker back in and disconnected the other. Still the same problem.

After I had reconnected the speakers I thought I'd have a look at the speaker mounting nuts.
They were tight in that I couldn't move them by hand. But if I put a spanner on them they would tighten. So, I tightened a few up and tried the amp. Fault still there.

I was getting a bit wound up at this point. As I had the backboard off the amp I thought I'd see if moving the tubes had any effect. When I played the E note and got the rumble I put some pressure on the 6L6 tube (LH position looking from the font of the amp) and it seemed to make the noise go away. I had to pull the tube slightly to one side but I thought I'd cracked it. So I swapped the middle two tubes with the outer two and set the amp to 50watt.
No luck, the problem was still there. However, now the amp sounds very ill. It seems to have early unpleasant break up on all settings.

Do you think that all the problems could be caused by faulty power tubes. The tubes in the amp are original factory ones, that were shipped with the amp.

If you think new 6l6's would sort the problem has anyone got any reccomendations. This is my first tube amp and I haven't chosen any new ones before.

Cheers guys

Paul

 

[djw]

Sure, sounds like maybe a new set of 6L6s might be the thing. It's hard to say exactly without being in the room with you, but possibly one of your tubes has gone microphonic. Try tapping them one at a time with your fingernail or a plastic screwdriver handle, with the amp on and the volume at an audible level; if you can hear a sound through the amp when you tap, then that tube is hosed.

If you'd truly cracked the tube, you would know really quickly. You'd hear a loud buzzing when you power up, regardless of whether standby was engaged or not. If you hear that, power down quickly and yank that suspect tube. It's done.

Anyway, first thing is probably to contact Mesa directly. Alternately, if you just want to get some different tubes, contact Eurotubes or Doug's Tubes and see what they have to say.

As far as makes go, lots of folks have had good results with JJ's, self included. (Eurotubes are JJ's distributors)

 

[plan-x]

Shipping and tubes don't mix. My friend got a Tremo-verb from UPS, and half of the tubes were shattered. The best way to ship is to wrap each tube well and box em in the cab securely so the gorilla's at UPS can't possibly break them.

As for tube replacement, mesa will honor Groove tubes(GT) for warranty. Call them and ask which color code. Because you can get them (GT) at GC and many other music stores for instant gratification. A diligent search here might get you that info, or someone might chime in or better yet start a new thread. Replace the 2 suspects with a matched pair. In the meantime, play 50w using the outer pair of tubes.

Using your hand to find the vibration is a good thing, been there, done that, and scored. Don't remember what it was though Just don't be a gorilla back in there :lol:
Also, it's a good thing to keep a spare pair of 6l6's and a couple of 12ax7's around. I certainly do.

 

[pauljohnson]

Cheers for the input guys.

There is no way I can get anything under warranty as I am in the UK and the amp is a couple of years old. We only get 12 months here.

I think I am in need of a full retube anyway, plus this will give me some spares incase of future failure.

I am currently having a look round to see what is available, I may start a new thread as you sugested.

Thanks again
Paul

 

[OK Threasher]

I had a similar problem and it was power tubes. I replaced the stock Mesa's with JJ's and did not care for them. They seemed to make the amp a little bass heavy, and to me the amp is already too bassy.
I ended up going with Groove Tubes--against the opinion of my peers--and they've been great.

Good luck, and to all Lonestar owners: if you don't know about the Reeder mod I strongly suggest finding out about it. It really made me love my amp again.