Rattle noise in back??

[polishcomedy]

Do you guys get a rattling sound from the back of your amp? I can't figure it out if it's a tube or the reverb pouch or what. I noticed when I'm playing somewhat loudly when I hit certain notes I get a lot of rattle also, I think from the reverb cuz it sounds kind of pingy. I've messed with the stuff in there trying to tighten and whatnot.

I also have to ask you guys one more time...Let's say you're on the clean channel and you have the Master on 12, the Output on 12, and the Loop Send on 2...do you get a crapload of noise like I do (this is with my gate off, although there's still some noise even with that)? I tried changing out a couple of pre-amp tubes and it did nothing. Tomorrow my friend is going to bring a handful of pre-amp tubes over and we're going to change them all out. If that doesn't do it I'm taking it to a repair guy, cuz I just don't believe this amp is supposed to be this noisy. Sigh...

 

[MusicManJP6]

It's gotta be your power tubes. Tap them and see if you get a rattle. I'm almost certain that is what it is. Only way to 'fix' is to replace. Tube dampers might help, but not sure.

I don't have a Lonestar (although i'd like to have one) so I can't answer your other question.

 

[MrMarkIII]

+ 1 on the rattle being a power tube.
You gotta change the pre-amp tubes one at a time, then test.
It's tedious, but otherwise you'll never know if you replaced an old, good tube with a new, bad one. It's recommended in every Mesa manual. Sometimes new tubes can be bad as well.
Is the crapload of noise noticeable at stage volume, or in the bedroom with your ear up against the baffle?

 

[Octavarius]

The rattle is probably from the power tubes, yes. And it is normal. Some tubes are just noisy that way when exposed to a lot of cabinet/speaker vibration. It doesn't mean that you've got a bad tube. I too get some rattle, but it's not noticable at stage volumes, so it doesn't really bother me. But if you're working quiet in the studio, in a big room with some room/ambience mics, that might turn out to be a problem. But that's why they sell them in heads, after all...

I don't get that much noise, no. Ok, disconnect everything from your loop, set the send level to 12 'o clock, same as master and output. Connect your guitar straight in, with one cable, and turn down the volume on the guitar (so that there's no signal coming to the input stage). Still a crapload of noise?

Does this happen on each channel or only one with spesific settings?

 

[pokerrules47]

I used to notice this with my Rectoverb combo. I think it's inherent in most combos that have a wide frequency pattern like the boogies. I used to get a rattle from the reverb tank, and tubes would rattle at high volumes. Playing by myself, I would notice it, but in a band situation I would rarely notice it.

Try and play with a speaker cab attached, and see if it goes away. If so, try and hand tighten any screws you can find in the back and see if it clears up with the internal speaker. I could never get mine to go away totally.

Of course, I am assuming you are using a lonestar combo

 

[djw]

I had a rattle sort of like you're describing it, and it was the fin-clips around one of the power tubes. Took each tube out, squoze the fins a little to tighten them, replaced tubes, and the rattle was all gone.

 

[MusicManJP6]

I had a rattle sort of like you're describing it, and it was the fin-clips around one of the power tubes. Took each tube out, squoze the fins a little to tighten them, replaced tubes, and the rattle was all gone.

good idea.

 

[jrkooshman]

try tightening the chassis as well do. And see if the speaker is tight as well

 

[SonOfIAm]

If you can reproduce the type of sound by tapping on one of your power tubes or if the sound diminishes by placing your hand on the bottom of a tube, dampers should work for you. I had a similar issue with a Rectoverb and dampers took care of it for me.

 

[polishcomedy]

Thanks everyone. As soon as I'm back at the house I'm going to do some tinkering around and get back to you.

 

[polishcomedy]

Okay, I set everything to 12 and turned my guitar volume down. Not much noise on either channel. However, when I turn the volume up I get a bit of noise, which I suppose is natural. I found the main rattling problem was the rectifier power tube. I took all the power tubes out and squeezed the butterfly clips. It helped tighten the little bit of rattle from the other tubes, but not much on the rectifier one. Maybe I'll have to make or buy a tube damper. Do tube dampers affect tone at all?

If I crank the reverb pretty high I get a pretty nasty springy sound from the speakers. You can hear the nice reverb, but there's a pretty gross rattly overtone in there. When I plug into the front of my amp through my pedalboard the noise level definitely increases. Oddly enough after plugging into each one of my pedals the one that produced no noise was the Digitech Whammy IV. Everything else contributed noise to the signal. I don't think a bypass loop would do much because I leave the noise gate, compressor, and volume pedal (duh) on most of the time, and my wah is the optical sensor Morley Bad Horsie 2, so the bypass circuitry is radically different, I believe. Delay in the fx loop didn't seem to add any noise. That leaves me with the whammy (which was quiet) and the T.C. Electronic Stereo Chorus in bypass when not used.

Using the amp in tweed mode was a bit less noise. Same with drive channel on "clean". Turning up the Drive and Gain knobs past 12 added quite a bit of noise when played in "drive" mode. I did all these tests with a Hamer Californian USA Elite. Didn't feel like plugging in my Tele and re-doing everything. I guess I'll need some tube dampers. I suppose the noise level is normal for an amp, but the series of pedals adds a bit of noise, as well as my high output pickups. The reverb at loud volumes is weird, though.

 

[MusicManJP6]

You are dealing with several different noise sources so it's best to tackle each one separately. Leave your pedals out of the mix and work on the tube rattle first. Tube dampers have actually been reported to IMPROVE tone because they keep tubes from rattling and becoming microphonic. Check eBay for dampers. They are fairly cheap from what I have seen.

Now, for your pedals in front, how are they powered? If on AC power then try using a battery in a few of them and see if the noise subsides. If so then you are dealing with a ground loop. Depending on your power adapter you may want to upgrade to a Dunlop Power Brick or something similar.

Lastly, the noise from the amp itself and reverb may be some bad tubes. Hard to say given the info you've presented.

Like I said, work on one problem at a time to rule out any other factors. Keep us informed.

 

[polishcomedy]

Lastly, the noise from the amp itself and reverb may be some bad tubes. Hard to say given the info you've presented.

That's what makes it hard for me. I don't really know what to look for and don't know what is normal or acceptable. I feel I should just take it to a tech and see what he thinks.

 

[MusicManJP6]

Lastly, the noise from the amp itself and reverb may be some bad tubes. Hard to say given the info you've presented.

That's what makes it hard for me. I don't really know what to look for and don't know what is normal or acceptable. I feel I should just take it to a tech and see what he thinks.

That may be the easiest and safest route. That way you'll know nothing is 'wrong' with your amp. Just make sure you take it to a GOOD tech otherwise you may end up with more problems than when you started! Good luck...