So I just recently bought a Trem-O-verb and all in all its great. It seems to be in fantastic shape and performs well with one exception that I am not sure if its actually something to be worried about or not.
When I bring the TOV from standby (which is obviously dead silent) there is a "hum". It seems to me this is normal tube amp hum and nothing major. However a few observations (these are all with NOTHING plugged into the amp. Its just On:
1. The "Bold" power option makes the hum more noticeable.
2. The hum is also more noticeable when using the "Diode" rectifier option over the Tube rectifier.
3. Different outlets in my house make no difference (which may mean nothing. I may have to test on a completely different source).
4. Turning the gain up makes the hum more pronounced
5. When I do plug a guitar in and start playing, the hum is not noticeable.
6. Also, the sound seems to be coming from the near the transformer, from what I can tell. But honestly, this could be an aural illusion and I am just hearing it amplified in the speaker.
7. One other weird anomaly, when I touch the Gain knob on the Orange setting, I can hear it in the speaker, similar to touching a microphone. Not loudly at all, just a faint little noise. But it does not happen on any other knobs switches or the Red channel at all. It sounds like when you guitar cable is plugged into the amp and not your guitar and you touch the end of it with your finger.
8. If I touch the Gain knob and leave my finger on it, the Standby switch does the same thing, but only if I am touching the Gain knob at the same time. No other knobs do this and the Stan-0By switch does not do it unless I am touching the Gain knob.
I do not know how old the tubes are or the amp since I bought it used. They could be stock for all I know. My goal is to have it re-tubed completely as soon as possible, but that may not be until after the holidays.
So is this normal? The only real thing that concerns me is the Gain knob acting as a mock microphone. I called Mesa and they seemed helpful with something in regards to that issue but mostly had no other advice other than have a tech look at it.
Thanks in advanced.
When I bring the TOV from standby (which is obviously dead silent) there is a "hum". It seems to me this is normal tube amp hum and nothing major. However a few observations (these are all with NOTHING plugged into the amp. Its just On:
1. The "Bold" power option makes the hum more noticeable.
2. The hum is also more noticeable when using the "Diode" rectifier option over the Tube rectifier.
3. Different outlets in my house make no difference (which may mean nothing. I may have to test on a completely different source).
4. Turning the gain up makes the hum more pronounced
5. When I do plug a guitar in and start playing, the hum is not noticeable.
6. Also, the sound seems to be coming from the near the transformer, from what I can tell. But honestly, this could be an aural illusion and I am just hearing it amplified in the speaker.
7. One other weird anomaly, when I touch the Gain knob on the Orange setting, I can hear it in the speaker, similar to touching a microphone. Not loudly at all, just a faint little noise. But it does not happen on any other knobs switches or the Red channel at all. It sounds like when you guitar cable is plugged into the amp and not your guitar and you touch the end of it with your finger.
8. If I touch the Gain knob and leave my finger on it, the Standby switch does the same thing, but only if I am touching the Gain knob at the same time. No other knobs do this and the Stan-0By switch does not do it unless I am touching the Gain knob.
I do not know how old the tubes are or the amp since I bought it used. They could be stock for all I know. My goal is to have it re-tubed completely as soon as possible, but that may not be until after the holidays.
So is this normal? The only real thing that concerns me is the Gain knob acting as a mock microphone. I called Mesa and they seemed helpful with something in regards to that issue but mostly had no other advice other than have a tech look at it.
Thanks in advanced.