Peavey Bandit 65 Solo Series

[aentresz]

Hello all, my Peavey Bandit is making some strange noises. It makes a slight crackle noise (similar to when a pot is scratchy) when I attack notes harder, but it fades away as the notes decay. It only does this sometimes though. The other day I was playing through it, and then it just started squealing really loudly. What do you reckon might be causing the problems ?

Cheers, Aaron

[Den.]

Are you using reverb when this is happening? Try turning the reverb knob down to 0. If the problem persists, try unplugging the plastic reverb wire connector on the bottom of the chassis.

[aentresz]

I tried it with the reverb on zero, it sounded ok, but I could hear the amp distorting slightly for some reason (I wasn't playing loud). I turned off the reverb on the footswitch, and that sounded the same. I disconnected the reverb tank, and it sounds fine now. Was it the reverb tank causing the problems?

[J M Fahey]

Don't think it is the reverb tank itself, but the recovered signal must be passing through some parasite capacitance or poor grounding, even when muted.
Not much you can do about it anyway.

[Den.]

About half of the used 80's era Peavey amps that I have owned have had problems inside the reverb tanks. It seems that the thin wires from the little coils pass through/behind a thin strip of brass to secure the wire as a strain relief. I've seen wires with their insulation worn through by that brass strip and I've seen wires almost pulled loose and just holding on to the solder point by their last strand. Might be worth looking at.

[aentresz]

Thanks for the replies people ! I'm going to take it to the amp tech in my area and let him go over it.