Unfortunately many beginning guitar players buy huge stacks, then think that the only way to get "their tone" is to crank the master volume all the way up.  Granted, a Marshall stack cranked wide open does sound pretty nice, but running full volume just isn't practical or necessary IMHO....And on stage, such overwhelming stage volumes make monitor mixing a nightmare.

So the big thing around here has been a minimal, almost non-existent backline, with in-ear monitors.  (The band I'm in now makes pretty good money, but not enough to afford IEM's, we still use traditional monitors.)  Some people say "sure Nashville is only country" but even country now is basically 60's rock, only sung with a twang.  Guitars can be just as distorted as they were in any 80's hair band...only instead of big stacks, they're using small combos or even modelling preamps going straight to the board.

Hence my opinion...I guess I'm getting old when I say "it's too loud"!!!!!

I hope you and your audience wears hearing protection.   
I've got a 100W half-stack (Ampeg V4 tube head) and it's ear-splitting loud...I've played with full-stack dudes before too and I can no longer hear over 14kHz.....

Granted I don't play heavy metal these days, but I've also done my fair share of PA work and darn near every sound guy in the world would rather reinforce the volume through the PA rather than let the guitar players' stage volume dictate the mix.  I guess maybe I'm getting old, but I first seek to get a good tone and then amplify the tone if necessary.

If I understand your message correctly, you're in England, correct?  And you don't have a lot of money to spend.  But you want a)lots of volume, b) a great tone. and c) reliability.  Well, here in the States I would agree with the "used Peavey" answer but I doubt they're as cheap in England.

Question:  why do you need so much volume?  Most clubs--and audiences--can't really stand that much volume, not to mention the fact you'll soon be deaf!!!  (Please wear hearing protection!!)

Today's bands don't usually use insanely loud amps anymore, on some tours the big Marshall stacks are just there for looks.  They'll run a small amp, mic'd, into the PA and let the sound reinforcement system take care of the volume.  Or use a preamp then DI into the board.

However, if you're absolutely determined to pursue the massive volume route, get your cash together and just start hitting the used equipment shops.

First, you probably blew the fuse inside the amp.  Usually easily replaceable, there may even be a fuseholder on the back of the amp  (otherwise you have to take the amp apart a little bit).  You MUST replace the fuse with one rated exactly the same!!  If it calls for a 5 amp fuse (I have no idea what it takes)  put in a 5 amp fuse, if it calls for 10 put in a 10 amp fuse....

Second--you pulled tubes out while the amp was on???  Not a good idea.  That's what probably blew the fuse.  You can't diagnose "hiss" by randomly removing amp components....

Does it hiss without anything plugged in (without any cords, effects, whatever).
 
Do you have the master volume cranked all the way up?  If so, turn the master volume down and turn the gain up on the preamp.

If you're a noobie to electronics, unfortunately I can't offer too much more advice. 

Ought to be loud, that's for sure.  Might want to think about hearing protection!

Traditionally the wah is the first element in the effects loop, but if you prefer it second, go for it...

Enjoy!

I've had great success with Peavey over the years.  There's certainly other brands besides the ones you mentioned, some of the Fender SS stuff is very good IMHO.

However, few amps are made in USA anymore.  The amp market is so competitive that most manufacturers are outsourcing to keep their prices in line with the competition. 

I have the Princeton Chorus, little brother to the Ultra/Ultimate, and it doesn't behave like the way I think you're describing.  "Goofed around inside" doesn't bode well.  (Mine's not the DSP series, I know the DSP's are internally quit4e different, but I really doubt it's supposed to operate like you describe).

Within reason, I don't think so.  Let's say your existing cap was 10,000 mfd 63 VDC.  I wouldn't think twice about going up to 100 VDC...but get a lot higher, the can size may be too big, if you can even find a 10,000 mfd 450VDC cap.

Increasing the voltage rating will increase the life of the cap, if all other factors were identical, acording to the cap manufacturers.

Those are 10 nF not 10 mfd...they are there to "smooth out" the diodes, at least that's the theory.  I've done power supplies with and without them, to my ears I can't hear any difference.

How does one check to make sure the two transformers are properly phased? Or does it matter?

Quote from: armstrom on May 14, 2008, 03:58:06 PM
...has anyone found a suitable enclosure with integrated heat sink? Something along the lines of a car amp enclosure would be great (I think). Kill two birds with one stone.  Hammond sells one but the heat sink fins are along the top of the enclosure and it uses a t-slot for mounting (slip in a square nut and screw down the component) so applying thermal mastic would be tough.

http://www.hammondmfg.com/sinkbox.htm

-Matt

Doesn't Parts Express have 'em?  www.partsexpress.com

Just unplug your amp and wait a few minutes, that will let the caps bleed off...if it were a higher-powered amp, I'd use a resistor to discharge the power supply caps but yours doesn't have much rail voltage, so I personally wouldn't worry about the caps discharging (for this small amp ONLY!!).

What you need is called a mono switching jack, normally closed.  There are many more complicated flavors out there, but what you need is the basic version that has 3 terminals.  One terminal is ground.  The second terminal is where you solder the wire coming FROM the amp.  The third terminal is where you solder the wire going to your internal speaker.  (Note, you'll have to check out the jack to figure out which terminal is which). When you don't have a plug in the jack, the jack makes the connection between the amp and the internal speaker.   When you plug in a plug, the plug physically moves the contacts open and the amp's output is sent into the plug instead.

Several possibilities come to mind.  The issue with the Priceton caps that I mentioned some time back, regarded the large caps on the power supply side.   If they came unsoldered, the result would be a constant 120 hz hum regardless of whether you're playing or not.  If I understand your description, you get the noise only after you play the note, then it stops when you mute the string.  I doubt it's a loose power supply cap if it stops when you mute the string.

Have you tried another guitar with this amp?  Could be the pickup on that guitar, does it do it with all pickups?  Does this guitar have a preamp; if so, is the battery dead/dying?

Do you have any effects pedals plugged in?  If so, take them out of the equation and try it.

I think this amp has a headphone jack.  Can you plug in a set of headphones and try it?  If you don't hear the noise in the headphones, then the issue is in the speakers or power amp--or could be mechanical vibration of the amp making something short or ground.  If you still hear the noise through the headphones, it's in the preamp stage of the amp.  To me, your description sounds like the digital stage might be clipping.  Try turning the gain down, compensating by turning the volume up.

If the noise only happens through the speakers, not through the phones, and reducing the gain did nothing to help, try a different speaker to see if it's the speaker (I think you have a "speaker out")  Disconnect the built-in speakers and move the alternate speaker a ways away.  If the noise doesn't come back, it's in the original speakers--or the vibration is making something short.  The vibration-induced short can be investigated by playing a note that doesn't cause the noise and then hitting the side of the amp hard several times to see if you can induce a noise.

I would not randomly just start replacing components--that's the "shotgun approach" and rarely works IMHO.  Look very carefully, with a good magnifying glass, at all of the solder joints at various components, starting with large components like caps, if it's possibly a vibration-induced noise.  Look at each joint, and *slightly* wiggle the component, if the  solder joint is bad, you'll see the lead or broken solder joint move.  (A few weeks ago I fixed a Tascam 488 Portastudio 4-track that had 3 broken solder joints on the main faders, go figure!!)

I would NOT recommend Radio Shack for several reasons: 1) their components are generally low-quality, 2) their prices are outrageous on things like caps, and 3) they have no selection at all.  Try online, through Mouser www.mouser.com or Digikey www.digikey.com or even Parts Express  www.partsexpress.com

I am not a believer in "upgrade caps", but that's my personal opinion.  Some audio folks or even guitar folks swear by high-dollar exotic components, IMHO *most* of that is the "placebo effect".  I use whatever Mouser or Parts Express has for a decent price.

It's my belief that for a very good clean guitar sound, a tad too much power is far better than a tad too little.  It's easy to turn down a 60 watt amp, and still have power in reserve for those nice full chords that use lots of bass...headroom .  And if you ever want to play live, even solo jazz work requires plenty of power.

That's why I'd also recommend the LM3886 amp.  See www.chipamp.com  for a nice kit that's reasonably priced...I was really thinking about using these to upgrade the power in my Fender Princeton Chorus (rated 25 watts per channel or 50 watts total, it was a tad too quiet for live work, until I changed to more efficient speakers).   Get a toroidal transformer from www.antek.com and one of the chipamp kits, add a preamp and you're good to go without spending a lot of bread.  I also concur with teemuk that you may want a 2-way PA speaker, though I'm using Eminence Ragin' Cajun 10" guitar speakers in the Princeton Chorus and they're very smooth, whether with my semi-hollowbody, my Ovation acoustic, or the Ovation VXT hybrid.

Argh, I shoulda looked at the schematic,   teemuk is indeed correct that the input and outputs are in parallel, so my original post ("don't plug into the output of the Gibson") was in error.  Sorry...and as teemuk said, it *may* be possible to plug this into a speaker out but definately try using the line out of the Vox first.  Then, and only then, if you can't get acceptable volume, use the speaker out of the Vox.