crate volume flux's

[antiunderscores]

I need some help.
Occasionally my volume drops to really, really quite... Then i switch my amp to clean, my guitar to the bridge humbucker and strum like a mad man and, most the time, after a few seconds the volume kicks in.
But when i run a rack delay through the effects loop it seems to never happen, the delay isnt boosting the signal and from what i can tell it seems to actually lower the signal.
I plan on replacing the tubes, (also for a sonic improvement), when i learn how to bias because i live ages away from any shop that can service and rebias my tubes and im not old enough to get my license.
It never did this when i first got it (second hand) and i may have damages one of the output tubes. The amp is a crate stealth head which runs 3 12ax7's and a quad of 6V6's, so one damaged tube wouldn't take away practically all volume would it? The interior of the amp seems to be in good nick and the amp as a whole seems to of been kept in good condition (though im not sure if it has been serviced often... or ever)
Thats about all i can tell you about the problem and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

[Robert M. Martinelli]

Hi,
I assume you' ve already tried to change guitar/cord and that you' re positive the failure comes from the amp.
If so, next time the problem occurs, instead of strumming hard the guitar, try to tap the amp to see if the volume comes back to its normal level, if so you have some bad/cracked solder joint inside the amp.

Hope this helps

Best regards

Bob

[antiunderscores]

yeh, the same thing happens with different cords and guitars and cabs. And that tube i may have damaged still glows fine incase that comes up.
Cheers I'll try taping next time it happens.

[Mars Amp Repair]

Hello,
I'm not real familiar with this amp, but there is always the tried & true dirty return or send jack switches that cause issues like this. Try running a 1/4" cord from send to return. If that clears up your problem, then you know what you're dealing with. You can either just clean the contacts of the jacks or replace them.
some amps I've encountered it really takes burnishing the switches in the jacks to get them to work. glen

[Enzo]

What Glen said.

The clue there is it never does it when you use the effects loop. When you are NOT using the effetcs loop, ther are little contacts in the loop return jack that carry the signal. If those get dirty, exactly what you describe happens.

The return jack needs service.

[antiunderscores]

i think i may of tried that and it didnt help, i could be wrong though so i'll try it again tomorrow and report back, cheers.