Request : Troubleshooting Flow Chart

[dyermaker8]

Hey guys,
I've been lurking here for a while and am enjoying the forum. Looks like a great community with lots of good info flying around. I am currently trying to get started with some light guitar & amp repair work,. (pickups, switches,. cleaning pots,. retubing,. ect,.) I have some background with electrical work doing low voltage systems (alarm, cctv, proaudio) but still have a ways to go before I hit my goals with electronics theory and practical knowledge. That being said one thing I think would be really helpful If one of our more experienced members would like to provide is a troubleshooting flow chart of some sort. Specifically for solid state amps,. for some reason they seem more complicated to me than tube amps. But I would also be interested in a non-specific amp troubleshooting flow chart as well. I've already done some searching on this forum and the internet in general and havn't found anything close to comprehensive.

Thanks in advance,.
Dan

[Enzo]

Well, go over to RG's Geofex site, he has a fine troubleshooting list there.

To me troubleshooting is a universal skill, and doesn;t really matter so much what technology you are using. For example, if a unit blows its main fuse, my first thought is output devices. Could be tubes or transistors, but they are still the things that ultimately wield the powr. Then powr supply rectifiers or filter caps could be shorted.

But whatever you work on, the very essence of troubleshooting is to isolate the problem. In an amp, is it a power supply problem? A power amp problem, a preamp problem? Within that, in a preamp, do the controls have any effect on what comes out? If they affect a sound, the source of that sound is before them in the circuit. If they don;t, the source is after them. Lack of signal? Tubes or solid state doesn;t matter, aply a signal and trace it through. Wherever it disappears is likely where the trouble lies.

[tubeswell]

Jack Darr's book has some good chapters on troubleshooting (including SS amps) and its free:

http://www.pacificrecone.com/JackDarrBook.html

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

Jack Darr's book has some good chapters on troubleshooting... and its free:

http://www.pacificrecone.com/JackDarrBook.html

Right, and when we answer all these questions here on AMPAGE, the senior members all charge and get paid about $85.00 to $100.00 an hour four our time ... of course we split it up among ourselves after hours

[tubeswell]

Ahhh... I had wondered what you guys were doin' with the money

[antiunderscores]

http://www.geofex.com/ampdbug/ampdebug.htm

this site's to do with tubes but it might be able to be adapted

[dyermaker8]

Thanks again guys,.

I Respect Enzo's response,. but i'm just not to that level of intuition yet,.

tubeswell,. Thanks,. the Jack Darr Book looks awesome,. Sucks that its not in print anymore looks to be still very usefull for a relative novice. In other words ,. it maybe exactly what i was looking for,. its just that most of my work experience has been PC related,. programing and troubleshooting are second nature to me and flowcharts are wonderfull for those,.

Bruce,. you can actually make money doing this stuff?? wow.. i was thinking people would just bring you PBR and smokes,.

[TD_Madden]

The Darr book actually IS back in print!