Dumbassbob 63 Bandmaster Crackling on Normal Channel

[Leo_Gnardo]

Deoxit both socket and pin. Work in and out a few times.

As mentioned in #2 above ^^^^^. The pull & push, with DeOxit added. It's not necessary to hose down the socket with a spritz of DeOxit. Spray a little DeOxit D into a can lid or paper cup, and dab a drop with a toothpick into each electrode in the socket. Wet a Q-tip and scrub tube pins with that. After a couple minutes wash both off with non residue cleaner. What Caig used to print on the cans "The less you use the better it works." Let it all dry thoroughly before firing up. Should only take a few minutes.

And if you're tempted to break out some fine wet/dry paper 600 or 800 grit to clean corrosion off your pins, don't tell Stan. He already fired me for doing that. In spite of the fact that it works. No matter, we all have our favorite methods, and non-favorite. Might be especially helpful on the tubes you got from your neighbor, if those pins have been living in salt spray air for decades.

[Chuck H]

I changed out the preamp tube and sprayed Deoxit on the socket.

Not sure if Bob did a thorough job or did all the sockets. But I remembered seeing this and took into account all the horror this amp has seen and that's why I thought re tensioning may be in order.

Like Stan said, it all just wild ass guesses.

[big_teee]

I agree with Chuck H.
Nothing more aggrevating than loose preamp tube pins.
Went through that, with some cheap tube sockets last year.

[dumbassbob]

I am sure the tube sockets needs retension ....I am a lot better guitar player than I am a tech.But I keep all my gear clean..

[Randall]

Make sure the caps are drained before you re-tension tube sockets, or you may get a surprise you don't like.

My method of cleaning tube pins is with a clean pencil eraser. I like the pointy ones that fit over the end of a pencil, they get inside the pins pretty well.