My 66 bassman is cutting out intermittently and is making a blip blip blip noise?

[signalpaths]

My 66 bassman is cutting out intermittently and is making a blip blip blip noise after notes are struck?? Has anyone ever had a similar problem? If so any guidance would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks guys

Eric

[Garydean]

If it's all original, caps especially, i would take a peek at the filter caps, those big firecracker looking things under the "deep pan shaped thing" on top of the chassis. Inspect the ends of the caps, are there pimples poking thru? If so, i would address those for starters. If you have a bit of experience under the hood of the chassis, continue on. If you lack the knowledge, I always assume one does...not sure, consider a local tech. Danger exists inside that sucker even when not plugged in. Several things could be wrong but visually inspecting would be a good place to start.

"cutting out"? the signal dropped out or was there power loss? Completely loosing a signal could indicate a bad solder joint. It's easier to locate that once the chassis is out. Never overlook your cables and such...jiggling the cable at the input jack could reveal something.

[signalpaths]

Signal goes away completely momentarily and is preceded by crackly noises. Then following that there is a pop pop pop noise. Its not a cable. I just received an order from antique electronic supply of sprague atoms to redo all the electrolytics in the amp.

[Garydean]

That's a good first move replacing those caps to equal or higher value. Pay strict attention to polarity, BTW. When your chassis is open, do a good cleanup and visual inspection, with a magnifying glass even, look for broken connections. Anything look cooked, split or disconnected? Check your grounding points as well. While yer in there, De-Ox and burnish all your jacks, De-Ox and lube the pots. Be sure the fuse is also the correct value. Clean all the tube sockets and check for tracks resulting from arching. Visually inspect the tubes, wiggle the pins...any clicking? Tubes look white or cloudy, not good. If the tubes are older, at least throw in a fresh set of matched output tubes. While we're on that subject, you will need to set the bias, after the new output tubes go in. That could be another subject you'll need to investigate and check the forum for previous discussions.