Critical thinking... Or lack there of

[soundmasterg]

Your amp doesn;t have a bias adjustment. But it HAS to, I was told you MUST ABSOLUTELY adjust the bias whenever you change tubes. BIAS IS THE MOST CRITICAL THING IN ALL THE WORLD!

That very thing is why I got started with trying to learn about tube amps. I bought a 1993 Vox AC30 brand new and I had a ghost note problem that wouldn't quit. The warranty repair shop in town said there was nothing wrong with it, but I knew I was heairing something that wasn't right. I finally figured out it was cone cry and lightly doped the speakers....problem solved. One of the things I tried along the way to that solution was to replace the tubes. The local tube amp repair shop at the time told me I MUST rebias the tubes in the amp or it might blow up, and that I most certainly couldn't do the work myself, I would need specialized equipment, etc. So after paying the guy to retube my amp several times and "rebias" it, I learned that an AC30 is cathode biased and sets it's own bias level for the most part and I was wasting my money by having this guy "set my bias." Needless to say, I went on a quest to learn all I could about tube amps and as much as I learn as the years go by, I still always want to know more!

I would like to say that you are a big help to this community Enzo, and I know for myself that I really appreciate your help and advice on posts here. As some of the other Ampage old-timers that used to visit here have moved on to other things and stopped contributing, you, and R.G., and Chuck H., Merlin, and many others have stepped in to fill the void. A big thanks to all of you guys!

Greg

[R.G.]

I try not to hold it against myself that I don't know everything, which is tough because I came up basically poor and the only way to get by was to learn enough about my environment to control it to some degree. In these times that sort of life management is right out the window. Once upon a time a smart man could manage his job, do upgrades on his home, fix his own car AND build a few amplifiers. Technology and regulations have made it much harder to be effective at that sort of lifestyle now. It's become harder than ever to take control of your own destiny. So when the $h!t doesn't jump right into the toilet we become confused. We try to chew because we read somewhere that that's how it's done. But having never developed the skill, we choke.

I think we share some background.

Learning can be a lifestyle. Learning is so **EASY** today. For me, it's more addictive than heroin could ever be.

I can (and have for most of these) write assembly code for a number of past and current processors, design logic, write in an assortment of high level languages, design an amplifier, design a transformer, set up a lathe or milling machine, distill alcohol (in theory... ), grow corn, shoe a horse or worse, a mule, build a barn, cut a beam out of a felled tree, make fire with a drill or fire piston, skin a squirrel for dinner, chip knives and other tools out of flint, make hide glue, make a bow, shingle a house, and set up a slow sand water filter for drinking water. If forced, I can even reproduce the derivation of Maxwell's equations. If forced. I know *how* to smelt iron, and could do so if I had help with the (massive) amount of labor involved. I have done simple cast objects in metal.

There are so many technologies so easily available. It's like living in an eternal toy box.

[Wilder Amplification]

Learning has also been very addictive for me as well throughout the years. I notice far too many people would rather come up with their own theory using their own logic to back it up than actually learn what it is that's really going on. Again another case of people would rather assume they know than find out the truth.

[Enzo]

Hey tedmich. I understood your point and no problem, but I do have to say when reading down the page "Enzo:jerkoff" kinda leaps out at me. If my wife spies that, I'll never hear the end of it.

[tedmich]

Hey tedmich. I understood your point and no problem, but I do have to say when reading down the page "Enzo:jerkoff" kinda leaps out at me. If my wife spies that, I'll never hear the end of it.

10,000+ helpful posts and you still have a WIFE!? My admiration for you is ever increasing...

Sorry about the phrasing! Gotta remember the internet never forgets...

[echuta13]

Hrmmm... I've been working on amps for only a short time now (5 years?), and in that time I've learned a ton. A span of forums (18watt, AX84, Amp Garage, Hoffmans, and here of course), a collection of books, and wealth of information on sites like RG's, Aikens, Merlins, ect... has helped to a great degree. However, I think it would be easy to say that I know enough to know... I don't know enough.

The beauty of this hobby for me is that there is always something new to learn. I think it would lose it's luster if that ceased to be.

[Enzo]

I have been in electronics the last 55 of my years, and an electronics professional for decades, and believe me, it is not just a slogan when I say I learn something new every day. There is no end to learning.

Of course at this point in my life something I learned a month ago can be new again today.

Yes, I am pretty sure that woman that lives at my house is my wife, but mostly I take her word for it.

[JHow]

Yes, I am pretty sure that woman that lives at my house is my wife, but mostly I take her word for it.

The long-sufffering Mrs. Enzo must be a saint , or else she doesn't follow these threads.

[J M Fahey]

OR ... Ms Enzo is the one who really writes all this and Mr Enzo is just the front end / GUI.
By the way, has *anybody* ever seen him in person ??? []

[Chuck H]

I've heard that the two of them haven't been seen in the same place at the same time... Perhaps.?... Nahhh

[Robert M. Martinelli]

10,000+ helpful posts and you still have a WIFE!? My admiration for you is ever increasing...

+1!
My admiration for Enzo is ever increasing too, and so is the admiration for his wife.....
It proves, once again, that behind every great man stands a great woman!

Cheers

Bob

[Enzo]

SOmeone has seen me, every now and then someone walks intop my shop and asks "Are you the same Enzo of the internet forum?"

yeah, I have my wife behind me, she stays back there so I can't se what she is doing.

What a woman, she walks on the ground I worship.


And as we can see, critical thinking has ground to a halt.

[Wilder Amplification]

My ultimate favorite "blind troubleshooting" assumption -

"So my amp wasn't working so I started checking things out and come to find out a resistor in the power amp was getting hot so I'm going to replace the resistor."

Without realizing that there's a reason why that resistor is getting hot (they don't just heat up on their own).

[Ronsonic]

"My amp's cutting out"

Check/clean the FX Loop jax.

"Anybody?"

Did you check / clean the FX loop jax?

"I was looking for more opinions first"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"How do I know what speaker is right for my amp" (Amp is of course un-named)

Here's a link to a great white paper all about amp and speaker Z matching.

"Anybody?"

Did you read that paper?

"It was about all kinds of amps, not just mine"
Or
"TLDR"

So.

"Why can't you just explain it to me"

[Enzo]

My amp cuts out.

Check the FX loop jacks

No, I already know the FX loop works