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  • Fender vibro champ ringing noise

    Hello everybody !

    I have a Fender Vibro champ that come to me for noise that happen at medium volume.
    I have figured out that it was a mechanical noise coming from the 5Y3G. If I take the tube and shake it I can hear some bling bling sound inside.

    So I have ordered a new Sovtek 5Y3GT tube and put it in place of the old one. Unfortunately this new tube is making the same sound...
    I have noticed that when I push the tube with my finger then the noise is nearly disappeared. So I have changed the socket and added a retainer to put some constraint on the tube but it looks like it is not enough... I still need to push the tube a bit with my finger to get the noise disappear.

    I was wondering if you know a 5Y3GT version that is not having this ringing sound when you shake it ?

    Thanks for your help !

    Cheers.

  • #2
    I would try a JJ 5Y3 or even an NOS. 5Y3GTAs are pretty nice & are maybe $40? A little extra but likely never need replaced again. I've found nearly every Sovtek rectifier tube I've bought to be rattly or have bits rolling around inside...

    Justin
    "Wow it's red! That doesn't look like the standard Marshall red. It's more like hooker lipstick/clown nose/poodle pecker red." - Chuck H. -
    "Of course that means playing **LOUD** , best but useless solution to modern sissy snowflake players." - J.M. Fahey -
    "All I ever managed to do with that amp was... kill small rodents within a 50 yard radius of my practice building." - Tone Meister -

    Comment


    • #3
      Just to be sure, try putting the same kind of pressure on the power tube.
      Were both rectifiers that were noisy Sovteks?
      Originally posted by Enzo
      I have a sign in my shop that says, "Never think up reasons not to check something."


      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by g1 View Post
        Just to be sure, try putting the same kind of pressure on the power tube.
        Were both rectifiers that were noisy Sovteks?
        No, putting the same pressure on the power tube is not changing anything.
        The previous rectifier that was noisy was a Fender branded one.
        I am going to buy a TAD selected version of 5Y3GT and see how it goes.

        Thanks for your help !

        Comment


        • #5
          A Fender branded 5Y3 could very well be made by sovtek. If so, they will visibly be very similar.
          Hope you have better luck with the TAD.
          Originally posted by Enzo
          I have a sign in my shop that says, "Never think up reasons not to check something."


          Comment


          • #6
            Yup, Fender doesn't make tubes, they buy them rebranded from a number of suppliers.

            I was under the impression that TAD was like Ruby/Magicparts, they don't make tubes either. I thought they sell rebranded tubes as well.
            Education is what you're left with after you have forgotten what you have learned.

            Comment


            • #7
              TAD has tubes made in China "to their specs." Whatever that means. They also do a lot of bulk buys & do the rebranding thing after testing too. I tend to stick with vanilla-issue generics rather than rebranded. Tested, sure.

              Justin
              "Wow it's red! That doesn't look like the standard Marshall red. It's more like hooker lipstick/clown nose/poodle pecker red." - Chuck H. -
              "Of course that means playing **LOUD** , best but useless solution to modern sissy snowflake players." - J.M. Fahey -
              "All I ever managed to do with that amp was... kill small rodents within a 50 yard radius of my practice building." - Tone Meister -

              Comment


              • #8
                I got nothing against rebranding. I knew when I bought SOvtek or JJ or Chinese tubes from Ruby that they were burned in and tested, plus they warrantied them.
                Education is what you're left with after you have forgotten what you have learned.

                Comment


                • #9
                  That's one variety of rebranding I don't take issue with. It's labeling the same exact tube with a golden-era brand then charging out the wazoo for it I don't like. Or labeling a 6L6GC as a Mullard...

                  Justin
                  "Wow it's red! That doesn't look like the standard Marshall red. It's more like hooker lipstick/clown nose/poodle pecker red." - Chuck H. -
                  "Of course that means playing **LOUD** , best but useless solution to modern sissy snowflake players." - J.M. Fahey -
                  "All I ever managed to do with that amp was... kill small rodents within a 50 yard radius of my practice building." - Tone Meister -

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    If that's a Fender branded tube in an original Vibro Champ, then it just might be original to the amp, in which case it is more likely to be rebranded RCA or GE than Sovtek. Not that it matters once it is going bad. But you should poke around the whole amp with a chop stick just to make sure nothing else is microphonic.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by yann View Post
                      Hello everybody !

                      I have a Fender Vibro champ that come to me for noise that happen at medium volume.
                      I have figured out that it was a mechanical noise coming from the 5Y3G. If I take the tube and shake it I can hear some bling bling sound inside.

                      So I have ordered a new Sovtek 5Y3GT tube and put it in place of the old one. Unfortunately this new tube is making the same sound...
                      I have noticed that when I push the tube with my finger then the noise is nearly disappeared. So I have changed the socket and added a retainer to put some constraint on the tube but it looks like it is not enough... I still need to push the tube a bit with my finger to get the noise disappear.

                      I was wondering if you know a 5Y3GT version that is not having this ringing sound when you shake it ?

                      Thanks for your help !

                      Cheers.
                      I literally had the same thing happen with the same type of rectifier tube in the same model amp. I was using new Sovteks, and they all seemed to exhibit this after trying a couple of the other sovteks we got in the same shipment.
                      g1, do you remember when that dude posted about a similar issue and we there was some debate as to whether it was the output tubes or rectifier? He posted links to the sound, and you were asking if any of us could confirm if we had heard this specific mechanical noise from rectifiers before?

                      In this particular amp, the recti can set very close to the speaker. Couple that with the fact that during a certain era of silverface production, the quality of sockets was garbage. So, the tubes may not sit securely to compound the issue. I did find that I could damp the vibration completely by using a gloved hand and applying pressure to press the tube against up to the chassis. So there is probably a solution to be had using some damping materials and a tube retainer with tight spring tension.
                      If I have a 50% chance of guessing the right answer, I guess wrong 80% of the time.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by SoulFetish View Post
                        g1, do you remember when that dude posted about a similar issue and we there was some debate as to whether it was the output tubes or rectifier? He posted links to the sound, and you were asking if any of us could confirm if we had heard this specific mechanical noise from rectifiers before?
                        Here it is, I haven't checked whether she still has the sound files up or not: https://music-electronics-forum.com/...l=1#post541721
                        Originally posted by Enzo
                        I have a sign in my shop that says, "Never think up reasons not to check something."


                        Comment

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