Silvertone 1482 Tremolo does nothing. Bad tube?

[kpreese]

I just got a Silvertone 1482 and I couldn't be happier with the tone. I've got a pretty solid amp for just about everything else, but it just wasn't able to give me the sound that this little beauty does.

The amp didn't come with a footswitch but I used the channel switching footswitch from another amp. The tremolo doesn't work. Also I was unable to pick up any tone change, noise or volume change when clicking the switch.

Could it just be a bad 6AU6 tube? Or is the tremolo circuit not engaging at all?

Just in case the switch jack is hosed, I'll short that later and try again.

Thanks!
Kevin

[Amp Kat]

Most tremelo's won't work without the footswitch so you'll have to insert a dummy plug to simulate the switch. Your other footswitch may have used a stereo jack or TRS that was keeping it from either shorting or opening. Not much to that circuit and could be a connection problem.

[kpreese]

Thanks Amp Kat, but I made sure the other footswitch is a single switch, with a mono jack and I was using a mono cable so it should have worked.

After looking at the schematics again, it became apparent that for this amp, the tremolo should be engaged when the switch is open and be disengaged when the switch is closed. So with no switch plugged in this jack, the tremolo should have been on.

I decided to partially disassemble the amp and clean it a bit. I bought it off of eBay and it's always a crap-shoot. Well I got super lucky. This seller packed this thing like it was worth a million dollars and it is in great shape. The speaker looks like it could be new. The front of the chassis was a little dirty, but the inside was nearly immaculate. The power tubes had a small amount of dust though so I pulled all of the tubes and cleaned them.

When I put the tubes back in, reassembled and switched it on, I was greeted with an incredible tremolo. I guess the 6AU6 tube was just not seated properly.

I've gotten the bug and I'll be learning what I can about these beauties. For about 13 years, I've had a great tube amp that's been so solid and reliable that I've really not learned much about these beasts. I'm looking forward to spending some time on this forum and I'll be looking into building an amp from a kit soon.

Kevin

[Regis]

My 1482 had problems when I first got it and I thought it was tubes too. I retensioned all the tube sockets and that fixed it.

[jimtone]

Thanks Amp Kat, but I made sure the other footswitch is a single switch, with a mono jack and I was using a mono cable so it should have worked.

After looking at the schematics again, it became apparent that for this amp, the tremolo should be engaged when the switch is open and be disengaged when the switch is closed. So with no switch plugged in this jack, the tremolo should have been on.

I decided to partially disassemble the amp and clean it a bit. I bought it off of eBay and it's always a crap-shoot. Well I got super lucky. This seller packed this thing like it was worth a million dollars and it is in great shape. The speaker looks like it could be new. The front of the chassis was a little dirty, but the inside was nearly immaculate. The power tubes had a small amount of dust though so I pulled all of the tubes and cleaned them.

When I put the tubes back in, reassembled and switched it on, I was greeted with an incredible tremolo. I guess the 6AU6 tube was just not seated properly.

I've gotten the bug and I'll be learning what I can about these beauties. For about 13 years, I've had a great tube amp that's been so solid and reliable that I've really not learned much about these beasts. I'm looking forward to spending some time on this forum and I'll be looking into building an amp from a kit soon.

Kevin

Hi, I'm new to the forum, but wanted to add that the footswich for Silvertone amps are a simple on/off canopy switch which is like a lamp switch. Most other amps with single footswitches are not on/off, but more like (either or type switching) from one mode to another. You can make a 1/4" mono jack connected to an on/off togle or canopy switch to work it or test it.