MAJOR amp problem tonight!

harrisonmerwin

So im jamming, everythign is going well, at the end of a song i hit the strings and nothing, my fender hot rod deluxe is dead. So i go to the amp, although the switches say its on, its not. I check the fuse, and it was burnt out. ripped to canadian tire and replaced it with the exact same 312-3Amp fuse. i turned on the power, let it warm up a bit, all is good, as soon as i dis-engaged the standy by switch to play, the fuse blows again. i went through this process 3 times, then just took it easy. I beer did spill on my amp last weekend, and it stopped working then, but i have jammed with it twice since and it has been fine untill tonight. is it just shorting out? or is it possibly another problem. all the tubes power up and glow while the amp is on, and its on standby, then after a few second, the fuse blows, and its dead. any recommondations (other than buy the 59 bassman im after!)

ianvomsaal

Naaa, those Hot Rod series amps are great, inexpensive, loud as hell, and super reliable . . . However beer can ruin an amp (even that Bassman you desire). Remember, don't let anyone put anything wet near your amp - if your amp gets wet it WILL fry)!!!
Maybe it took a while for the beer to soak in and ruin some of the electrical components - Maybe you had a surge hit the amp because it's not grounded well (are you using a power strip or just plugging it into the wall???).
The best thing you can do is take it into your nearest tech ASAP to get a diagnosis - it'll cost you minimal to get a diagnosis instead of buying a new amp - Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

who's_pearljam?

Beer is a major hurter of amps!


If you've blown several fuses, then you need to take that thing in. The amp should be fixable.
Each time you try to start that thing up again, you may be slowly frying things inside, though.
If it was the beer, it may be a short from the liquid, or if it took a while, corroded connections somewhere in there, or stickyness, or it all may be unrelated, but you shouldn't even turn it on now.

Haha, first a bass cabinet, then a guitar amp! You aren't coming over and playing at my house unless you leave the beer outside!!

harrisonmerwin

who's_pearljam? wrote:

Beer is a major hurter of amps!


If you've blown several fuses, then you need to take that thing in. The amp should be fixable.
Each time you try to start that thing up again, you may be slowly frying things inside, though.
If it was the beer, it may be a short from the liquid, or if it took a while, corroded connections somewhere in there, or stickyness, or it all may be unrelated, but you shouldn't even turn it on now.

Haha, first a bass cabinet, then a guitar amp! You aren't coming over and playing at my house unless you leave the beer outside!!

well the keg was outside, the cups however....we did a taste test, what killed the amp wasn't the beer, it was a "something n coke" probably rye cause it was pretty sweet. haha. regardless ill probly have a 59 bassman, and my bass player was quick to replace the cabs with an ampeg classic series 810, in the end, we win...kind of.

who's_pearljam?

harrisonmerwin wrote:

well the keg was outside, the cups however....we did a taste test, what killed the amp wasn't the beer, it was a "something n coke" probably rye cause it was pretty sweet. haha. regardless ill probly have a 59 bassman, and my bass player was quick to replace the cabs with an ampeg classic series 810, in the end, we win...kind of.

Haha,,, I would venture a guess that coke is way worse than beer. All that sticky sugar and acid in there!

Those Bassmans are great though. That and the Deluxe Reverb are my favorites of all time.
But you should try to fix the other one, too. The longer that sugar and acid sits there, the more corrosion, and you want to pass on a good amp to the next person. I'm a karma person like that!

Ok, you can come over, but leave your drink on YOUR amp!!

harrisonmerwin

who's_pearljam? wrote:

Haha,,, I would venture a guess that coke is way worse than beer. All that sticky sugar and acid in there!

Those Bassmans are great though. That and the Deluxe Reverb are my favorites of all time.
But you should try to fix the other one, too. The longer that sugar and acid sits there, the more corrosion, and you want to pass on a good amp to the next person. I'm a karma person like that!

Ok, you can come over, but leave your drink on YOUR amp!!

haha, ive also smashed a 1968 haagstrom into this amp, i got it for 200 bucks out of the bargain hunter off another local band(good bargain eh?). so it could have had problems prior as well. the sad thing is, it was between our two sets at the party, i wasn't even there, and my "friend" who happened to smoke a few to many joints, drink a few to many beers, and unfortunately pop a few to many pills just kind of stumbled through the gear. im glad he didn't knock over our mackie SRM 450's. If that party was a UFC fight, our gear was shamrock....my god was it shamrock