Roadster reverb stopped working

[kyldh]

Help guys! I've had my Roadster for awhile now and it's been great. Yesterday though, I powered it on for the first time in a couple weeks and there's no reverb. Just re-tubed about a month ago and not a lot of playing time on the new tubes yet.

Any common issue that would make the Roadster's reverb just die like this?

Thanks

 

[domct203]

Help guys! I've had my Roadster for awhile now and it's been great. Yesterday though, I powered it on for the first time in a couple weeks and there's no reverb. Just re-tubed about a month ago and not a lot of playing time on the new tubes yet.

Any common issue that would make the Roadster's reverb just die like this?

Thanks

Check that the reverb cables did not get unplugged from the chassis or reverb tank.

Also, try a different tube in the reverb driver (V4). Just because they are new doesn't mean they won't fail.

Dom

 

[kyldh]

Sorry, I guess I jumped the gun. It WAS the tube. I thought reverb was V5 for some reason, so I had mistakenly swapped the wrong tube when I was troubleshooting. Thanks for mentioning that it's actually V4!

I've never had one die on me in a matter of a few weeks with only a few hours of actual usage, so I was fearing the worst. haha.

 

[domct203]

Glad you got it sorted out. Most Current production tubes are crap IMHO.

Out of curiosity, what brand is the tube that failed? My money is on a New Sensor product (Sovtek, Electro-Harmonix, Mullard reissue or Tung-Sol reissue).

Dom

 

[kyldh]

Not sure who specifically makes them right now, but it was one of the Mesa-branded tubes. I've always had good luck with them in the past.

 

[domct203]

The current Mesa 12AX7 is a JJ.

FWIW- The Mesa "Russian-1" is a Sovtek, and the "Russian-2" is an EH. Avoid them in the cathode follower positions ( V3 & V5 ) as those (and the rest of the New Sensor brands) have proven to fail there.

Dom

 

[kyldh]

Good tip, thanks for the info!

 

[kyldh]

So, still having some kind of issue with this. Last time it turned out that I was looking at the wrong tube when troubleshooting my reverb (whoops!) but I already had another tube go bad in this position. Also, I haven't even really used this amp much lately. This is probably the first time I've turned it on in 2 or 3 weeks. Is there some reason my reverb tubes could be shorting out faster than normal? I do use quite a bit of reverb on certain channels... I didn't know if having it cranked could affect the life of the tube? Thanks.