5E3 clean headroom

[hebaton]

WHat would make a 5E3 too hot ?
I just got one and I read poeple talking about it have "some" clean headroom but mine has abosolutely none. THe moment a sound comes out of it, it is already going into OD territory.
I must say, I curently have only Hambuckers guitars. Is that the reason ?
I get absolely ZERO clean ...

[brewdude]

Try plugging in to the instrument input and adjusting the mic volume to effect the output it works kind of backward.

Check out this video, about 8 minutes in.
https://youtu.be/fI9S07f7L1A

[Synchu]

It will never have the squeaky, scooped clean of a Blackface, though.

Niki

[pdf64]

Maybe it's not working right? Has it ever worked right? Is it new, secondhand, under warranty, has it been checked by a competent person etc?

[hebaton]

Thanks, I know about the "unused channel" volume adjustment and tryed that. I can get abit, very low volume, relatively clean output with the channel I plug into set to about 1 1/2 and the other on about 11
but that's it. I checked and layout and all parts look legit to me. here are some pics...
THe tubes all have been replaced so, that's o.K.
CAn anyone see someg out of place ?

[Charlie Wilson]

What is your first preamp tube?
CW

[hebaton]

What is your first preamp tube?
CW

Electro-Hamonix 12AY7EH

[hebaton]

CAn anyone point me to a few spots/voltages I could verify to make sure the amp works corectly ?

[Stevem]

Humbuckers can have near twice the voltage output of the single coil pickups that circuit was designed to work with, so why don’t you just lower the volume on the guitar?

If that does not work then remove that first little black cap on the right side of the board as you face the rear of the amp.

[martin manning]

Can anyone point me to a few spots/voltages I could verify to make sure the amp works corectly ?

https://www.thetubestore.com/lib/thetub ... ematic.pdf

[hebaton]

Humbuckers can have near twice the voltage output of the single coil pickups that circuit was designed to work with, so why don’t you just lower the volume on the guitar?

If that does not work then remove that first little black cap on the right side of the board as you face the rear of the amp.

Thanks sir, however, I have een around guitars for nearly 50 years, I discovered the volume pot some time ago

[xtian]

The sure way to know if the amp is functioning properly is to measure output power with a signal generator, dummy load, and scope.

[Stevem]

Sorry, I meant no offense, but on the other hand I don’t have crystal ball either, I mean for all I know you have a EH guitar with no volume pot, lol!

The first voltage I would check with a complaint like this would be the filament voltage across the green wires on one of the preamp tubes.
Pins 4/5 and pin 9.
If it’s over 7.2 volts the gain structure of the amp will be way high and tube life will be less then normal.

[Leo_Gnardo]

THe moment a sound comes out of it, it is already going into OD territory.

Have you tried running the amp into another speaker, one that you know is working perfectly well? I just had a tweed Deluxe here last week, it was in the trunk of a car when it was rammed from behind by another car. It sounded like a fly in a bottle. Everything else worked fine but the speaker was lunched. Playing the amp into another speaker was the second thing I did, after examining the amp for damage but finding none. Another tweed Deluxe the previous week had been soaked in a flood. By the time it got to me it was completely dried out and the amp worked OK. But the original Jensen P12R was toast. C'est dommage... Swapped in a new Jensen C12Q and the amps owner was delighted. Bad speaker maybe? Definitely worth checking out.

Another thing that will put you in the distortion zone fast, if one of the output tubes isn't working at all. Or if the output transformer has one of its primary coils damaged - either shorted or open-circuit.

Even in a perfectly working tweed Deluxe, at the clipping point there's only about 10 watts power more or less. Loud AND clean is not their strong suit.

[pdf64]

… I discovered the volume pot some time ago

So if you turn the guitar’s vol control down a bit, can you get a loud, clean sound out of the amp? eg loud enough for someone trying to watch the telly in the next room to get rather annoyed.