Laney Cub 10
Posted: 03 Feb 2013, 14:48
Got a laney cub 10 about a month ago and was very pleasantly surprised by how good it sounded, very full, open,and even the 3d swirl thingy that has to be heard to be believed, in other words, great amp for $200!
Until the trouble started...first the preamp tubes started the occasional sputter, boiling sound, changed them, all is good again. Week later I notice that the sound more unpleasantly distorted than normal, so I back off the master volume by about a quarter turn, the amp actually get louder! I turn it back up to make sure I'm not just hearing things and yes, slight drop in volume and muddy, spotty distortion, reminds me of what people refer to as the "dying battery" sound in a fuzz.
A quick change of the power amp tubes, luckily I had two 6v6's on hand, and the amp is back to normal, even better, I noticed I didn't have to have the preamp knob as high to get the same level of sound as I did before.
Then the thing starts making a high pitched squeal, so high in pitch that I couldn't hear it myself but others, who haven't ruined their ears playing guitar for 40 years, could. So I check the only thing I had changed as sure enough, one of the 6v6's glass had separated from the base, not enough to lose vacumme and cause the glass to go grey, but it could be wiggled from side to side.
So I had to put the originals back in and have the same volume problem as before.
I'll just order new tubes soon and that should cover that problem.
But I did notice the amp uses surface mount components, the little things you'd normally find in your phone or computer but not tube amps.
What I would like to do is get a chassis and build a PTP cub 10 with quality components, just for the piece of mind.
My thinking is that this amp sounds so good with cheap components that it has to be the circuit design that plays a big part in its sound quality.
Trouble is I'm a paint by number kind of builder, I have the schematic and was wondering how you guys go from schematic to layout in what I consider such a liner form, circuit board contact points in a straight line.
Until the trouble started...first the preamp tubes started the occasional sputter, boiling sound, changed them, all is good again. Week later I notice that the sound more unpleasantly distorted than normal, so I back off the master volume by about a quarter turn, the amp actually get louder! I turn it back up to make sure I'm not just hearing things and yes, slight drop in volume and muddy, spotty distortion, reminds me of what people refer to as the "dying battery" sound in a fuzz.
A quick change of the power amp tubes, luckily I had two 6v6's on hand, and the amp is back to normal, even better, I noticed I didn't have to have the preamp knob as high to get the same level of sound as I did before.
Then the thing starts making a high pitched squeal, so high in pitch that I couldn't hear it myself but others, who haven't ruined their ears playing guitar for 40 years, could. So I check the only thing I had changed as sure enough, one of the 6v6's glass had separated from the base, not enough to lose vacumme and cause the glass to go grey, but it could be wiggled from side to side.
So I had to put the originals back in and have the same volume problem as before.
I'll just order new tubes soon and that should cover that problem.
But I did notice the amp uses surface mount components, the little things you'd normally find in your phone or computer but not tube amps.
What I would like to do is get a chassis and build a PTP cub 10 with quality components, just for the piece of mind.
My thinking is that this amp sounds so good with cheap components that it has to be the circuit design that plays a big part in its sound quality.
Trouble is I'm a paint by number kind of builder, I have the schematic and was wondering how you guys go from schematic to layout in what I consider such a liner form, circuit board contact points in a straight line.