Fender DeVille 212 died today :(

GreenKnee · Post by **GreenKnee** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:26 pm

Hi,
So after yesterday saying my DeVille has been prettyr reliable for me, today it died

I've had my DeVille for about 18 months now, and at band practice today, my amp had died

it worked yesterday there, but today as soon as I powered it up and turned it on, there was no sound. If I turned up my booster pedal to full, a faint crackle and fuzz could be heard. When I looked at the tubes at the back of the amp, the left hand side 'big' tube (power tube?) was really hot, and the sticker on it was a brown, burnt colour.

Now I'm wondering, is it the burnt out tube causing the amp not to work, or a bad amp that has caused the tube burn out?Â
It's weird how it worked fine yesterday, but not at all today.

I've never done anything with amps before, and I know these DeVilles can have some problems.

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

Jack

SGJarrod · Post by **SGJarrod** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:34 pm

I do not know crap about Fender amps but if u have been jamming on the same tubes for over a yr n a half start by replacing those.... that is if u do not wanna take it to a tech first

power tubes that are giged usually last 6 mos or so and pre-amp tubes about 2x that

GreenKnee · Post by **GreenKnee** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:38 pm

Thanks for the quick response

I think I'm going to take it to a tech even if it is the tubes, cause I've no idea if the amp would need biasing or what matching pair I would require.

The amps has been gigged pretty much every week over the time I've had it, and the amps clean sound has been getting dirtier as times gone on, but I liked that!

I've never used the drive channel on the amp, just clean all the way to 12 (full). Today, when the amp was crackling and fuzzing, the LED for the drive channel was flickering on and off even though it was not selected.

Jack

SGJarrod · Post by **SGJarrod** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:48 pm

yeah....take it to a tech...it will need biasing and plus if the LED for the drive channel was flickering its prolly more than just bad tubes..but be prepared to shell out cash for new tubes as well

Tubes

DGW · Post by **DGW** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 10:08 pm

Sounds like your tubes are gone...Great amp by the way..I have the deville and a bugera v55hd.

GreenKnee · Post by **GreenKnee** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 10:25 pm

Would the tube going mess with the switching to the drive circuit do you think? I'm a little worried about it.

Yeah, since first trying the amp I've loved it. Some people seem to dislike them, but the clean is so nice, and it takes pedals so well!

Jack

SGJarrod · Post by **SGJarrod** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:01 pm

GreenKnee wrote:Would the tube going mess with the switching to the drive circuit do you think? I'm a little worried about it.

no, not in most cases but anything is possible, I would expect it to be a different issue just so ur not more pissed off when u find out it needs some repair and new tubes

foofoo982 · Post by **foofoo982** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 2:09 am

Sounds like what happened when my Deville (albet, the 4x10) went. It could be solder connections going or heat from the tubes causing issues as well, but I'd check out different tubes. Did you smell burning at all? When my went I smelled something heating up slightly like burning.

AaronGuitarDude · Post by **AaronGuitarDude** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 5:30 am

change the tubes.

GreenKnee · Post by **GreenKnee** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 7:00 am

I didn't notice a burning smell, the amp was on standby for about ten mins before I turned it on, and there was nothing.
I'll have to hunt down an amp tech near me then

Jack

George · Post by **George** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 9:02 am

Seriously, get yourself some new power tubes and if you have a multimeter you can bias it yourself with those Devilles. No extra tools needed...

[youtube][/youtube]

I would DEFINITELY do that before giving it to a tech as it could be unecessarily expensive. If the amp still doesn't work afterwards, then think about a tech and you can ask him to replace the tubes with the new ones you bought.

GreenKnee · Post by **GreenKnee** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:18 pm

Thanks for that video

I'll try a new set of power tubes then, could you recommend a pair for the DeVille or shall I replace like for like?

I'm still a little worried about it flickering between channels though.

Jack

George · Post by **George** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 7:01 pm

I've never owned one but people seem to go for Sveltna winged =C='s a lot, but really you just need some 6L6GC's rated at 30W. HotRoxUk are a good shout to buy from.

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 3:49 am

the burnt tube sticker is normal, power tubes get hot as fuck (as in don't touch them when they are running full tilt!).

sometimes when a power tube blows it will also blow a fuse in the amp, this is GOOD as it protects other components from destruction. typically when this happens you won't see any of your tubes glowing even though the power is on. this is worth checking if you open up the amp.

plug a signal into your FX RETURN and see if you get anything out. if you get good strong sound, then your preamp tubes are probably bad.

i would suggest replacing preamp AND power tubes anyway if you have been running them that long...

tomin8r · Post by **tomin8r** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 4:34 am

+1 to SLOAN droppin' some srs science.

foofoo982 · Post by **foofoo982** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 4:49 am

GeorgeF wrote:I've never owned one but people seem to go for Sveltna winged =C='s a lot, but really you just need some 6L6GC's rated at 30W. HotRoxUk are a good shout to buy from.

I used SED/Svetlana winged =C='s in my Devile 4x10 and use them now in my 71' Bandmaster. Absolutely gorgeous sounding tubes. Warm lush power tubes. Also worth the money for what I paid, considering I've had them for around 3-4 years now. My Deville had some weird Mesa tubes in them, and the winged =C='s made the amp sound like an actual Fender amp. Pair it with some nice preamp 12AX7's or better yet 5751s, and you should be golden IMO...

George · Post by **George** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 8:57 am

Sadly my amp is too compact so I can't fit tall bottle tubes in. I use Tung Sol 5881's which are really stumpy, and they give a nice rich but slightly dark tone. Apparently TAD do a short bottle version of a 6l6GC so I might get a set of them next.

For preamp tubes I'm using Tung Sol 12AX7s which are the TITS. Really like them. What benefit do you get from 5751's? I get it's less gain, but how does that compare to a 12AX7 in real terms? Do you get less break or less overall volume or something?

foofoo982 · Post by **foofoo982** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 4:24 pm

The JAN-Philips 5751s that I used controlled the brightness. My Deville (when I use its amp) seems too bright with 12AX7s. The 5751s brought the amp down to a more normal level I thought.