How to Un-rattle an Amp

Peter Blue gives some tips on how to un-rattle a Fender Blues Junior amplifier.

The Blues Junior is a handy little tube amp that gives you a lot of sound for little money. I bought one for my studio, in addition to the big rig I usually play. The sound of a small tube amp cranked up cant be beat, but there were other sounds as well…. Almost every note was accompanied by a buzzing and rattling noise that came from somewhere within the amp.

I had read lots of complaints about this in many reviews on the web. Rattling and buzzing not unfamiliar with combo amps. I once had a vibrolux reverb that made strange noises when played loud. Close miking the Blues Junior was no problem, but a room mike was impossible to use due to the noise. Somebody had suggested to tighten the screws. I tried that but it did not help. Some investigation had to be done. This is what I found out:

    1. The back cover of the amp vibrates against the chassis

    2. The panel where the knobs are is a piece of chrome metal that vibrates against the chassis.

Both areas needed damping.

First I opened the back cover ( Take care, this is a tube amp with lethal voltages inside even after it´s turned off. So use your brains and don´t touch anything inside.) I cut strips of thin foam and glued them to all the areas where the back cover touches the chassis. At one side the screen that´s on the inside of the backcover must still have direct contact with the chassis in order to work properly!

The panel:

I took the screws off that hold the chassis from the left and the right side. Now I carefully turned the screws that hold the chassis from the top only so far (make shure the chassis doesn´t drop) that there was a little gap between chassis and panel. In this gap I inserted a strip of foam. After fastening the screws the foam pressed the panels cover against the chassis.

After everything was back in place I tried the amp cranked all the way up and smiled. Gone was the buzz and now I could really enjoy my new toy. P.S. For 15 W this is a loud amp. Connecting it with a Celestion G 12 L Speaker gives you the whole fun at even half the volume. Nice for studio and bedroom – rehursal.

Disclaimer: This article is my personal experience with my amplifier. I´m in no way responsible for your actions

One more thing:

Make creative use of your pets in the studio!

On their new album “Lost In Love” Blue Star have teamed up with their trusty cat “The bear” On the track “Inside The Big Pussy”, the Bear purrs the bass for a Guitar track that turns from ambient space into a bluesy overwhelming experience.

Get it in full length at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bluestarmusic3. (Your tiny computer speakers might fail on reproducing the ultra – low frequencies of the first part, so pleace playback on a good system)

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