Okay, so I've got what I believe is a 1977 Fender Super Reverb, silverface if that matters.

It used to work just fine, but since I moved it I can't get it to turn on anymore.

The power is coming into the unit. The passthrough power outlet works. The power supply (or whatever it's called) area heats up after being on for a while. The power light does not come on.

The tubes are firmly seated but don't warm up. I replaced the fuse. I don't know what to do. I'm not electronically minded at all.

Like I said, it was working fine, then I moved, put it in a car, drove it to a different house, unloaded, and it hasn't worked since.

Any ideas?

12/12/2005 12:51:21 AM

is there a standby switch in addition to the power switch that you may have inadverdantly switched off?

12/12/2005 12:55:17 AM

There is a standby switch, but doesn't seem to affect my current situation. For what it's worth, none of the possible combinations of Power and Standby being on or off work.

12/12/2005 12:57:37 AM

eh, i don't know then. i was just throwing that out there. i assume you allowed sufficient time for the tubes to heat up. maybe you busted the internals in one of the tubes when you moved it or something.

12/12/2005 1:04:35 AM

Yeah, I've given it the normal amount of time and a riduckulously long amount of time. Plus, even on standby, the power light should be on.

The tubes look fine, but maybe they're haunted. Hmm.

12/12/2005 1:06:30 AM

So you've replaced the fuse, but have you replaced any tubes? Even one blown tube could cause those kinds of problems. Moving it could have shorted the tube, or even cracked the base and released the vaccum. I'd start there. Paying someone to fix it could cost a fortune, so I'd give that a shot first.

12/12/2005 11:07:02 AM

Besides, tubes blow on their own every now and then anyways. Maybe the first time you flicked it on after you got it moved was just the time for one to give out.

12/12/2005 11:08:19 AM

Replace all of them? That seems like it would be expensive as shit.

Maybe I'll just take it somewhere.

12/12/2005 11:18:46 AM

Anyone?

12/12/2005 6:52:25 PM

id say fuse or tubes right off the bat. the guy that does all our amp and guitar repair is this DIY guy who runs stuff out of his basement and knows amps and guitars inside out like the back of his hand.

if i can find his number (i lost it but i know my other guitarist has it) ill get it to you. its worth having him look at it. i bought a 1400 amp and cab set up 2 years ago or so for 600 bucks cuz this kid said it just stopped working (different problem i know for sure but im just relating i guess heh) and i took it to him and he fixed one fuse and replaced the high gain input jack for 60 bucks and viola i had a brand new amp.

if it is the tubes youll just have to buckle down and get em if you can afford it. depending on what kind you have they can be expensive but they also can not be that bad. sovtek and other metal ones are a lot but sometimes they arent that much so its hard to say. plus im sure you have preamp and regular amp tubes right? are they ALL not heating or what?

12/12/2005 7:30:16 PM

You might be able to do it like Chrismas tree bulbs...buy one good one of each kind (pre-amp, power) and try swapping the known good one for a possible bad one. Still doesn't work? Put the known good one in slot 2 instead of 1. Then try 3, 4, etc.

If one is bad, and if it runs them in a line (pure series), one bad one could kill the whole circuit (kind of like having one bad bulb on Christmas tree). I'm not sure about the wiring scheme on your amp, but that could be the case.

BTW, 12AX7 tubes are like 12-15 apiece, and the average power tube runs 25-50 or so depending on the type, and again, I don't know what kind of power tubes your amp might be running, but expect on average 12-15 per pre-amp tube and average 35 or so per power tube, but you only really have to buy one of each kind to start out with for testing purposes. However, if this guy ^ can figure out what's wrong for less than 50 dollars, you save yourself the chance of never having to have bought the tubes to begin with. When you get that guy's number, maybe he can just find the problem for cheap, and if it turns out to be tubes, you can replace those yourself.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com to see how much your power tubes run.

12/12/2005 8:40:29 PM

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

For what it's worth, the tubes are as follows:
• Two 6L6 Groove Tube output tubes
• One 5AR4 rectifier tube
• Four 12AX7 preamp tubes
• Two 12AT7 tubes
(according to fender.com)

I'll probably just take it somewhere. But yeah, thanks for the advice.

12/13/2005 11:59:46 AM