Fender Hotrod Deville - no volume

tonyknight · #1 11-09-2010, 11:07 AM

Well, the members of this forum have been really helpful, so... I have the above amp which I brought with me from the States to France 10 yrs ago. About two years ago, I seemed all of a sudden to lose about 1/2 of the volume. I ordered and replaced all the tubes. The sound was sweeter but still nowhere near it's previous level (this is normally a LOUD amp). So I took it to the only techie I could find locally. He charged me around $50 and told me that he'd 'tweaked' something and that it was just a great sounding amp.

But the volume was still low. He didn't seem to agree.

Then several months ago, the volume dropped totally. I've contacted Fender France several times but have had no response. I've tried the line-out into a different amp, but the volume is still non-existent, which seems to imply a problem in the pre-amp section though I'm not an electronics adept. That said, I'm not afraid of opening things up, exploring and doing simple soldering work!

I can't seem to find any other techies, so am hoping that someone here might have some suggestions...

Peace,
Tony

Dad3353 · #2 11-09-2010, 01:08 PM

Good evening, Tony...
Where abouts in France are you? I wouldn't think that it be that hard to recommend a good valve tech, but it depends on your location (I'm in 53...).
(When was your last hearing check-up

..? Just a wicked thought..!

)

spiral · #3 11-09-2010, 02:54 PM

If you haven't already been properly warned: don't do any "exploring" of tube amps unless you know what you are doing. You can literally die from the voltage stored in the capacitors even with the amp off, and of course die even worse touching a hot pin of the power tubes, or power transformer, etc.

It was good intuition to swap tubes. 1/2 volume could have been one of the power tubes not working but sounds like that didn't fix it. I highly recommend this site for amp advice: Music Electronics Forum: Amp troubleshooting I actually got help modding an amp from a member over there (Robert Martinelli) who is in Italy, so you might even find someone near where you live.

tonyknight · #4 11-10-2010, 02:02 AM

Dad3353 - It's good to see another forum member in France! I'm in dordogne, just next to Bergerac. I have a great relationship with my local music store (actually stores as they all belong to the same family), and they have now 'repaired' two of my amps. At the end of the day, their tech did little to nothing good for me - I wouldn't suggest that he did anything wrong either, but I have little confidence in him, and I'd rather not hurt my relationship with the shops by telling them what I think - they are very helpful whenever I send them students to buy equipment. Of course, I've sent around 40 students now, and all they've given me is a set of strings :-)

The thing is, I just don't know where to look for a good tech... although I speak French fluently...

Spiral - Yep, I'm totally aware of the dangers. Luckily, my very first job after school too many years ago was as an electronics apprentice, and I remember just enough to be dangerous - but not suicida; "-) thanks for the counsel though!!!

All the best,
Tony

mambosun · #5 11-10-2010, 06:17 AM

Sorry for the stupid question:
Could'nt a flawed rotary volume pot be the culprit?
Regarding techies, if you live the nearby of Paris I heard good things about WHM: Reparation ampli a lampe VHM Paris

Dad3353 · #6 11-10-2010, 06:32 AM

Good afternoon, Tony...

You might try out this address (Cugnaux, near Toulouse...)...
Ets Pons JC
...Jean-Claude PONS; seems to have a good reputation in your area.

The 'top' would perhaps be...
vintageamps.free.fr
...but in Normandie (has a collect point in Paris, though...)

And, of course, Valve House, Paris...
Valve House Paris

From the description of the fault, I would not think you're into major overhauls; something modest has 'gone west', and you shouldn't need a NASA team to identify and fix the problem. Give Jean-Claude a call; at least you'll get a definitive answer as to what the next step should be.

Hope this helps.

tonyknight · #7 11-10-2010, 07:24 AM

Well I just went to the site recommended by Spiral. There are a bunch of problems with the Deville... too bad, as in the beginning it was a great sounding, warm blues amp.

Anyway, following some of the advice, I have been able to eliminate the power-amp as a source of the problem. The issue is in the preamp. I don't have the kind of equipment to check all voltages, resistances and so forth, so now there remains the challenge of finding someone relatively locally who can do that for me! And for a fee which makes it worth while, as I've been thinking of buying an XT club which might end up cheaper than repairing this big, heavy, Fender!

Thanks again for the help, guys...
Cheers,
Tony

tonyknight · #8 11-10-2010, 07:27 AM

oops, just saw your message, Dad3353... I'll do that. I am periodically in Toulouse so unless I can find a local techie, that will be the best option... but you're right, I suspect a faulty resistor plate or something on a par with that. This morning I dug a bit deeper and played through a G-K amp, took the line-out directly into the power-amp-input of the Fender and got a lousy tone. But hellishly loud!

Cheers,
tony