Cracklin' Princeton

[teleman3726]

Hope you guys can help.
Had a practice session tonight and my Princeton started making cracking noises. Some of the players suggested I push in the tubes in the back in case they were loose (transportation) since I've had the amp for a couple of years and haven't played through it too much.
I did this later tonight and all seemed OK. But it started at a high volume and I can't quite crank it at home (baby).
Any suggestions? Or does it have to go to the tube MD?
Thanks

[spiral]

My two favorite resources:
Troubleshooting your amp
Maintenance, Troubleshooting & Repair

Might be a preamp tube. Simplest solution is to pull each preamp tube and see where the cracking starts. Or if you have an old set, put those in to see if it stops / changes. Might also be a resistor. Is the princeton new (reissue) or old?

[teleman3726]

Thanks. It's a reissue. Bought it in 2008.

[bananafist]

Its worth taking each tube out and re-inserting it carefully a couple of times, also the plugs for the reverb and trem footswitch.
Sometimes, the contact areas can get less effective (ie dirty,)when not used for a while, and this will clean them up. I get this on my old SFDR.

[teleman3726]

Thanks very much for the suggestions

[kenbennett]

I worked at a repair shop last summer. Had to replace quite a few tube sockets in fairly new stock Fenders. Just a thought.

Or it might just be a tube.