Prs archon ringy noise

[Hm2city]

Hey guys my prs archon 100 makes a ringy noise only in gain channel. Out of nowhere after 5-6 mths of use it has started to make the noise. I was told it might be the v2 or v3 preamp tubes so I changed it. Bought the tubes from sweetwater also bought the amp from sweetwater. It still makes noise. I also tried by directly plugging the guitar into return of fx loop it made the noise again. But while in clean channel with both loop on and off it doesn’t make any ringy noise. It just makes the ringy noise in gain channel even if i dont use the loop at all.and also it makes noise if i just use the return of fx loop. Hope this makes sense i have contacted the guys from prs but just wanted to know what you guys think. Btw i am not a tube amp pro tech or anything like that i have very little knowledge about the technicality of tubes and tube amps. Simply put i am a dummy with an amazing amp

 

[AP515]

Sounds like one of the preamp tubes for the gain channel. Power up and tap them lightly with a pencil and the one that responds to the tapping is the one about to crap out.

 

[Hm2city]

Sounds like one of the preamp tubes for the gain channel. Power up and tap them lightly with a pencil and the one that responds to the tapping is the one about to crap out.

I put some new jj12ax7 yesterday but i’ll try tapping the tubes anyway..thanks for the tip

 

[dkilpatrick]

^ this
Sounds like a tube needs to be replaced

 

[Hm2city]

Sounds like one of the preamp tubes for the gain channel. Power up and tap them lightly with a pencil and the one that responds to the tapping is the one about to crap out.

Do i plug the guitar or not while doing this?

 

[AP515]

Do i plug the guitar or not while doing this?

You can but you don't have to either. You just want to hear if the tube makes a rumbly noise when tapped. There are 4 preamp tubes (I believe) two of them are for the clean channel and two more added for the gain channel. You can find the weak one by tapping and listening to the speaker. The one that sounds like marbles rolling around inside is the weak one.

 

[Hm2city]

You can but you don't have to either. You just want to hear if the tube makes a rumbly noise when tapped. There are 4 preamp tubes (I believe) two of them are for the clean channel and two more added for the gain channel. You can find the weak one by tapping and listening to the speaker. The one that sounds like marbles rolling around inside is the weak one.

Thanks for the info one last question do i need to take the cover off of the tubes or can i just tap the tip?

 

[Deleted member 5962]

note, when people say to tap it with a pencil, I recommend using the eraser, not the wood of the pencil.

 

[László]

Take the cover off the preamp tubes to tap test them. I use a chopstick to do it, I don’t think a rubber thing will reveal enough of the microphonic sound.

The V1 tube is sensitive to tapping even if it’s good. Also, tap the output tubes. It’s rare that one goes microphonic, but sometimes it happens.

 

[Hm2city]

Take the cover off the preamp tubes to tap test them. I use a chopstick to do it, I don’t think a rubber thing will reveal enough of the microphonic sound.

The V1 tube is sensitive to tapping even if it’s good. Also, tap the output tubes. It’s rare that one goes microphonic, but sometimes it happens.

The V1 tube is all the way to left i dont know how will i able to tap is without taking out at least 1 power tube. Is it alright to take one or more power tubes out and switch in the amp. Aslo just so you know i dont have any problem in clean channel and i just put new jj in v2 and v3 which are gain tubes. But still it makes that annoying ringy noise. But i’ll have to tap them tubes to find out the crappy tubes.

 

[Hm2city]

Guys i have tried tapping every tubes including phase inverter tube power tubes fx loop tubes input tubes clean and gain everything. Nothing makes noise no microphonic. Man i dont know whats happening.it only makes the stupid ring sound in gain channel when the volume is around 10 and beyond. And if I decrease the volume in guitar the ring noise goes away. And it’s weird that prs customer service hasn’t replied me. First they gave the wrong information saying take out the fx loop tube and swap it with v2 and v3 tubes but the guy first said leave the fx socket empty. It didn’t make noise at all since the socket was empty. I was surprised that he gave me wrong information first then later on he said there should be a tube in there it should not be empty.they suspected it might be v2 orv3 the gain tubes .it was time consuming so I bought two new tubes and changed the v2 and v3 both the tubes.it still makes noise.i havent got any replies from them since. Im just very curious and a bit worried also i know very little about tube amps

 

[vchizzle]

Try taking the head off the cabinet and see if it goes away. The volume thing you mentioned makes me believe that something is vibrating once you hit a certain volume. When you say ringy noise, is it loud enough to interfere with your playing? Or something you only when you stop? Hard to venture a guess without hearing/seeing the issue.

 

[Hm2city]

Try taking the head off the cabinet and see if it goes away. The volume thing you mentioned makes me believe that something is vibrating once you hit a certain volume. When you say ringy noise, is it loud enough to interfere with your playing? Or something you only when you stop? Hard to venture a guess without hearing/seeing the issue.

As soon as i stop playing it starts to ring..it is just like the guy from tube depot said .. as soon as you stop playing it starts to make noise. But the thing is if its microphonic which I thought untill know then why there is no noise when i tap the tubes .. im really confused

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Me too. Can you record this “ringing” just with your cell phone or something and post it here?

 

[Hm2city]

Me too. Can you record this “ringing” just with your cell phone or something and post it here?

I can’t at the moment. But i’ll definitely record it and post it as soon as i’llve able to use the amp

 

[Guitargonaut]

What type of pickups are in your guitar? Unpotted pickups can have the same effect, especially when the gain is turned up. If the ringing goes away at lower settings on your guitar - that’s the first place I’d look. Have you tried a different guitar?

 

[Hm2city]

What type of pickups are in your guitar? Unpotted pickups can have the same effect, especially when the gain is turned up. If the ringing goes away at lower settings on your guitar - that’s the first place I’d look. Have you tried a different guitar?

I have a fender hh tele and i have been using the same guitar since the day i bought the amp which was on March and out of no where it had started making that noise about two weeks ago

 

[Hm2city]

also guys prs replied by sayin i need to sent it for repair. Im pretty sure it’ll cost me some $$.but i’ll try take the head off the cab anyway just to see if it will behave differently.
Also i do have 2 yrs warranty so it doesn’t make sense to send it to prs when sweewater will do everything for free

 

[shinksma]

I would indeed suggest you contact Sweetwater, if they gave you a 2 year warranty!

EDIT: (after bodia replied too):

I was thinking that Sweetwater's warranty would be the one to use, assuming they also paid shipping. They don't:

...you will be responsible for paying all shipping costs — both the cost of shipping your items to Sweetwater and the cost of Sweetwater shipping them back to you.

So I would just send it to PRS, and know the amp has the best experts possible looking at it!

 

[bodia]

also guys prs replied by sayin i need to sent it for repair. Im pretty sure it’ll cost me some $$.but i’ll try take the head off the cab anyway just to see if it will behave differently.
Also i do have 2 yrs warranty so it doesn’t make sense to send it to prs when sweewater will do everything for free

PRS amps have a 5 year warranty.