Ground Hum and is getting muddy

[Mike O'Malley]

I have a Solarus that has ground hum with or without an instrument plugged in. It also gets muddy after about 30 minutes of playing. I play a Byrdland through it. What brand tubes would be my best bet to maximize my tone and what caps need to be replaced to stop the hum? Thanks in advance for the help.

Mike  

[Leftee]

It may need caps, but first... does it have a 3-prong plug? A properly grounded tube amp will lose a lot of its hum.

[Ryan Phelps]

Mike;
The mudiness is most likely caused by your old filter caps. If you can find a 4-section electrolytic can capacitor (40-20-20-20uf @ 525 volts or better, have it installed by your local amp tech. Otherwise, have him mount individual caps to mounting strips on the underside of the chassis (there is plenty of room to do this). Also replace the two 50uf 75 volt caps in the negative bias circuit while he is in there. A couple of new power tubes and a bias adjust and you will be good for another 30 years!

Good Luck!
Ryan

[Mike O'Malley]

Hey Ryan,
Thanks for the heads up. My next chore is to find someone in the Baltimore Md area I can trust to do the work. Even with the hum, this is still the best amp I've ever heard and I want to keep it that way.
Thanks again,
Mike

[danbress]

if you are in Baltimore take it to Jeff at Precision audio technology.  His shop is located about two miles south of the beltway on route 2 I believe.  His number is 410 863 0091

[Mike O'Malley]

Hey Dan,

Thanks for the shop number. I'm so excited about getting this up and running. Lots of great gigs were played with this rig. And I can't wait to get playing again.

Thanks,
Mike