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Author Topic: Tremolo Failure  (Read 6700 times)

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Offline Fred Cook

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Tremolo Failure
« on: April 19, 2005, 08:16:55 pm »
The tremolo on my old Solarus failed, and now the tremolo on my Sceptre has gone south. It worked when I bought the amp about three years ago and has faded with time.

I have a good amp tech on tap. Any suggestions as to where he should start looking?

Many thanks.
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Offline Isaac

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Tremolo Failure
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2005, 01:24:24 pm »
My guess would be in the tremolo circuit.
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Isaac

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Re: Tremolo Failure
« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2005, 05:51:00 pm »
Quote from: Fred Cook
The tremolo on my old Solarus failed, and now the tremolo on my Sceptre has gone south. It worked when I bought the amp about three years ago and has faded with time.

I have a good amp tech on tap. Any suggestions as to where he should start looking?

Many thanks.
i had that problem just latley, i made a new cable from the tank to the amp. the problem on my amp was solved, try that first
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Offline Isaac

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Tremolo Failure
« Reply #3 on: April 22, 2005, 06:13:18 pm »
That might work for the reverb, but there is no external connection for the tremolo.
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Isaac

Offline loudthud

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Tremolo Failure
« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2005, 09:13:59 am »
Looking at the schematic, the most likely suspect is the "tremolo bug". A little block of black plastic that contains a small light bulb and a photo resistor. A simple matter to diagnose with a scope. If this is going to become an ongoing issue, someone needs to do a little reverse engineering to develop a replacement or find a suitable substitute (Vactrol ?).
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Anonymous

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Tremolo Failure
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2005, 01:13:18 pm »
Isn't that just a normal optocoupler?
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Offline sundhy

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Tremolo failure Solarus
« Reply #6 on: May 27, 2005, 11:05:24 pm »
The original optocoupler in the Solarus circuit was actually made at the Sunn factory from the two separate elements.  They were placed in either end of the black plastic tube and calibrated to the optimum distance and glued into that fixed position.  You might try a optocoupler from Vactec.  They are made under their brand name Vactrol.  Try this site as a replacement source.  http://users.rcn.com/oakridge.ma.ultranet/Products/Vactrol.html

Good Luck,

Sundhy :roll:
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Offline Gtr_tech

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Tremolo Failure
« Reply #7 on: September 03, 2005, 06:15:58 pm »
Chiming in a little late here, but I have found that the filter caps in the low voltage supply can raise hell with the operation of the tremolo. I had a solarus in a while back and among other problems, the tremolo was either very weak or not there at all. But there was a ticking noise that got louder with the advancing of the trem intensity pot. After some poking around with the scope, I found that the LV supply was all over the place when the intensity pot was advanced. Replacing the e-lytics cured the problem.

Just an FYI......this is probably going to become a more common failure in these older amps.
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Offline Fred Cook

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Thanks All!
« Reply #8 on: September 03, 2005, 07:45:39 pm »
I will pass these recommendations on.

For the record, the tremolo failure on the Solarus occurred back in 1968 - the dealer gave me a new amp. This problem seems to be fairly common.
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Offline Baddog

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Re: Tremolo Failure
« Reply #9 on: April 30, 2011, 04:12:49 pm »
Im haveing a problem with my trem in a sceptre head. Im getting a pulse not a tick when the volume and trem are turned to zero... I also get a little signal through the amp with the volume and trem turned down. Any Ideas

Thanks BD
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Offline Soundmasterg

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Re: Tremolo Failure
« Reply #10 on: May 01, 2011, 08:29:03 pm »
Quote from: Isaac on April 21, 2005, 01:24:24 pm
My guess would be in the tremolo circuit.

Hahaha...  :evil:
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Offline rocketshipwreck

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Re: Tremolo Failure
« Reply #11 on: June 28, 2011, 01:48:35 pm »
So the OptoCoupler in my Solarus needs replaced. The Vactrol doesn't seem to be available anymore. Does anyone have an idea of where I might find one nowadays?
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Offline foxfire

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Re: Tremolo Failure
« Reply #12 on: June 28, 2011, 02:42:41 pm »
you can make your own with a LED and a LRD if you have a Radio Shack near by.
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