5e3 problem

[alex40c]

Hi. I've bought and built a Weber's 5e3 kit, but something is going wrong. Even though it sounds great at high pitches, it gets noisy and badly distorted at the low pitches. It happens with all the guitars i've played in this amp and i've also checked this with several tubes. I'm attaching an audio file for a better explanation. Plugged in bright channel, bright volume just before 2, ton at 4 and normal volume at 0. Any ideas? Thank you in advance!

[rock_mumbles]

Hi. I've bought and built a Weber's 5e3 kit, but something is going wrong. Even though it sounds great at high pitches, it gets noisy and badly distorted at the low pitches. It happens with all the guitars i've played in this amp and i've also checked this with several tubes. I'm attaching an audio file for a better explanation. Plugged in bright channel, bright volume just before 2, ton at 4 and normal volume at 0. Any ideas? Thank you in advance!

1. Have you tried it with a different speaker? That kind of sounds like a bad speaker ???

2. Turn the normal volume up just under full volume and see if that does anything ...

3. Turn your guitar volume down to about 1/2 and see the amp still responds the same

IMO 5E3's have way too much low frequency content for modern guitars/playing styles ... if you are going to run your guitar wide open I would reduce all of the coupling caps to around 0.022uf

[alex40c]

Thank you very much for the reply!Yeah, I forgot to mention some things, sorry.

1. I've tried with another speaker, and yes, the same noise.

2. It works!! When i turn the normal volume to 11, with the same preset for tone and bright volume as before, only a slighty noise is coming out, and this happens quite rarely. But, this is still a problem, isn't it..?

3. The more guitar volume i give, the more the noise. i forgot to mention it, too, sorry

Moreover, all of the guitars i tried with this amp, they have humbuckers on them and i'm playing at full gtr volume, so i'll replace the caps as you suggested if there's no other solution. Thank you very much!

[M Fowler]

Cold solder joints I suspect.

[vibratoking]

Yup, cold solder joint(s). That noise is not caused by the value of the coupling caps. The vibration of the speaker coupling into the circuit usually triggers the noise from the cold joints. An external speaker cab moved away from the circuit will usually reveal less of this type noise and could help you confirm the cold joint theory. Just check all the joints and resolder as necessary.

[alex40c]

Ok,I'll try with another cabinet and I'll post the results.but how comes that when I raise the normal volume the noise is being reduced??

[rock_mumbles]

... but how comes that when I raise the normal volume the noise is being reduced??

The two channels are really interactive in a 5E3 the dirtiest tone is with the unused volume down low ... usually around 2 on a 0 to 10 scale ... the cleanest but sometimes weirdly thin tone is with the unused channel volume on 10, on about 8 1/2 to 9 is a good full but bright tone.

A 5E3 works well with low output single coils but even then for cleans and to keep the lows from farting out you may be turning the guitar volume down some ... with modern humbuckers you may need to run the guitar below 1/2 volume to have decent response on all strings ... it's just the way they are.

The other thing I'd do to a 5E3 is put a large 470k or 1M ohm grid stopper on the cathodyne to stop blocking distortion.

[M Fowler]

Okay so you don't think my cold solder suggestion is correct?

[rock_mumbles]

Okay so you don't think my cold solder suggestion is correct?

I do agree that the solders should be checked over!

The weird control interaction is normal for a 5E3 and blocking distortion is a huge issue with a 5E3 ...

Granted the recording doesn't sound the same as I've heard with my 5E3 experiments but that is probably due to recording technique ...

[alex40c]

Thank you all for your advices! I changed the first coupling caps to 0.022uf.now the amp sounds less bass (maybe better than before), but the annoying noise remains as it was. So, I suppose it's a cold joint thing (?). Is it any specific joint more possible to cause this or every one could cause it?

[M Fowler]

You have to inspect each joint but you can chopstick to find it as well while someone plays you chopstick.

[alex40c]

Can you explain it a little? English is not my language and I get confused sometimes, sorry. What do you mean by chopsticking it?

[alex40c]

Ok, I found out what you told me about the chopstick.I'll do it and i'll ask about my results.thanks

[rock_mumbles]

Does the ugly distortion go away if you turn your guitar volume down?

--==--

Here a section of the layout showing where to add the 470k cathodyne grid stopper to stop blocking distortion.

[img:735:666]http://rh-tech.org/public/Weber_5E3_cat ... topper.jpg[/img]

[alex40c]

Thanks! I've added the grid stopper and changed the coupling caps, but still the same. It stops only when the volume guitar is very very low. It should be a cold junction or more, but i cannot find them... I'll search again. If anyone has another idea except from cold junction while I'm searching, I'd appreciate it.thanks!