Egnater Renegade 65 - Very Noisy OD Channel

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SodaJerk

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Hello tone lords.

Recently bought a Renegade 65 head. Great tone. Love everything about it, just about. Wonderful amp. Such a punchy mid range and a really snarling gain. Those cleans are just beautiful too.

However... Channel 2 is very loud when no guitar signal is going into it. When I turn the volume on my guitar right down so no signal is going into the amp, the noise coming from the cab when I'm on Channel 2 is very loud. A low pitched, snarly hum. It's almost as loud as the guitar sound itself. I have the gain at around 3 o'clock and any sort of staccato riffs, and each note is separated by a very loud hum.

If it makes any difference, the boost button on the footswitch is switched off, so it's not being caused by pushing high volumes or anything.

Is this amp naturally a noisy amp when the gain is pushed? Could it be a problem with the preamp valves? I've gone through all my gear. Used it with different cabs. Used different speaker cables. Even different power outlets at the wall. It's none of my actual guitar gear, as this happens even when nothing is plugged into the input, I still get the very loud hum.

This amplifier lays to waste my old DSL50, by miles and miles, though I didn't have a problem with a noisy gain channel. I do hope it's fixable, as I play alot of high gain staccato type riffs (stuff like Helmet), and the snarly hum really spoils it. Brilliant amp otherwise. It just needs to hush when I'm playing :rock:

Cheers guys!
 
I've owned a few valve amps, but I've never delved inside them. I wouldn't have a clue what I'm doing. Is it straightforward enough to pick out a faulty tube?
 
Yeah, but a little time consuming. Buy a new 12AX7 and keep replacing them one by one until it goes away.

Of course it may not be a tube.

If you can do it, I would buy a whole new set of 12AX7's and just re-tube it. It never hurts to have extras anyway.

Have you tried rolling the tube mix knob all the way to one side and all the way to the other and checking if it continues? That might tell you if it is a power tube or not.
 
Also, where have you got the gain on channel 2? If you have that cranked, that will push more noise. Tubes are noisy in the end.

You might want to go into a guitar center and listen to another one and see if it does it or not.

If you just bought the thing you might want to exchange it for another one.
 
Thanks for the input.

I have just bought it, it was used, but I know the guy who I got it from, and he had barely given it 8 hours use at the most. I live in Scotland, UK, and Egnater amps aren't really well distributed over here.

I am pushing the gain quite high, to about 3 o'clock. If it was marked out of 10, it would definitely be at 8. Lots of gain. I didn't think that'd be enough to make the whole channel buzz like it does though. It certainly didn't on my old DSL50, which has an ULTRA GAIN channel.

I'm looking into more preamp tubes anyway. The ones that come as stock seem a bit too mid-heavy for my tastes. Will probably opt for some Tung Sol's to smooth out the attack. I've never changed valves myself before however. Are the preamp valves easily accessible in the Egnater? Do I just unscrew the chassis and slide it off?

I'll wind the tube mix back and forth to see if that effects it. I'll also crank the gain up on channel 1 and see if I still get a hum there.

Thanks again!
 
Please excuse my tube ignorance. I'm very new to this amp, and I've never bought valves myself. MY DSL50 was re-valved by a tech who supplied the new valves.

Will these Tung Sol preamp valves be the right type to go straight into a Renegade:
http://www.hotroxuk.com/matched-valves- ... iaxis.html

Cheers. I feel like such a n00b :confused: :confused:
 
Yep,the TungSol 12AX7's are ok to go straight in the Renegade ;) !Btw,my lead channel is not noisy (only the fan but that's for the 2 chs),so,something is wrong.Possibly a bad tube,indeed.(V3,V4 and V1 are used by the lead channel).Good luck,Soda !
 
Ah, I didn't actually know different channels used different pre-amp tubes. That would explain why I'm not getting the same hum on the channel 1 even with the gain cranked, and channel 1 can still kick out some serious crunch.

Gonna get a set of 6 Tung Sol's at the end of the month and just reload the whole thing anyway, so hopefully that'll sort it.

Thanks guys :)
 
Just a note, but I wouldn't go with all Tung Sols. I really like those tubes, but many of them is too much in my opinion. I find a nice mix of Chinese and Tung Sol's work really well and you can swap around to see which one sounds best in V1. I'd actually go more chinese than TS. Good luck!!
 
Excellent. I'll bare that in mind when shopping around.

Now then, one last "I've never re-tubed before" n00b question - Do I need to remove the chassis of the amp, or can all the tubes be changed by just taking the back grill off?

Thankyou for holding my hand through this new and scary experience :no:
 
With the Renegade head,just taking the back grill off is enough but,to get enough space to put your hand inside,you will have to take out some or all of the power tubes first.Better use a glove to unclip those :yes: ...Edit:Btw,i agree with Buckeye about the Tungsol 12AX7's;a mix will sound better.
 
Have a small flashlight handy too. Just have to reach back in there a bit, but just like said above, just removing the back grill will be enough. Just make sure the pins line up correctly is the biggest thing.
 
That's good to know. I won't need to re-bias anything when I remove and than re-insert the power tubes I assume?

And there's nothing around that area that will give me an electroc shock when I reach my hand in, I hope?

Thanks for all the input guys. You have been most helpful. Guitar forums can often be quite snooty to folk like me who don't know much technical stuff. Glad this isn't one of them :)
 
Nope, not just when pulling them and putting them back. You may want to check the bias anyway just to see if it's in range. Very easy to do with a multi meter. Love that Bruce put the external bias points on this amp.
 
SodaJerk":3k7idsey said:
...And there's nothing around that area that will give me an electroc shock when I reach my hand in, I hope?...
Click to expand...

Yes there can be!

Even with power off, the caps in most amps can hold a charge. Turn off the power, and don't touch the tube pins when removing/inserting the tubes, and you'll be fine. Always best to assume that there could be voltage present, unless you check with a meter to be sure.
 
Yeah, I read about capacitors still holding charge even when unplugged. Where about are the capacitors in this amp? Are they around where the pre-amp tubes are?
 
I ALWAYS physically unplug the amp from the wall and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. That will make sure that all residual charge is gone. It can be dangerous in there!
 
SodaJerk":14q44bef said:
...Where about are the capacitors in this amp?...
Click to expand...

The tubes' pins are connected to the circuit where the caps are, through the tube sockets. That's why I say don't touch the tube pins while removing/replacing the tubes and you'll be fine.
 
Excellent. Cheers for all your advice. I'll be re-tubing later today or tomorrow morning. I'll report back to let you all know if re-tubing the preamps has solved my noisy problem :)

I did just go with all Tung Sol's for now as I got them for a very reasonable price, and I am merely just troubleshooting the problem with noise for now. I will certainly experiment with something a bit nicer in the mix and for the V1 slot hopefully at the end of the month :)
 
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