I
iceman0124
New member
Ever since I first saw a demo for the tweaker 15 head I thought it to be the perfect soultion for me. I have a very bad back so small and portable is a must, I also play many very different guitars and a great many styles...so one size fits all never really fits "right"....IE I can coax "some" sounds I need from "some amps" but there always too many compromises....tried the moddeling thing and its still loaded with too many compromises and headaches. The tweaker 15 seems almost tailor made for my needs.
To the meat of the story, I finally snagged a tewaker 15 head useds at "level 1 like new condition" from a major etailor, with coupons and specials it was a must get. Got the head, a new tweaker cab and some accesories...it all came in yesterday and the head looked perfect, however on inspetion of the back panel it was set to 100V on the world voltage switch which shouldnt be in the USA as far as I'm aware..unscrew the cover and set it right....all the while wondering if this is the reason it was sent back.
Plug in with my comepletely ovehauled Gibson LP studio VM with BB3 bridge/57C in the neck and at first blush was very impressed with how quiet the noise levels were from the amp....but the tones werent really there, spent time tweking and it just sounded "off"...as time passed and it warmed up good the tone started taking shape and I was getting happy...switched to my strat and was in love...switched to my long loved Epiphone sorrento recently redone 6120 style with TV classics, tone switch and tone pot and was in pure tonal bliss
tones I longed for but couldnt get on my other setups were just oozing out with every subtle touch of the controls either on the amp or the guitar...then....
Loud frequent pops 10 -30 seconds apart and a very audible uneven hiss/buzz that sounded almost like a phaser or flanger on a rig with ultra high gain...only this was apartment with roomate home level, and clean as whistle...and no effects at all and these stayed present with no instrument cable plugged in, if the amp was in play mode, these audible artifacts were in full effect. It seemed the longer it ran the better it sounded, but the more prominent the pops and background noises were, the power tubes also seemed to be running a little hotter than I would expect...the top grate was just barely under the threshold of being able to be toched for more a little more than 10 seconds without using too much bravado, IE if you accidentally touched it you would probably get close to the hot stove reaction minus the burns.
So with that out of the way, my primary question. What can happen from running the amp for an unknown period of time at 100V through 120V current? I've read lots of horror stories from 120V amps run at 230V, long slow painful destruction....in a nut shell could this problem simply be from running at the wrong setting?
Out of the few negative reviews on the tweakers, the main problem I've noticed some folks have had was "dull,flat,no highs etc" tone which is what I had at first till it warmend up a good 20 minutes or so...then the pops and snaps and hiss....What do these normally ship at? I'm wondering if a bunch are being shipped at 100V in the US and folks that dont know just plug and play....perhaps in the future a big orange sticker or such should be placed on the amp prompting new owners to inspect and correctly set the switch?
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to cover most if not all bases. Cant wait till the replacement head arrives, and a personal thanks to Bruce
Love what your doing and cant wait to see what magical tone mosters you let loose in the future
To the meat of the story, I finally snagged a tewaker 15 head useds at "level 1 like new condition" from a major etailor, with coupons and specials it was a must get. Got the head, a new tweaker cab and some accesories...it all came in yesterday and the head looked perfect, however on inspetion of the back panel it was set to 100V on the world voltage switch which shouldnt be in the USA as far as I'm aware..unscrew the cover and set it right....all the while wondering if this is the reason it was sent back.
Plug in with my comepletely ovehauled Gibson LP studio VM with BB3 bridge/57C in the neck and at first blush was very impressed with how quiet the noise levels were from the amp....but the tones werent really there, spent time tweking and it just sounded "off"...as time passed and it warmed up good the tone started taking shape and I was getting happy...switched to my strat and was in love...switched to my long loved Epiphone sorrento recently redone 6120 style with TV classics, tone switch and tone pot and was in pure tonal bliss
tones I longed for but couldnt get on my other setups were just oozing out with every subtle touch of the controls either on the amp or the guitar...then....Loud frequent pops 10 -30 seconds apart and a very audible uneven hiss/buzz that sounded almost like a phaser or flanger on a rig with ultra high gain...only this was apartment with roomate home level, and clean as whistle...and no effects at all and these stayed present with no instrument cable plugged in, if the amp was in play mode, these audible artifacts were in full effect. It seemed the longer it ran the better it sounded, but the more prominent the pops and background noises were, the power tubes also seemed to be running a little hotter than I would expect...the top grate was just barely under the threshold of being able to be toched for more a little more than 10 seconds without using too much bravado, IE if you accidentally touched it you would probably get close to the hot stove reaction minus the burns.
So with that out of the way, my primary question. What can happen from running the amp for an unknown period of time at 100V through 120V current? I've read lots of horror stories from 120V amps run at 230V, long slow painful destruction....in a nut shell could this problem simply be from running at the wrong setting?
Out of the few negative reviews on the tweakers, the main problem I've noticed some folks have had was "dull,flat,no highs etc" tone which is what I had at first till it warmend up a good 20 minutes or so...then the pops and snaps and hiss....What do these normally ship at? I'm wondering if a bunch are being shipped at 100V in the US and folks that dont know just plug and play....perhaps in the future a big orange sticker or such should be placed on the amp prompting new owners to inspect and correctly set the switch?
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to cover most if not all bases. Cant wait till the replacement head arrives, and a personal thanks to Bruce
Love what your doing and cant wait to see what magical tone mosters you let loose in the future