So something is definitely wrong with my brand new VH4.

[Leo Diezel]

G'day Sean,
Stupid question: I know you said it's not the guitars earlier, but could it be a case of the EMG battery dying in the Explorer and possibly causing issues?
I'm presuming you've tried other guitars with passives and the problem is still consistantly there?
You've used a different cable straight in also?. Just trying to eliminate a shitty cable from the fault. Perhaps moving in and out of the amp to your listening spot when you wiggle the tubes and then back as such could be a shitty cable joint making contact and being intermittent
Just trying to help fault find and eliminate all possible avenues for your thread.

Not a stupid question at all! I tried multiple guitars including a custom shop Les Paul with passives and still had the same issue.

Tried different cables and still the same. In fact this one is a brand new cable as wel..

BUT as I mentioned before, when I wiggle or reseat the last two tubes to the right (looking at the back of the head) it seems to fix it when the problem comes back.

Anyone have a link to what exact tubes I can buy as a set and just pop right in? I just want to be safe and change them all out and see what happens and if it goes away permanently.

Thanks again everyone. Let me know your thoughts.

Hi, as the head is new it's very unlikely that the tubes itself are bad, I still think there may be some kind of dirt on socket or pin that is causing the issue.

You could use any tube you like for investigation purpose, even if not 100% new.

 

[MesaSean]

G'day Sean,
Stupid question: I know you said it's not the guitars earlier, but could it be a case of the EMG battery dying in the Explorer and possibly causing issues?
I'm presuming you've tried other guitars with passives and the problem is still consistantly there?
You've used a different cable straight in also?. Just trying to eliminate a shitty cable from the fault. Perhaps moving in and out of the amp to your listening spot when you wiggle the tubes and then back as such could be a shitty cable joint making contact and being intermittent
Just trying to help fault find and eliminate all possible avenues for your thread.

Not a stupid question at all! I tried multiple guitars including a custom shop Les Paul with passives and still had the same issue.

Tried different cables and still the same. In fact this one is a brand new cable as wel..

BUT as I mentioned before, when I wiggle or reseat the last two tubes to the right (looking at the back of the head) it seems to fix it when the problem comes back.

Anyone have a link to what exact tubes I can buy as a set and just pop right in? I just want to be safe and change them all out and see what happens and if it goes away permanently.

Thanks again everyone. Let me know your thoughts.

Hi, as the head is new it's very unlikely that the tubes itself are bad, I still think there may be some kind of dirt on socket or pin that is causing the issue.

You could use any tube you like for investigation purpose, even if not 100% new.

Thanks Leo.

Peter emailed me and we are troubleshooting it as we speak. I don't want to have to ship it back to have it looked it, so Peter is working with me to figure out what the issue is.

I'll keep you posted!

 

[MesaSean]

Dumb question ... but is there a diagram of which pre amp tube is what? Meaning V1,V2,V3 etc.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Philhouse]

Facing the front of the amp it goes V1 - V7 from left to right. V1 is the furthest from the power tubes.

 

[MesaSean]

Facing the front of the amp it goes V1 - V7 from left to right. V1 is the furthest from the power tubes.

Thanks!

 

[Peter Diezel]

If you guys have an issue with a Diezel it´s the best solution
to contact the dealer or distributor.

I´m also here for 24 hours to solve problems very fast.

My email is service (at) diezelamplification (dot) com
My phone number is: +49 9288 957664

Thanks,
Peter

MesaSean:

Please go to http://www.diezelamplifation.com on the support page for
service manaual and see chapter for re bending
the preamp tube socket clamps.

 

[MesaSean]

If you guys have an issue with a Diezel it´s the best solution
to contact the dealer or distributor.

I´m also here for 24 hours to solve problems very fast.

My email is service (at) diezelamplification (dot) com
My phone number is: +49 9288 957664

Thanks,
Peter

MesaSean:

Please go to http://www.diezelamplifation.com on the support page for
service manaual and see chapter for re bending
the preamp tube socket clamps.

Thanks Peter. I have been in touch with Peter S. and we are fixing it.

 

[MesaSean]

So just an update.

Been working with Peter Stapfer trying to see if it's a pre amp tube etc.

So I bought a couple of 12AX7-C (China) pre amp tubes and swamped V1 and V4 so far. Still no luck. Waiting to hear back again from Peter S to see where to proceed. Might have to send it back to Cali to the distributor.

Just my luck... If changing out pre amp tubes and it does not solve the issue looks like I'll have to send it cross country to have it loooked at which sucks as I don't have a back up amp. Ugh this is so frustrating.

 

[Leo Diezel]

So just an update.

Been working with Peter Stapfer trying to see if it's a pre amp tube etc.

So I bought a couple of 12AX7-C (China) pre amp tubes and swamped V1 and V4 so far. Still no luck. Waiting to hear back again from Peter S to see where to proceed. Might have to send it back to Cali to the distributor.

Just my luck... If changing out pre amp tubes and it does not solve the issue looks like I'll have to send it cross country to have it loooked at which sucks as I don't have a back up amp. Ugh this is so frustrating.

Please do the same with other tubes as well, replacing one at time,
So start from all stock, then replace V2 with the new one, if issue is still there, put back the stock one and do V3 and so on.

 

[MesaSean]

So just an update.

Been working with Peter Stapfer trying to see if it's a pre amp tube etc.

So I bought a couple of 12AX7-C (China) pre amp tubes and swamped V1 and V4 so far. Still no luck. Waiting to hear back again from Peter S to see where to proceed. Might have to send it back to Cali to the distributor.

Just my luck... If changing out pre amp tubes and it does not solve the issue looks like I'll have to send it cross country to have it loooked at which sucks as I don't have a back up amp. Ugh this is so frustrating.

Please do the same with other tubes as well, replacing one at time,
So start from all stock, then replace V2 with the new one, if issue is still there, put back the stock one and do V3 and so on.

Will do. Thanks Leo.

 

[MesaSean]

Hey folks, just wanted to give you an update. I was working with Peter S via email to try to diagnose the problem hoping not to ship the amp to California to have it looked at. I replaced all of the preamp tubes with 12AX7-C Groove Tubes. After replacing them, when I turned the amp on the problem was still there, however I let the amp sit for a little bit and then started playing. Sure enough the amp seems to be back to normal. Sounds great.

Hopefully it doesn’t come back, But who knows. The last time it went away, I re seated and jiggled all of the preamp tubes and it seem to fix it but then it came back. So I’m hoping it was just a bad tube and not the sockets.