My Engl Fireball had been picking up radio stations faintly on some occasions when played at high volumes ever since I bought it. With time I think the signal from the radio has become louder as I can now hear the radio even at bedroom volumes. I have been using my Boss NS2 in my loop and that works for eliminating hum/buzz and feedback quite well, but the radio station is never cut out of the sound.

Today I tried running the NS2 between my guitars(tried with 3) and the amp's input, with nothing in the FX loop. When I mute the strings and the NS2 becomes active I can still hear the radio, even with the threshold all the way up.

So I know it's not a pickup/guitar-related problem, nor is it cable quality problems because I use mogamis.

The radio gets louder as I turn the gain up, making me think it's a bad preamp tube or more. I've had the amp for less than a year. Using a DI box in the FX loop and sending it to my computer's interface(XLR input), I STILL get the radio station, so it must be coming from the preamp section!

The only other thing I can think of could be an input jack problem? How could an input jack pick up radio waves? And this is an Engl Fireball, not a cheap amp so I doubt it's something as silly as an input jack failure, you only get that on cheap amps. The sound NEVER cuts out, I know that when it does it's a symptom of an input jack failure.

Should I buy one preamp tube and try it in the 1st position and see if it improves any? If it does then I'll replace all 4 ECC83's(actually 3 in the pre, cause 1 is part of the poweramp).

Also I hear it's a good idea to use a lower gain pre tube in the very first position to tame down any noise on the first gain stage and get better cleans, but I don't want my amp to sound any less brutal, should I do this or should I just get all JJ ECC83S's(pretty high gain but not trebley) to avoid feeling any lack of gain?

Thanks in advance.

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Definately a bad pretube. I read somewhere that they start acting as antennae as they age.

The only way i think an input jack could do that is if it wasnt grounded. So i'd turn on the amp with nothing plugged in, and then poke it with your finger and see if it makes pops like a guitar with bad grounding would.

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As far as the lower gain preamp tube in V1 goes, it will give you better cleans but you will have a pretty significant decrease in gain. I tried this in my old Powerball and it just completely messed everything up. I would stick to regular 12AX7's if you want to keep teh br00tlz.

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Thx a lot guys, I'm glad to know it's just a pre tube. But damn the amp is less than a year old, I bought it new. I guess if the pre tubes are dying already it should only be a matter of time til I start getting power tube issues? :?:

I didn't try that grounding thing but I'll give it a shot tomorrow. But I don't think it's that, all my guitars and wall outlets are properly grounded.

By the way, with nothing plugged in, I get no radio noise. Neither do I on the clean channel.

Valtiel what particular tubes do you suggest? I was gonna go with JJ ECC83S as they're a common choice, why should I go with the 12AX7 route? I hear 12AX7's are a bit more trebley? I want high gain br00tlz but I don't want to throw cleans completely out of the window. Hence why I thought of getting JJ's as they have assloads of mids and they're not vintagey tubes, but they're not fizzy super high gain Chinese tubes either.

Suggestions? Also, should I go for a different ECC83/12AX7 tube for the phase inverter tube(4th tube)?

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imo it sounds like your ns-2 may be the problem. it's not something that it should be doing, nor is it a common problem with ns-2's. but i had the same thing happen with my whammy4 pedal, it drove me nuts. i don't remember exactly what it was i had replaced in it, but it was a way cheap/simple/fast fix with the local tech.

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Dislexic, it's not the pedal because I still get the radio station without any pedals either in front of the amp nor in the FX loop.

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I've had some problems with radio when using JJ's (pre and power tubes).. the tone is great though. JJ's shine in that amp. You lose alot of dynamics with lower gain tubes.. I'd stick with the JJ ECC83S. Replace the power tubes too, they'll die soon.

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I'll wait for replacing the power tubes til the "power tube failure" bulbs on the amp turn on, those indicate when the tubes are dying.

So JJ pre tubes are noisy? Were your JJ's just used and old? I'm happy with the tone I have I just don't want goddamn soccer news reports ruining my br00t3l riffs.

Btw I was talking about JJ ECC803S's, the high gain ones, not the vintage JJ ECC83's. Tubedepot.com says they have a spiral filament to reduce noise

Another option I have is Electro Harmonix 12AX7's. They're high gain too, also said to have that spiral filament for noise reduction. Also said it's suggested for the phase inverter. They're 10$ a pop, while the JJ's are 15$. Are JJ's worth the extra cash?

I hear you need to have balanced triodes for the phase inverter tube for best performance? What is a phase inverter, and do I really need a balanced triode ECC83/12AX7 tube for it or will it do fine with any tube?

I'm thinking of getting 1 EH 12Ax7 for the phase inverter, 3 JJ's for the rest. That is if I buy online, in case I can't find those tube bradns here locally.

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so basically its the exact same thing i already posted
http://metaltabs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36706

I replaced the tube and still getting radio stations through the amp, nothing changed when i replaced the tube (which was last night) and its pissing me off. I need the amp to record our album and live 4 hours away from the nearest repair shop. If you figure out the problem, let me know what you come up with and ill do the same.

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I was actually going to recommend the ECC803 because it actually has less gain than the ECC83s'. A word of advice, stay away from the 12ax7 EH's. I never had one that wasnt a fucking beehive of noise. They are too bright anyways, better suited for Fender style amps.

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Cool thanks, I'll take your word for the EH tubes, I hear they're extremely hit-or-miss tubes. But hey the regular JJ ECC83 actually has less gain than the JJ ECC803S's. Were you saying that the JJ has less gain compared to other brands' ECC83 tubes? The JJ I'm getting(803S) is advertised as being a high gain tube.

Morbid I'll let you know for sure. One question have you tried running anything into your amp's FX loop return(skipping your preamp this way) like a modeling device or a multiFX pedal? If you still get that radio station, then it's most definitely not the preamp's fault, it's either your poweramp or cab doing that. I can almost bet it's the poweramp's fault...

I haven't tried this myself, tomorrow I'll run my oldass digitech RP1 into the fx loop return, to make sure the radio problem is coming from the preamp.

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Thats taken from Eurotubes.com, sounds like it would be perfect for what you want.

I was simply comparing the two different models of 12AX7 that JJ offers. You're right about the EH's, extremely hit or miss. Ive heard that they can be great when you get a good one but I have had 6 in a row that were unacceptably noisy.

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EH's are pretty nasal in tone i think.. But i haven't experienced any noise with them.. :-/

I get radio signal with brand new JJ's.. and i have about 4 brand new ECC83S laying around, same with them all. No big deal though, and the radio gradually goes away as they heat up (can hardly hear it after half an hour).

The ECC83S's are just about the highest gain tube you get today.. the other one is the Tung-Sol 12AX7. Doug at Doug's tubes said so atleast.. about 50% of these tubes have a gain above 110 on each side (standard for 12ax7 / ECC83 is 100).

And spiral filaments are to reduce hum i think, they won't do anything for hiss AFAIK.

I heard the ECC803 had HUGE mids.. as in way too much for metal / clean. Even though Bob at Eurotubes usually is full of shit he's usually right about his own tubes (JJ's) and he'll tell you the same thing.. IMO all Engl's sound amazing with JJ ECC83S's in them.

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So I should get 83S's instead of 803S? Hey Jopop wanna sell me yours?

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I'm not sure it would be profitable.. shipping here in norway is $$$$!!

Anyway, this is what Bob at Eurotubes say:


I can recommend Doug's tubes. Very friendly and upright guy, declares low value on package so you don't have to pay taxes..

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Cool thanks man, so 803's are out of the question, I'll go for high gain 83S's for sure. I'll try checking locally to see what a set of tubes will cost here if not I'll go with Dougstubes or thetubedepot, which I already bought JJ 6l6GC's from a while ago.

I won't have to pay taxes for em anyway, cuz here you don't pay taxes for any packages under 45€ in value.

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Hey guys just wanna make sure I'm getting the right tube:

http://i22.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/8d/af/e45d_1.JPG

Description:

This auction is for a set of four (4) New JJ Tesla 12AX7 Pre-Amp Tubes or Valves as our friends in the UK call them. These tubes are immediately discernable from other 12AX7s. They have a construction that is similar to a frame-grid tube - similar to the Telefunken ECC803s. This construction makes them very rugged and reliable and the spiral filament makes tube hum non-existent.. This is one of the best new 12AX7s for any guitar amp. It is very musical - rich with great harmonics. An excellent tube in all Marshall amps in the three preamp positions. The JJ's break up much more smoothly, giving you a huge “sweet spot” and a smoother, singing tone. The ECC83S is great tube with a tight low end, a very natural and harmonically complex mid with VERY good definition and a sweet high end that is not brittle.

Is this the ECC83S I want or is it the lower gain version?

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