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Ive been trying to troubleshoot a scratchy distorted sound that comes and goes in my signal chain. I have a strong feeling that its coming from my GT brick since Ive pretty much replaced/ruled everything else out. It makes my signal weak..(both mic and instrument in) and scratchy and then its normal for a second and then its scratchy and weak again. Its pretty frustrating as u can imagine.

Does this sound like a common problem? This is the first tube preamp Ive ever owned and I dont know much about tube technology. Do I need to replace something in the Brick? Am I in need of a repair?

Also, Im pretty sure (95%?) that I have all the balance/unbalanced cable configs done right but could the scratchy distorted sound be a symptom of me NOT having the right cables?

THANKS!
Jason

Comments

moonbaby Thu, 10/15/2009 - 08:14

What gives you this "strong feeling" that it's the Brick? Have you tried to remove that from the signal chain yet? There are too many variables to this issue to diagnose your problem. Have you been using the rig with proper results until this problem just popped up? What is "downstream" from the Brick (i.e., what's after the output?)...

Guitarfreak Thu, 10/15/2009 - 08:25

What you describe sounds to me like a loose connection somewhere. What makes me think this is the fact that a. you say it sounds 'scratchy' and b. the scratchiness in intermittent. If you were driving the tube too hard I don't think you would describe the resulting sound as 'scratchy' and if your gain was too high causing clipping elsewhere it wouldn't be intermittent. At least that's my take on the situation.

This loose connection could be within one of your cables or within the Brick itself. Fast attack compressor settings could cause intermittent distortion, and you might even need to set your internal buffer higher. Just a few things to think about.

TheArchitect Wed, 10/21/2009 - 06:25

JLiRD808 wrote: Ive been trying to troubleshoot a scratchy distorted sound that comes and goes in my signal chain. I have a strong feeling that its coming from my GT brick since Ive pretty much replaced/ruled everything else out. It makes my signal weak..(both mic and instrument in) and scratchy and then its normal for a second and then its scratchy and weak again. Its pretty frustrating as u can imagine.

Does this sound like a common problem? This is the first tube preamp Ive ever owned and I dont know much about tube technology. Do I need to replace something in the Brick? Am I in need of a repair?

Also, Im pretty sure (95%?) that I have all the balance/unbalanced cable configs done right but could the scratchy distorted sound be a symptom of me NOT having the right cables?

THANKS!
Jason

Contact their support group. One of my Bricks flaked out and they took care of quickly. That said, be sure to remove it from the chain and make sure its really the issue

TheArchitect Thu, 10/22/2009 - 05:07

JLiRD808 wrote: Thanks for all the comments. Havent had much time work on this but i'll be sure to try everything u said.

hey architect did u just mail in ur brick to GT? Im in Hawaii so its sucks everytime i gotta mail something. im assuming i can find contact info for their support online?

THANKS!

I did a Q&A with a tech and once it was determined there was a problem with the unit I did have to send in to them.

I got their info from their website. Now that the brand has is no longer in the hands of Aspen Pittman I don't know what the process will be like

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