Amp rattle in combo

Rog · Post by **Rog** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 11:06 am

My little Studio 85 has been rattling a bit lately and at last night's practice it finally got to me.

Firstly suspecting a speaker problem, I swapped that out with a spare spkr I had. No difference. After further experimentation, I found out the the nasty old rattle was in fact those little captive nuts which the screws holding the chassis to the case screw into.

I tried a few things, finally using a squirt of hot glue around the backs of the housing around the nuts.

Threw it all together and what do y'know - no more rattles. Brilliant.

While I was at it, I swapped out the Fender speaker for my spare 1203-8 Black Widow. Hello - what a boost in sound! Seems to have repowered the old amp. More responsive, have to drop the treble back about 3 notches and it seems much warmer, although I have boosted the bass by a couple of notches also. From the other side of the room it makes a noticeable difference in overall sound.

Roger's a happy chappy. Well worth the couple of hours fiddling, although the amp now weighs about twice as much...

B45-12 · Post by **B45-12** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 11:56 pm

Interesting - how did it rattle 'cause those nuts should have been up nice and tight to hold the chassis in place?? or am I missing something??

Rog · Post by **Rog** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 7:41 am

I know, that's what caused me to miss it too.

I have no idea how they rattled, although the threads on the bolts were all bright and shiny, suggesting some movement and possibly slippage. I coated them with hot glue before screwing them back in also.

ash · Post by **ash** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 2:07 pm

Those black widows are quite good, aren't they!
All that magnet mass doesn't come cheap, though.

The MW tech has to fix rattling cabs every so often. The last one was a new Trace Elliot bass cab that seemed to have a delaminating ply panel that buzzed at important frequencies. I don't know if he found a way to fix it or not.

gregtarr · Post by **gregtarr** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 3:39 pm

The left handle of my 4X12 rattles at some frequencies. I just tune my guitar so something else.

ash · Post by **ash** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 4:12 pm

A drop of superglue fixes all kinds of rattles because it wicks into small gaps very efficiently. Cheap tuners with chromed plastic heads often loosen and rattle and a drop of superglue is the only thing that can fix it.

Rog · Post by **Rog** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 5:41 pm

Ash, as a bassist, I would only ever buy Black Widows or JBLs. I know there are others - but those two have served me very well indeed for many years. I bought the 1203 a couple of years back when I had a GK Micro bass amp, but it just couldn't cut it, even with the extension cab.

It's just been sitting round waiting for me to do something with it. Now I have. All is good.

Speaking od superglue, I used to get SO pissed off with the tubes being about a single use - then they'd all dry out. 4 years ago, I bought a 5g bottle of Selleys Quicktite and its still going. Far better than the tubes, imo.

ash · Post by **ash** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 9:39 pm

You don't know superglue untill you've tried the thin model aircraft type! Especially the brand sold by Airsail up this way. It is in a different league to the little 3g tubes or the Selleys one. I build models with it, but it also has a myriad of uses in guitar repair that makes some old techniques totally obsolete.