Rattling tubes in amp.

[owenjames]

Hello,

I have rattling tubes in my carvin VX112 amp. It is very irritating.
When i play normally i dont find this to be a problem as the sound from the amp is much louder than the rattle. but at the moment i am trying to record sound clips and the mic beign right next to the amp seems to pick up this rattle quite badly, especially given i am playing a little louder than i normally would.

Any suggestions? either recording techniques to get rid of the tube rattle, or ways to physically get rid of it. Being tubes they get pretty hot so i dont want to try masking taping then in unless i know that this works.

[panterica]

Hello,

I have rattling tubes in my carvin VX112 amp. It is very irritating.
When i play normally i dont find this to be a problem as the sound from the amp is much louder than the rattle. but at the moment i am trying to record sound clips and the mic beign right next to the amp seems to pick up this rattle quite badly, especially given i am playing a little louder than i normally would.

Any suggestions? either recording techniques to get rid of the tube rattle, or ways to physically get rid of it. Being tubes they get pretty hot so i dont want to try masking taping then in unless i know that this works.

You should buy tube clamps that connect to the sockets. If you already have some in there, make sure they're tight.

[aro]

Most likely it's the preamp tubes that rattle. You could try to find out which one it is that rattles and replace it, or just replace them all. Usually this takes care of (most) of the problem.

I have a Carvin Nomad that started rattling like crazy when recording. Eventually I found out that the gain channel tube was the culprit, I replaced it and the rattling was gone. On top of that the Nomad has a known rattling problem that just won't go away completely, regardless of what you do. You can only  minimize the rattling. From what I heard/read, tube clamps won't make a big difference.

I have no experience with the VX112, you could try the Carvin forum for more info on that.

[Kearns892]

If the sound is coming through the amp speaker, one of your tubes is most likely microphonic. You can test it by taking a pen and taping the tubes gently with the amp on (you may have to have the volume and gain settings at moderately high levels). If while tapping one of the tubes the tapping noise is projected through the amplifier you have found the troublesome tube. If its a preamp tube replace the one, if its a power tube you need replace the entire power tube set.

[brett]

EL34s can rattle like a snake before they die.
In my experience, lower power tubes (e.g. little EL84s) and pre-amp tubes aren't as noisey unless they've also gone microphonic.
I always play at high volume, so these problems are perennial.  Part of the (un)joy of tube amps.
good luck

[Ice-9]

When valves rattle they are due for replacement, as said above its usually the EL34 (or whatever power valves) that are the worst. when the amp is switched off you can tap the valves with your finger to hear which ones are rattling. They will need replaced. Loose parts inside the valve, probs the plate. This rattle is picked up in the audio signal and is horrible, I've just revalved my amp that had the same problem and it is so much better now.

[Boogdish]

retension your sockets
change your tubes
if all else fails, change your sockets

[owenjames]

Thats all super useful thanks guys. It definatly could be that the tubes are up for a change, i bought the amp second hand a year ago so dont know how recently they had been changed. Do new tubes make it sound better anyway?