VT22 Volume Problem

[deadhead]

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forum and need some help. I have a 1972 VT-22 that is having an issue. I haven't played on the amp in about two years. It was too loud for my living situation. I plugged it up the other day and the volume is much lower than it used to be. The amp used to make your ears bleed if you turned it all the way up. Now, at full volume it sound like a Fender Champ. Any ideas on what could be wrong? Where should I start? Thanks for any help.

[kjs]

Is there any noise? Hum? Are all heaters lit?


First, i would re-seat each tube. Could be as simple as a dirty, loose, or poorly seated tube pin. Note if the tubes wiggle in their sockets.

If you do that and the issue persists and if you are familiar with high voltage amps: remove the chassis and look for any components that have broken leads, heat damage, bulges, cracks, or other visible signs of wear. With the chassis out, you can tighten up the tube sockets.

You might also consider taking the ext amp out into a separate power amp, this will isolate the preamp from the power amp. Doubtful the issue is in the preamp though.

How long did it go untouched? Sounds like it might have been moved around to a new location, right?

[Liquids]

Good advice all around from kjs.

Simple stuff too-- re-seat the speakers jack to the chassis (unplug it, plug it back in) assuming it has one.

Try channel two for the same issue =)

Try to make sure everything is plugged into the speaker out, not the ext speaker out jack...that gets weird.

beyond that...it may need new power tubes, rarely but possibly a new preamp tube (can determine which one but it takes some troubleshooting to eliminate that), some weird tech-work issues, weird speaker stuff, biasing, or many other things are possible...but possibly something rather simple!

In general, isolate as many of the variables as possible to narrow down that it isn't this or that.

Let us know how things go.

Is there any noise? Hum? Are all heaters lit?


First, i would re-seat each tube. Could be as simple as a dirty, loose, or poorly seated tube pin. Note if the tubes wiggle in their sockets.

If you do that and the issue persists and if you are familiar with high voltage amps: remove the chassis and look for any components that have broken leads, heat damage, bulges, cracks, or other visible signs of wear. With the chassis out, you can tighten up the tube sockets.

You might also consider taking the ext amp out into a separate power amp, this will isolate the preamp from the power amp. Doubtful the issue is in the preamp though.

How long did it go untouched? Sounds like it might have been moved around to a new location, right?