Transcript
The Big Dummy Instructions Read this Carefully!
READ ALL OF THESE WARNINGS AND CAUTIONS!! CAUTION: to reduce the risk of electrical shock, do NOT open this amplifier or remove the back cover.
LETHAL VOLTAGES INSIDE: No user serviceable parts inside. Refer servicing to qualified service personnel. Opening this amplifier can KILL you, even if unplugged.
WARNING: to reduce the risk of FIRE or electrical shock, do not expose the amplifier to rain or moisture.
WARNING: this amplifier runs VERY HOT. It will catch items in close proximity on FIRE. Do NOT operate near drapes, upholstery, clothes, beds, linens, flags, sheets, or ANYTHING which can catch fire. Keep at LEAST two (2) feet clear on all sides of this amplifier. Do NOT leave this amplifier (or any tube equipment) on unattended. ALWAYS turn this amplifier off before you go to sleep, go to the bathroom, go in the other room to make a sandwich, check the reel to reel, or any other time you will be away for more than a slight moment. Do NOT allow small children around this amplifier as touching the output tubes will most certainly result in immediate 2 nd or 3rd degree burns or worse. Do NOT stick your hands in the back of this amplifier while it is on. The output tubes can get VERY HOT. Are you nervous yet? Good, tube amps are dangerous devices. Much like fire itself, it can be good for mankind, but it must be treated with great care and respect.
A few words on this amplifier first. This amplifier was designed to give you years of trouble free use. As with all tube amps, you will have to change the tubes from time to time, as covered later on in this manual. Please read this entire manual. If you have not read the warnings above, go back and read them now. We are serious, almost every tube amp built can most certainly kill you dead if you open it and play around in there, even when unplugged. We would like you to live long, and buy more gear :) This manual is broken down into a few small sections. Operation: How do I work this? Maintenance: How am I lookin now? I'm lookin good! Troubleshooting: But... it was working just a minute ago... Warranty: Help, I have fallen and I can't get up.
Operation: How do I work this? Caution: NEVER run this amplifier without a speaker plugged into it.
Quick start (for the impatient):
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Make sure both the Idle/Run and On/Off switches are in the Idle and Off positions, respectively. Turn the Volume (gain) and Master knobs down. Always plug this amp into a properly grounded outlet. There are a ton of clubs, buildings, etc with improperly wired outlets. My best suggestion is to carry a tripp lite isobar (or similar) which can tell you if the outlet is grounded, and also provides some nice line protection. Grab your favorite guitar cord and plug your guitar into one of the inputs. Glass is the vacuum tube input, Sand is the FET (solid state) input. If you want to use the footswitch, plug it into the back at this time (it is keyed so it only goes in one way, and you twist the collar to lock it). Turn the amp on (with the On/Off switch). There are two switches on the back, On/Off and Run/Idle. At this time, only turn on the On/Off switch. Wait 15 to 30 seconds. Take this time to warm up, tune your guitar, look over your notes, etc. After the warm up period, turn the Idle/Run switch from Idle to Run. Adjust the Volume (gain), tone controls, master, etc to taste.
Ok, so if you just fiddle with it you can get it to make some noise, the main point of the above is that you MUST let this amp warm up for
15-30 seconds before moving the Idle/Run switch from Idle to Run.
This will greatly extend the life of your tubes, thereby saving you CASH:
Startup Procedure: (always have a speaker plugged in!) 1. 2. 3. 4.
Make sure both Idle/Run and On/Off are in the Idle and Off positions. Turn the On/Off to on. Count 15 to 30 seconds or so. At LEAST 15. Turn the Idle/Run switch to Run.
Shutdown Procedure: 1. 2.
Turn the Idle/Run switch from Run to Idle. Turn the On/Off switch from On to Off.
Controls: Front Panel, from right to left: Sand gain controls the volume of the FET input . Glass gain controls the volume of the tube input. Shiny/Dull is a “bright” switch which pulls some bass form the circuit. Deep/Shallow is a “deep” switch which adds some depth. Nice/Angry is a “mid” shifting and lowers some gain. Treble controls treble level. Mid controls midrange level. Bass controls the bass level. Drive controls the amount of signal that goes into the overdrive. Mix is a master volume for the overdrive. Master is a master volume for the entire preamp.
Presence is the feedback control. Back Panel, from right to left: A/C is a standard IEC cable power inlet. 120VAC/60Hz. Fuse is a 3 amp slo-blo AGC glass type (also called MDL). On/No is On/Off, this is the main power switch. Idle/Run is well, idle or run. This controls the high voltage to the tubes. 2, 4, 8 ohm is the speaker output, 4 ohm cabs go into the 4 ohm jack, etc. Return is where you plug the output from your outboard FX/Loop/etc. Send is the output from the amp to the input of your outboard FX/Loop/etc. Shift/manual is the mid shift override switch (instead of the footswitch) OD/manual is the overdrive override switch (instead of the footswitch) Footswitch is for the supplied footswitch to control mid-shift and overdrive.
Maintenance: How am I lookin now? I'm lookin good! There are really only three things on this amp that need maintenance from an end user stand point. Tubes: Looking at the back of the amp, from left to right the tubes are as follows: 12AX7 12AX7 12AX7 6L6GC 6L6GC The two 6L6GCs are your output tubes. They will most likely need replacing every 2000 hours or so. You MUST purchase these as a matched pair. You MUST rebias the amp after changing the 6L6GC tubes. Failure to do this can result in your amp FAILING and causing massive amounts of cash loss. If you are a former or current tech, you can do this yourself, bias them up so that they are at about 35mA each. Even matched tubes will not be perfectly matched, if this is the case, make the one with the highest current be around 35mA. I would personally not go past about 38mA.
The first 12AX7 (from left to right) is your phase inverter tube. The second 12AX7 (from left to right) is the overdrive tube. The first 12AX7 (leftmost) is the first preamp tube in the chain. You can expect about 4000 to 6000 hours of use out of the preamp tubes. You may, if you really feel like it, experiment with putting a 12AT7 in the phase inverter for a different sound. You may also put a 12AY7 or a 5751 in either the first or second 12AX7 positions (overdrive and preamp) for a different sound. You may NOT use any other tubes in this amplifier. When pre or power tubes fail in tube amps, it is typically a gradual process. Normally, you will note a decrease in output, higher distortion, or other erroneous noises coming from the amp. Almost all of the time, a problem with this amp can be remedied by finding the bad tube and changing it. Any and all tubes should be replaced when the amp is OFF, and if you have been using it let the tubes cool first, as they can be quite hot. Outside of the amp: The outside is polyurethane and should require little maintenance. You can run a damp (not wet) towel across the amp cabinet itself. For the grill, we recommend you vacuum it from time to time with one of those brush attachments. Feel free to vacuum out the inside of the amp from time to time also, but be very mindful of the speaker cone and tubes.
Troubleshooting: But... it was working just a minute ago... I will say this over and over again: If any AirtightGarage amp blows a fuse, there is something WRONG with your amp. Your amp was designed to run all day long without blowing a fuse. You can run this
amp wide open for hours on end (forever really, until a tube goes bad) without blowing a fuse. The fuse is there to protect the amp in the event of a catastrophic failure. It is not there to act as some kind of brake. ALWAYS UNPLUG the amp when checking or replacing the fuse. Again, if this amp blows the fuse SOMETHING IS WRONG and it needs repair. NEVER under ANY circumstances replace the fuse with one of a larger size. If it blows the fuse, the only real thing to check is that a tube is not totally bad. Take all tubes out, replace the fuse with one of the same size, and turn it on. If the front panel light comes on, start replacing the rest of your tubes (always put all 6L6GCs in this amp, never one, two or three). Start by putting all 6L6GCs in (amp OFF, remember?). Does the fust blow? One of them has a short. Replace and retest. If not, go to the first 12AX7 (from left to right) and install it. Retest. Continue this until it does not blow a fuse. If that fails to light, check the fuse. ALWAYS unplug the amp when changing/replacing/checking the fuse. Failure to do so can result in electrocution and death. If the new fuse is blown, again, SOMETHING IS WRONG and it must be repaired. Low output or distortion at low volumes is usually always a bad tube. Start with the rightmost 12AX7 and change it. If that does not cure it, change the next 12AX7, and so on. Again, ALWAYS change all 6L6GC tubes at once and with a matched pair. Always turn the amp OFF before changing tubes.
No output: Is your guitar cable good? Is the speaker unplugged? Are all tubes glowing? Check you guitar cable, and guitar. Then check the speaker cable, then the tubes. Noise: if the amp makes bacon frying in the pan, hiss, or popping sounds, this is typically a bad tube also, see the Low output paragraph above on checking tubes.
Warranty: Help, I have fallen and I can't get up. This amp is warrantied to be free from defects in material and workmanship for one year from the date of purchase. All tubes and slip covers carry a 30 day warranty. In the event that your amplifier needs repair, please contact us, and not your local repair center. We will pay return shipping costs (from TheAirtightGarage to your address) with in the continental U.S. After the Warranty is up:
We will be more than happy to repair any amp we have ever made for a very reasonable cost to the exact specifications and with the exact replacement parts. We have found over the years that many local repair “experts” butcher, ruin and otherwise unnecessarily modify our amps to the customers' detriment.
Contact information: email:
[email protected] web: http://www.theairtightgarage.com phone: 337-257-2586 Snail mail: TheAirtightGarage 200 Ann St. New Iberia, Louisiana 70560
