Dodge-City

Hi guys.
Im new to this forum and amps,I havent a clue about the technical end of them.
I got a avt 275 last year and within 4 days it died.All the lights came on but the fans didn start up and no sound came out of anything (line outs,headphones,fx loop)
The guy in the shop was really nice and just gave me a new one.But,and this is my 1st issue.

It was packed with an older model stage controler.I know its the older one cause the first amps footswitch had "avt 275" on it and the one with the second amp says "valvestate2000".Now it works just sometimes it can take a fit and switch the channels by its self,but only for a second.Eg...Playing a nice clean channel guitar riff and the od 2 light on the footswitch starts flashing and in sync with the flashing,the od 2 channel acivates.Is this a common thing with footswtiches/marshalls/new amp,older foorswitch configs?

My second issue.This one is starting to worry me.When you turn on the amp,normally,the fans turn on and they make a small wind sound.this is fine and im not worried about that.Just resently when I turn on the amp,the fans turn on but this is accompanied by a really nasty and aggressive reving/grinding noise coming from inside.I immediatly switch the amp off and on again until it stops.Also this reving noise doesnt effect the guitar signal at all.My amp can still go as loud and all the channels still work and there is no change in tone.Just noise sounds like something is braking.Cound anyone shed some light on this?Also this didnt happen on the first one I had.

My third is rather small.The amp makes a smell...Kinda like burning.I know that theres valves in it,and valves burn(or heat up) but I far as I know arent valves sealed,with gas inside them?So how could a smell get out?Could it be where the plug goes in (I think thats called the transformer,and that gets really hot after Ive been playing a while.)

My fouth is something ive seen on other peoples posts and have said that it has "developed" whereas it has always been the way with my 275s.
The clean channel is twice as loud as the OD 1 and 2 channels.
I think the gain on the OD channels is weak.
Im bad at explaining things so ill give an example.
The OD 1 and 2 channel and the Clean channel all hae there own Gain and Volumes Knobs.
If your playing with the gain up full on the clean channel (so you get that nice really light cruchy brake up sound) you have to have the volumes to 12 o clock(if not less) so that the OD channels can be louder.Also the gain controls on the OD channels dont effect the volume that much,they just make the sound more distorded,unlike the clean channel where the gain increases the volume an awful lot.Also OD 1 is louder than OD 2(I.E when everything is turned up full),which personally I think is silly and im not sure if its a manufacturing problem or the way its made.

The fifth is my biggest problem and has changed the way I have to use my equipment and I really hope someone can shed some light one this.
If you use anything like a stomp box that would boost your guitars signal (Distortions,FX units) and you would connect it into the "input" jack and selected the clean channel the amps responce would be quite unusual...
It only happens at high volumes.At low volumes,everything sounds at good as a Epiphone Black Beauty going through 700 euro of asian DSP (Boss GT-8) should.I only found this out when I was using the distortion and I was playing in a shed.
The Rooms acoustics were crap and the drummer was mental,so I ended up pushing the amps master volume to about 8 or 9 mid song.when we were finished I turned the amp down to 6 and I noticed the guitar sounded like really high frequency noise.
Like white noise on a tv,just abit nicer.All the bass was gone.And the mids and trebles were really pushed up.there was no clarity to the sound at all.I ran to my amp in distress shouting "everyone be quiet,I think I blew my amp."
I switched it off,turned down the master switched it back on and turned the masted to one and everything was grand.Two,grand.3,grand.Got to about for and 5 when I started realising that the amp wasnt amplifying sound.When Id increase the master,it would act like another trebel/mid/presance knob and just make everything sound like crap.
To combat this.I know have to run my Gt 8 in the FX RETURN Jacks.Unforntunatly I cant use the "input".Which means,I now use my marshall as just a power amp for the speakers.
I cant use any of the channels or the amp fx,which I really liked.When I turn up the volume in this way,everything is fine,theres no frequency bump up.I was wondering is there a way to run fx units into the input and running high volumes.Also Id like to say,during that jam session when I had the volume up high,the tone controls wouldn effect the overall noise coming out.

In conclusion.CAN ANYONE HELP!

Im 16 and ive been playing 3 years and this is my 1st(well second if you count the 1st avt) proper marshall.I had an mgfx15 before this.
I only really play a few small gigs and jam sessons in someones garage or in a shed is really, and this amp is all I could want (for when a drummer is a tad heavy handed or when a sound engineer doesnt know your the lead guitarist,or doesn know a thing about sound desks.....at teen gigs....teens run the show.....nuff said.)Im not looking for miricle sounds out of something which cost about 650 euro but Im hoping some things can be fixed cause I know that it can sound better!
Thanks for reading
Oh and everyone on this site usually puts this in.
Im using an Infamous.....Marshall avt275
Epiphone Les Paul Black Beauty
and a Boss GT 8....hahaha
Thanks again,sorry about any spelling mistakes.

amplifier

Wow that's the longest post I've ever read...

1) I'm assuming your amps not under warranty. You need a new footswitch, it should not be switching channels by itself!

2) The grinding sound is usually associated with fans. Get it fixed ASAP or your amp will overheat! Avoid playing until it's fixed.

3) The smell is probably due to overheating from your fan problem.

4) Don't worry about it. Gain will affect the sensitivity of the signal which is amplified through the preamp enough to drive the poweramp which amplifies it further. The only way to get 100% of the amps potential volume is to have the gain, preamp and master volume all on 10. So it's expected to have fluctuations in volume from channel to channel since they are all voiced differently and you most likely don't have the same settings for each channel.

5) Distortion pedals are used in front of the amp (yes on the clean channel) and effects are best used in the loop. It sounds like with the cooling fan problem you've been having plus running your amp so hard(I'm not an electrician but basically high volume = more electricity = stuff gets hotter in your amp) , you may have fried something inside of it.

coldsteal2

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Dodge-City

Hi Ampifier!Thanks for gettig back so fast,I wasnt expecting that.
Its sounds pretty bad....
From my experience with avts they're abit tempermental.If you have alook at posts on this site,anything mentioning avts is usually not good.Theres one in the "marshall amps" section just done there resently,a guy called willamrocks' avt 50 crapped out on him.It sounds exactly like the first time it happened to me.
No its not under warrentee or anything.Though Irish law says that if its a manufacturing problem (which I think it is) im entitled to a new one form the shop...
Do you think I should get ANOTHER one or use the 700 euro towards something else (If your from america I think its about 500/600 dollers)?
The start up fan issue is really starting to worry me.It sounds like something is caught in the fans.Ill have a look later.
And is there no way of using a multi fx infront of the amp,cause aside from all the processing stuff it can do,I like just leaving it as a distortion only pedal,but it still has the same issue.And I dont think im over loading the pre amp cause I can turn the pedal down to a whisper and crank the vol and the gain,and ive left the pedal quiet,the vol and the gain really low and cranked the master and still im having issues.
And would you know which of these series is better.
The DSL,The TSL,The Mode 4 or The JMV?

amplifier

If you're entitled to a new amp by law then why bother with the hastle? Get a new one! If you don't go that route you need to stop using your amp till it's fixed or you'll make it worse. I can't stress that enough.

As far as your effects pedal, I didn't realize it's one of those all in one modeling/effects/distortion units. In that case use it in front of the amp as you would an overdrive stomp box not through the loop. I can't imagine why you'd want to use a pedal. You're basically turning a versatile 4 channel amp into a 2 channel amp and adding more SS circuitry to the signal. Just my personal taste. I don't like using pedals anymore. Of course that's up to you.

I reread your first post and realized it sounded like you're using the gain as a volume knob. Maybe I misunderstood you but it's not meant to be used that way. Set it to your desired distortion level and leave it alone. Maybe the effects/distortion pedal is adding an extra level of complexity that's confusing you? Volume should be controled by the master volume on your amp not the gain on the amp or pedal.

Anyhow, to get loud enough to overtake the drums and other guitars as you mentioned you're still driving the power amp hard regardless of other settings. So I'd imagine whatever is fried is most likely somewhere in the power stage of the amp. I'd take it to a tech and see how much it is to fix, if it's the same or close as a new amp, just buy a new amp.

As far as recomending an amp could you be more specific as to what you're looking for?

Kendall124

I used a POD in front of my amp for a while. Make sure you have all of your patches at equal volumes. Set your clean channel first. Then set your crunch (rythmn) patch to be about the same as your clean. Set your solo patches a little higher 'cause you want to stand out above the rest of your band.
Now, I dont know about the GT-8 but my POD had a master out volume. Experiment with that. Actually, read the manual and see what they recommend.

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Yeah I had one of those types of pedals about 10 years ago and it recommended turning the main level all the way up. I have no idea why they even put a volume on there in the first place. I don't know about these newer ones but it sure would be awkward to have to bend down everytime you need to adjust the volume.

Dodge-City

Like not use it at all!?Its been like that for months though....Ive used it at gigs and its just gotten warm,it says it could do that in the manual.
Im gonna bring it back next week an tell the lads in the shop whats wrong with it.

When I was running the pedal infront of the amp my settings were like this.

Pedal=Full/Master out
(Also with those modeling pedals,you can distort your signal (And not in the good way,I mean noise) before it even leaves the pedal....so you have to keep the levels of everything inside it right)
Gain=1 or 2 (so it would distort the signal as little as possible)
Clean channel Vol=Full
And then I used the master to control the output.
I personally think that the pedal is over compicating the signal for the PRE-amp.
And the reason I say that is cause (I might use wrong terminology here)
when I run the pedal into the loop,as far as I know,it bypasses the pre amp stage and goes straight into the power amp.And when I run it into the loop,the signal doesnt do that nasty treble/mid/fuzz distortion if it goes past 5 or 6.

And when I use the fx unit in the loop,I dont have 4 channel,or even two.Heck I dont even have one.Only 2 KNOBS effect the fx loops sound.And thats Master Vol and Presence.Nothing else.Doesnt matter what channel its on.Everything else is bypassed.

I use the pedal cause it has better distortion than the amp.The amps od 1 and 2 are good.But Od 1 is for hendrix kinda stuff and od 2 is for metal.Im looking for a kinda hardcore/modern rock sound.Like From First to Last?Ever hear of them?I dont play like them.I play kinda indie/alternitive music.(Some people call it collage rock and most people hate it) and I want like a desent clean sound,a slightly over driven clean sound (like what happens when you crank the clean channel gain up full) and a full out distorted sound.
And you can get 2 of those sound off one channel on the amp,but I cant change settings mid song.As for the distortion...just isint happening with the marshall.Thats why I use fx.Ironicly enough,its an amp modeler too... and the amp model setting I use is called Marshall 1959...Lol.But it sounds brilliant.

And as for what kendall said.Yeah I know about patch levels.The pedal has a nice little output gauge on it so I know when Im writing patches which has to be where,but still,I cant use it in the input of the amp(cause of the master volume fuzz problem).I have to go Guitar-GT-8-Fx loop left and right. (thats the only advantage of using the fx loop.You have totally autonomy over the left and right speaker...ping delay,flanges,phasers all go left and right seperatly.

I should also mention that avt275s are COMBO amps and are not heads....Dunno if that helps or not

Adwex

Lots of stuff to read.....

I agree, the footpedal is probably bad. It could be because it's not compatible with your amp, but it sounds like it's not working properly. I'd definitely get the correct one.

I also agree, the "reving" sound is probably coming from the fan, it's the only moving part. That's the sound an electric motor makes when the bearings are about to die. Eventually the sound will get worse, then the fan will probably sieze and stop turning, and will have to be replaced.

By the way, the tubes are sealed, but they do not contain any gas, that's why they are referred to as vacuum tubes. If there was any gas inside, the tube wouldn't work, there must be a good vacuum inside.

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I agree with Adwex something sounds weird with your pedal. Lets hope. If you're trying to diagnose a problem with your amp you should disconnect all pedals anyway. I was assuming you'd already done so. See if you still have that volume problem without any pedals.