Sound from the amp is running "late"

[Ted Pikul]

Have you tried another amp? I would agree with the folks who have suggested that this may be a tube issue, although I would also agree with the person who said that he had not heard of such an issue previously.

 

[ErictheRed]

Try another amp in a store before you go changing anything. This whole thread is pretty odd to me, honestly. I play a lot of acoustic guitar and studied classical guitar for a year at the university (ended up going a different route with my education), so I have a lot of experience going from acoustic to electric, and I've never experienced anything quite like this I don't think.

It would help to know what volume the amp is being played out, the control settings, what pedals, effects loop engaged or not, etc, etc.

Edit: It strikes me that some kind of effects loop buffer problem might be able to cause an issue like this.

 

[JohnnyN]

In any case, this is a very unusual problem. Apart from bad rectifier tube and bad filter caps, the only (known to me) cause can be a delay device that mutes the dry signal.

 

[Rocco Crocco]

I have experienced the "immediacy" of playing through a solid state amp compared to a Helix (which has some latency) but it wasn't enough of a difference to be a bother.

 

[Steve2112]

Have you tried different batteries? Sometimes you need to break in the batteries to reduce the perceived lag time. Copper tops are more immediate than regular tops. You also need solid gold cables rather than oxy-free gold plated. A spot of WD-40 on the tube pins increases electron speeds. Also check the flux capacitor....it can lag noticeably if it's dusty.

 

[rjwilson37]

Take the amp back, something is wrong with it. Never in using a Tube or Solid State amp have I ever had a delay that was noticeable, and I have played 100's of amps.

 

[Brooklyn Zeke]

Does that amp have any delay effects?

 

[Brooklyn Zeke]

Have you tried different batteries? Sometimes you need to break in the batteries to reduce the perceived lag time. Copper tops are more immediate than regular tops. You also need solid gold cables rather than oxy-free gold plated. A spot of WD-40 on the tube pins increases electron speeds. Also check the flux capacitor....it can lag noticeably if it's dusty.

If you mess with the flux capacitor, it may send you forward, back into time.

 

[Brooklyn Zeke]

That happens to me all the time, when I'm 800 feet from my amplifier. Another weird effect is that if I play riffs and run full tilt toward the amplifier, the key I'm playing in is perceived transposed up a full tone! Try it!

 

[dasherf17]

"If you can still hear the acoustic pick strike"
Im playing it like that now, because I feel like the sound from the amp is not "late" then.
But when I turn the voulume up, to the point when I cant hear the sound of my pick plucking the stirngs.....I get lost...
The sound is running late

A bit of delay between acoustic (pick) and amp sound? Plugged in, not bluetooth?
Sorry, CB, I see you covered that one..just came in...
I can't use my soundbar, especially when on bluetooth (happens with wires too) because of that delay...so annoying...

 

[timbraun]

I'm going to suggest you're just not used to the sound coming from over there where the amp is compared to in your belly where the guitar is.

I've been on some larger stages where distance from the amp becomes a little weird.

There's nothing in a simple tube amp that can create a humanly perceptible delay other than long distance from the speakers, no matter the gain or rectification.

 

[edro]

Sag ain't gonna do it.... There is nothing in an all vacuum tube circuit that can cause delay...

I just can't see it.... Hearing a delay is some serious PDT which ain't in a jug amp....

 

[efstop]

Twist a paper towel and clean the ear wax out?

 

[ErictheRed]

More likely there is some other issue, but he's describing it as the sound "running late.". That doesn't mean that it's truly delayed, but some other thing could be present that he doesn't know how to describe in another way.

 

[edro]

I could see an inconsistent volume from inconsistent B+ under heavy load (cranked with a hard attack)..... Supply issue...

 

[Uncle Vinnie]

turn off the delay.

 

[irocdave12]

What you are describing is latency not tube sag. Rectifier sag comes on at the end of the note as it rings out not on the initial pick strike. If you are not going through anything like a DI or something between the guitar and the amp then its a bit of a head scratcher. All i can guess is the interface in the guitar possibly? What guitar are you using and does it require a battery be installed on the electric pick up part of the guitar?

 

[picoman]

The amp is 100% fine. I played side by side , my amp and BadCat Bobcat 20.
The Bobcat has more headroom and it seems that it has a solid state rectifier.
I must say that I didnt feel this "delay", "sag"...call it whatever you want....while playing BadCat.
I gave my friend a try on my amp, and he says that the distorsion is "soft", "spongier"....he noticed the difference in the "feel", "flavaour", but he says that he wouldnt described it as a sound runing late, maybe as not beeing instant attack feel or as an "fast" amp.
Browsing a bit I found amplifier Cornell 18/20 wich has an option of using tube or an SS rectifier.
The SS is described as having an faster attack while playing faster runs.
I think this is what Im describing/feeling.

 

[rogue3]

Ghost note?
As has been said,try another amp.Try several.

Digging into memory here...with point to point, you move the wires with a pencil ensuring critical flying leads are cutting at as close to right angles as possible, avoiding long runs parallel to each other.i forget what its called.

Perfection and tube amps are contradictory qualities.many imperfections in tube amps are desirable,as guitarists.we bend them to our pleasure(driving tube stages into distortion).not hi-fi.It is a balancing act.

Many,many issues,i'll just recall one.

With a circuit board layout,and tube amps which run high internal voltages and ma ,there is a electric field effect that can affect adjacent traces.Critical traces sometimes run alongside each very close,parallel,and may affect the adjacent trace.Your latent note.marginally flawed printed circuit board design.Ok for the beginner,they won't hear it.You will.Sell the amp if you find another that doesn't do it..if you don't,and they all sound the same,well...carry on.