Fender Blues DeVille 212 misbehaving

[SethEaston]

Hey folks - I have a 60W Blues DeVille 2x12, but I noticed the other day it started sounding crappy, specifically, thin and distorted (not the good kind), as if there was a weak signal somewhere. When I looked underneath, I noticed that one of the two 6L6GCs was not glowing (and cold to the touch)! I removed the offending tube, and swapped it for the other, same thing. The I completely removed the 6L6GC, and it still worked! How is this possible?

I'm thinking I just need to replace both tubes with a matched pair. My fear is, however, that there is something wrong with the terminal, thus not allowing any juice to get to the tube in the first place. I took the back off and the connections and soldering points look just fine. I can't figure it out.

Any thoughts?

[garageband]

Originally Posted by SethEaston

I'm thinking I just need to replace both tubes with a matched pair. My fear is, however, that there is something wrong with the terminal, thus not allowing any juice to get to the tube in the first place. I took the back off and the connections and soldering points look just fine. I can't figure it out.

Too much is made of the matched pair idea for many reasons. You do have some unhappy circuitry. If you are not handy with a multimeter and a wiring diagram, you'll need to take it in and have it fixed.

[jagcmos]

If you are handy with a multimeter...

Looks like you might not be getting any voltage to the heater element on the cold tube. Typical voltage is 6.3v.

Here's a link to the tube schematics and specs: http://www.pentalaboratories.com/pdfs/6L6GC.pdf

Check the voltage on the good tube for a comparison and be careful, lots of dangerous voltage present.