Identifying rattles & buzzes in your amplifier
The most common cause of a rattles/buzz in an amplifier will be loose screws, either from the sympathetic vibrations of shipping or using the amplifier.
- Using a Phillip’s head screwdriver, check the chassis mounting screws on top of the amplifier and auxiliary panel screws on the back of the amplifier to ensure that each screw is reasonably hand tight and preventing any unwanted vibration. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN, or you risk stripping the threads, which can potentially worsen a rattle/buzz.
Another common cause of rattle/buzz in an amplifier will be the vacuum tubes. Vacuum tubes can become microphonic and can cause vibrations themselves. Sometimes the vibrations of the tube will be frequency dependent and can be more noticeable with specific notes/frequencies with the instrument.
- If you’re able to reproduce the rattle/buzz, you can use a pencil eraser to identify the tube which may be rattling/buzzing at these specific frequencies. Once you can identify the tube that is causing the noise, we would suggest replacing the tube.
Lastly, if the screws or tubes of the amplifier don’t appear to be the problem, other unwanted noise can occasionally derive from the internal speaker. One way to confirm if the internal speaker is the cause of the unwanted noise is to run the amplifier through an external cabinet.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact the PRS Customer Service team for more specific troubleshooting tactics, or to arrange for the amplifier to be serviced through our PTC.
To watch the associated video for this Help Center Article, please follow this link: Identifying Rattles & Buzzes In Your Amp https://youtu.be/ulPpPZYhELA