Possible TH30C Clean Channel Issue

[OrangeAde]

This is my first post (in any forum) so if this in the wrong place, apologies. Thanks for everyone who has posted in this forum as I have got loads of great information which helped me decide which amp to get after my Tiny Terror.

Background (not particularly relevant – relevant bit starts at “TH30C Clean Channel Issue”):

After not really picking up a guitar for twenty years a friend I used to be in a band with got in contact with me (about this time last year) and I went for a jam with some old friends. We were doing the Metal / Rock / Punk covers that we did 20 years ago i.e. Metallica, Slayer, The Cult, Dead Kennedys etc. in his backroom. After his kids got fed up of hearing two guitars, a bass and a drum kit right below their bedrooms we started renting a rehearsal room once a week. This led to the inevitable death of the 15W transistor amp that I was playing cranked.
So I went looking for a new amp and saw a used Tiny Terror in my local music shop and I fell in love with the sound. I couldn’t really afford it but I did have the money so I gave up smoking and drinking for a month. I had an old 2x12 PA cabinet with dual cone speaker which sounded OK - especially when loud as it added it’s own level of distortion. Not exactly a chuggy metal sound but when added to band sounded fantastic. The way it breaks into feedback is amazing. It cut through brilliantly in the rehearsal room.

Shortly after that we got a brilliant female vocalist and had to change the cover songs we play. Also, as the plan is to play in pubs, we stand a better chance of getting gigs. This meant that I needed a clean sound some of the time and as much as I love the Tiny Terror, I couldn’t switch between a clean sound and distorted sound during a song. I tried a DS1 that I borrowed from the other guitarist in the band but I didn’t like it and it lost that beautiful valve break up sound. Also I didn’t want to get into pedals... I know that it is possible in theory to get a clean and distorted sound from a single channel amp by adjusting the guitar volume and buying a boost pedal but after a couple of gigs I realised that the clean sound isn’t loud enough either. When I say loud enough, I mean loud and clean. So after a lot of research on the web and visits to music shops I bought a Th30C.

"TH30C Clean Channel Issue"

I tried the TH30C in the shop, loved it and bought the one I tried. This turned out to be a mistake I think as day after I bought it, I turned it on and the clean channel went straight to full power. The dirty channel was fine. Basically, it was like the volume knob on the clean channel wasn’t doing anything. I turned it off and flicked all the switches for a while (2 – 4 valves, half - full power) and then it started working normally. I turned if off and back on again and it was fine. I couldn’t recreate the problem. So I played for a while and thought it was something to do with the newness. When I went back to play some more, after it had cooled down, the same thing happened again. It was like the volume switch was bypassed on the clean channel and after flicking the switches it started working normally. This happened every time I let it cool down. I always leave it on standby for two minutes before turning it on. Something wasn’t functioning correctly so after a quick search of the internet and finding a couple of similar stories, I took it back to the shop. The guy in the shop was brilliant and order me a new one without any question which arrived a week later. When I picked up the new amp he said that he couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Maybe it was a loose valve or something. Anyway the new TH30C (which came in an unopened box) works perfectly and I love it.

I will write a my experience of the sound quality / tone, the case I have just bought for the TH30C and my Tiny Terror (which I can’t bring myself to sell) in other posts as this is getting a bit long now and just wanted to share the information about a possible issue with the clean channel. Thanks again for all the advice. I hope this helps and is posted in the correct place.

[beckyjc]

Could be a faulty valve/volume pot. Had a similar issue with my th30... Where the pot wasnt doing much of anything.

Orange should replace it for you.

[iblastoff]

I turned it off and flicked all the switches for a while (2 – 4 valves, half - full power) and then it started working normally.

glad you got a replacement but i don't think you should do this ever as a method of troubleshooting. i don't think you can just 'flick all of the switches for a while' without risking further damage.

[OrangeAde]

I turned it off and flicked all the switches for a while iblastoff) and then it started working normally.

glad you got a replacement but i don't think you should do this ever as a method of troubleshooting. i don't think you can just 'flick all of the switches for a while' without risking further damage.

Hi iblastoff
I totally agree. I systematically switched each switch on the amp, turning it off at the power switch to see if any of the switches / circuits joined to the swiches might be malfunctioning. I allowed values to warm up between each test before taking it out of standby. I didn't mean that I was randomly flicking swicthes with the power on as may have been implied in my first post. Sorry for creating any misunderstanding.