Orange Amps Forum

Hey Guys,

I've read just about everything that I can find on here about the issues people have with the RV50's reverb. I was just curious if anyone has experienced what I am.

Generally speaking, I like the reverb but when I turn it on a hum just loud enough to be irritating appears. Here are some things I've troubleshooted/noticed in my efforts to try to solve the problem.

.I've replaced the original leads to the tank with a shielded cable. No results.
.I've played around with different tubes in the reverb slot. 12AU7-12AX7's. The 12AU7 seems to give me more control but still hum.
.The hum only follows the actual reverb knob. Doesn't get louder or quieter with changing amp volume.
. I've read a couple of places that "The knob is pretty much unusable turned past two." I've accepted this until I played someone else's RV50 (MK1) which was noiseless and very controllable. Kinda like the knob responded how you would expect. He was using a aftermarket tank but I'm not sure how that would effect the "control factor"
. I've swapped different tanks with the spec's the amplifier requires. Little less noisy but I get the same result with the knob. When I turn it to about 3 o'clock the tone starts to thin and sound horrible. All the way up seems to be a kill/dry lol but with a HPF up to 500hz lol. I figure something has to be wrong as nobody would use it that way.

Any advise you can offer is much appreciated. This amp is still one of my favorites either way.

There's something wrong.
I don't know what though. The reverb I usable all the way up, without hum or noise or hiss. It does get crazy and insane in terms of reverb level, but noisefree.


Since you have already Swapped the valves and cables and tank, I assume that a connection must be amiss, or a component isn't doing what it should.

I would bring it to a tech sadly. Not much more you can do yourself.

My guess is that it's the pot itself that is the culprit.
Try connecting a jumper cable from the middle lug of the pot to R63 (1M) or R64 (220K). Try both sides of any of these resistors. The reverb will now be on full blast as the pot isn't controling the circuit anymore. If the hum goes away you know it's the pot.

NoodlerKS wrote:Hey Guys,

I've read just about everything that I can find on here about the issues people have with the RV50's reverb. I was just curious if anyone has experienced what I am.

Generally speaking, I like the reverb but when I turn it on a hum just loud enough to be irritating appears. Here are some things I've troubleshooted/noticed in my efforts to try to solve the problem.

.I've replaced the original leads to the tank with a shielded cable. No results.
.I've played around with different tubes in the reverb slot. 12AU7-12AX7's. The 12AU7 seems to give me more control but still hum.
.The hum only follows the actual reverb knob. Doesn't get louder or quieter with changing amp volume.
. I've read a couple of places that "The knob is pretty much unusable turned past two." I've accepted this until I played someone else's RV50 (MK1) which was noiseless and very controllable. Kinda like the knob responded how you would expect. He was using a aftermarket tank but I'm not sure how that would effect the "control factor"
. I've swapped different tanks with the spec's the amplifier requires. Little less noisy but I get the same result with the knob. When I turn it to about 3 o'clock the tone starts to thin and sound horrible. All the way up seems to be a kill/dry lol but with a HPF up to 500hz lol. I figure something has to be wrong as nobody would use it that way.

Any advise you can offer is much appreciated. This amp is still one of my favorites either way.

I have the exact same issue with my Rockerverb. I've tried all the steps you've mentioned bar replacing the leads. It looked as though I'd have to pull the PCB out to desolder the leads so I've not bothered. I did find that if i remove the reverb tank but keep it plugged in the hum disappears altogether when it's about a foot or so away from the amp. Also it gets much worse as I move it closer to one of the transformers (on the left side of the amp when you're looking at the control panel)

Orphin wrote:My guess is that it's the pot itself that is the culprit.
Try connecting a jumper cable from the middle lug of the pot to R63 (1M) or R64 (220K). Try both sides of any of these resistors. The reverb will now be on full blast as the pot isn't controling the circuit anymore. If the hum goes away you know it's the pot.

I tried this out as well but unfortunately didn't work. Handy bit of info though. I would never have thought to try this!

(sorry for hijacking the thread a bit!)

Hey guys,

I forgot I posted this and recently decided to revisit the forums to see if anyone had any solutions. sooooo....bump?

Did you bring it to a tech yet?