Blackstar HT1R playing up

zepp76

I decided to get my HT1R out for a bit of practice but it's playing funny buggers, I haven't used it in over a year so lord knows what's going on! With the gain turned down and on low volume it suddenly crackles and goes into loud overdrive as if the gain is turned up to the max then it calms down for a bit then does it again making it useless to play. Any ideas what's going on please? Thank you in advance.

DJH83004

Yes, it needs a coat of looking at  probably no more than the valves being pulled in and out of their bases a few times or possibly a coating of Servisol. At worst, a quick trip to your local amp tech will will definitely sort it.

darthed1981

Crikey bet it scared the crap out of you that.

ICBM

Sounds like the gain pot may have a faulty connection at the ground end. It could be either the solder joint to the PCB or the rivet between the pin and the track board, or a cracked track board.

ecc83

Might just have got a bit damp? Try leaving it cooking for a day.

If you want to get Blackstar to service it, note they have moved.

NN3 6UE and 01604817817

Dave.

zepp76

darthed1981 said:

Crikey bet it scared the crap out of you that.

There may have been a bit of pooing myself!

ecc83 said:

Might just have got a bit damp? Try leaving it cooking for a day.

If you want to get Blackstar to service it, note they have moved.

NN3 6UE and 01604817817

Dave.

Definitely no dampness involved, it has been stored in a warm dry room.

ICBM said:

Sounds like the gain pot may have a faulty connection at the ground end. It could be either the solder joint to the PCB or the rivet between the pin and the track board, or a cracked track board.

Thanks @ICBM  I'm guessing it would be cheaper to just replace it rather than get it fixed it being quite a cheap amp?

ICBM

zepp76 said:

Thanks @ICBM  I'm guessing it would be cheaper to just replace it rather than get it fixed it being quite a cheap amp?

Not at all, even if the pot needs to be replaced it should be about a £30-£40 job at most, depending on the tech's minimum charge.

zepp76

ICBM said:

zepp76 said:

Thanks @ICBM  I'm guessing it would be cheaper to just replace it rather than get it fixed it being quite a cheap amp?

Not at all, even if the pot needs to be replaced it should be about a £30-£40 job at most, depending on the tech's minimum charge.

Ok cool, I'll have a look into it but I don't think there's many decent amp techs in my area.

ICBM

zepp76 said:

Ok cool, I'll have a look into it but I don't think there's many decent amp techs in my area.

If you can't find anyone, as Dave said drop Blackstar a line, they're very helpful in my experience.

Failing that, PM me if you want me to take a look at it - it's not a big thing to post up.

zepp76

ICBM said:

zepp76 said:

Ok cool, I'll have a look into it but I don't think there's many decent amp techs in my area.

If you can't find anyone, as Dave said drop Blackstar a line, they're very helpful in my experience.

Failing that, PM me if you want me to take a look at it - it's not a big thing to post up.

Thank you, ill phone them after the weekend and if no joy I'll contact you. Again, thank you for your time.