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Eden Time Traveler problems

T

TheDutch47

Mar 13, 2024
60
105
#1
This past weekend I picked up an Eden Time Traveler head. It's just a "Time Traveler" with the slanted control face. For $140 I couldn't pass it up. I was told it was in prefect working order. A short test when buying confirmed it turned on, sounded fine, and seemed perfectly functional.

(This particular head was a R&D unit belonging to Dave Grout. On the bottom it says "TT 390. Benchmark piece. Return to Dave Grout at Eden Electronics." Kind of interesting piece of Eden history. Here in MN you can find things like this from time to time.)

I brought it home and it again sounded fantastic except a couple of the pots are noisy when turning the knobs. After maybe 5 minutes of playing there was a staticky pop noise like a loose instrument cable or if you were to plug in without muting the amp first. I checked all connections and everything was plugged in. (I've been using all cables before and after this with another amp with zero issues) The noise only lasted half a second so after checking everything i just went back to paying. Every once in a while the same noise happens again. Usually within the first couple minutes of playing. It will make the noise through the DI and through a cabinet.

There are two input jacks. I did switch my cable to the other input jack and it does the same thing.

Then it started making a noise when turned on. I'm not quite sure how to explain this one with the correct terminology for you amp savvy technical people, but it sounds like electricity. This noise starts very quiet like a normal quiet amp noise and gets louder over the course of a couple seconds before I turn the amp off. The noise comes out of the cabinet and DI. If I turn it back on, there is no noise and everything works again. The previous noise I explained will happen after a few minutes of playing.

And the last symptom, today the all got very quiet and distorted through cabinet and DI. I it off and back on and everything seemed normal again.

I am someone who likes to tinker and fix stuff, but I have no idea what I am doing with an amp. I have zero intention of messing around in there unless it's something like replacing an input jack or pots.

Hoping someone with some amp knowledge can shine some light on this for me.
 
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#2
IME, this will be a real challenge without a scope and knowing the history of the amp. There may be things on your amp that are different, and the noises may have been there from the start as part of the prototype.
 
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#3
agedhorse said:
IME, this will be a real challenge without a scope and knowing the history of the amp. There may be things on your amp that are different, and the noises may have been there from the start as part of the prototype.
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I figured it might be something related to being a R&D unit. Just hoping the symptoms would give someone like yourself a good idea of what could be going on.
The seller did offer me a "donor" head of the same model. Maybe I can give both heads to someone who can give be back one properly working amp.
 
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#7
TheDutch47 said:
I was doing some reading last night and came across someone having issues that ended up being the power cable. The power cable I got with the head is old and pretty thin compared to my other amps power cable. I used a different power cable and in about an hour of playing this morning, I have had zero issues.

Could this really have been the problem?
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Possibly, if it was defective or damaged. It would have nothing to do with its size.
 
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#8
agedhorse said:
Possibly, if it was defective or damaged. It would have nothing to do with its size.
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I have not been able to get the amp to act up now with the new power cable. It seems odd to me that a power cable could have been the issue here, but I'm not savvy with the workings of electronics.

We will see what happens with it in the next few days, but the issue seems to be solved.

On another note, the Time Traveler was rated at 330w @4 ohms. This one has TT-390 written on the bottom. Is there a way I can test what that actual output is? Since this is an R&D unit, I don't really know exactly what I have.
 
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#9
TheDutch47 said:
I have not been able to get the amp to act up now with the new power cable. It seems odd to me that a power cable could have been the issue here, but I'm not savvy with the workings of electronics.

We will see what happens with it in the next few days, but the issue seems to be solved.

On another note, the Time Traveler was rated at 330w @4 ohms. This one has TT-390 written on the bottom. Is there a way I can test what that actual output is? Since this is an R&D unit, I don't really know exactly what I have.
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No, don't go messing around with trying to test for power. Another good way to ruin something that is otherwise working fine.
 
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