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Peavey VB-2 Standby Question

kmqu601

kmqu601

Nov 4, 2010
135
0
CT/NYC
queenannesrevengect.bandcamp.com
#1
I have a Peavey VB-2 that sits in my band's practice space and gets 10-15 hours of use per week.

As I was powering the amp up last night, I found that when I had the standby switch on I could hear distorted noise "bleeding through" when I played the bass. It only occurred when the gain/master volume were relatively high. Once I turned those down, the issue seemed to go away.

Is this normal for standby? Can I expect a certain amount of sound leaking through with the standby switch engaged, or is there an issue with the amp?
 
#3
I'm pretty sure it's normal. With the gain set that high there may be enough driver signal voltage hitting the power tube grids for them to conduct. BbbyBld, the Peavey engineer, will probably be along to confirm or set me straight.

mech
 
#5
Most standby switches turn off the plate voltage for all the tubes, preamp and power amp. At Peavey, we switch the screen voltage and usually the preamp tube plates with the standby. Switching the screens is better for reliability, and avoids the huge pop when switching out of standby.

As was said by jastacey, the preamp stays hot while in standby on the VB-2 so that the DI can be used for recording without requiring a speaker load. If you hit the power tubes with enough signal, they will pass a tiny bit of signal even with the screens off. That's what you're hearing and it's normal for this amp.
 
#6
BbbyBld said:
Most standby switches turn off the plate voltage for all the tubes, preamp and power amp. At Peavey, we switch the screen voltage and usually the preamp tube plates with the standby. Switching the screens is better for reliability, and avoids the huge pop when switching out of standby.

As was said by jastacey, the preamp stays hot while in standby on the VB-2 so that the DI can be used for recording without requiring a speaker load. If you hit the power tubes with enough signal, they will pass a tiny bit of signal even with the screens off. That's what you're hearing and it's normal for this amp.
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks so much for the info. Just wanted to check since the amp is relatively new to me. Really digging the VB-2 so far, sounds absolutely killer!
 
#9
Tractorr said:
I wish it gave that piece of info in the instructions that seems like a pretty handy feature.
Click to expand...

Item 18 on the control panel features.
Invalid Link Removed

Standby Switch -
This switch turns the power amplifier tubes on or off, with up being the on condition. The preamp and DI will still function when this switch is off.
Tip: Always allow at least 5 minutes of warm-up time before switching the STANDBY switch on. This
will improve performance and reliabilty (sic).

mech
 

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