No reverb on my fender ps 160 Vocal amplifier

SOURCE: FENDER CYBER TWIN AMP SOUNDS GREAT WORKS GREAT BUT

First make sure you have the TRIM knob positioned correctly. When playing loud the Red Led should just blink a bit so you know you're not overloading the preamp and Digital sections. The Twin Reverb Patch is a clean place to start so select that first. On this amp it's a good idea to set the MASTER to 5 and use the VOLUME control at as low a setting as you can. The GAIN control should be set under 4. You better sound crystal clear on this setting. Try turning up the volume to see how loud you can get without breaking up. It's a guitar amp so there will be some grainy distortion but it should be very light. I bet you get through this test without much trouble. After that you need to be very careful about what settings you're using since many of the presets may not mesh with your guitar pickups. You should concentrate on tweaking one highgain setting and learn about how the controls interact. The amp is so much more complicated than a 10 knob standard guitar amp. Most people need to put in some time to get a handle on it.

As far as the tubes go, typically they can get microphonic which was a problem with versions 1.1 and 1.0 of this amp so check that. Fender had a Cyber twin upgrade kit way back to fix this but if you have version 1.2 or 1.3 that's not it. Problems with this amp are typically caused by control setting more often than an electronic problem but this reponse should get you started figuring it out.
MYREL

SOURCE: Reverb problem

I highly doubt the reverb pan is dead, there are TL072 opamps on the input and output of the Reverb pan. Check those out. You can get the schematic from fenders website here. U6A and U6B are what you are looking for.

http://www.fender.com/support/amp_schematics/pdfs/Roc_Pro_1000_Schematic_B12.pdf

SOURCE: my 1967 fender super reverb amp starts popping and

IF the blue is on the GLASS envelope, that is just phosphouresence in the glass and not a problem. The harder you drive the tube, the brighter this will get. The electron beam heading toward the plat of the tube leaks past the plate and hits the glass. ot to worry if the blue is on the glass.

IF the glow is magenta/purple in between the internal electrodes, the tubes have gotten gassy and need replacing.

From your desciption, I would suspect a capacitor is going bad someplace in the unit OR the vibration has loosened a connection someplace. Input jacks are VERY common problem for intermittent noises like this. The jacks get destroyed because the musicians FAIL to restrain the intrument cables and yank them sideways. Loop the cable through the handle to help avoid the problem.

Testimonial: "Thank you for your time. I appreciate it most sincerely."

SOURCE: Fix Reverb unit on Fender Hot-Rod Deluxe Amp

Could have broken a spring in the reverb tank, or a wire connecting it to the amp, or the reverb driver tube, or a few other things, but those are the most likely in this situation. Thats what I'd check first. Give it a little slap and if it vibrates like normal, your spring is probably ok, you can still open it up and double check though. Check your wires. Then pull your reverb driver tube and replace it. If that doesn't work, it is probably in the circuit somewhere, and you should not work on your amp unless you know what you are doing. They store large amounts of electicity in the caps and they can kill you.

Joe Patch

• 336 Answers
• Posted on Mar 08, 2013

SOURCE: my reverb on my Fender

IF it is an electronic reverb, usually a card resembling a pc sound card, can have loose connections on its power plug and act just like that, or they make squealing or popping noises, I have replaced or resoldered these connections which cured most all of them. The components don't just burn out without reason. IF it is a reverb chamber, it probably has 2 RCA jacks with in and out that need wiggling to clean connection OR a bad spring inside but Always check connections all around before assuming something is bad or burned out.