Fender Hot Rod Deville 212 - popped and died

On mine, the guitar input jacks get tarnished and causes all kind of interference and noise. Take a Q-Tip soaked with WD-40, run in down into the jack and brush up and down. Don't overlook the filter caps as they are a common cause of noise. You need a capacitor checker (the older tube type) to thourghly check those out.

change out pre amp tubes

If it is new then something is a bit strange to say the least. Turn all the knobs to midpoint. If it is going to click/pop then you will definitely hear it. Switch to standby, then power to on for a minute then standby to on. You should then see the 6l6 and the 3x 12AX7's all glowing. Plug into each channel. Don;t use a pedal to try any of this. If you get a pop on on ch then it can be one side of the preamp either a tube or one of the op amps on the board.

Make sure you try out the cable/guitar on a different amp to make sure it is working. Could be a cable or plug that is the problem.

Honestly if this is new I'd haul it back to the store and return it. It should just work with no hassles. Once you know your guitar/cable is not the cause then I would take it back and get them to either set it up or replace it. Something is just not right here for a brand new amp.

Hi. If the volume and drive levels are considerably low but you still hear a noise, you may want to consider trying a different guitar cable. The noise may be coming from a ground loop which is being amplified and overdriven by the amp itseld. I hope this helps. :-)

You unscrew the plastic dome over the bulb. The bukb is a bayonet base. Push in and turn... probably counterclockwise and extract the bulb. Replace by reversing the process.

Use T47 or #47 (6 volt) lamp... available at Radio SHack and other places.

IF you can get the thing to fail while out of the case, the quickest way to find a thermal failure is with circuit cooler spray. Unless you are adept at electronics, this is probably NOT a DIY project.

The nature of your symptoms SUGGEST probably a bad solder joint or a cracked circuit board.

OFTEN the bad solder is around HEAVY components or POTENTIOMETER leads, especially where they support the board by those leads (dumb!)

A trained eye can spot bad soldering around a lead... you look for a tiny gray line around the lead part way up the meniscus of the solder fillet... see one, reheat the joint with a soldering iron.

First check if the reverb "tank cables" are on tighly where they attach.

It sounds like a filter capacitor(s) has failed. The electrolytic caps dry out and cease to perform allowing unfiltered power to reach the preamp sections and get amplified.

Being this is tube with high voltages, an experienced person should work on it due to shock danger.

I assume you checked the tubes for shorts as well as emission since a heater to cathode short could cause this as well.

Here is an article that might help:http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/reverb-troubleshooting/jun-09/97165 Here is the schematic:http://www.fender.com/support/amp_schematics/pdfs/Hot_Rod_DeVille_Schematic.pdf Check to see if someone hasn't reversed the input and output cables at the reverb tank. Then troubleshoot the reverb section .

Are the tubes bad? Do they light up? Check the tubes and install replacements if necessary. If it's a preamp tube that went bad, just replace that one tube. If a power tube went bad then replace the set of power tubes. Be sure to get a matched set when replacing power tubes, and to bias them.