M3 Questions

[Guest]

Hello, my M3 is in pretty good shape except 2 things and I need some direction.

Note: I know very little about electronics so I could use any basic explanations or guidance you may have.

Problem 1) The "E" Floor pedal doesn't work. all the other pedals work fine. All the keys work fine. Just the "E" Pedal doesn't work. I heard an "E" note a couple of times come out of it . . . barely. Like it was really quiet and kind of fizzled out. Mostly, when I step on the "E", it doesn't do jack squat. I'm assuming there's a bad wire / connection somewhere in the cabinet, but wouldn't know where to look. Any ideas?

Problem 2) A buddy of mine who knows electronics a heck of a lot better than I do says I need new "power tubes". I understand these are the 2 largest tubes on the M3. Is this correct? If so, what are the model number(s) and what do you recommend buying for best mix of value / performance? The symptoms I'm having are that sometimes when I play, the organ will just start sounding all "staticy". My buddy called it "shot sound" as in, the power tubes are shot. I was just playing now, and the volume got all weak and it started sounding staticy.

Thanks!

[Roger Memphis]

Hi Allan -
Is the M-3 sitting on a heavy (or heavily padded) carpet? If so, try putting a sheet of thin plywood or hardboard under it and let us know if that corrects your "E" Pedal Problem. Or for just a quick test, put a book or board under the edge of that end of the organ to lift it up a bit.

With all due respect to you buddy, There may or may not be a need for new tubes. Try gently rocking each tube in its socket in a slightly circular motion; not too far, and not heavy-handed. The idea here is to try to make sure all of the tube pins are making good contact with their sockets. Sometimes the slightest bit of dust or corrosion can cause a mountain of problems.

Let us know if this helps or not. If not, we'll try further diagnosis. What country/city are you in?
:)
Roger Memphis

[Wes]

Unless you have a specific problem to solve that involved amplifier output power, leave your power tubes alone.

Your pedal is either a bad tone, bad wire, or dirty switch contact.

[wannab3]

I wouldn't be so quick to suspect the output tubes, unless they were evaluated in a tube tester or you see either of them start to glow red on the plate structure like this. It's more likely a bad connection or a dirty/loose tube socket.

Here's another thing you can try for your pedal issue...you'll need to remove the dust cover from over the tone generator. There's a bundle of 13 black wires running up on the right from underneath the bottom and terminating at points on the tone generator...the E pedal wire is the sixth connection from the right on that loom. Hold the pedal down with something and gently wiggle the wire...any change?