Evans FET 500 LV Circuit Noise Problem

[George Kimery]

I have a 1985, Derrel Stephens built Evans FET 500 LV that has real bad circuit noise if I turn the volume up very much. If I turn up the pre gain and the master gain all the way, it is really noisy and can't be used. I can play it at home on low volume, but can't take it out where I would need volume. Is there anything that I might try myself or is it something that Evans should look at? It is an old amp, so I am not complaining. It has served me well for a lot of years. I disconnected the Reverb, but still, if I turn the reverb knob up, I get even more noise, even though it is not even connected anymore.
I guess I am answering my own questions, just ship it to Evans. But....has anybody else had a similar situation and any idea of how much it might cost to get it back to a reasonably quite unit?

[Jerry Roller]

George, I have two of these amps. Both were very noisey. I took the chassis of one of them to a friend who is was a tech at a local music store. He put a very thin coat of solder on the male side of the connectors where the power supply and preamp connect. This made for a tighter and cleaner fit. That fixed the problem. On the other one I just cleaned those connectors and that is all it took. So, I suggest that you unbolt the power supply and pull it loose from the preamp and clean the connectors, that might fix it.
Jerry

[Lee Baucum]

It's a little bit tedious work, but Jerry is correct. My FET-500 was also built in 1985. About once a year I pull out the chassis and spray contact cleaner into those connectors. I also spray a dab into the pots, while I'm there. It seems to help quite a bit.

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Lee, from South Texas
Down On The Rio Grande

Mullen U-12, Excel 8-string Frypan, Evans FET-500, Fender Steel King