Evans FET 500 LV Tone

Morton Kellas · From: Chazy, NY, USA 1

I have owned a few Evans amps . I have noticed a slight fuzz type sound on each of them. The tone is great. Is this slight fuzz I am hearing a part of the evans sound. I am comparing it with the very clean sound of my webb.

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Jerry Roller · From: Van Buren, Arkansas USA

Morton, I think the plug in between the pre amp and power amp might not be making very good contact. If you are comfortable doing this I would suggest you take the chassis out and remove the screws holding the power amp plug strip, unplug it and clean all the contacts. A more sensitive fix is to coat the male plugs with a thin coating of solder.
I have found this to most often be the problem with Evans amps.
Jerry

Morton Kellas · From: Chazy, NY, USA 1

Thanks Jerry For the reply. I don't think there is anything wrong with the electronics. I was inquiring to see if all evans 500 LV have this characteristic. I purchased two brand new amps from Darell Stevens and both did the same. I even sent one back to him and he found nothing wrong but changed the chasis just to please me and still the same light fuzzy sound. I would appreciate some replies from Evans owners.

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Bob Lawrence · From: Beaver Bank, Nova Scotia, Canada

Morton: I have a Evans 500 LV that Darrell built and it is extremely clean. There should not be any fuzz. Most likely (assuming that the amp is ok and the pickup is adjusted properly) it is caused by overdriving the preamp. I had that problem with certain combinations of volume pedals and pickups. For example I had a Lawrence 705 with a pot volume pedal and was getting distortion. I used a resistor to cut back the gain going into the amp and it worked fine. When I switched to a Hilton pedal I removed the resistor and adjusted the gain with the pot in the Hilton pedal.

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Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

My Derrell Stephens 500 is fuzzy. It cleans up a bit after warming up for a while. It has gotten worse over time and I'm certain it needs some attention. It is significantly dirty at living room volume--not a distortion sound but more of a ghost fuzz attached to the sustain of each note-- but is perfectly acceptable on the stand. I guess it is a signal/noise thing--the 'fuzz' doesn't increase at higher volume but simply remains as a noise floor thing. Although I intend to get this looked at eventually I'm afraid of changing the amp's sound too much because the 'fuzz' sort of warms up the sound which makes me wonder if it isn't somewhat an FET characteristic?. It's a real good sounding amp--just got an appreciative comment from another steeler last week--so I'm in a leave well enough alone mode right now.

Jay Ganz · From: Out Behind The Barn

Those amps were designed that way. The output
transistors are biased so they run nice and
cool when the amp is up to full operating
temperature. So, when it's cold they do
fuzz a bit till the amp warms up. The one
I had did the same exact thing.

George Kimery · From: Limestone, TN, USA

Well, well. My Derrell Stephens made Evans has had that same "ghost fuzz" effect. I always thought I needed to send it to Evans for repairs. I have noticed that it goes away once it warms up. So, I guess it is just normal. Mine still has too much circuit noise if I crank the master gain up past 3. The reverb also adds noise if I put it past 4. I think the reverb plug and the pre-amp to power amp plug needs cleaning, as suggested by Jerry.

David Decker · From: Canton, Ohio, USA

I have an 85 Evans FET 500 LV. Built during the time Darrell was building them. No fuzz in mine. Works great!!

[This message was edited by David Decker on 06 December 2003 at 03:13 PM.]

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

Dittos to what David said. Darrell built mine (#8550) in 1985 and it has never fuzzed on me.

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Lee, from South Texas
Down On The Rio Grande

Morton Kellas · From: Chazy, NY, USA 1

It sounds like the early models might have different parts. Mine is a 95 # 8891. It sound sweet but like others has a residual light fuzz similar to a tube amp. Darell told me that was the way they sounded. You can't hear it at playing levels, just at lower volumes, you know it's there. Thanks for the replies.

Jay Ganz · From: Out Behind The Barn

The one I had was bought brand new in '93.
So, maybe this characteristic is unique to the
models made around that time. The amps from
the 80's may have a different design.

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George Kimery · From: Limestone, TN, USA

The serial number on mine is 8258. Is there anyway of finding out when it was manufactured?

Jerry Roller · From: Van Buren, Arkansas USA

I have a 69 Standel Custom that has that low volume fuzzy sound that I thought was sorta' imbedded in a 60 cycle hum. I asked a tech. at the local music store and he said it could be any number of problems, but it seems to me that this is the same thing you guys are discussing. No problem when playing, just that soft fuzzy sound as the note is tailing off. Jay do you think that is the same thing?
Jerry

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

George - I believe the first two digits tell you the year of manufacture.

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Lee, from South Texas
Down On The Rio Grande

Morton Kellas · From: Chazy, NY, USA 1

I bought mine new from Evans in 95 and my serial # is 8891.

RON PRESTON · From: Dodson, Louisiana, USA

Hummmmm....
So THAT is what's going on with mine. Very same thing. Slight "fuzzzzzz" at low volume. I always wonderd what was going on. I just "Happened" to "Stumble" on this topic. I guess I better read ALL of the "Links" from now on. Might just miss just what I need to know about something. I thought about sending my Evans back for a long time,but, I guess I'm better off leaving it alone...If it ain't BROKE, DON'T FIX it, they always say.

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