Factory Reset; Tsc™ -Tube Safety Control - Hughes & Kettner TriAmp Mark 3 Manual

TriAmp Mark 3 – Manual 1.1

7.3 Factory Reset

A factory reset is a seldom-needed feature. Nevertheless, please read
these instructions carefully to ensure you don't accidentally delete your
MIDI presets!
A factory reset may be needed in the rare case that the MIDI
communication is not working at all and you are unsure about the settings
of the MIDI channel and the OMNI mode. A factory reset will set the
MIDI channel to 1 and the OMNI mode to on.
You can perform a factory reset by doing the following:
Press and hold the Learn and Boost buttons simultaneously while
powering the amp up by using the Power/On switch.
Caution: Please note that this procedure is a last-resort option. It will reset
all your settings, including the 128 MIDI presets!
8 TSC™ –Tube Safety Control
TSC™ adjusts the bias of TriAmp Mark 3's
TSC ™
power tubes to improve the amp's tonal and
technical stability and to extend the tubes' lives.
TSC operates automatically and continuously,
so there is nothing for you to do but to enjoy
the convenience of the system! What's more,
you can swap tubes easily, quickly, and safely,
because all the hard work of biasing gets done
automatically for you. This can be a huge help if a tube runs into problems,
or just if you fancy comparing different types or brands of tubes.
Warning: If tubes are replaced by a different type (e.g. EL34 by KT88),
it is recommended to reset the TSC module:
• Switch Power off, switch Standby in Play position
• Switch Power on
• Wait for at least three minutes
To make use of the full information TSC™ can provide you with, you will
have to look at the six LEDs in the TSC section on the rear panel of your
TriAmp Mark 3. Each LED is assigned to the power tube occupying that
corresponding position. The LEDs will give you two different kinds of
information: firstly, they indicate the operating status of the tubes. TSC
constantly performs an error diagnosis and will even shut down defective
tubes if necessary in order to avoid a total failure of the amp. Secondly,
you can easily get a manual read-out of the bias points of each individual
tube. This can be done using any standard guitar pick (see 8.2 below for
how to do this).
8.1 Automatic Status Indications
All LEDs light up and stay on
All the LEDs remain on for as long as the amp is in standby mode. When
you flip the Standby switch to Play, the LEDs will go off after a few
seconds. If all of the LEDs remain illuminated, the most likely cause is a
blown anode fuse that needs to be replaced. The anode fuse can trip if a
tube is already defective when the amp is switched on, and TSC does not
have enough time to measure the idle current (after the tubes have heated
up) and to then shut the faulty tube down.
10
None of the LEDs lights up
The power tubes are operating normally.
One LED lights up continuously
If only one LED lights up, then the tube assigned to this LED is not
delivering enough current and has been shut down. If the LED does not
go off after a few minutes, then the specific tube it represents needs to
be replaced.
Two/four LEDs light up continuously
This tells you one of two things: either a corresponding pair of tubes are
not delivering enough current and therefore will need replacing, or the
pair of tubes is not active (meaning the relevant Power Amp Tube button
on the front of the amp is switched off).
One LED flashes, the LED next to it lights up continuously
The tube assigned to this flashing LED is generating too much current
and therefore has been shut down. This tube will have to be replaced.
With the type of power amp found in TriAmp Mark 3, it takes a pair of
tubes working together to produce the best sounds. When one tube of a
pair is defective, TSC also switches its counterpart off (indicated by the
continuously lighting up LED), so it doesn't degrade the tone of the amp's
other tube pairs. There is no need to replace this second tube in the pair
(the one with the constantly lit LED), because there's nothing wrong with
it.
And this is where TSC's intelligence saves your gig: if a tube failure like
this occurs in a conventional amp, its fuse usually trips and you can't
operate the amp again at all until you replace the tube and the fuse.
Thanks to TSC, though, you can continue playing TriAmp Mark 3 for as
long as the LED remains illuminated.
That said, please note that shutting down one pair of tubes will reduce the
amp's output power. As well as this, channels and MIDI presets that use
only this pair of tubes will need to be switched to another pair of tubes.
And don't forget to replace the defective tube after your show!
8.2 Manual Read-Out
TSC is able to check the power amp tubes' bias points to let you determine
if the three tube pairs are optimally matched. This can easily be done by
inserting a guitar pick into the slot to the left of the LEDs while the amp is
switched on (rather than in Standby mode). All the LEDs will flash several
times. The number of flashes each LED makes will give you information
about the tube rating of the assigned tube as well as about its bias.
Please make sure that the difference in flash counts between the single
LEDs of one corresponding pair of tubes (1/2, 3/4, 5/6) is no greater than
four flashes. Only in this situation can TSC ensure optimum sound. If the
difference in flash counts is greater than four, we recommend installing a
matched set of tubes to improve the amp's tone. This is strictly a matter of
tone, of course – technically speaking, the amp will continue to operate
safely, and there is no obligation for you to make any changes. However,
optimally matched tubes will make you sound better!
Heads-up: TSC is also responsible for switching the respective pairs of
tubes on and off. This means that when you opt to use only one pair of
tubes, TSC will indicate that four of the tubes (i.e. the other two pairs that
you're not using) are shut down. The LEDs only indicate the right status
when the amp is in idle mode. While playing, the LEDs may flash very