Old Epiphone Galaxie 10 - Pops and fizzes . . . ?

[Ryan]

I've got a wierd problem with my dad's Epi Galaxie 10. It's fairly old, and it's seen light use (was mine before he got it) but recently it's been WICKED noisy. It has a pretty constant hum, and then out of nowhere it'll just pop and fizz (staticky sound). Happens while you play, or not, even with nothing plugged into it. I've removed any s ources of EMI (9v adapters, computer monitors, and even ceiling fans).

It has year-old JJ tubes in it (one 12ax7 and one 6L6GC, I think), and still sounds the same (apart from the noise).

What can I check? I could swap the old sovteks back in . . . but I replaced them with the JJs when it started popping originally.

[fuzzking]

Couldn't it be bad caps or even the transformer?

[Ryan]

I'm guessing it could be. Would it be worth it to get it repaired (or risk death trying it myself), or should I get him a valvetronix or something?

[fuzzking]

pleeeease don't get killed before at least finishing another project.

in case it isn't worth a repair, it would look really nice just sitting there next to your comp. JM...

[Ryan]

It IS cute looking, too bad I didn't get the blue one.