I picked up a used Black Finger from a friendly local Crag’s Lister, who also got it used from a trade. He replaced it with a Soul Preacher (said the Blackie was too big, bah! Build a bigger board, I say!) and I got the Finger for a decent deal. Got home and plugged in, and it was way noisy (harsh buzzing/humming, power supply related?). I fiddled with the controls and found that the noise goes away when I turn the PRE gain all the way up. But alas, I hear no compression even with the Compression pot at max. I see the upper LED working, but there is no effect with any combination of LED/Lamp and Norm/Squish controls. Again, unbearable noise with the Pre Gain where I would expect it to be. The Post Gain is the only control that works the way I’d expect it to.

What could be the problem? Are my tubes dead, or could the lamp have burned out? Note, I am using the proper EHX power supply, and the BF is in my loop as a master effect (not to interfere with the preamp’s dynamics and rowdy overdrivin’). I want to keep it, because its so sexy…but I want to use it too! Any help would render me a happy camper.

FYI: I do know proper high voltage tube gear safety, not to worry.