son's Crate G1600XL is having a volume problem...while playing guitar, the volume will go in and out..it will get extremely quiet and to get it back to working right, he has to turn amp volume wide open, then strum the strings on his guitar [which is extremely loud when volume cuts back in...anybody tell what's wrong with head and how to fix it please?
This is a guitar amplifier even though solid state and properly belongs in the Instruments & Amplifier forum. Will move it there. Likely you will get more responses there.
This problem could be caused by a cold solder joint. Best to find a qualified service technician.
Take a spare guitar cord and plug it from FX send to FX return. If this wakes up the amp, then the FX return jack needs service or replacment.
This is a very common problem on any amp with an FX loop.
This is a very common problem on any amp with an FX loop.
yep, could be a number of things. But that "turn up the guitar and play something real loud, and it comes back" is usually a sign of patch jack shunt contact failure.
what is patch jack shunt contact failure?...is that saying jacks are bad, or is it more involved than that?
Jack could be bad or just need cleaning. either way it is nothing cosmic
These jacks have extra contacts in them that are pushed open when a plug is inserted, and when the plug is pulled out, the contacts come back together and touch one another. These are called shunt contacts among other names. Some call them cutouts, for example. yet another term for them is normals.
In an FX loop, the signal from the amp goes through a set of these contacts in the return jack. And if those contacts get bent or dirty, they no longer come together, and so no circuit is completed. If the contacts physically no longer touch, it is usually just a replacement jack to cure it. If the contacts close but don;t complete a circuit electrically, then we need to put some cleaner in the contacts and work them open and closed a few times to clean.
These jacks have extra contacts in them that are pushed open when a plug is inserted, and when the plug is pulled out, the contacts come back together and touch one another. These are called shunt contacts among other names. Some call them cutouts, for example. yet another term for them is normals.
In an FX loop, the signal from the amp goes through a set of these contacts in the return jack. And if those contacts get bent or dirty, they no longer come together, and so no circuit is completed. If the contacts physically no longer touch, it is usually just a replacement jack to cure it. If the contacts close but don;t complete a circuit electrically, then we need to put some cleaner in the contacts and work them open and closed a few times to clean.
when you say put some cleaner in them, are you talking about maybe spray can of electronic cleaner with a straw and spray inside of jacks then pushing plug in and out to work contacts open and closed?...and might I as well do this to all jacks of this kind on amp head?...
yes, already more than 2 months ago...ain't it funny how life's circumstances can put trivial things on hold...and yes, I did try that more than 2 months ago...thanks...
anyway...sprayed electronic contact cleaner in all of the pods [pots...heard them called both]...worked control knobs back and forth...that seems to have fixed the problem...will see how it holds up...
anyway...sprayed electronic contact cleaner in all of the pods [pots...heard them called both]...worked control knobs back and forth...that seems to have fixed the problem...will see how it holds up...
always wondered about that...now I know...56 yrs old, and still learning something new everyday...thanks 🙂
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