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Joined:
January 2007
Posts: 672
Location: New South Wales, Australia | Despite the "Get Plugged In" byline at the top of this page, I am guilty of not plugging in for six months or so. I've been playing electric guitar and have only been playing my 1860 acoustically around the house.
I plugged it in yesterday for my son (at age 14 he has finally realised he wants to play guitar) and for a minute or so there was no sound through the amp. Then, when the sound arrived, it was sort of muffled. I fiddled (which is an Australian technical term) around with the lead and there were a few loud cracking sounds through the amp.....sound went up and down and then nothing. I followed the same process several times until the crackling stopped and everything was normal...guitar sounded great.
The preamp in my 1860 is FET3 (still dunno what that means).....Do these things have to warm up for a while as they get older -- I've had the guitar from new for 15 years -- or is there more likely to be a problem with the lead and where it goes into the guitar?
BTW.......I'm so happy that my son has started playing. I've never "invited" him to play with me or learn with/from me although he's always been free to pick up a guitar and bash away on it. He woke up about an hour ago (it's eight thirty Saturday morning here) and came and complained to me about his sore fingers. Five minutes later I can hear him in his room..with my Ovation...trying to play a G chord, picking out a C major scale...and banging away to Smoke On The Water :D ........it's beautiful and takes me back. |
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Joined:
March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | Might just be a bad cord. Might be dust in the volume control. If that's it, a little contact cleaner spray followed by turning that knob back and forth a lot should do the trick. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Were you fiddling with the guitar end or the amp end of the cable? It sounds like you have a loose connection at that end. I have the same on one of my amps. Try a different cable first to eliminate the cheap fix.
There shouldn't be any warm up time on the preamp. |
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Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | If it's not a cable, I'd suspect the amp pots. Here in Florida, our humidity and resultant condensation tends to collect dust on 'em. It's even more suspect if your amp is tubes/valves. |
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Joined:
October 2007
Posts: 283
Location: Portland, OR | Any good spray electrical cleaner should resolve it if it reappears. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | Could also just be oxidation on the contacts in the jack or on the plug. |
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August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | I've slept in your house Steve. Have you checked inside the guitar for icicles? |
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Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | Don't want to state the obvious Steve, but have you changed the battery? |
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Joined:
June 2006
Posts: 7307
Location: South of most, North of few | Originally posted by TAFKAR:
Don't want to state the obvious Steve, but have you changed the battery? Bingo. |
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Joined:
October 2008
Posts: 639
Location: NW of Philadelphia | Go get some tuner cleaner and spry it into the pots. Spin the knob, do it again.
Works for me. |
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Joined:
January 2007
Posts: 672
Location: New South Wales, Australia | No icicles yet Muz....plenty of rain and wind though...you blokes up there have had it even worse I think?
The battery is fine Richard, well, at least according to the little green/orange/red battery light :confused: (I'm colour blind) |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Take the battery out and stick the terminals on your tongue, just to make sure. You'll KNOW if it's good.
You haven't told us yet if you've tested the cable?
Does the crackling happen EVERY time you start using the preamp, or is it OK for now? |
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Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | Don't you just love it when someone tells you to put the battery on your tongue? With the amount of salt damage on your case, corrosion somewhere is a likely culprit. That's the down side of being able to walk to the beach. |
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Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by TAFKAR:
That's the down side of being able to walk to the beach... ... and worth every batt and cable I've had to replace!  |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | pots need cleaning |
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Joined:
March 2006
Posts: 482
Location: enid, ok | Rice Crispies? |
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bad crackling sound
