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What is wrong with my amp?


ScarletMacaw

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I am technologically incompetent and a novice electric guitarist; I hope someone can help me.

I've had problems with the sound going in and out. I replaced the cable and that cleared it up for awhile. Now it's happening again. I checked the guitar and the cable with another amp and it's neither of them so I think it must be the amp. What happens is, when I first plug the guitar in there is sound, but when I hit a string hard with a pick there is a popping sound and the sound goes out. This has happened several times. If you have any idea what is happening that would be helpful.

The amp is a Fender Mustang Mini, which I now realize was a mistake as it has a lot of pre-programmed settings that I'm not interested in using, plus they have stupid names like "British 60s" and "American 90s" kind of broad don't you think...oh well. I bought it because it was the right size, has a headphone jack, runs on batteries and has a handle that can also be used to tilt the amp.

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Unless it is a tube/valve amp you're wasting your money.

I use a Peavey Classic 30 and it serves me and my Les Paul well.

Most solid state or transistor amplifiers are crap IMO and being a battery powered amp it would appear to be one.

You can pick up a nice second hand 30w valve amp for about $500.

Like everything else, you get what you pay for and the best price is not always the lowest.

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Unless it is a tube/valve amp you're wasting your money.

Wow. That's really helpful :unsure:

Not everyone can afford to buy and maintain a valve amp, especially a novice. A 'cheap' secondhand valve amp may cost 'only' about $500, but that's a lot of money to commit to if you're a beginner. The Fender Mustang Mini is under $150 brand new. Also, if you don't know what you're looking for, that cheap $500 amp might need a new set of valves (which need to be biased), or a whole other set of expensive problems. At least with a solid state amp, they either tend to work, or not work.

Also, if a newbie does buy a valve amp are they going to know you have to let those lovely tubes warm up before you start using them if you want them to last a decent amount of time. Valve amps are great. They sound beautiful, but they're not up there in the reliability stakes. And let's not get into people electrocuting themselves if they try and service them themselves...... (you've just spent a lot of money on an amp, a tube goes and you don't want to/haven't got the money to pay someone who knows what they're doing to service it. How difficult can it be? It's like changing a lightbulb, right?).

I am technologically incompetent and a novice electric guitarist; I hope someone can help me.

I've had problems with the sound going in and out. I replaced the cable and that cleared it up for awhile. Now it's happening again. I checked the guitar and the cable with another amp and it's neither of them so I think it must be the amp. What happens is, when I first plug the guitar in there is sound, but when I hit a string hard with a pick there is a popping sound and the sound goes out. This has happened several times. If you have any idea what is happening that would be helpful.

The amp is a Fender Mustang Mini, which I now realize was a mistake as it has a lot of pre-programmed settings that I'm not interested in using, plus they have stupid names like "British 60s" and "American 90s" kind of broad don't you think...oh well. I bought it because it was the right size, has a headphone jack, runs on batteries and has a handle that can also be used to tilt the amp.

If it's a battery powered amp, and the sound cuts out when you play a loud note the first thing to look at is the batteries. If you buy cheap batteries they don't generally don't last as long as dearer ones! The symptoms you describe could easily be covered by lack of power - the batteries have enough juice to start the amp up, but as soon as it needs to draw enough power to ampilfy the sound they can't cope and the amp shuts down. Can it be powered by an AC adaptor? If it can, that would be the second thing to try, after buying new batteries.

If that doesn't solve the problem then the most likely other cause is either a dodgy capacitor somewhere on the circuit board, or a power amp isn't happy. If that's the case and the amp is still under warranty, take it back!

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Thanks for all the feedback.

I think I'll first try replacing the batteries, then if that doesn't work, I'll take it into the shop. I bought it less than a year ago.

I didn't feel like I could spend a lot of money on an amp (or a guitar) until I developed some skills...maybe I felt like I didn't deserve it. Also, I live in an apartment and am not really able to crank it up that much. I also wanted a portable so I could take it places, although I've only done that once and in fact, between the guitar and the amp I still needed a car.

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could be a loose jack where you plug guitar in.

It could be that. I once had that problem with my old amp, it was fixed quite easily.

Oh by the way, I now own a Fender Mustang 1 and am quite happy with it.

Off course I would have loved to own a great Marshall valve amp, but they simply are above my budget.

In other words, I decided to look for a reliable, decent amp within my budget and a Fender Mustang 1 seemed a good choice, so far it is serving me quite well.

I have been playing for quite a few years, but certainly not everyone can afford great vintage gear. I too would love to own a valuable vintage guitar and amp, I just do not have the money.......

Maaike

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Whaddya know, it was the batteries! I replaced them and now it's working. I had thought that if it were the batteries, I would have gotten no sound at all!

you mean you didn't have to go out and buy a valve amp?

what a shock!

glad to have been of assistance. Now get yourself an a.c. adaptor and save loads of money on batteries! Even new batteries will only give you a few hours playing....

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you mean you didn't have to go out and buy a valve amp?

what a shock!

glad to have been of assistance. Now get yourself an a.c. adaptor and save loads of money on batteries! Even new batteries will only give you a few hours playing....

Thanks. I do have an adapter/cord but I wanted to use batteries because I'm tired of tripping over various cords and cables in my small apt. Actually this amp uses 6 "C" batteries and they did last almost 6 months. I often practice without plugging in the guitar at all, because I can still hear it but no one else can which is an advantage late at night in my building.

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