Peavey special 130 help

[T-PAIN]

Hello, im new so thanks in advance. I just picked up an old peavey special 130 for cheap and either it or i have a few problems. First, it came with no foot switch so i think i am changing channels with an open 1/4 jack in the back, please correct me if i am wrong. On what i think is the normal channel, every thing seems to work fine and sounds good.the lead channel seems to work but has no distortion. According to my down loaded owners guide the saturation controls all the dirt and it has no effect on either channel.the gain/level/volume will make your ears bleed on 3,no joke. If someone could tell me what to look for under the hood regarding the saturation and is that volume real? I would appreciate any help. Thanks

[Jazz P Bass]

Well, here is the schematic for starters.
The foot switch should be a 2 button arraingement.
The plug is Tip, Ring, Sleeve.
A regular Tip, Ring 1/4" will not be correct, as you can only access Reverb On/Off.
Tip is Reverb.
Ring is Effects.
Sleeve is 0 volts (ground)
Does the Saturation work without the footswitch plugged in?

[T-PAIN]

Thanks for the schematic, i wish i could tell you that i can read it and work my problems out, with that said i dont want to waste your time. To answer your question, the saturation seems to have no effect with or without the 1/4 jack. With out the jack in,the pre gain/ pull bright,post gain and reverb are active and im assuming the saturation should be as well. With the jack in the normal gain is active. I read in another forum that an ungrounded jack would change the channel and another said to insert the jack then ground the tip then the ring checking the results each time. Im sure it all sounds very barbaric to you, but i would like to access both channels before investing any more $ into this beast, thanks again

[Jazz P Bass]

The footswitch (with a stereo 1/4" plug) will switch between Lead & Normal (Tip/Ring) & turn the Reverb On & Off.(Tip/Sleeve).
So the Lead & Reverb both default to On without a footswitch.
Saturation will only have an effect on the Lead Channel.
Here is a link to the Peavey Manual: http://www.peavey.com/assets/literat...s/80343010.pdf
Do you have access to a volt meter?

[T-PAIN]

Thanks again, yes i do have a fluke meter. I noticed lately that the saturation seems to ad a very small amount of gain to the lead channel only. I found a trs jack and ended up grounding the ring to the sleeve as you said to change the channels.

[Jazz P Bass]

Does the foot switch input actually change from Lead to Normal?
The Saturation only works on the Lead channel.
I have attached the Lead part of the schematic.
My gut feeling is that you may have a bad capacitor.
C6 is a 22uf electrolytic. It may be that it dried out & is not passing the signal properly.
The first item that I would check off is the soldering in that area.
Especially the Saturation control potentiometer.

[T-PAIN]

Hey jass, the channels do change with the stereo jack, im in the middle of checking the solder joints on the saturation pot. I picked up an electrolytic capacitor and the package reads 22pf axial leads 35wvdc maximum radioshack part # 272-1014 , according to the schematic and the one thats in there, its a 22/25, thats the closest radioshack had, what do you think? Thanks

[Jazz P Bass]

The higher the voltage rating of a capacitor, the more voltage it can handle.
If it fits the space, more is better

[T-PAIN]

So you would use the new one i described? If so, do you just clip the old barrel part out and solder the new leads to the old leads? Sorry to be so stupid about all this, my experience lies with things with two wheels. Thanks

[Jazz P Bass]

If you are disinclined to taking the board out, desoldering the old part & resoldering it, clip away.
Please be mindful of the polarity markings on the cap.
The arrow points away from the arriving signal.

[lindydanny]

I just bought one of these recently. I googled to find this thread. Thanks for the info; the schematic really helped me understand the footswitch. Luckily, I speak electronics... not fluently...

Anyway, thanks again!

~DB

[ObscureCreation]

Could you send me the attached files you sent him