Fender Frontman 15B

[grymix]

So, I'm having amp troubles. I've been playing electric guitar for over a year now and I've used the same amp the entire time, a Fender Frontman 15B. The problem is a very loud buzzing whenever I plug in my guitar and turn the amp on. Without distortion, the bussing is just noticeable. With distortion, however, the buzzing is amplified what feels like 100 times. The only time its not buzzing is when i put my hand on either the strings or the bridge. I've tried switching the two cables I use to connect the guitar and pedal. Nothing seems to work. The amp is very old, as it was my fathers when he was in high school. Is it time for a new amp? Is it my guitar? What else could I try? I have a Jackson JS22 Dinky Arch Top Electric Guitar, Satan Black. Sorry if I sound stupid, I'm relatively new to the whole "guitar" thing and I've made this account within the last 20 minutes. Thanks God bless.

[The Dude]

Welcome to the place!

If the hum stops when you touch the strings or the bridge of the guitar, it's likely you've lost the bridge ground on your guitar. There should be a wire from the electronics cavity to the bridge to ground it. Check that it is well connected. It may require removing the bridge. This is more common on guitars with painted or powder coated bridges. You may need to scrape away some of the paint under the bridge so that the bridge makes a better connection to the wire. It's also possible it just came loose from whatever it was soldered to inside the cavity. If you want to verify that it's the guitar, get a hold of another guitar and try it on your amp.

[grymix]

I'm pretty sure it's not my guitar, I just tried my dad's old bass and the same buzzing occurred.

[grymix]

I'm pretty sure it's not my guitar, I just tried my dad's old bass and the same buzzing occurred. I'll try checking the bridge anyways. Thanks!

[The Dude]

Do you have an ohm meter? If so, just check continuity from the jack ground to the bridge and see if you get 0 ohms. My other thought is that you have cracked solder on the input jack of the amp causing a poor ground connection and it needs to be resoldered. At any rate, it should be a relatively simple fix either way. I don't think you need a new anything.

[Justin Thomas]

With nothing plugged into the input, how does it act?

Justin

[Enzo]

Is the power cord plug intact? Measure from the third prong on the power cord to the chassis, should be zero ohms.

[grymix]

Without anything in the input, there's very slight static, but I'm pretty sure that's normal.

[grymix]

So, I don't own an ohm meter, but I did manage to open the guitar and check the smoldered areas for any faults. I couldn't find any, but i could always check again. I'll try and pick up an ohm meter within the week and take your advice. Thanks for all the help!

[J M Fahey]

Simply touch strings or bridge all the time, period.
Your ungrounded body acts as an antenna for all the electrical junk surrounding you so touching strings grounds *you* .
And itīs normal that with high gain/distortion noiuse is much higher.

[g1]

One more thing, if you haven't yet, try it in various AC outlets and locations (other rooms).

[ChopSauce]

I am afraid I feel like I have to interfere in that matter, yet I am a newbie here, because I know the Frontman 25R, which might not be that much different - at the hardware level.

If the buzz came only recently then read below. Otherwise, you may try to re-dress the wiring - keeping the high current output cables away from any input thing (transformer, instrument jacks & cables) like I did - Frontman 25R not silent enough!?. | Telecaster Guitar Forum - with the hope that helps.

So, I think your Frontman also has switched jacks, & -*-maybe-*- it is thus normal there is no buzz with nothing plugged in.

In that case, as already suggested, that could be a problem with the soldering of the input jack. This operation is rather easy if you take the time it takes to carefully take the chassis out. Just try to remelt the solderings of the input jack pins and - please - be be carefull not being too long if you have a low powered &/or non regulated temperature solder iron (yet the jack is not that much of a sensitive component.)

NB : a somewhat shorted input cable would make for a very low output volume and almost no buzz, at mine - at least, isn't it?