Fender 15R Frontman output jack replacement help

[mjplus7]

Hi,
My son has a Fender 15R Frontman amp and the output jack isn't working. We took off the back to see what is involved in replacing the jack ourselves. We are clueless but willing to learn. Are there any step by step instructions for this? Or would someone be willing to walk us through it, from where to get the replacement jack to removing the existing non-working jack and replacing with new jack? Thanks so much for your time and help.

[olddawg]

First off. What makes you think the problem is the jack? You are aware that there are potentially lethal voltages inside even solid state amps?

[Enzo]

And what are you calling the output jack? The speakers are hard wired, so that leaves the external speaker jack and the headphones jack. You don't mean the input jack, I hope. And as far as I know, that extension speaker jack is only on the Mexucan built FM15R. The Indonesian ones lack any speaker jack.

I will say that a bad headphones jack can leave the amp sildent. And if the internal speaker is blown, that can prevent the external speaker jack from functioning.

And while anything can break, it is my experience that the amp chip inside is more likely to faul that the external speaker jack.

[mtmFrontman]

I have a Frontman 15R. I think the headphone jack needs to be replaced. When I turn the amp on, it powers up, but no sound at all comes out of the speaker. When I plugged in head phones in the headphones jack, I get good sound and all the knobs work like they should changing the sound. Did some quick research and looks like it might be a bad headphones jack.

So, what so you all think?

If it is the headphones jack, is it worth replacing?

[The Dude]

Is it worth it? That's up to you, but I have replaced several of those.

[mtmFrontman]

do you think it is the headphones jack? I'm not really sure that is the problem.

[The Dude]

They headphone jack is switching. It mutes the speaker if there is or it thinks there is something plugged into it. If the switching part is bad, the amp will stay muted. You can do a simple continuity check on the jack pins to see if it's switching.

[g1]

It could be the jack, but could also be the speaker. Have you tested the speaker?

[mtmFrontman]

The Dude: what specific parts of the jack would I put the tester on to figure that out?

[mtmFrontman]

g1: what specifically would I do to test the speaker?

I really appreciate your help with this.

[Enzo]

Look at the speaker, has a wire come off?

A simple way to test a speaker is with a 9v battery. Disconnect the speaker from the electronics part. Now touch the two terminals on the battery to the two terminals on the speaker. Just briefly. Tap tap tap. A working speaker will pop or thump with each touch. If no sound, then speaker is dead.

[The Dude]

Here's a schematic showing the jack pins. Lower right of first page. The headphone out is just a resistor lowered version of the speaker out, so if the speaker is good and is connected, the headphone jack is a pretty likely fault.

fender-frontman-15g-15r.pdf

[mtmFrontman]

Enzo: thanks for the tip. Just tried it and no pop or thump. The speaker looks good, but no sound.

Thanks for your help. Keep them hands washed and stay healthy.

[mtmFrontman]

The Dude: you da man. This helps a bunch for future trouble shooting.


Thanks for your help. Keep them hands washed and stay healthy.

Imma gonna connect the speaker wires from the Frontman head (or what ever the control panel is called) to a spare stereo speaker I have laying around the house. I hope the Frontman doesn't bust the stereo speaker.

[olddawg]

Shouldn’t just start with the master on zero..