Sorry for posting on here, if this doesn't belong here or you feel like it should be moved/removed please do so and I apologize in advance. I'm only posting here because, and I suck at fixing solid state gear!
So I picked up a vintage solid state Fender Stage 160 DSP guitar amp and I'm running into a small issue. The amp powers on and plays just fine, but only sometimes. I usually have to tip the amp forward and power it off and back on, but sometimes it's at random, then right after hitting the power button it comes alive and amplifies the guitar signal like it should. Whenever I turn it on and it doesn't amplify guitar signal the red power light always stays on, however.
I took the amp completely apart twice already trying to locate something out of place, a loose solder joint, connection, but to no avail. Checked the caps for leakage, but the board looks almost brand new. I cleaned all the contacts with DeoxIT and yet the issue persists. One interesting thing is, whenever the amp is on and not amplifying input signal from the main input, I can plug in the guitar in the back into an input labeled "PWR AMP IN" and it will amplify the signal at average volume, however none of the tone or volume controls work. That led me to believe that there must have been something wrong with that board so I took it apart, checked all the connections for shorts and everything reads out just fine. Without the inputs board plugged in the amp stays silent and two small red lights light up on the main board.
So I'm not quite sure where else to look, could it be the preamp section? What else can cause such strange issue? I tried wiggling different components see if it makes a difference but it had no effect whatsoever. Only tilting it forward and powering it off and back on seems to bring the amplifier to life, and that works about 70% of the time. I haven't checked the tone controls, as I don't think they could cause such issue, but that's my next move.
Do you guys have any other suggestions as what to check next?
Schematic:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Hc...S1aq-_YW6-s6nH
So I picked up a vintage solid state Fender Stage 160 DSP guitar amp and I'm running into a small issue. The amp powers on and plays just fine, but only sometimes. I usually have to tip the amp forward and power it off and back on, but sometimes it's at random, then right after hitting the power button it comes alive and amplifies the guitar signal like it should. Whenever I turn it on and it doesn't amplify guitar signal the red power light always stays on, however.
I took the amp completely apart twice already trying to locate something out of place, a loose solder joint, connection, but to no avail. Checked the caps for leakage, but the board looks almost brand new. I cleaned all the contacts with DeoxIT and yet the issue persists. One interesting thing is, whenever the amp is on and not amplifying input signal from the main input, I can plug in the guitar in the back into an input labeled "PWR AMP IN" and it will amplify the signal at average volume, however none of the tone or volume controls work. That led me to believe that there must have been something wrong with that board so I took it apart, checked all the connections for shorts and everything reads out just fine. Without the inputs board plugged in the amp stays silent and two small red lights light up on the main board.
So I'm not quite sure where else to look, could it be the preamp section? What else can cause such strange issue? I tried wiggling different components see if it makes a difference but it had no effect whatsoever. Only tilting it forward and powering it off and back on seems to bring the amplifier to life, and that works about 70% of the time. I haven't checked the tone controls, as I don't think they could cause such issue, but that's my next move.
Do you guys have any other suggestions as what to check next?
Schematic:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Hc...S1aq-_YW6-s6nH
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