Amplifier volume is erratic, help please.

S

SMC

New member
Bought a Peavey starter kit (peavey raptor exp and a 26 watt peavey backstage amp) from Swee Lee more than a year ago but i haven't really been playing much (partly because of the erratic volume). Now that I'm finally getting back into playing again its really annoying me. At first i thought it was the cables, coz the starter pack came with lousy cables, so i bought 2 10ft ibanez gold tip low noise cables yesterday. 1 for my Zoom G2.1u and 1 to connect it to my amp.

At first it was playing well, really loud even though the volume knob on the amp was just set at 3. Then suddenly, there was some distortion noise and the volume just died down. I was like..wtf? again? Then even though i turned the volume knob all the way to 10, it still wasn't as loud compared to before when it was only at 3.

I really dont know what going on, help would be VERY much appreaciated. Thanks guys.
 
Go invest in a can of contact cleaner from your local electrical shop. Shake well and spray into the input hole of your amp in all possible angles

From what i suspect, it's just a case of poor electrical contact. It happens if u dun play often. The dust just collects inside the hole, and the contact gets corroded as well.

U might want to spray into your Zoom unit's input and output holes, as well as your guitar's input jack hole.
 
okay thanks for the advice, i'll go get some contact cleaner...somewhere lol and i'll let you know how it goes. HOPEFULLY its just the contacts *prays*
 
i actually suspect that it might be the guitar.

are u using a 3-way toggle guitar?
example : epiphone/gibson lespauls and arch tops.

i have the same problem when the guitar volume drop really low and soft that u cannot hear.. it could be your guitar.. due to dust or something.. try turning the toggle knot at real quick speed to sort of "warm up" the thing..

works for me..not sure about u..
 
Either ways, even if the problem is not the contacts and something else, the contact cleaner will still be a valuable addition to your repair arsenal. U can spray it on literally electrical/electronic, like ur computer parts and such.

And yea, let's all hope for the best ;)
 
Um, does WD-40 count as a contact cleaner? coz i have one at home. Thanks for the reply guys.
 
okay luckily i didn't listen to my dad...so i just go to a shop like harvey norman or something and tell them electrical contact cleaner? Any particular brand i should get or something?
 
for electrical contact cleaner, just get those non oil based type. There will be indication on the bottle usually.

Wd40 those kinda, is oil based lub. It doesnt vaporise. It stick on surface and gather dust/particle. The last thing we wanna, is to gather those on the jacks contact.
 
No WD40. It's a lubricant. It's not a cleaner.

No particular brand for me, not sure if there is any popular brands out there either. I'm using this Narita brand right now. Not sure who bought it and where it came from. Just knew it was in the house.

Or u can try telling them video head cleaner. At least that's what's written on my can.
 
WD40 is a no no because it doesn't evaporate and leaves a residue which will eat at the rust but also eat at the metals... so stay away from it for electronic parts.

Go to sim lim tower (not square) and look/ask for Servisol brand of contact cleaner. it's a white can with a nozzle. always good to have one around. :)
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the reply guys. Appreciate it. Yeah got that part about not using WD-40. lol. I'll try to get one maybe tomorrow or another day and let you guys know how it goes. Thanks again.
 
Okay guys, bought a can of Super Jackie (spray 60) electrical contact cleaner from carrefour 2 days ago.

So last night i attached the extension tube and sprayed it into the input holes in my amp and my guitar jack as well as my multi fx pedal. Left it for about 15 minutes then came back and used a cotton bud to get the dirt out. Repeated this process twice. After that i connected my guitar to my amp and voila! the volume was loud and constant and back.

However...lol...there was this constant static/distortion sound coming from my amplifier. So i thought that maybe the stuff hadn't dried completely or something so i left it to air until this morning. Then this morning i turned on my amp, without anything connected to it, and it just started making this static/distortion sound. After i connected my guitar it still made the sound so uh...lol..any advice or previous experiences? I mean when i play it covers the sound but everytime i stop it comes out and its really irritating. Thanks.
 
how old is your amp?
with a constant negative feedback, there are quite a few possible reasons.

1.cables.
2.guitar pickups, especially single coils.
3.amp jack is broken/loose wires/dirty/worn out.
4.amp power plug, change it to 3 pin with a ground will help reduce feedback.
5.going through too many effect pedals will increase noise.
6.your effect pedal might be broken, but since u said u didn't plug in anything, i believe its the amp.
7. not just the jack can become dusty, u have to spray inside on the amp knobs too.open up the whole amp. (i'm the kinda guy that likes to dismantle things)

thats all that i know.. good luck!
 
My amp is around 1-2 years old. Well i bought new cables last week so it shouldnt be the problem. Its interesting what you said "amp power plug, change it to 3 pin with a ground will help reduce feedback." How do you change the plug to 3 pin? Coz presently im using a 2 pin power plug with an adapter to plug it into the socket.

As for dismantling the whole thing uhh....lol....okay i'll give it a try later...and hopefully i dont break anything..

oh and thanks for the speedy reply ernest.
 
i dunno what is the real name of this thing.. but i just call it the "UK 2-pin".
it is different from the hair dryer or computer speakers kind.
euroPback.jpg

i believe that should be your amp power plug right?

your power cable actually have 3 wires inside..the neutral, earth and live.
but only the neutral and live has been connected to your 2-pin head plug.

so what u have to do now is..
find a 3 pin plug.
cut off your "uk 2-pin".
u should be able to see that the cable really consist of 3 wires altogether. then u should be able to wire yourself.

but if your entire cable can be removed, u can just plug in another power cable that has 3 pin.. example: CPU, monitors.
 
It might also be ur multi efx's power supply. Some are just purely noisy. If your multi-efx's power supply is some generic brand, i suggest u ditch it and get a one-spot. It's cheap, quiet and effective.

Grounding helps, and i highly recommend everyone to do it. There's a sticky in the guitar section to show how it's done.
 
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