The coach a noob through an easy repair thread.....

[highlux]

Hello guitar peeps.  eh...Bass guys too.

  I'm a relatively new player, I suck..lol.   But, I have acquired an amp recently and need to fix it. It's a Fender Ultimate Chorus, and it's in great shape. Well cared for.  Cover. Foot pedal. No damage to the cab or grill. I traded my lil Blackstar IDcore10 my first amp for it straight up.  I have a New Fender Super Champ x2 and a Fender M-80 Chorus with the red knobs and grey carpet as well.

I love the superchamp and the m80.  Love the chorus.  I know the Ultimate chorus is similar to the m80..but I wanted it anyways.

Here is the issue...I knew the Ultimate had an issue.  I did some research on it...and think I have an idea what it is.

When turned on cold. It plays ok for a bit....then starts humming and breaking up.  I have read several threads with the same symptoms and have a strong hunch the filter caps need to be re-soldered.  Common problem from what I understand.

I'm handy. I did remodeling for 22 years. I am great with a solder gun.  Have lots of tools.

What I would like to do it pull the chassis out...discharge the 2 caps or minimum check for voltage...look the board over for loose solder joints...re-solder the filter caps.  I wont burn the board.  I will use a 30 watt iron, 60/40 solder.  I will de-solder first with a bulb or plunger style solder sucker. clean. then solder.

I have a multimeter.   (a couple)
I have test lights.
I have an old school analog meter for car use..that can measure volts to 16...I hear I can discharge caps with this?
I could make the discharge deal with a resistor...a link to a resistor that would work would be incredible.

Can someone give any tips...so as not to zap my self?  (Yes I will unplug it)

[highlux]

Reading the stickies now....

[highlux]

33 views...not one response....guess i went to the wrong forum. :grr

[J M Fahey]

33 views...not one response....guess i went to the wrong forum. :grr

Yup.
Google "highlux CENTER of the World Forum" , they're anxiously expecting you.





That said, get real:

1) you posted just a few hours ago 

2) you fill up your post with unrelated stuff ... did I say "lack of focus?"

And you also self answer.

It sure does not help you if it isn't clear what's important and what is not:

Hello guitar peeps.  eh...Bass guys too.

  I'm a relatively new player, I suck..lol.   .... Well cared for.  Cover. Foot pedal. No damage to the cab or grill. I traded my lil Blackstar IDcore10 my first amp for it straight up.  I have a New Fender Super Champ x2 and a Fender M-80 Chorus with the red knobs and grey carpet as well.

I love the superchamp and the m80.  Love the chorus.  I know the Ultimate chorus is similar to the m80..but I wanted it anyways.

Here is the issue...I knew the Ultimate had an issue.  I did some research on it...and think I have an idea what it is.
.......

I'm handy. I did remodeling for 22 years. I am great with a solder gun.  Have lots of tools.

What I would like to do it pull the chassis out...discharge the 2 caps or minimum check for voltage...look the board over for loose solder joints...re-solder the filter caps.  I wont burn the board.  I will use a 30 watt iron, 60/40 solder.  I will de-solder first with a bulb or plunger style solder sucker. clean. then solder.

I have a multimeter.   (a couple)
I have test lights.
I have an old school analog meter for car use..that can measure volts to 16...I hear I can discharge caps with this?
I could make the discharge deal with a resistor...a link to a resistor that would work would be incredible.

Can someone give any tips...so as not to zap my self?  (Yes I will unplug it)

3) 33 views? ... that's nothing.

For very good reasons this is a very popular and read Forum , for every Member reading a post there's 50/100 unregistered "guests" ...who can't write an answer even if they want to.

Forum statistics show that any thread with , say, 10 published answers , often have, say, 4000 visits or so.   

4) this Forum is seen all over the World.

Regular posters Roly and Phatt live in Australia, I am in Argentina (exactly 12 hours difference) if you are in USA we are probably 3 to 5 hours away.

Your question seems to have been posted yesterday night for most in America ... and people often sleeps during those hours.

5) yours is an SS amp, voltages are much lower than in tube ones.

Anyway measure them, mainly to avoid sparks and damaging other stuff.
If needed discharge them with, say, a 2k2 or 4k7 1W resistor.

6) if you have any other technical doubts, just ask; but you'll have to get the adoring hot chicks yourself:

[g1]

  Those views are mostly bots.
Glad to hear you are paying attention to safety.  For solid state stuff we don't usually worry about discharging, but it is good practice to check voltages to make sure things ARE discharged.  With tube amps it is a big concern due to the high voltages and circuits that often don't self-discharge as easily as solid state stuff.
  Sounds like you have a pretty good idea what to do and what are likely suspects.
Also check generally for other bad solder connections.  If you have a good idea of what bad solder joints look like, a visual inspection will go a long way.  Pots and jacks are also prone to solder problems, as well as "hot spots" like power supply diodes and resistors where you may see browning of the board due to heat.
  Pay special attention to the dis-assembly and re-assembly process.  Take pictures and notes if you can.  Pay attention to wire routing (dress) and connectors as well as the heatsink assembly for the output transistors.  It is very easy to break wire connections when getting the board in and out of these amps, or flipping it over for access.
  Connectors are another item to check for bad solder.

[Roly]

33 views...not one response....guess i went to the wrong forum. :grr

Yeah, I've got a tip for a noob...   :trouble

You can have it quick, you can have it cheap, or you can have it good, but you can't have it all three.

Here we do cheap and good.  There are at least a couple of hundred years of bench experience available on this forum at zero cost.  And because we are scattered around the world there is a good chance you will get a skilled response promptly and for free, but when I provide my skills for free I do so on my terms, not yours.

I used to charge petulant/impatient/unreasonable customers a times-two surcharge, but in latter years even that wasn't worth the bother and I would simply show them the door.

Let's be perfectly clear that if you turned up in the shop of an amp tech you were actually paying, only a few hours after dropping your amp off, you would be taking your dead amp home with you.

[highlux]

Hey JM Fahey    How about you go f!!* yourself.   Fucking *buttwad*.

[DrGonz78]

Don't let it hit your A$$ on the way out! Oh and it looks like many doors await you with that attitude.  :dbtu:

[Roly]

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.  Whattaloser.   

[J M Fahey]

Hi DAVE ..... sorry,  HIGHLUX .

Considering you are a 13 y.o. noob , I might forgive your impatience and bad manners so:



and yes, now I understand YOU see that you are the CENTER of the World, but also that it's black, it stinks, and all around you are buttwads ... who else would hang out with you the way you are?

But don't worry, here at SSG we always offer some kind of solution:

buy this book and in, say, 300 years you might be cured:



Otherwise, some day in the future, when you are 44 and , bored with life buy a guitar to fill your lonely days, maybe you start thinking you are a LOSER .





Oh !!! sorry!!!! you say you are 44 now and you just bought a guitar and will take your first online lesson soon?

Fine, just try not to piss off your teacher like you do with everything else in your life.

[DrGonz78]

 :lmao: That was funny!!  :lmao:

Maybe he thought this was the SGM website? (inside MEF joke)

[JHow]

This is how guitar amps with minor problems end up selling for pennies on the dollar on craigslist - maladjusted operator headspace.  :loco