No sound from Charvel amp

[kevdog]

Hello everyone, a newcomer here.  I have a Charvel solid state amp from the 90's.  Recently I was playing and the volume lowered on its own a couple times and now I get no sound from it whatsoever.  Its not the guitar or the cable, they work fine on another amp.  I replaced the fuse (no difference) and used some spray to clean the knobs and inputs, nothing has made a difference.  The amp turns on fine, just no sound coming out of it regardless of which input I use or knob adjustments, etc.

One thing to note though is if I have my guitar (while plugged into the amp) leaning against the amp I will hear a very low volume from the amp.  However once I move the guitar away from the amp the sound stops.  Any ideas?  thanks

[J M Fahey]

The classic first action is to plug a guitar cable from loop send to return (if tha amp is old, they might be labelled Pre Out and Power Amp In but it´s basically the same)
The switching contacts in the In/Return jack weaken/get dirty/rust with time and sound fades.
Squirt a little contact cleaner in them and work the plug in/out a few times to clean.
Do the same with the input jack.
Also check the Headphone out jack, it also has a small spring leaf inside which cuts the internal speaker off when you plug headphones, it may be worn/weak/dirty.
If not that, you´ll have to open the chassis and dig into the amp, but that requires some Electronics experience.
Good luck.

[kevdog]

The classic first action is to plug a guitar cable from loop send to return (if tha amp is old, they might be labelled Pre Out and Power Amp In but it´s basically the same)
The switching contacts in the In/Return jack weaken/get dirty/rust with time and sound fades.
Squirt a little contact cleaner in them and work the plug in/out a few times to clean.
Do the same with the input jack.
Also check the Headphone out jack, it also has a small spring leaf inside which cuts the internal speaker off when you plug headphones, it may be worn/weak/dirty.
If not that, you´ll have to open the chassis and dig into the amp, but that requires some Electronics experience.
Good luck.

Excellent advice, it worked!  I plugged a cable into the loop send and return and the sound was back!  I then sprayed some cleaner in there, worked the cable in and out many times and now it works just as it did before, thanks again!

What a great forum, thanks for allowing "newbies" to post their issues so quickly!

[J M Fahey]

Fine, glad to help.
I´d like to add that in case the amp works with the cord plugged as suggested, but cleaning does not work, then the little leaf switch in the In/Return jack is worn/bent beyond repair and you´ll need to replace it with a new similar one.