Frontman 212R distorted sound on clean channel - HELP!

[lynchy777]

Hi guys,

I have had my amp for just over 2 years now. The other day I was playing with pretty heavy distortion and didn't notice any problems, until the next day when I switched the amp on and my guitar was distorted through the clean channel. (I tried a different guitar so it's definitely the amp)

I am not sure if I have blown a speaker or is the a problem on the circuit board? I need to know where to start.

I would also like to know how to fix it as I am interested in learning how to repair and build amps. Can anyone please help me?

Cheers!

[J M Fahey]

You might have a sick speaker. Not dead but ...
Plug your amp into another known good cabinet; pull the wires from speakers and hook them to some wire with a plug in the end.

[guitarfreak666]

look if there is corosion on the speaker jack!!!! i used to have it with my amp too
check the part that is conected to the speakers cable and the part on the amp itself

[lynchy777]

Thanks JM and GF! I will try both of your solutions and hopefully I can find the problem.

Cheers!

[Enzo]

Are you the original owner?  Did you buy it new?  Fender warranty was five years, so it ought to be still covered if so.  IN which case, let Fender handle it.

[lynchy777]

Hi Enzo,

Yeah I am the original owner however in Aus they only offer 1 year warranty, which sucks! So I rather learn how to fix the problem then paying someone to do it.

Cheers

[phatt]

Try and establish where in the signal path the problem exists.
Working out if the problem is in the preamp or power amp will speed things along for you.

Can  you get clean audio by inserting signal into the power amp input?
(most Amps now have efx loops or similar)

Does the amp work on the drive channel?

Oh there is one thing about these amps, the input often has a mute circuit it may have broken.
Do you have a DMM? If so, then test points are often shown on the schematic.

Phil.