why does the volume on my amp go up on its own

[ajm923]

I have a fender power chorus solid state amp. when I play my guitar on it, the volume all of a sudden goes up by itself and gets really loud and I have to turn it off. if I knew the problem, im confident I can fix it, but I cannot seem to find any info on the internet about this problem. can someone please help me with this issue. I love this amp and I want to keep it. it has an awesome clean channel and I for those awesome 80's powerballads...and I plug into a boss ds-1 going into a sonic maximizer(foot switch). it has a really good tone that doesn't sound thin. kinda like a killer sounding modified marshall. although my main amp is a 1977 marshall jmp. the fender is just a awesome sounding practice amp with this setup. please heeeeeeeeeeelp!!!

[Roly]

why does the volume on my amp go up on its own

'coz it was just born to rock?   :lmao:

(ahem.  sorry.  )


Hi ajm923, welcome.


(assuming that the level shoots up to max from some reasonable volume setting such as 4/10)

This sort of thing is most likely caused by a physical intermittent rather than an electronic problem, e.g. the amp has suffered a face-drop onto its controls at some point of its life, and my first guess would be to look at the solder joints of the main volume control (or gain control if that seems more like it).

Do any of the controls or sockets seem to be mechanically sensitive?  (e.g. does thumping the case or twiddling the volume knob cause it to start or stop?)

If the amp has Fx Send/Return try feeding a radio or whatever into Fx Return and give it a long soak to see if the problem still appears.  If not then it suggests that we should be looking back towards the preamp.  You can also do a similar test of the preamp by taking Fx Send to Fx Return (o.n.o.) on one of your other amps and confirming that level jump is associated with your preamp.


My initial guess would be that you have a dodgy connection between the ground end of the volume pot and actual ground, either a solder joint or perhaps within the pot itself.  Bright light and lens time.