can amp problems be caused by the guitar?

C

cantthinkofname

Active member
i tried to search this out through the search function but couldn't find anything so sorry to bother anyone with this but last night it struck me that my amp problems could very well be caused by my guitar.

someone had borrowed my guitar for awhile and their amp started having problems, now i have it back and mine is.

anyways is it possible that the guitar could be ruining the amp? thanks
 
cantthinkofname said:
i tried to search this out through the search function but couldn't find anything so sorry to bother anyone with this but last night it struck me that my amp problems could very well be caused by my guitar.

someone had borrowed my guitar for awhile and their amp started having problems, now i have it back and mine is.

anyways is it possible that the guitar could be ruining the amp? thanks
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I can't think of how. What sort of problems are you having with the amp?
 
ggunn said:
I can't think of how. What sort of problems are you having with the amp?
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you name it they are there. fuzz, buzz, unwanted feedback, sound thinning out (for lack of better word), all of these problems increasing over time, loss of effects, etc.

i posted about this awhile ago thinking it was a factory problem. i didn't call the company because i didn't want the run around over a cheap amp, because i figured that the time i spent dealing with the manufacturers to get nowhere i could pick up a shift at work and buy a new one. (if it would've been a more expensive amp, i would've called the company for sure).

i haven't bothered to buy a new one yet, but am just getting by with this for now, but i am still curious as to what the problem might be. people have told me they have never had these problems with their microcubes, so i have singled it out so far to be caused either by the fact that it was shipped by ups and sat outside in a box for probably 30 minutes by my door in the winter or my guitar.

i have flourescent lighting in my kitchen but that couldn't be the cause of all this, and i usually don't play it in there either. i have a long cord also, but i don't think that could be the source either.

i seriously suspect it might be my guitar. maybe something in there is causing something to fry out in the amp? this has got to be a stupid question, but i'm not an expert, so that's why i'm asking.

thanks:)
 
I doubt if the guitar is damaging the amp, but it is very possible for the guitar to be the cause of many of the symptoms you describe. Can you get your hands on a different axe to try through you amp.

A short in your axe won't hurt the amp. anything else is too little signal to do damage. If it's a tube amp I would suspect a preamp tube going microphonic. I don't know anything about solid state units.
 
I believe that the tree your guitar was made from was inhabited by an evil spirit. The only way to be safe is to remove the instrument from your home immediately. Send it to me and I will attempt to banish the spirit. If this fails then I will perform a binding ritual which should keep the spirit from ruining any more amps. This will be very dangerous and time consuming so don't plan on getting the guitar back any time soon. Since we are all like family here I will only charge you half of my normal rate.
 
Just take your axe to Guitar Center and play through some of their amps.If it's your guitar causing buzzing problems etc.,it'll still do it on their amps.I don't think anyone here would have a problem with you destroying Guitar Center's junk either.
 
Trouble-shooting 101.

Try another guitar lead.
Try another guitar into your amp.
Try your guitar into another amp.

I have seen this exact problem. Brand new guitar, output jack was wired with ground going to the ring of a TRS socket (rather than the sleeve where it should have been). Worked fine with a TS (unbalanced) lead. At my guitar teachers for lessons, he gave me a TRS (balanced) lead to use. So the earth connection from guitar to amp was broken. Sounded thin & weak.

Hope that helps.

Amanda
 
thanks for all the advice, i think i'm going to take it downtown to our local music store and test it:) i get along with the owner but i don't think he's going to want me to destroy all his amps tho lol.

maybe i'll buy another cheap amp & cheap guitar to find out, and if its the guitar then i will start searching for a good and trustworthy guitar tech and mention to him everything you guys have. the guitar is a nice fender and if it is the problem its definitly worth fixing. all hail guitar techs!:):D

thanks again
 
I wouldn't worry about damaging an amp.
Off the top of my head I can't think of anyway a guitar could actually damage the amp it was plugged into.
 
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