New (used) Trademark 10 amp problems....HELP!!

[FZfile]

I just got a used Trademark 10 amp.
In the store it sounded great.
Get it home... sounds great.....for about 15 minutes and then I noticed there would be some distortion when I hit the lowest notes (on the clean tweed setting).

I thought it was my guitar, which is a frankenstein monster I put together with taps and blends and black ice and whatnot....and I knew I had a loose solder joint in there somewhere for a while....I've just been avoiding going in there and digging through it all to find it.

SO.......I just also got a new strat.......and may not even bother to fix my other guitar ......and was playing and the volume level just kind of dropped out to about half.

.....almost like a battery going dead.


Not really expecting anything, I tapped on the top of the amp by the character switch and !!!!BOOM!!! the volume comes back up and no distorting at all......Then I play for about a half hour and switch the settings and the volume wavers and drops.

So I hit it again and it comes back.
It only seems to do this when I switch the amp character.

Now obviously something is loose but.....is there a battery in there for the circutry?????
The manual says nothing about a battery and I dont know what else could make the volume lower but not stop.

I know I can take it back under warranttee but theamp sounds tottally fucking awsome......especially with my new strat.
I am reluctant to take it back there also because they sold it like that.

Now maybe they didn't know.....but how many used Tech21 amps do you see floating around......not many......I have been looking for a while.

Anywho....I was just hoping someone might shed some light on this.
I know the distortion is probably from a broken solder joint or something but I can figure the volume drops.

Thanks...

-mike

 

[foo]

Seems like it might be heat related - as teh amp gets hot, something (like a bad solder joint) starts getting weird.

I would take it back to the store and have them look at it.

 

[DaisyCutter]

I had a Peavey combo that did the same. I'd have to kick it most of the time to get the volume to jump back up. Not a pretty sound when the spring reverb jangles around when you do that when it's cranked. Sounds like a bomb exploding

 

[Fusioninspace]

I would take it back and either get it fixed (for free) or get my money back.

I bought a used one off Ebay a while back for around 170 and haven't had any problems with it. You might just keep looking at Ebay if you take yours back.

The Trademark is really awesome for such little tiny box. I shocked the kids at our church when I jammed with them. My little trademark next to a Marshall combo. There's diff of course, but not as much as you'd think...

good luck!

 

[Mr. Moon]

.....almost like a battery going dead.


Anywho....I was just hoping someone might shed some light on this.
I know the distortion is probably from a broken solder joint or something but I can figure the volume drops.

Thanks...

-mike

Mike,

1. Good to know that there's another human being that uses the word "anywho..." I was beginning to think I was the only one.

2. Your comment about the sound changing "...almost like a battery going dead" makes the word "capacitor" come to mind. Perhaps you got a unit with a bad capacitor and/or bad soldering job connecting the capacitor or something.

Hey! I just remembered reading an article about a month or so ago about a ton of bunk capacitors that have been flooding the market in the last year that are causing all sorts of problems for manufacturers of motherboards and other electronic devices... Maybe you got an amp with one of these bad capacitors?

3. Have you tried electrical switch cleaner/lubricant on all the channel switches and pots on the amp? You can get this stuff from Radio Shack and/or a local hardware store. (Be sure to get the stuff with the lubricant in it!!) Perhaps you have a switch that has a pile of dust in it or something.

5. I have a Trademark 10 myself, and it is the BEST recording amp I've ever used. The thing ROCKS!! Check out my tune "War13" to hear it in action: www.soundclick.com/bands/9/mrmoonmusic.htm

4. If#3 doesn't do the trick, take it back to the dealer you got it from and have them go over it for you!

Anywho..., back to work now! Hope this helps!

-mr moon

 

[FZfile]

thanks peopoes.

I decided to take it back to the store (where I stumbled on an RE-20......when will it end!!!???) and am going to have them fix it (for free).

Mr. Moon, anywho is just so much better than any of the other any-words.
It just plain makes sense to use it.

I also like the word shtick......but have much less opportunity to use it.

I hope your wrong about the capacitor scenario.
That would most deffinitely suck a duck.

I figure if they take a little while to fix it and its fixed right, it wont be going anywhere anyhow, at least not for a long long time because it sounds great.
By far the best amp I've ever owned.

I actually like the tweed/cleaner sounds out of it than the british.
Marshalls .......I dont know.....they have a sound that I know is all around in the music I listen to....and I like it..... but when I'm playing, I just sound better through a tweedy sounding amp.

Well, thanks for the support.

-mike

 

[Major Tom]

I have fixed a few amps, a couple of tv's etc with this same type of symptom, my bet is a solder joint that has been "broken". If the former owner had a bad habit of setiing down hard, or if it got dropped, it is common for one of the heavier components on the board to have pulled hard enough (inertia, after all) on its solder joint to have broken it. Volume and tone controls also often cause this from use/abuse. Solder is a very weak metal. If you take it apart and look at the underside of the pc board(s), you should use a magnifying glass - look at the solder connections and see if you can find one or more that has a hairline crack, roughly circular in shape, around the component's leads. Resolder the connection(s). These things will act as you have observed, will often act up only after warming up (expansion/contraction) and over time will get worse to the point of not working no matter how hard you kick it because the solder will oxidize on each of the surfaces (of course kicking it will contribute to more broken solder joints)

 

[FZfile]

Danke, Tom......

but I'll see if they can fix it.

I'm usually not that shy about poking around into basic electtronic stuff but I only had it a few days so they might as well make it right.

When I pick it up I will definitely play it for more than 10 minutes in the store.
I was with my girlfriend (who's totally uninterested in the music making experience) when I first picked it up.

After she asked "Is this what its like when you go with me clothes shopping??", I figured I just might as well bring it home.

-mike