hooky_lowdown Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 (edited) I've got a little old fender frontman ss practice amp, which when not playing is fine, no noise, and I can play without issue, but when I play certain notes the amp makes a static noise. At first I thought it might only happy if I play low notes on the E string, which may indicate an issue with the speaker. But I can play some low notes on the E fine, and when i play some notes on other strings they also cause this static noise, so I've ruled out the speaker as the problem. It seems very random, and can't figure out what the problem is? Edited May 3, 2020 by hooky_lowdown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigguy2017 Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Something is obviously vibrating, but what, where and why... If only certain notes it sounds like a resonance thing. Are the troublesome notes harmonics; does the octave of the nota also buzz? Is it volume related? If you have another amp, can you connect that to the suspect speaker? Can you plug the Frontman's amp into another speaker cab? This should isolate the problem. Possibilities; Something loose / foreign body in the speaker. Check the speaker spade connectors, bridge wires, surround and cone for splits, anything stuck to magnet, plectrum in speaker (!). Mechanical noise - something loose is rattling. Dry joint in the amp + cabinet resonance. Dirty pot or jack socket + cabinet resonance. Can't think of anything else... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooky_lowdown Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 The octave doesn't ring. So can't be a pitch thing. Not sure it's a vibration issue, as most notes play fine. I don't have another amp or cab to hand, so can't test it out. I'm not technical enough to test or look into dry joints, but I am leaning towards a loose dry joint being the issue, but I've no idea where. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 (edited) Dirty input jack on the amp or output jack on the instrument can cause odd noises. Try cleaning them with switch cleaner. Is the lead OK? Try wiggling it - especially near the plug at each end - whilst the note is sustaining and see if it results in any crackles and buzzes. Edited May 3, 2020 by Dan Dare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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