faulty input jack

Blackstar ID30 TVP repair

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Blackstar ID-30 TVP repair

This is the first Blackstar ID30 TVP repair that I’ve come across, but there wasn’t much to the job. The owner had lent  his amp to a friend and the tip of the jack socket had fallen off inside the amp.

I was really impressed with the build quality on this amp and it was very easy to work on. It was a very quick job to remove the separate input jack PCB, desolder the socket, remove the offending jack tip, resolder the socket, refit the board and reassemble the unit. This all fell within my minimum diagnostic charge.

I was very impressed by the transparency of the inbuilt noise suppressor on the Blackstar ID:30 TVP OD2 channel. This thing has an insane amount of gain and is totally silent, but sustain isn’t really affected. I guess that they sense the input right at the front end of the amp, but do the suppression just before the power amp. Like a 4 cable ISP Decimator, but free! Great stuff.

I’d have liked to have taken a look at the TVP on an oscilloscope, to see what the guys are doing here but I didn’t get the chance. My completely unjustified guess is that it’s changing the power amp output impedance along similar lines to the patent that Bruce Keir filed when he was with Marshall. But that’s just a guess.

If you need a Blackstar ID30 TVP repair, please get in touch.

Fender Repair – Blues Deville

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Fender-Repair-Blues-DeVille-Repair

Fender repair time!

This is a lovely Blues Deville fender amp that’s seen some serious loving! The owner has been gigging it for 15 years. Unfortunately, first the Low gain input died, then the high gain became intermittent. The owner asked for a full valve amp service and I promised to repair the jacks as part of the service.

Repeated insertion and removal of the jack had moved the jack socket and over time pulled the PCB pads from the PCB. This led to the intermittent crackling that was heard and would have eventually torn the thin copper trace off.

Quality chassis mount switchcraft models were used in the repair to replace the two input jacks. These were wired into the PCB using flexible wires to remove the mechanical coupling to the PCB. Now if the jack socket moves then the wires will move and the PCB will not, and the integrity of the connection will be maintained.

If you have a fender repair, please get in touch.

Post by Keld Ampworks Guitar Amp Repair.

Myth Avoidance: Amp geeks often debate PCB vs turret or tag mounted components. I have to say that unlike many independent amp builders I’m a believer in PCB technology, but for mechanically and thermally stressed parts it is wise separate the component from the PCB to avoid causing stress. This fender repair is a good example of that principle.

Marshall MG Repair – MG15DFX, Ampworks, Newark

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Marshall Repair

No job too small! This Marshall MG Repair was a simple job – I wouldn’t normally take a lower cost amp in to repair – with the cost of a 2nd hand replacement being around the £50 mark, more than an hours labour and the repair becomes uneconomical for the customer. But this little Marshall MG had only a minor ailment – the emulated out was not working. It was a simple job to check the resistive network that links the preamp to the socket – no fault there. Cleaning the socket improved the situation, but didn’t fix it entirely so the socket had to be replaced.

Note to customers – always keep sockets that you don’t used lubricated with some cheap electrical contact cleaner – only a couple of quid spent, the pot last for ages and you can clean guitar pots and switches as well as input sockets. Never use on a live amp.

Marshall MG repair MG15DFX

If you have a Marshall MG Repair job, get in touch.