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HotRodRocker · May 27th, 2012, 09:06 PM

Hey guys! Back again.

I have an orange G5120. Well last night I fired her and the fender 212 up. My ole ladys little brother and dad are staying with us. He brought his First Act over and I was showing him some chords and scales etc. Cut it off and went to bed. This evening I notice my neighbor from out of town jamming on a Stratocoustic. Long story short he came over to jam and the 5120 is dead. No sound. If I hit the distortion on my Zoom processor, I can hear it. It seems faint and low like the volume won't go up. But on distortion, I can turn the volume knobs, and it will go in and out. On clean channels, it does nothing. I plugged three of my strats in, and his strat, and they worked flawlessly on this combo. Plugging straight into the amp does nothing. All cables are in perfect working order.

Anyone have an opinion here? Whats gone wrong? Anyone had a similar problem? Bum pots maby? I'm not sure life is worth living without my Gretsch lol please help me!!

Thanks guys.

Paul.

pilgrim · May 27th, 2012, 09:18 PM

Master volume pot or output jack. Put a meter on it!

HotRodRocker · May 27th, 2012, 09:55 PM

Thanks so much for a prompt reply. These are the first two suspects i thought of. I can fix anything on this planet that has wheels and a motor, but I am terrified to rip into my Gretsch haha. How would I go about check these things, with a "meter" as you say. I'm sorry to be such a noob. I know nothing realu of the inner workings of my baby. I just play the snot out of em haha.

Would I use the same mutimeter that id use for my cars? It does AC/DC all that jazz. What would i look for? I'm also not terribly familiar with household electrics. If you could shed some light on how id go about this id be ever so grateful. If not, I understand. It can be frustrating to explain to people something they don't know. Like me trying to explain to a carpenter how to set up a ford 8.8 lol I have some knowledge and know how, and I don't like to pay ANYONE to fix ANYTHING for me. Hopefully its something I can trouble shoot and fix myself with a little guidence from guys like you who really know their s!%t!

Thanks again!

Paul.

pilgrim · May 27th, 2012, 10:08 PM

"guys like you who really know their s!%t!" their are guys on here a lot more knowledgeable than me. You need some one to help you. That a GOOD guitar cord and plug it into the output jack. The take the leads of your meter and check the tip and barrel of the plug on the other end of the chord. Get some one you trust to turn all the knobs starting with the volume knob. Then get them to switch each pickup and turn the knobs.
See if any of this starts or stops the continuity of the meters current. That should help you narrow down where you problem lies.

montereyjack66 · May 27th, 2012, 11:48 PM

Or... you could just give to me and go buy yourself a new Gretsch. :-) WIN WIN!

mj

HotRodRocker · May 28th, 2012, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by montereyjack66

Or... you could just give to me and go buy yourself a new Gretsch. :-) WIN WIN!

mj

Ok! Seems like a no brainer!!!

Hey, say I were to give it to you, how would you fix it?

Daryl Licht · May 28th, 2012, 10:17 AM

In my case it was the selector switch. Worked it back and forth a few times and it was fine.

HotRodRocker · May 28th, 2012, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daryl Licht

In my case it was the selector switch. Worked it back and forth a few times and it was fine.

I did flip the selecter switch, mostly out of cunfusion, and terror that my baby was harmed lol.

They are gone, I have the house to myself for a few hours till the ole ladys off work. Perhaps ill finagle with it a bit. Ill def keep posted. Got a funny feelin ill need advice lol

Thanks guys!

Paul

mike77rios · May 28th, 2012, 10:34 AM

Spray a little WD40 into the selector switch and move it back and forth. I had the same problem as you described, it work for me.

Scott Fraser · May 28th, 2012, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike77rios

Spray a little WD40 into the selector switch and move it back and forth. I had the same problem as you described, it work for me.

WD40 isn't the right thing to spray into a switch's contact points, as it forms an insulating layer on the parts which can prevent contact. Contact cleaner is the appropriate material, although 9 times out of 10 just working the switch back & forth 20 times will burnish the contact points just fine.
I suspect the problem is more likely bad contact at the output jack. Work the plug in & out a dozen times, then rotate the plug in the jack back & forth a dozen times. See if that doesn't bring signal back.

Scott Fraser

HotRodRocker · May 28th, 2012, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Fraser

WD40 isn't the right thing to spray into a switch's contact points, as it forms an insulating layer on the parts which can prevent contact. Contact cleaner is the appropriate material, although 9 times out of 10 just working the switch back & forth 20 times will burnish the contact points just fine.
I suspect the problem is more likely bad contact at the output jack. Work the plug in & out a dozen times, then rotate the plug in the jack back & forth a dozen times. See if that doesn't bring signal back.

Scott Fraser

This actually makes sense. I live about 50 ft from the chesapeake bay and atlantic ocean. I could see how corrosion could form, as I don't play every day as I should. Just strange that it would happen over night. I'm certainly gonna take your all advice. Should I find it is slight corrosion, living here in this salt air, what can I do to preven

HotRodRocker · May 28th, 2012, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Fraser

WD40 isn't the right thing to spray into a switch's contact points, as it forms an insulating layer on the parts which can prevent contact. Contact cleaner is the appropriate material, although 9 times out of 10 just working the switch back & forth 20 times will burnish the contact points just fine.
I suspect the problem is more likely bad contact at the output jack. Work the plug in & out a dozen times, then rotate the plug in the jack back & forth a dozen times. See if that doesn't bring signal back.

Scott Fraser

This actually makes sense. I live about 50 ft from the chesapeake bay and atlantic ocean. I could see how corrosion could form, as I don't play every day as I should. Just strange that it would happen over night. I'm certainly gonna take your all advice. Should I find it is slight corrosion, living here in this salt air, what can I do to prevent it from happening again? Can anyone recomment a good contact cleaner that isn't messy, but will protect?

Thanks so much for the encouragment guys!

Paul.

pilgrim · May 28th, 2012, 12:29 PM

Radio Shack sells it !

polishbroadcast · May 28th, 2012, 12:51 PM

DeoxIT is the defacto contact cleaner but you might have to order it which would get pricey ... in that case it is better to just pay a tech $10 and have them squirt some in your pots. RadioShack used to sell "TV Tuner Cleaner" which was basically the same thing but i don't know if they carry it anymore. Their website does say they have DeoxIT but better check your local store.

A poor man's solution is denatured alcohol. I have some in a syringe and will inject it in any voids of the pot / jack i can find and turn it like crazy.

Don't ever use WD40 near a guitar. Not only with the oils and solvents hurt the woods and finishes, but the protective coating it leaves behind with coat any metal and cause more issues.

Failing all of that, i would trace the signal starting from the output jack: hook up a guitar cable, get a multimeter set for continuity (or anything that lets you see that signal is flowing through) and hook one end to the cable tip. Then trace the signal back from that point and see where it fails. Example: test point on the guitar cable tip, and output jack tip (confirm the jack isn't dirty), next test point on the last pot before the jack (confirm the wire isn't bad), next test point on the incoming wire of the pot (confirm the pot isn't broken)... etc. I would take you longer to pull out the guts than it would to test all the points.

pilgrim · May 28th, 2012, 03:06 PM

Ok We have started talking in a circle now.

GretschGhost · May 28th, 2012, 04:22 PM

As a long time guitarist/repair guy, I can tell you that usually when you boost your gain and hear a faint signal but otherwise have nothing, it's usually a simple grounding issue.

In all likelihood, the culprit is actually a solder joint on the back of a pot that's come lose, but it could just as well be on a switch. However, usually when it's a switch you can cause some popping and static by simply moving the switch and usually the same on the jack.

I'd suggest simply shaking the guitar while plugged in. I know, really scientific, right? If this is simply a lose lead, it may come into contact with some metal and give you a signal for a second or some popping.

In the case of a DEAD switch/pot, this won't happen. It's not likely to be a corroded switch, as you would likely have heard static increasing over time as the contacts became weaker.

If it's a lose wire, you just need to re-solder it. I'd check the jack first as this is the most common repair we see at GC next to normal setup issues.

amx05462 · May 28th, 2012, 06:20 PM

had the same problem on an epiphone. defenitly spray the pickup switch

Teledriver · May 28th, 2012, 06:34 PM

I had this happen to me two or three times (due to my terrible solder connections..since upgraded from a 35 watt to a 40 watt and all issues are bye-bye) and what GCGhost said is exactly what I did. It was a grounding issue- the solder came loose on the back of a pot in all instances. Now finding out which pot has a loose solder job is gonna be real fun!

pilgrim · May 28th, 2012, 07:34 PM

As I said wiggle wires

HotRodRocker · May 30th, 2012, 10:07 PM

Well guys, I got delayed looking into the issue, but finally got around to it this evening. Took the advice on flipping the toggle, twisting the cable in the jack to see if corrosion was the culprit, all to no avail.

So I turned it kinda upside down and gave her a shake, and BOOM! Electromatic...

I'm rocking, but one can only guess for how long. I've got a Snap On bore scope that's actually for probing engine cylinders. Its a little camera that I can put all through an engine and see what the happs is in there. Think ill slide that into an F-hole and see if I can find the culprit before I start pulling all the wiring out madly haha!

Ill be sure to keep posted. I'm just stoked to be playing my love again, even if it is on
borrowed time...