Name:    Ed
Email:   goforthsound@yahoo.com  
Subject: Music Man wiring
Thread:  61
Time:    Wed, 13 Mar 2002 09:51:52 UTC

HI Richard, just get some contact cleaner, you can get some from radio shack if thats the only electronics store in your area. I tried their contact/tuner cleaner and it works just fine in pots. If you carefully take out the chassis, set it on a good work space, if the speaker wire can reach the amps output jack, you can monitor your progress. Just keep one hand in your pocket or away from the chassis if you are a newbie. I would use the little spray tube that comes with the Cleaner, and get the tube into the opening of the pots usually below the 3 solder lugs, spray a little shot and right away start turning the pot up and down to distribute the contact cleaner. Do this with the amp off first, then after you have done your pots, turn it on in standby for about 30 seconds or more, this is a good common practice for preserving the life of your tubes. Then turn it on, turn your knobs up and down to hear if there is any that need more cleaner, if one is still scratchy or noisy, shoot a bit more in it as before, turning the pot up and down, you should be able to hear the difference as you go. If this does not solve the problem let me know. :) You may need to replace the pot in question. If all is well turn it off unplug the amp and put er all back together :) Just be careful to not let a hand wander in un familiar chassis territory... (near thansformers, big caps power tubes etc.) The side your pots are on uses much lower voltages, and you should be fine keeping to that area. While you are in there, look at the whole circuitry to see if there are any burnt or cracked parts that should be replaced and let me or any of the tech's here know and we could walk you through if you are brave haha! :) It would be good to check the bias and I will see what it involves using a DMM if you have one. If not you may want to have it done by a qualified tech. It is important to have that checked every so often especially when repalcing the powertubes, if they are running too hot it could cause premature tube failure and or transformer damage. If its too cold, it won't hurt anything but the tone will sound very bad.


Ed