I'm kinda embarrassed to admit this, but I have a Marshall Valvestate 1-12 combo that has crapped out on me. If there is a simple fix, I wouldn't mind getting it repaired. Otherwise, it has a nice Celestian speaker in it that is probably the only thing making me want to keep it.

Here's the problem: A few weeks back, I plugged the guitar cable in and found that no sound was coming out of it. I checked the cable, guitar and volume on knob on the amp -- in other words, all the obvious things for an idiot like me -- and they weren't the cause. I get no sound in either clean or distorted channels. When I do plug the cable in, I can hear the sound of the cable being plugged in, just nothing else.

This is only a backup amp. It hasn't been used in a few months, so I don't know what caused it to stop working. It worked prior to this and was never abused or damaged by anything like a spilled beer. Sorry I am so vague about the symptoms. I'm not really that technically savvy.

Any help is appreciated.

check the jack.

Thanks. Just to clarify, are you saying I should check to see if the connection is broken or that I should spray some contact cleaner in there?










Man I feel dumb about these things.

Send it back to Marshall - they're good folks.

check the connection to the circuit board. as they're circuit-board mounted (i believe) on these models, the solder tends to break over time. i've seen it happen with marshalls of similar construction.

also, try plugging your guitar into the fx return (if it has one). this will tell you if the problem lies in the preamp stage, including the input jack

there should be a preamp output too in the rear, see if you can get the sound out of this.

Try both the FX return jack and the input jack; if:

input ---> pramp out works, the problem is in the power amp

FX return ---> preamp out works and the above (IN to pre) doesn't, the problem is before the send&return (you should look at the schematics)

if you can hear the sound of the cable being plugged in, it shouldn't be the power amp.

have you tried touching the end of the cord when it's plugged in? where your guitar would normally be? does that buzz? when you wiggle the amp end of the cord when it's plugged in, do you get intermittent sound?

Thanks, all. I'll look into this tonight.