I need help! My cab sounds a little under the weather :(

[Cb4rabid]

Alright so i'm running a Peavey Mark VIII into a Peavey 215D (seems to have been fitted with BW's). My problem is that at any volume, or even when i'm not even playing, there is this weird scratching type sound coming from the speakers. No clue what would be causing this...

Also, I noticed a new problem today. It seems when I play the E or A strings (open), sometimes it'll have like a static type sound coming from it and my volume will get a bit softer, and then come back up. This particular noise only happens when I play, but the odd scratchy/dirty sound happens even when i'm not playing. Sounds really weird, almost like something is literally scratching something inside the speaker.

Any advice? I really hope nothing is wrong, this is my only cab and i'm gonna be using it at high volumes to practice and do gigs with.

[EricssonB]

I'd probably put my money on some small mammal in there. If this noise happens with the amp off, then that's definitely your problem.

How are the guts and connectors looking?

My friend brought an old Peavey stack into his house a few weeks back and it seemed pretty under the weather, too. Upon opening the head, he identified six distinct types of animal hair (four from mammals and two from fish, actually. Let it be known that fish have hair), a section of the circuity enhanced with what was either Dr. Pepper or Coca-Cola, as well as a lovely-strong tarnishing of corrosion/crap all over the contacts.

A few hours of restoration later, he played it and it sounded amazing. Over the last few weeks, he's sold off most of his GB and GK amp equipment, purchased two phatty Peavey 115s, some rad new Black Widows to replace the Neos, and a VB-2 head. Ridiculous.

[Cb4rabid]

Doesn't happen when it's off lol, just when I turn it on and not play. How would I go about checking the guts? I assume just screw the speakers off and check the back? How would I know if something is off?

[negativeions24]

Spray a little Deoxit into your inputs and move an old 1/4" jack in and out rapidly for a bit. Should clear it up. Peavey products are damn near indestructible. If there's still a problem, I'd recommend "cleaning the gap" on the BW's.
Great choice of equipment, by the way!

[Cb4rabid]

Originally Posted by negativeions24

Spray a little Deoxit into your inputs and move an old 1/4" jack in and out rapidly for a bit. Should clear it up. Peavey products are damn near indestructible. If there's still a problem, I'd recommend "cleaning the gap" on the BW's.
Great choice of equipment, by the way!

Any clue where they would sell this? I'm new to any type of fixing or maintenance of cabs/amps, so all of this is beyond me an any little anomaly in my sound gives me a heart attack.

(thanks btw! Love the sound I get from it, except for this of course.)

[EricssonB]

I'm speaking more of the amp head. Speaking from safety's perspective: if you don't know what you're doing, then don't.

I linked him to this thread, so's he can be more specific, later.

[negativeions24]

Radio Shack, bro.

[EricssonB]

Originally Posted by negativeions24

Spray a little Deoxit into your inputs and move an old 1/4" jack in and out rapidly for a bit. Should clear it up. Peavey products are damn near indestructible. If there's still a problem, I'd recommend "cleaning the gap" on the BW's.
Great choice of equipment, by the way!

Oh, he beat me to it!

[Cb4rabid]

Thanks. I will look into that. And are you sure it's that simple of a fix? Like it couldn't be a loose wire or that im possibly doing something harmful to it?

Not sure if this is relevant, but the speakers are REALLY dirty. They aren't in bad shape persay, but definitely dirty. I'd venture to say the speakers are just as old as the cab. (and yes, the inputs on the amp look dirty as well).

More questions, how do I apply that? Do I just spray directly in the input or apply it on a qtip?

[negativeions24]

I can't say that will definitely fix it, but in my experience (I was having very similar symptoms) it will do the trick.

[negativeions24]

And, spray directly in.

[B-string]

Don't forget the effects loop on the back if it has one!

[Cb4rabid]

Alright, thanks guys, will do this for sure. Ill report back soon enough.

[B-string]

Remember NO WD40!

[will33]

Yeah, do that. If it makes wierd noises when you're not playing, it's an amp thing, not a speaker thing.

[Cb4rabid]

Oh. I'm glad it sounds like an easy fix, I thought it was going to be a nightmare like having to recone/replace the speakers or wiring. I'll get the spray when I have time. Thanks again.

[Cb4rabid]

Im going to the store later. So, I just spray it directly in? I heard its only used to clean inside a circuit board or really bad pots, nothing about the inside of an input.

Im just afraid of spraying liquid inside of an input...that has bad idea written all over it. Do I wipe inside of it after im done?

[Bass_Pounder]

Originally Posted by Cb4rabid

Im going to the store later. So, I just spray it directly in? I heard its only used to clean inside a circuit board or really bad pots, nothing about the inside of an input.

Im just afraid of spraying liquid inside of an input...that has bad idea written all over it. Do I wipe inside of it after im done?

As long as your using good stuff (like Caig DeOxit), it will evaporate.

After giving a spray into each input, run a cable in and out a couple of times, then leave it a couple of minutes to dry.

[Cb4rabid]

Thanks. Sorry for being a worrybug, i've just never done something like this before so im clueless. Will post back later, hopefully that solves my problems.

[Cb4rabid]

Update: Just got back from the store, applied the deoxit and it worked like a charm! The inputs still looked a bit discolored but it was cleaner and I didnt have the odd sounds coming from the amp anymore. Thanks again everyone.