| Guitar amp frustration (Laney VC-30)
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I've had this amp for like a dozen years or so... It's a 30-watt tube combo similar to a Vox AC-30. In recent months it's developed a channel switching problem (between Clean and Drive) that is very intermittent. Sometimes it works just fine. But sometimes it won't switch between channels. Sometimes one channel works fine and the other is totally silent. Sometimes one channel is really super quiet (i.e., barely on, no matter how high I turn it up). Sometimes I can't get any sound at all from the thing. But it all definitely revolves around the channel switching mechanism.
The footswitch is fine; the problem is coming from inside the amp itself. It's gotten to the point where it malfunctions about 90% of the time I turn the thing on. Sometimes giving it a swift slap or kick near the switch shocks the amp into working properly. The problem is.... I've taken it to my amp tech twice so far, and he can't get it to malfunction at all in his shop. He's had the thing running for hours at a time and it always works perfectly.
So what do I do? Obviously, an amp that malfunctions 90% of the time for me is absolutely unacceptable for use. But if the tech can't get it to misbehave in his shop, he can't figure out what/where the issue is. He seems to think the issue is a physical/mechanical one (i.e., some kind of loose connection that may be affected by moving the amp around) rather than an electronic one...
When the amp works correctly, it's absolutely beautiful sounding. But this type of issue is almost too common in my life (something malfunctioning that is seemingly impossible to fix) and it's infuriating. Should I just take the amp to a secluded location and use it for target practice? Should I turn it into a cat litter box? If it can't be fixed, it's useless to me, I can't even sell it like that. I'm just really annoyed at it and don't know what to do....
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Hollowbody Bass Club #121, Hondo Club #002, Official Short Scale Bass Club #018, Short-Scale Six-String Bass Club #001, Epiphone Club #010, can't recall what other clubs I'm a member of here...
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