Mild 'Static' noise on note and amp fires up with surge protector off on Fender 800 Pro

This is weird.
Is the surge suppressor just the typical plug strip type?
Some may switch off all outlets. But there might be some that only switch of some of them.
If that's the case, is your Fender plugged into a non-switching outlet?

Regardless, I wouldn't expect that to cause the noise problem... unless the outlet on the surge protector is faulty.
Does the noise issue occur if you plug the Fender amp directly to a wall outlet?

 

Had a similar, perhaps, sound from my DB750, given to tech, dry solder was its problem. Was a pretty cheap repair iirc.
Good luck

 

Just an FYI. My 800 Pro used a 20 Amp IEC cable.
Fender must have used this for a good reason. Is it possible that the inrush current during start up, or actual running current draw is over 15 Amps?
Maybe the power strip was damaged by more current than it was designed for.

 

Highly unlikely. That would be well over 1500 watts.

 

Agreed and at 120 Volts it would be over 1800 watts but after a re-read of the post, we really have no idea what is going on with the strip other than it is probably junk.

"I'll check the strip. I noticed when plugging the cable from cabinet to head, with the strip off AND the amp off, there was a faint crackle as if the head was running. Very weird."

 

Yeah. Try direct to the wall outlet, without the outlet.

 

This was quickly changed to the standard 15A IEC/plug, it was due to a misunderstanding during a safety approval update which got resolved after a short while. I believe the 1200 also went through this.

 

Meant to say without the outlet strip.

 

Just tried that... now the amp doesn't power on at all...

 

I like to bypass all the wiring in the house and go direct...

 

Yeah. Ya got me on that one. Well done.

 

It'll only draw what it needs. There's only an issue with electronics getting less power from a standard outlet. Like, when you run long cords.

 

You might want to check if your tech has experience with this amp.
@agedhorse once mentioned that these are complicated amps and maybe not so easy to trouble shoot without experience.

 

Based on the description, I'd be tempted to clean all the contacts. Jacks for example. Speaker jack, amp jack, input jack, etc. If this amp has tubes, then the pins and sockets could get cleaned as well. There may be ther plug-in components inside this amp, and perhaps those sockets and pins could be carefully cleaned. Remember, less is more when using DeOxit. Swap out the speaker cable and the instrument cable. Take all pedals and such out of the signal path.

Sure, the problem could be caused by something complex like a failing capacitor, resistor, etc. But I'd say it is at least as likely that the cause is something simple like an electrical contact.

 

Again, this is best handled by a QUALIFIED tech experienced with this line of amps.