I have a 1980ish Peavey Combo 300 with scratchy volume pots. I took it apart and doused the pots with electronic cleaner. I put it back together, but it is still (extremely) scratchy. Should I take it apart and douse it some more or try to acquire some new pots. When I turn the volume all the way up and hit my bass, it sounds clear (for a minute) but goes back to the very scratchy sound. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
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Peavey Combo 300 Scratchy Volume Pots
- Thread starter Pinetop Smith
- Start date
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,041
- 5
- 220,978
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Dousing it with electronic cleaner (aka "magic cureall spray") like that has likely permanently ruined yet another set of otherwise likely good pots. Good try though, now you know.
There may be other problems with the amp, this is something that a real tech would investigate BEFORE spraying ANYTHING into an amp, especially a "dousing"
With any cleaner, less is more. The tiniest bit is all that's necessary, more just causes additional problems.
There may be other problems with the amp, this is something that a real tech would investigate BEFORE spraying ANYTHING into an amp, especially a "dousing"
With any cleaner, less is more. The tiniest bit is all that's necessary, more just causes additional problems.
I guess 'dousing' was an overboard statement (LOL). Actually I did spray slightly, trying the volume knobs (with scratchy sound STILL evident) before slightly spraying again. I tried this 5 times (with scratchy sound each time) before giving up. Would you suggest replacing the pots (if I can find any compatible with my amp)? Or is there another problem I should check into? Thanks agedhorse.
I have never had good luck with Caig cleaner on scratchy pots.
Just replace them, and move on.
Just replace them, and move on.
I gave a similar vintage Studio Pro 40 what I hope was a similar treatment the other day (I have heard from @agedhorse plenty of times not to overdo it before I ever tried!), and a quick puff and working of each pot with a repeat had it sounding like new. If you didn’t overdo it with the spray, maybe you have something else going on. @agedhorse has talked me through a few old Peavey issues, so hopefully you’ll get to the bottom of this soon.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,041
- 5
- 220,978
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
There are tests that a tech should perform before assuming the pots are/were bad.
Just replacing pots without verifying that the fault is not elsewhere in the circuitry. I can not walk you through this because you would need experience with the circuitry as well as documentation to know where and what to measure.
Many Peavy pots are OEM only, they have used styles that are not common outside of Peavy and a few other manufacturers.
Just replacing pots without verifying that the fault is not elsewhere in the circuitry. I can not walk you through this because you would need experience with the circuitry as well as documentation to know where and what to measure.
Many Peavy pots are OEM only, they have used styles that are not common outside of Peavy and a few other manufacturers.
If you have leaky coupling caps feeding the pots they are going to be noisy. Again you would have to be knowledgeable about servicing electronics to verify this.
Update: I took the board holding the pots completely out (after removing multiple nuts), and was able to identify the moving part of the volume pots on the bottom side of the board that I was otherwise unable to reach. Sprayed them lightly with the Deoxit Gold, let dry, replaced everything, and Voila! No more scratchy sound! Thanks Deoxit Gold!
