Hotrod Delux question

hi folks

A weird thing happened with my amp today. i was playing my guitar and decided to hear it in drive setting. it would turn up but not distort. so i used the foot switch to try if that works, and it worked and distortion was present. then i unplugged the foot switch to see if it would work using the amps buttons again and this time it did work. I have one of those attenuates that plug into the line in and line out of the master volume so maybe that was the reason? seems to work fine now, so just wondering if you guys had or heard about this problem?

Is it possible that the footswitch plug wasn't plugged into the jack all the way? It could also be a dirty or failing jack or any number of other things.

The attenuator that plugs into the preamp out and power amp in is really a master volume control and would affect the sound of all the modes. It shouldn't cause any issues if it's well made and the jacks are healthy and clean.

Depending on the amp's age, it may be time to have a tech go over it. These amps have some known issues but work well when looked after.

I'd guess the relay is acting up.

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Originally Posted by Offshore Angler

I'd guess the relay is acting up.

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Or an Illinois brand electrolytic capacitor in the power supply for the switching relay(s).

All of the suspects mentioned above (shoddy jacks, cheap relays, substandard electrolytics) are known to be problematic issues for the HRD line of amps. Investigate all accordingly and ditch anything that doesn't pass muster.

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Originally Posted by Don

Or an Illinois brand electrolytic capacitor in the power supply for the switching relay(s).

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Could be, but a capacitor isn't usually the cause for an intermittent issue. I'd look at the solder joints too. The HRD's were wave soldered and not very well.

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Originally Posted by Offshore Angler

Could be, but a capacitor isn't usually the cause for an intermittent issue. I'd look at the solder joints too. The HRD's were wave soldered and not very well.

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This too!

A pity that Ralph Nader hasn't written an exposé on these mediocre amps.

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Originally Posted by Offshore Angler

I'd look at the solder joints too. The HRD's were wave soldered and not very well.

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True. I've repaired a lot of intermittent problems related to bad solder joints on flimsy PCBs with thin traces, poor build techniques, poor QA...
Marshall amps are even worse than Fenders in this regard!

I blame a lot of problems on the use of "lead free" solder, even in automotive uses. It is just too brittle!
Many problems have been solved, and it seems permantly repaired by the use of 60/40!