Henriksen Jazz Amp 10 - Power Loss

**ScottM** · 02-09-2026, 09:03 AM

I have a Jazz Amp 10 that I bought used. It has been great! On 2 consecutive gigs, it has suddenly lost power. First time, I was doing a little experiment with a preamp pedal that I thought was the problem. I took it out of the chain and the amp was back to "normal". (I have always had to play live, with a drummer, with the volume straight up, and I have wondered if this is normal.).

This last time, (one month later) it went away, and I didn't think it would come back. We stopped , mid song, and as I was messing with it, you could hear it fading as I played. I finally plugged into the FX loop jack and got enough volume to finish the set, but it sounded horrible. On break, I unplugged from power for 15 minutes, and it was fine on the second set. This was a duo gig - no drummer. This is way beyond very disappointing. I'm assuming I am the only person on the planet who has had this happen. Henriksen told me to send it to them and they will fix it. There's no warranty and I have no problem paying for the repair, but...

I play this amp at least an hour every day at low volume at home, and it NEVER gives me a problem. I am guessing this is not a common problem, so can I really expect that it will be diagnosed and fixed? I want this amp to work! I have 2 old Quilters that have been very reliable, but they just don't sound as good as the Henriksen.

Any thoughts?

**dconeill** · 02-09-2026, 09:59 AM

Just speculating -
Did the failures happen at the same venue? Maybe there's some issue with the power at that venue.

Also just speculating -
the second incident, where you were able to get sound by plugging into the effects loop input, might indicate that the power supply to the preamp is failing, while (maybe) the power supply as a whole is still working. Does "it sounded horrible" mean that it was distorted in some way, or was it "horrible" because you didn't like the lack of tone shaping? When the amp appears to be operating normally, does plugging into the effects loop input still sound "horrible"?

What does "volume straight up" mean? Do you mean the volume control is at noon, if the dial is imagined to be an analog clock face? Or do you mean something else?

The OP wrote:

Henriksen told me to send it to them and they will fix it. ... I play this amp at least and hour every day at low volume at home, and it NEVER gives me a problem. I am guessing this if not a common problem, so can I really expect that it will be diagnosed and fixed?

I expect the only way to get this fixed is to get it onto the bench of a qualified technician. Since it's an intermittent problem, it is highly unlikely that it will be fixed through web posting. The Henriksen folks are probably your best bet.

**ScottM** · 02-09-2026, 10:13 AM

2 different venues. The fx loop sound was just the lack of tone.

Volume knob is at noon. I always run it that way with a drummer. I have wondered if that Is that normal.

I have no intention of trying to fix it myself or even taking it to anyone locally. My concern is that henriksen will keep it for 2 weeks, find nothing wrong, and I’ll never use it again because I won’t trust it.

This is in no way a dig at Henriksen. I think this is the best sounding amp I have owned. But, I’ve have had equipment with intermittent problems before, and they never end well.

**nevershouldhavesoldit** · 02-09-2026, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by ScottM

My concern is that henriksen will keep it for 2 weeks, find nothing wrong, and I’ll never use it again because I won’t trust it.

Henriksen is a truly first rate organization. My interactions with them have been great, and I love my Blu. If you want to solve the problem, you’ll have to start somewhere. That’s where I’d start, because you have the best chance of resolution with the manufacturer.

They’re also honest to a fault. When my Blu didn’t arrive the day after the scheduled day, I called. Pete’s immediate answer was that he’d track it down and get right back to me. Within a few hours, he got back to me. It was still at the drop off point because the first shipping label they put on the box turned out to have a faulty bar code that could not be read. He apologized multiple times, told me it was his fault, and sent me a T shirt.

As for your volume pot setting, I don’t understand what concerns you. Set it where you need it to be. If you’re running close to wide open, you probably need a more powerful amp. But noon is well within the normal range. I often have to run my Blu at 1 to 2 o’clock at one local club with a huge room, high ceilings, and a horn section. But for solo or duo gigs, it’s been great with the volume pot at noon - even in a very large market food court.

They may not find the problem. But they probably will, and you won’t use it on gigs the way it is now. This is just part of the “total cost of ownership”. I hope it gets resolved.

**vinnyv1k** · 02-09-2026, 11:36 AM

I had a similar problem. Peter told me to spray DEOXIT into all the input jacks and forcefully insert your cable into them 15 times.
He was adamant to not use anything else. Fixed it perfectly. He also said to do this yearly.

**jbernstein91** · 02-09-2026, 11:42 AM

I bought a used Henriksen Jazz Amp 10 many years ago, and several years later it got knocked over at a gig and something got disconnected. I called Peter Henriksen, and he told me to send it, which I did. They fixed it and actually added reverb to boot, all done quite quickly. Excellent expedited customer service. Still my main amp.

**KirkP** · 02-09-2026, 12:45 PM

If this only occurs after playing at stage volumes for a while and disappears after taking a break, I’d suspect it’s thermal. Something might have loosened from its heat sink, a thermal protection device might have failed, or could be the amp wasn’t designed for extended use at the volumes you need. Since it’s intermittent, a tech might want to operate it into a dummy load for a while to replicate the symptom.

**Rodney Gene** · 02-09-2026, 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit

Henriksen is a truly first rate organization.

Agreed. BUD 10, TEN Cab and Blu 6 here. Always excellent CS.

Originally Posted by jbernstein91

I bought a used Henriksen Jazz Amp 10 many years ago, and several years later it got knocked over at a gig and something got disconnected. I called Peter Henrikesen, and he told me to send it, which I did. They fixed it and actually added reverb to boot, all done quite quickly. Excellent expedited customer service. Still my main amp.

This.

Peter will take of you man, honestly any concern that they will send it back un-repaired or mis-diagnosed is unnecessary. Maybe they can update it for you. I hope you get it resolved soon.

**lammie200** · 02-09-2026, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by ScottM

I have a Jazz Amp 10 that I bought used. It has been great! On 2 consecutive gigs, it has suddenly lost power. First time, I was doing a little experiment with a preamp pedal that I thought was the problem. I took it out of the chain and the amp was back to "normal". (I have always had to play live, with a drummer, with the volume straight up, and I have wondered if this is normal.).

This last time, (one month later) it went away, and I didn't think it would come back. We stopped , mid song, and as I was messing with it, you could hear it fading as I played. I finally plugged into the FX loop jack and got enough volume to finish the set, but it sounded horrible. On break, I unplugged from power for 15 minutes, and it was fine on the second set. This was a duo gig - no drummer. This is way beyond very disappointing. I'm assuming I am the only person on the planet who has had this happen. Henriksen told me to send it to them and they will fix it. There's no warranty and I have no problem paying for the repair, but...

I play this amp at least an hour every day at low volume at home, and it NEVER gives me a problem. I am guessing this is not a common problem, so can I really expect that it will be diagnosed and fixed? I want this amp to work! I have 2 old Quilters that have been very reliable, but they just don't sound as good as the Henriksen.

Any thoughts?

I had a similar problem with a Jazz Amp that was probably 15-20 years old. I contacted Peter Henricksen and he offered to take it back and give me very decent credit towards a new one of my choice. You might consider asking him about that. At the time he was offering the same thing for old Polytone amps.

**skykomishone** · 02-09-2026, 10:46 PM

Also, Silent Connectors have been know to fault, causing odd grounding and buzzing at particular frequencies, that can be confused with amp problems. You can think it's the amp, because it happens with different guitars. Always check the cables. This happened to me. I do like them. A sliding sleave makes the connection. Great invention.

**sgosnell** · 02-09-2026, 10:59 PM

The sleeve actually disconnects. With the plug disconnected, the sleeve shorts the center conductor to the shield. When the plug is inserted, it removes the short. This can be tested with an ohmmeter, in the normal position the tip and ring are connected, but when the sleeve is depressed there is no more continuity.

**skykomishone** · 02-09-2026, 11:05 PM

They should have called them Silent Disconnectors! Haha! Must have been a disturbance in the discontinuum!

**Birddog** · 02-10-2026, 01:21 AM

Not sure if this helps, but in 2018 I went to Henriksens factory and tried out several of their amps. Peter was very welcoming and answered every question I had about the different models. I ended up purchasing a new JazzAmp 310 and after 2 weeks I had a very similar, if not identical problem. Fortunately, I live in Colorado and returning it wasn’t too much trouble. Peter looked over the amp for a couple of minutes and even though we couldn’t replicate the problem, he immediately replaced it with another new amp (he also threw in a T-shirt and a guitar cord for the inconvenience). To this day, the amp has worked flawlessly and is hands down my favorite archtop amp.

My point is this: In my experience, Peter Henriksen is a class act who takes tremendous pride in his products. I wouldn’t hesitate to send it to him for a proper diagnosis.

**EastwoodMike** · 02-10-2026, 04:08 AM

I’ve had this happen on my bud6. Only 1 channel though (the channel with Bluetooth) I would find playing a modest to quiet practice volume playing against iReal pro loops. While playing the volume would just fade out to almost zero. Lighted logo still on. After about 10 to 15 seconds it would slowly come back up to volume.
tried with guitar in other channel 2 and same would happen, but only to to Bluetooth auxiliary. Guitar was fine.
turned off all other Bluetooth devices, disconnected and reconnected, till happened.
later back home plugged into suspect channel 1 with just guitar. Seemed fine but then it happened again. So nothing to do with the Bluetooth. I was really bummed because it was a very new amp. Bought brand new and about 6mths of light use.
Contacted Henriksen and they were helpful but suggested I video when it happens. This was easier said than done as it happened spontaneously and unpredictably.
Tried deoxit in the input jack. Still no love.
One one occasion it happened and I had no phone nearby, but while it was happening, twiddling all pots nothing, twisting the input lead nothing, but wobbling the unit back and forth seemed to bring it back to life.
So then I kept using it on the dodgy channel until it happened. This time I wiggled the power lead. That made a difference.
I swapped the supplied lead to a different lead. Have not had the problem since. But I’m not convinced it is gone. Why would a poor or loose power jack lead to only 1 channel being suspect. Possibly the two channels have different supplies to their pre or power sections and one of the two channels has a faulty component.
Unfortunately being in Australia it would cost half as much as the amp to ship it to Colorado, and it is almost impossible to demonstrate the problem on demand to the local distributor, to justify the local repair.
I just make sure every time I use it, use the second Channel and make sure the power lead is firmly in.

**aquin43** · 02-10-2026, 05:13 AM

The first thing that comes to mind is that both of these amps have lots of wire to board connectors. These are tin plated springs in a plastic housing pressed up against tin plated pins on the board. Take the amp apart, unplug each connector in turn, clean it with deoxit or whatever and reconnect, making sure it is fully home. Don't spray deoxit into the amp cavity. Spray some into a dish and transfer it with a wood splint.

The amp comes apart easily by removing the back screws and the handle.

**Freddels** · 02-10-2026, 07:59 AM

Originally Posted by EastwoodMike

Contacted Henriksen and they were helpful but suggested I video when it happens. This was easier said than done as it happened spontaneously and unpredictably.

Set up a video camera and just run it while you practice. Eventually, it will happen and you'll have video evidence to show it. Just edit the video down to the relevant section.

**ScottM** · 03-05-2026, 09:36 AM

To close the loop on this...

I sent the amp to Colorado. The great people at Henriksen made it easy to do, the service was great, and the communication was great! The amp is back and I'm really glad to have it. I think it was just dirt, but if I had tried to take care of it myself, I still would not have trusted using it on a gig.

Thanks, all for your comments/suggestions on this!