The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    I was given a little SQ-15 amp some time back and it's bugging me. Volume/Gain/Master/Treble/Mids/Bass.


    Using the headphone jack it sounds great with my Lyle L5/175 mashup. Working Volume and Gain and Master controls I can get very clean, through slight distortion through heavy distortion. Tone controls very useful.

    Through the speaker in that little ported box, Gain at 0 is moderately heavy distortion and it goes up fast. No non-distorted sound. No matter what Volume and Gain combination tried.

    But ... it has a jack for the speaker, and when I run my Ampeg Portaflex SB12 through the speaker, it's clean and very nice. Actually a very good combination.

    When I run the Speaker output jack of my little Crate amp, it also sounds great.

    So ... the amp sounds great via headphones but via it's own speaker.

    The speaker sounds great run by two other amps.

    Ideas, gentle people?

    Neil

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

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  3. #2

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    This one sounds an easy one: the speaker is broken! Change it!

    Then starts the thinking, there is hundreds of different replacement speakers to choose from. But if You like Fender cleans, You might want to stick around Jensen type of speakers.

    Some have got good results by moving the amp to a bigger cabinet. If You have or find one, it might be worth trying.

    Good luck!

  4. #3

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    If the Squier’s speaker sounds good when driven by an external amp, then there’s nothing wrong with the speaker. There might be a problem in the main amplifier section (which would not be in the headphone out signal chain). If you like the amp and are willing to put some cash into fixing it, a good amp repair shop should be able to evaluate it and give you a repair estimate for a reasonable fee (which they should apply to the cost of repair if you go forward with the service).

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by lukmanohnz
    If the Squier’s speaker sounds good when driven by an external amp, then there’s nothing wrong with the speaker. There might be a problem in the main amplifier section (which would not be in the headphone out signal chain). If you like the amp and are willing to put some cash into fixing it, a good amp repair shop should be able to evaluate it and give you a repair estimate for a reasonable fee (which they should apply to the cost of repair if you go forward with the service).
    Oh...I understood that there is good clean sounds thru headphones and outside speakers but no thru amps own speaker. Own speaker gives distorted sound. Maybe I understood something wrong.

  6. #5

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    That speaker run by two other amps is fine. And for a while last night, it was ok for a bit. Hmmm.

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by rNeil
    That speaker run by two other amps is fine. And for a while last night, it was ok for a bit. Hmmm.

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
    Ahh, sorry, I understood it all wrong. Now the problem sounds more like something wrong with the power amp section.

  8. #7

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    If you are so inclined, you can unplug the amp and let it sit overnight, then remove the amp chassis from the cabinet and carefully open it to get to the circuitry inside. Mind the big capacitors - they might still hold a dangerous amount of charge. Just carefully inspecting the circuit board with good lighting and a magnifying glass for evidence of overheated components (oozing goo, a smelly area, ash surrounding a transistor, etc.) can often locate the problem. Also look for wires that look like the insulation got overheated. Then you’ll potentially help a repair guy pinpoint the problem faster. And if you’ve done some of the disassembly, saved him/her a bit of time on the repair. Before you do this, you might want to figure out who you would have do the repair and discuss how best to proceed. Good amp techs are as much of a blessing to the world as are good luthiers.

    FWIW - Crucial Audio was my go-to amp repair shop when they were in Santa Rosa, CA. Their service was exceptional, they were friendly and took time to explain the problem to me, turned around repairs quickly and I was always impressed by their very reasonable charges. They moved out of the area, so I am not sure who I’ll use in the future.

  9. #8

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    A speaker upgrade like a Weber Sig8 will improve the sound but I have a similar redknob era amp and it is fine wwith my strat but distorts withv the Heritage.
    Especially with a low F#. It may be a resonant frewuency issue mixed with hot puckups.

    Any way, recording with the heafphone jack works nicely with a little post eq.