Bought a Fender 38w amp off craigslist a week back and it has some noise/buzz...

Amp on without a cord plugged in = silent as a mouse

Amp on with a cord plugged into it, but not into a guitar = low buzz noise.  If I touch the ground on the cord it goes away by about 95%.

With a cord plugged into the amp and the guitar = I get the buzz noise.  If I touch the strings it pretty much goes away again.  If I turn the tone all the way down it mostly goes away too.

I noticed there is no ground on the wall plug.  Should this amp have a ground?  I can put a new cord/plug on it I know where to ground it inside.

I also noticed the jack for the cord is pretty easy... not too snug.  I may open the amp and replace the guitar jack.

I haven't opened it up yet and I will not get to it for at least a week (going on vacation).  Am I on the right track, investigating the ground?

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Replies

  • Yep, ground the plug.
  • I took a few min to open up the amp and there are three wires (ground and white/black) inside... since there's no ground on the plug and the replacement I see online shows a ground on the plug, I ordered a new plug (with ground)

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