# FENDER LEAD NIGHTMARE



## TheGoodTheGain11 (Nov 25, 2020)

Okay guys i bought guitar amps you need to smack to work , i know huge red flag but for a case of beer and 50$ im in deep with these two amps !! The studio lead 1x12 80’s Fender amp turns on and plays sometimes , same with the fender stage lead 1x12 next to the gibby , but the one with the gibby in the pic , stopped working completely after working awesome just switch away . Any ideas ? Is there a common capacitor failure on these !


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## Latole (Aug 11, 2020)

" The studio lead 1x12 80’s Fender amp turns on and plays sometimes , same with the fender stage lead 1x12 next to the gibby ,"
Check power supply solders, specially where are the filter caps, but not only

*___*

"... same with the fender stage lead 1x12 next to the gibby , but the one with the gibby in the pic , stopped working completely ..."

Also check fuse. 
With second hand amps, always check if fuses are the right one before swicth ON.
A too powerful fuse can't protect amp. Some user may put the wrong fuse when original fuse blow


Grey and blue caps; check solder under the circuit board


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

Check that all the TRS jack nuts are tight. After that you're going inside to have a look...as advised above


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## Latole (Aug 11, 2020)

tomee2 said:


> Check that all the TRS jack nuts are tight. After that you're going inside to have a look...as advised above


+1 Loose nut may brake printed circuit solders

Check solder on printed circuit

Plug jumper cable between pre-amp out ant Power Amp In ; test drive few hours. 

Schematic here answer no 2 




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Fender Studio Schematics - Music Electronics Forum






music-electronics-forum.com


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## TheGoodTheGain11 (Nov 25, 2020)

Okay guys it was a long night of cursing and praying but i got them both working ! Sometimes, and i noticed first thing the morning plugged up they start up fine , might be a CAP 
here the inside of the stage lead looks fine clean , nothing sticks out other than the bad channel switch but i just unplugged the switch and left it on ch 2 (gain channel )


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## Latole (Aug 11, 2020)

You have to look under the circuit board. Printed circuit solder.
On a Ultra Chorus amp, I had to fix some overheated solder at the filter caps

In electronic, when looking at the parts side, most of the time you will not see something wrong.

Look at the positive ends of each filter caps if you see bubble.


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## TheGoodTheGain11 (Nov 25, 2020)

Okay imma just do a complete tear down and take the day to look at it , studio insides


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## TheGoodTheGain11 (Nov 25, 2020)

Hello

PICTURES ARE OF
FENDER STUDIO LEAD 80’s Amp



(TAGS FOR FUTURE AMP HEADS
FENDER STAGE LEAD 80’s AMP, FENDER STUDIO LEAD 80’s , FENDER CAPS , SOLID STATE FENDER REPAIR )



Are these caps the culprit (pictures ahead) to begin with i got the stage lead working did the channel delete and left it on ch 2 permanently! Its alot more predictable !!! ( just need it as a Home practice amp ) And it was not working completely the night before and after a prayer and some smacking it works , so imma leave it as is .


NEXT

THE FENDER STUDIO LEAD
CAPS ARE BAD OR AM I CRAZY?


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## TheGoodTheGain11 (Nov 25, 2020)

IVE CONCLUDED I WILL KEEP ONE AS AN AMP THAT WORK 70% of the time as the pratice amp ( fender stage 100w) and make the other one into a box , studio lead for cable storage. HERE ARE PICTURES OF 

FENDER Studio Lead INSIDES 1x12 
FENDEE STAGE Lead INSIDES LOOK ABOUT THE SAME BUT HAVE 4 of the big Grey capacitors in a row .






















Bad cap solder joint the world may never know ......

Thanks everybody!


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## TheGoodTheGain11 (Nov 25, 2020)

Got the faux panel going for the empty speaker box ,storage box . These amp are like 200-300 used by the time it would be repaired by a pro and the cost dont make much sense.


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## Latole (Aug 11, 2020)

Picture is not close or good enough to see .

Look at all filter caps solders and around if they look clean and nice as the other solder on the board.
Not easy to find picture how look a bad overheated solder. Here what you should look at :


THESE PICTURES ARE FROM GOOGLE; IT IS NOT FROM OP AMP


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## Latole (Aug 11, 2020)

Filter caps look good this not the bubble I'm talking about.

Bubble look like that ;


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## Latole (Aug 11, 2020)

Copper circuit boards can be cracked near solders. Move the fiter caps slowly, if it's possible, maybe you'll see?
Fixing this type of (intermittent) problem takes knowledge and a lot of experience unless you are very lucky.

Or is your problem not coming from there?


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## Latole (Aug 11, 2020)

By the way, you are in guitar sub forum, not in the amp sub forum. More experts there ?


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

Caps look / are fine.
#1 problem with these...the plastic panel jacks.
The odd time you'll find a bad/ cold solder joint and once in a blue moon a bad molex /ribbon wire connection.
Look for solder connections with large amounts of resin, these I would touch with the iron to burn off the excess resin and remelt the solder,they can on rare occasions cause a resin pocket and as a result a poor / intermittent connection.
FWIW , at a glance your board looks good on the trace side.
If the previous owner had a tendency to experiment with different output tubes, the socket connections to the board and pin clips may need attention.


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## TheGoodTheGain11 (Nov 25, 2020)

I still have the stage lead when the ol smack dont work ill open it up and let you yall know


Latole said:


> By the way, you are in guitar sub forum, not in the amp sub forum. More experts there ?


experts................toss it get another one lol


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## Latole (Aug 11, 2020)

Repairing an amp without having it in front of us is very difficult and often impossible.


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## TheGoodTheGain11 (Nov 25, 2020)

Latole said:


> Repairing an amp without having it in front of us is very difficult and often impossible.


I tossed the studio lead to far gone , imma take the stage lead 100w to the amp shop later this week , keep you guys posted


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## TheGoodTheGain11 (Nov 25, 2020)

YAH BOYYY BACK !!
Imma start saving old amplifier! Its my mission they keep falling on my lap 

NEXT PATIENT A LONDON REVERB
WAS WORKING NOW MAKES NO NOISE
Trying to get it cheap

i got a multimeter and esr meter lets go lads !


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