Help with my amp k***s?

Question

I asked this before, but everyone said my guitar was at fault.

I have a Marshall Lead20 amp. When I turn the volume, gain, treble, etc. k***s, I hear a loud crackling noise. The higher the volume is set, the louder the crackling. This happens when there is nothing plugged into it. Help!

Answer 1

could either be four things in order of severeness.

1. the k***s are dirty on the inside and must be cleaned with contact cleaner. rip them off (gently lol) and twist them. see if it still happens. might need to open it up and dust it out. this happens a TON with fender strat volume/tone k***s.

2. Get better cables! something in your signal chain is crappy and corrupting the tone. could be your volume k**b, could be a cable, could be a pickup that sucks. could be anything.

3. if this amp runs on tubes, chances are the pre-amp tubes are shot. first thing i would do in this case is bite the bullet, replace all the tubes.

4. transformer or power grid failure/death.

something is seriously faulty with the amp. this is something that needs to be looked at by a certified repair center. something in your power is dirty or theres a part that's dying. gauge the age of the amp. take a  guess if this is the issue. may cost more in fixing it than a new amp.