Questions to 112 RD 65 from a newbie

Tea Bag of Horror

I started playing guitar a while ago and just got a Musicman 112 RD 65.
To this amp I have a few questions:

- After I switched "Power On" high or low there is louder noise for more than 15 minutes. Then it is gone.
I think it is much too long for a normal warm up?

- I am not sure how the footswitch has to be plugged. There is no coloured (red/black) electrical insulation on the cables anymore. Which of them is the red one and which is the black one?

Hope you understand my problems. I´m from Germany and my English may not be good.

Full Name
Mike Griffin
Music Man Equipment
MM 112-RD-65

Member for

10 years 9 months

mgriffin155 Sat, 07/30/2022 - 09:13

You have a Fender dual foot switch. https://www.amazon.com/Fender-Accessories-099-4051-000-VINTAGE-STYLE-FO… They work very much like the Music Man Dual Foot Switch. It will not damage your RD65. So which plug goes where? If it were me, just plug them in and try it out. If the Reverb switch activates the dirty channel, swap the cables around and try again. If they're plugged in correctly, the VIB Switch will activate the dirty channel and the REV Switch will activate the Reverb circuit. As far as the loud noise for 1st 15 minute warmup, can you describe the sound it it making? Screech? AC Hum? Pops? Growl? That may give us more clues to help you out. BTW: Your English is very good. Much better than my German. Good luck. -mgriffin

Full Name
Thomas
Music Man Equipment
112 RD 65, footswitch

Member for

2 years 5 months

Tea Bag of Horror Sat, 07/30/2022 - 11:06

Thanks for your answer.
I have tested some more time. The noise stopped after I cleaned the plugs of the reverb can and I already thought that was the cause - but the noise came back.
To describe the noise: It sounds like you have an old tube radio and try to find a radio station. It sounds exactly like that.

Full Name
Mike Griffin
Music Man Equipment
MM 112-RD-65

Member for

10 years 9 months

mgriffin155 Sat, 07/30/2022 - 11:51

It may be that all your amp needs is a good cleaning. Try removing the tubes and use contact cleaner on the tube sockets and pins. I use DeOxit but any good contact cleaner will work. If the noise still persists, do the same contact cleaning procedure on all of the IC's. Finally, clean every input and output jack. Question, how does the amp sound when you play through it? -mgriffin

Full Name
Thomas
Music Man Equipment
112 RD 65, footswitch

Member for

2 years 5 months

Tea Bag of Horror Sat, 07/30/2022 - 23:03

The amp sounds normal - as far as i can judge about it. Great clean sound.

Music Man Equipment
MM 2-10-65

Member for

10 years 9 months
Profile picture for user mm210

mm210 Sun, 07/31/2022 - 07:35

In addition to the above, sometimes you need to clean any sockets of the IC's in the front end. They get dirty too and can lead to all kinds of nasty sounds. Just pulling them in and out a few times will do it. Mike. OOPS. mgriffin already said that. My bad.

Full Name
Mike Griffin
Music Man Equipment
MM 112-RD-65

Member for

10 years 9 months

mgriffin155 Sun, 07/31/2022 - 11:32

Thanks for joining the fun. You're the resident expert.

Full Name
Thomas
Music Man Equipment
112 RD 65, footswitch

Member for

2 years 5 months

Tea Bag of Horror Sun, 07/31/2022 - 08:07

Thank you for your advices!
Now I´m rather sure it is nothing serious. But as a mechanical (!) engineer I am totally helpless in all electronic things resp. I am too afraid I could do anything wrong and cause a damage.
I have a specialist in town, only 2...3 kilometers away.
http://www.roots-amplifiers.de/
I just contacted them and tomorow I will bring my musicman to them.
When I got it back, I´ll let you know what caused the noise.
I´m happy I found this forum!

Full Name
Thomas
Music Man Equipment
112 RD 65, footswitch

Member for

2 years 5 months

Tea Bag of Horror Mon, 08/01/2022 - 11:11

Brought the musicman to Ferdi Coenen today. After a first short check: defect capacitor. The 2 final amp tubes (don´t know if it is the correct name) should be replaced - they were cheap ones from China. Maybe there should be an adaption from 250V to 220V.
Ferdi will connect the Fender footswitcher, too
Nothing special, nothing that can´t be repaired.
:-)

Full Name
Thomas
Music Man Equipment
112 RD 65, footswitch

Member for

2 years 5 months

Tea Bag of Horror Sun, 09/25/2022 - 07:44

Got back my Musicman (it was already repaired 4 weeks ago).
- checkup
- 1 capacitor replaced
- connected the Fender food switch
- the final amp tubes are still installed - they were absolutely ok
Paid €90 for 2,5h work.
I´m absolutely happy.