DC-5 rhythm channel doesn't work.

[Kilted Guitar Player Dude]

The rhythm channel of my DC-5 doesn't work at all. The lead channel works just fine. I've changed tubes, etc...no luck! Any suggestions?

 

[Boogiebabies]

See if it's the footswitch first. For R1 to work, LDR1 needs to be open and Relay 3B needs to be normally open. Other than those two switches, the channel 1 Master Volume pot may be the real culprit because for the lead channel to work, LDR 1 and 2 need to close and Relay 3 needs to switch to closed. If the Volume pot is bad, the channel 1 signal stops there. The only other issue I see is if Relay 3 is stuck in the closed position your channel 1 would not be able to send the signal to the EQ and complete the signal chain, but when you switch to channel 2 LDR 1 and 2 close and Relay 3 is stuck in lead mode so it works anyway.

 

[Fxrs]

That happened to me once, try replacing V4. I had never messed with tubes, the tech had my amp for 9 weeks. Oops! Sorry, I didn't read your post all the way thru!

 

[Kilted Guitar Player Dude]

See if it's the footswitch first. For R1 to work, LDR1 needs to be open and Relay 3B needs to be normally open. Other than those two switches, the channel 1 Master Volume pot may be the real culprit because for the lead channel to work, LDR 1 and 2 need to close and Relay 3 needs to switch to closed. If the Volume pot is bad, the channel 1 signal stops there. The only other issue I see is if Relay 3 is stuck in the closed position your channel 1 would not be able to send the signal to the EQ and complete the signal chain, but when you switch to channel 2 LDR 1 and 2 close and Relay 3 is stuck in lead mode so it works anyway.

OK, so I'll begin by replacing the channel 1 volume pot and I'll let you know how that works out.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I would definitely try V4 before opening the amp up.


Then, if that doesn't work, like boogiebabies said, it may be a footswitching problem.

Unplug the footswitch and see if the amp will change channels with the switch on the front of the amp.




I ended up replacing all of the LDR's and 741 chips in my DC-10. Only 1 LDR & 1 741 were bad, but they were cheap and I figured that it would make it much more reliable.