Problems with sound from new amp....HELP!!!

[joeyvicks]

Hello,

First post as you'll see,

Bought a VOX AD 30 VT couple of months ago and was amazed at how good an amp it was for the money.
Everything has been brilliant with it up until last week when i re-strung my guitar and ever since then the sound from the am when playing chords on anything with a bit of distortion is terrible. Like really just fuzz rather than a nice tone. The sound is fine when i'm soloing


please help me!!!

[andy]

How odd...

Can we assume that the strings are the only thing which changed? And that the chords sounded fine with the old strings on?

If so, give it a good few hours of playing in on those strings and see what happens. If you jump from very old, dull sounding strings to brand spanking new ones the change in tone can seem very extreme and accentuate fret buzz. After a little time though, the extra sheen softens, and the strings start to sound warmer again. Many people prefer 'played in' strings to brand new ones.

However, remember things like the cable- is that the same one you had before? Are the strings the same gauge, lighter or heavier? Is there any chance that the cable was knocked, damaging the socket in either the guitar or amp at the time of the string change? Do you use effects with batteries which might be getting old? All these can cause a similar effect to that which you describe.

Also, one rather rare occurance, but one which I have experienced is that of windings on the strings being loose. Brand new strings which buzz, no matter what. The only remedy is a fresh set, unfortunately, but try playing each string and seeing if it causes a rattle just by itself. Unlikely, but a possible last resort.

And welcome to Guitarnuts, by the way.