I just purchase an FM212DSP not more than 3-weeks ago. I have used it 3 times, once direct to Gibson LP Studio and twice indirectly to an Epiphone LP Standard, through a Digitech RP1000. In each example, gain was less than 3 and volume was approximately 2 (practicing in relatively small space).
During the first use with the Gibson I was experimenting with the amp and had different Cabs and Effects selected at various times - No clean tones!
During the second use (the Epiphone) I used effects from the RP and once again didn't really have a clean tone.
Last night, again with the Epiphone, I was playing through the RP. This time however, I was demonstrating a relatively simple riff on a clean "Acoustic" setting with noone else playing over the top, gain was set at 2 and volume at 2 when I noticed a pop during more expressed cords/not combinations. I could get it to repeat on either channel of the FM212. I removed the RP and was able to produce the same results. I swapped in the Gibson (separate cables) connecting directly to the amp and got that same popping noise when driving certain cord/note combinations harder. I have a Friend test with his Gibson (separate cords, direct connection) and he got the same results. Neither of us had any problems with other amps we had set up.
The amp looked brand new when I purchased it (inside and out) and paid nearly a new unit price for it. I intend to take it back to the music store where I purchased it but, I wanted to get some of your thoughts on the potential of a bad speaker, or do we think this is more likely an amp (electronics) problem – like a bad capacitor somewhere? I know that electronics can go bad simply powering on a device and knowing this amp to be a 2008 model makes me wonder "manufacturer defect?"
It seems to be reacting to, or the variable is a certain frequency. It makes me want to suspect a speaker coil, mostly. :?
Troubleshoot: take pre amp out and put it into another 8 ohm cab. And "feel" that your instrument cable is snug in jack.
Fender FM 212 DSP Features:
100 Watts
Two 12 inch Special Design 8 Ohm speakers
Two channels, switchable
16 selectable Amp Types including classic Fender Tweed and Blackface
16 DSP effects including Reverb, Delay, Chorus, Tremolo, Vibratone, Flange, and combinations
Wide-range response enhancing all the different amp types
Included 2-button footswitch accesses channel selection and effects on-off
Headphone output
Preamp Out and Power Amp In for use with effects or other equipment
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
Sounds like a bad speaker to me as well. Since the cab is, for all practical purposes brand new, I'm a bit shy of removing anything. I'm thinking maybe I could disconnect one speaker at a time and try to reproduce the problem. The challenge however is, I tried to replicate the next day after my previous post and was unable to do so. I even cranked up the output to 5, which I had not done since buying the amp.
The original problem showed up after about 2 hours of straight play - not above a volume of 2. When I tried to replicate, I played at various volume levels, up to 5, for about 30 to 45 minutes. The cables shouldn't be an issue since I swapped them with guitars the night I had the problem. The only significat change was time of use till failure and I bought a speaker stand that raised it up off the floor and allowed me to tilt it back a bit. This could be one of those problems that doesn't show up until it gets warm - though that sounds like a bit of a stretch given the argument of a speaker. However, that might not be much of a stretch if it's a power amp or pre amp....
