Hi, I’m experiencing a crackling sound on my PS-2A that started a week ago when I turned on an overdrive pedal. The unit had been having some hum, but it was at a tolerable level, but now this sporadic but frequent crackling sound is making it hard to play through. I bought the unit new from The Guitar Sanctuary in TX in late 2023. I have probably operated the unit for like 40-50 hours total.
Hi @totalgtt and welcome to the forum,
I think the first thing to do here is isolate the problem to show it’s definitely the PS-2A, as you mentioned it could be related to adding a new pedal to the setup.
1/
So I’d unplug everything (no FX in front or in the loop) and have guitar → amp → PS-2A → Cab.
Run it like if you still have the issue then,
2/
Cables, move them see if there is a weak connection, swap cables around.
3/
If you still have this issue, then we are sure it is the PS-2A.
Do you have any spare tubes?
Sometimes it’s actually the 12AX7 that does bad, so I’d consider swapping that with a known good one, running it and see.
After that you can swap in any matched pair of 6L6s.
If you still have problems after that the unit could need a service as there is some other issue.
OK let me know how you get on and we can take if from there.
PS. If you get to the part about swapping in and out tubes you do it like this