Fender Frontman 212R 100W 2x12 Guitar Combo Amplifier - Page 2 - Answered Questions & Fixed issues

If you don't want distortion, get rid of the overdrive pedal... Twangy USUALLY comes from the GUITAR and NOT the amp... test it on a different amp to decide... Buzzing CAN be caused by "fret buzz" which is due to IMPROPER guitar setup such as neck bend and string height.
Start using ONLY clean channel on the amp and NO reverb. If you verify that the guitar sounds bad on a different amp, take it in to have it setup properly.

The Fender Stratocaster (in common with all Fender guitars) has passive pick-ups so should be plugged into the no 1 socket.
Whilst it will work in the No 2 input socket this has lower sensitivity and is intended for use with guitars that have active (battery powered) pick-ups.

You will have to disconnect one of the existing speakers, as adding another speaker in parallel as an extension would go below the minimum design impedance of the amplifiers.
You would need to wire a jack that has a switch so when you plug in the extension it disconnect one of the speakers.
Some amplifiers are designed to use an extension, however ones with two speakers are usually not designed to allow this.

I would be VERY concerned about hitting circuit boards, wiring, etc.

In addition, drilling would undoubtedly leave metal shavings which could cause shorts internally.

Open the unit and investigate... do NOT blindly drill into it.

You had best get a second opinion! When somebody says "there is something wrong" means they don't really know the details enough to give you an estimate even. If the amp cuts out sharply I would suspect that: 1. Bad volume control 2. Cracked circuit board 3. Bad solder joint on circuit board 4. Bad jack. These are in order from least to most likely.

You are "flatopping" which means the amps are saturating at the two extremes of voltage output. The speaker cone goes to the extremes and can't go any farther and the cone will rattle at each end of its excursion. I would reduce the bass so you don't get into this situation lest you damage the amp and or speakers. They probably have an indicator that you have reached this clipping level... it is a warning... best to heed it... amps and repairs are expensive.

This is probably not a DIY repair. You best take it to a repair shop. Likely the power amp has failed or other common problems are broken connectors/jacks, broken volume pots, and finally circuit board cracks.

No, when you plug into the power amp in that disconnects the feed-through of the preamp.

If one choses to use an external amplifier one takes the pre out and connects that to the in of the external amp.

If one uses an external mixer and wants to use the amp and speakers in the cabinet, the output of the mixer is connected to the Power Amp input.

HINT: DO NOT use these jacks... the jacks have switch contacts that pass the preamp to the power amp and if you use the jacks, sometimes these contacts fail and then you have to open the amp and restore the contacts to get it to work.

The jacks are really weak and EASILY damaged as are the guitar inout jacks if the cables are yanked sideways.

ALWAYS loop your cables through the handle so if they are yanked they don't damage the jacks.

You don't say if you are using a footswitch or not... If you are, the switch, cables and connectors are suspect.

If you are NOT using the controller, the switch contacts on the footswitch jack in the 212 are suspect as being intermittent contacts.

If the contact is not making, the OD switch on the unit will NOT work either.

These jacks, and their contacts are JUNK and often cause problems.

Open the unit and increse the tension of the contact springs.

Could be that the male plug isn't connecting in its recepticle, or perhaps an internal wire or other connection is broken. If nervous about looking inside and perhaps resolving the problem, take the guitar to a qualified repair shop

Start with everything in the 12 o' clock position. Adjust one thing at a time until it sounds good to you.

Test if the sound is clean using the headphone jack.

IF IT IS CLEAN in the phones, you have probablydamaged the speakers with excessive volume causing the voice coils to rub the pole pieces due to heating. If you can reach the cone either front or back GENTLY push on the cone and listen for ANY rubbing noise.

There are also electronic component problems that can cause this IF the headphone test is also muddy sound.

You likely have a bad input jack. A VERY common thing with these. They don't like to work on the jack because one has to remove too much to replace it. Lazy shop! Sometimes the solder has just broken loose or the board pads damaged. Replace the jack anyway as they take a beating.

Find a shop willing to work on it properly and DON'T accept it back until it is fixed!

Another problem with amps can be the preamp output jack switch which fails to close leaving the amp dead... but it usually won't hum much when that happens.

HINT: Loop your instrument cord through the handle so when you trip and yank on the cord it won't break the input jack... saves a lot of jack repairs!

If you ran from the speaker out to the direct box you may have damaged your output stage on the amp and the direct box. The best way is from a line out, recording out if your amp has one. Ann alternate way is from your headphone out if your amp has one.

Your squier guitar is from 2001 Says the last link. For value, check eBay sold listings.

Serial Number Lookup

Fender Guitars https://serialnumberlookup.fender.com Fender is proud to now offer self-service serial number search function. Feel free to bookmark the link for future reference, and please be aware that not every ...

Serial Number Tracking

Squier Wiki http://www.squierwiki.com > Serial-Number-Tracking The serial number is printed on a sticker located on the back of the neck, close to where the neck attaches to the body. Because the number was placed on a ...

Squier Serial Number Lookup

Authority Guitar https://authorityguitar.com > squier-serial-number-loo... Mar 8, 2023 - It's simple enough with our squier serial number Checker. Type your serial numbers into the decoder below and you'll get all the information ...

Squier Serial Check

Squier Serial Check http://guitarcheck.info Squier Guitar Check (1982 - 2011). Serial number. Serial Number should be 6-12 characters. Serial Number is required. Country of origin. Select Country, CHINA ... ..

If it's the same as mine, the tuner has a little clothespin clip. You clip that on to your guitar's headstock and turn it around till you can see the screen while picking strings. The tuner picks up vibrations through the headstock and with it's microphone and it tells you what it hears. The little needle tells you the note and if the string you're plucking is below that note, above that note or right on. You have to figure out if you're in the right octave on your own.

Unfortunately Fender doesn't know it but the Squier site say Year: 2000 Location: Axl, China https://www.google.com/search?q=fender+squier+stratocaster+serial+number+lookup ..

Question edited for clarity and correct name of Amp. https://www.google.com/search?q=Fender+G-DEC+reset

Advanced Owner's Manual - fmicassets.com

fmicassets.com https://www.fmicassets.com > Damroot > Original PDF Preset Restore will NOT restore any media (band tracks) if they have been deleted from the G-DEC 3 hard drive (HD), which can only be done using the Fender FUSE .. ..