I've only had my Marshall MG102FX combo a few months and I love it, but lately it has been cutting out while I'm playing, towards the end of our set (normally about 2 hours after switching on). I play through an old Zoom 4040 effect unit, which seems to work perfectly well when I use my acoustic through it straight to PA in other gigs. I've tried different leads to no avail. There is also, currently, a problem with the pickup selector on my Epiphone Les Paul which is crackling/fading in the neck pickup position, but fiddling with it does NOT make this cutting out problem happen. I've also tried connecting the Zoom unit both through the effect loop and not. No difference. I do have the stomp footswitch connected too - could this be the source of the problem? I'm not in a good position financially, frankly, and so far I can't find the receipt to take advantage of the warranty - so I really could use a clue and/or tip as to what to do or where the problem may lie. Thanks R

For the guitar problem, you need to open up the electronics protion and look for broken soldering of leads in it. Get some CRC226 at Home Depot electrical dept and using the spout put a bit in the volume pots through the slot where the leads go in. Also you can use it on the switch if the contacts are open type. ALWAYS loop your guitar cord through your guitar strap or belt loop to avoid twisting the plug in the guitar and wearing the connection which will cause electrical noise. Also when you have the guitar open see if the leads of one of the volume controls have rotated and may be touching the wall of the cavity they sit in. The paint on the walls of the cavity is normally conductive for sheilding purposes. Now for the amp problem: Leave the amp warming up a couple hours without playing and then see if it fails quickly when you start playing. Common problems are often BROKEN input jacks that have been broken by tripping over cords. When unit fails, try banging on it to see if there might be a broken solder connection... in fact MANY of these breaks are at the leads for volume pots... when failed, try grabbing the knob and moving the knob (without rotating) sideways and up and down... do this for ALL the controls... If you can get itself to show the problem you are halfway there. For the guitar problem, you need to open up the electronics protion and look for broken soldering of leads in it. Get some CRC226 at Home Depot electrical dept and using the spout put a bit in the volume pots through the slot where the leads go in. Also you can use it on the switch if the contacts are open type. ALWAYS loop your guitar cord through your guitar strap or belt loop to avoid twisting the plug in the guitar and wearing the connection which will cause electrical noise. Also when you have the guitar open see if the leads of one of the volume controls have rotated and may be touching the wall of the cavity they sit in. The paint on the walls of the cavity is normally conductive for sheilding purposes. Now for the amp problem: Leave the amp warming up a couple hours without playing and then see if it fails quickly when you start playing. Common problems are often BROKEN input jacks that have been broken by tripping over cords. When unit fails, try banging on it to see if there might be a broken solder connection... in fact MANY of these breaks are at the leads for volume pots... when failed, try grabbing the knob and moving the knob (without rotating) sideways and up and down... do this for ALL the controls... If you can get itself to show the problem you are halfway there.

The store should have a record of selling your unit by serial number... you may not need the receipt for warranty... The store should have a record of selling your unit by serial number... you may not need the receipt for warranty...