thanks for your feedback which gave me ideas.. i tried the turning it on without the pcbs in the chassis and it worked which got me thinking why and what was going on..

turns out the top of the pot where legs get connected to the body of the pot were shorting out next to the chassis so i put some insulation tape on the chassis where they would have been touching. Now it works fine.

good to know that it can happen especially if putting the pcb back in to the box.

I think at least one of the knobs must have had a bang while transporting the unit in my tote. definitely pays to have a hard case.

thanks again!