-
I still live in a cave. My knowledge of today's jargon is limited.
The last 'proper' amp I bought was a new 2002 Fender Twin Amp - it just lacked the point to point wiring but has 12 tubes/valves!
I have other older amps - SS and tube.
The first 'modern' amp I got was a (fun) Fender G-Dec 30 which I changed for the 3-30 when the 30 broke, was supposedly fixed and broke again. The general consensus was that these amps were throw away amps.
These could be connected to one's laptop but that's something I've never got around to doing.
Now, I believe, the norm is to have an amp that you can speak to with your phone.
Do these amps develop faults and are they repairable?
-
05-30-2024 02:18 PM
-
Most new amps are throw away gear. Especially the digital/modeling crap.
Anything can be fixed but most amp techs I have had loathe dealing with newer, meaning late 90's and newer, Fender circuits and such. The build quality is junk and will eventually create expensive problems to fix. Board mounted jacks and inputs are not the way for long term reliability and ease of service. Ribbon wiring is also junk. And thin wires connecting one PC board to another PC board that have to be moved/bent/unbent/rebent to work on eventually break off and create more headaches. Most techs have an hourly rate around 50-100 bucks per. Do the math and ask yourself is a blown out old Hot Rod or Peavey Classic really worth fixing?
-
Repairable and worth repairing are not the same thing. It may be more expensive to repair an item which can be repaired than to buy a new one. This isn't a new phenomenon. Years ago I discovered that I could buy a new printer, same make and model, for less than the cost of a new set of ink cartridges. Electronic devices have become so cheap that the cost of labor makes repairing many of them prohibitive, even if they can be repaired. Perhaps tripling the cost, or more, would make repairs more attractive. But the situation is as it is, like it or not.
-
The most used amp I have is an 80s Musicman 65 rp 112. It has it's issues but the tech I use is great and he seems to source the old components or researches the best alternatives and he doesn't charge me much. I'm happy to keep it going because it's so good! When the tech says it's time to take off the life support, I know I'll have to run with it.
My back up is, again, an old 80s amp but solid state. It's an Award Session Sessionette 75, a British amp once used by the likes of EC and Jan A. Another amazing amp which, after many years, I've just had "RetroToned". It's an upgrade that's been available for a long time and was carried out by the original amp designer Stewart Ward. The work, which also included new pots, cost more than what I paid for the amp but well worth it. (ps. it was good before the upgrade!).
I'm probably tempting fate saying this but my Polytones are holding out really well.
Being towards the end of my 6th decade, the only drawback to these amps compared to modern amps is the weight.
-
Originally Posted by sgosnell
They sell you the printer at a discount price to ensure you buy their ink cartridges, which are overpriced.
-
And all those printers that end up in landfills!!! Hopefully they do end up there, and not in some 3rd world salvage dump - poisoning children, the air, rivers etc.
My Peavey Classic 30 broke down, I spent $200+ to have it repaired (those damn ribbons) but now sounds incredible. All tube. Yeah.
-
Does anyone remember the TV repair man? Originally Posted by sgosnell
-
Which is precisely the eminently successful Gillette business model. You can often get Gillette razors for free. The blades for them are never free. Originally Posted by Litterick
-
I used to be one. My father was one. I could see, in my teens and early 20s, that there were better ways to make a living. Originally Posted by garybaldy
-
And those tubes and the factories which make them, poisoning children, the air, rivers, etc. Tube factories are among the worst polluters of any industry, always were, always will be. Originally Posted by Jimmy Mack
-
no, they are not. And you might think modeling "amps" are crap but when I've needed repairs for fractal or line 6, they were done quickly and inexpensively. Can't say the same for dvmark, markbass, aguilar. I recently had an aguilar amp blow up. It used an icepower module but the module was $350+shipping and tax and locally a $100 minimum bench fee. Basically $500. A used amp of the same model is $500. So...
-
And therein lies the rub (including with some very reputable and expensive amplifiers). Most of them include boards with many or all of the components mounted and there is no service offered to repair the board mounted components, only to replace the entire board. So even a minor component failure becomes the equivalent of replacing the entire circuit. Originally Posted by jzucker
-
Can confirm this with my QSC PA speakers—had to replace the entire motherboard—-thankfully, still under warranty, due to being a recent purchase. Whew Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
-
I would say it depends what's wrong.
The most common failure in my experience is when a jack or pot is soldered into the board and the solder cracks. The result is crackling when you wiggle or press something.
I don't know anything about electronics but I know enough to open the thing up and reheat the solder joints.
It isn't difficult to replace a component on a circuit board, if you can get access to both sides of the board and you know which component to replace. But, troubleshooting can cost more than a lot of devices are worth. And, when you open everything up, you risk breaking something else.
To be fair, I have spent almost as much repairing an old Ampeg as it was worth. And, when I finally figured out what was wrong, it was the jack connecting the reverb tank. Fixed with a needlenose pliers in 10 seconds, for free. Figuring out what was wrong was expensive.
-
I spent about year angsting over a Fender Twin when I had intermittent loud crackling. It turned out to be one of the jacks on my cable. It was the straight jack that always went into my board that didn't move much. (but when it did!). Only found out when I switched the cable around when using a Tele. Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
Also I swapped the speakers because I thought they were breaking up in the very high register. That turned out to be the global prescence on my multifx that was set too high. The new speakers were nice but even heavier than the Fenders.
-
the other thing to keep in mind is that companies do go out of business and/or change hands. Folks who had AcousticIMG stuff were lucky to have perhaps the best support in the business. But sometimes, things don't work out so well...
Back to aguilar - about 5 years ago, the tweeter blew out on my cabinet, i called them and was able to purchase a tweeter directly from them at a very reasonable price. However, when the amp blew up last year, I called them, a recording said they had been purchased by Korg and if you needed service to call Korg. I called Korg and was sent a link to a software app that lists the repair facilities in my area by zipcode. I called the first 4 on the list and not a single one would even take the amp in for repair due to problems they have had dealing with Korg service. I called korg back to see if I could get a schematic and parts directly and was emphatically told "NO".
Sam Ash carries aguilar so I went up to sam ash and asked if I could get it repaired there and they told me to send it in to Korg (not an option according to Korg and perhaps another reason sam ash is going out of business)
-
I've (knock wood) never had a tube amp or digital amp die on me. I did however have a 42" Vizio TV die on me. I googled what could be wrong with it, and found the part most likely to blow, how to get at it, and where to buy it. It was a $15 part, a barrel shaped little brown thing, and I would have cost me that 15 to fix it but the eBay seller of the little brown barrel things sold them in pairs. So, I fixed my "throw away and replace" TV for $30 bucks maybe 12 years ago and it is still working fine today on my son's Xbox.
My limited knowledge of electronics tells me heat and vibration cause most issues, so I keep my amps cool and I try not to move the more expensive ones. My toneMaster Twin gets most of my play time, sounds great to me, and is very light for what it is and so far super reliable. Looking forward to getting my '68 'drip edge' Bassman 50 sorted at Fuchs this summer regardless
But if I was buying a new amp today, I'd be looking hard at the new Katana Mk III I think or the ToneMaster Super Reverb.
-
I recently succeeded in fixing a freezer by installing a new thermostat. It was pure guesswork as to what the problem was. So a great result not having to buy a new freezer.
Also put a new drive belt in a vacuum cleaner. It was a swine to disassemble with lots of hidden screws but I got their in the end.
Regarding fixing amps, if a squirt of switch cleaner doesn't work I'm knackered.
-
Many Class D amps rely on IcePower modules, which in my understanding can be replaced. It's up to the amp manufacturer how and at what cost this can happen. They buy the modules at OEM prices, which are typically a fraction of retail prices. I've heard only good things about Henriksen. My Norwegian friend's 1st gen. (non-Ice Power) Bud died well after the warranty had expired. Henriksen fixed it at the cost of shipping. A few years back, I was unfortunate to get two faulty samples of RE Luna 200R from the German importer. Turned out that IcePower had had a bad run. Eventually, Geoff Felsher sent me a healthy unit direct from USA. This was of course a warranty case but also a display of user-friendly attitude. Large companies are by nature more sluggish in their response, if you ever manage to get past their automated first line of defense.
-
I fixed a fridge the same way Originally Posted by garybaldy
Replacement part off the internet, screwdriver, and a hair dryer was all it took. I can't even count how many car headlights over the years, either. Youtube is definitely a 'fix it yourself' paradise.
-
I had a 200W stereo Marshall Valvestate combo in the ‘90s that decided to go wild between soundcheck and gig. 200W of full-tilt crackle, it fried the mic in front of it and almost fried my hearing too. Other than that, never had a problem. You can still get handwired amps with eyelet boards and mil-spec components (think Bartel), so if that’s a must then you’re still covered. I can’t afford one and don’t really see the point. Very happy with my amps and if they break, I’ll ship them to the factory to get them fixed. Hasn’t happened yet, apart from that one incident.
-
An afterthought. First, don’t worry about it. With some common sense most amps will be just fine. Second, the more expensive an amp is, the more it matters how serviceable it is. People will get an expensive amp fixed, even if the fix is a significant portion of the amp’s price. If you look at it like that, then amps like Boogie’s $4k pint-sized Swiss Army knife amps with every feature you can think of, those trip my alarm. Something goes belly-up in there, it’s going to cost a lot (unless you need a $4k ditty to rest your feet on).
There a YT channel called psionic audio. I’ve watched many of his vids. He’s a very, very experienced tech and I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s totally legit (others may feel different). Check if he’s got a vid on the amp you’re considering - he’s done tons.
-
Literally every musician I know has a horror story about amp repairs. Some worry and research is warranted. From my research, raezer's edge and henriksen have great service. Markbass/dvmark, boss, not so much. At least the katana stuff is relatively inexpensive but I consider it throw-away quality. Originally Posted by Oscar67
-
Common problem is when a part is spec'ed and designed, then outsourced for fabrication (often off shore) by people who do not understand or recognize critical aspects of its function. Perfect example is the connector from the speaker to the amplifier output. The old version was an angle jack mounted on a disk of metal (both sides) with a metal collar for the lead wire. Later the disc metal "cover" was replaced by a plastic piece, but since the original metal cover protected the soldered wiring and the new soft plastic cover allowed finger pressure to bend it into the solders, the solders would break from the way the thing was made to be plugged in - by pushing on the flat cover face! Next improvement was to use a molded all plastic version, but the variation tolerance in the placement of the end of the plastic on the barrel of the plug base cause some of them not to insert to the right depth into the contact receiving spring tab contacts. I have corrected some with a knife or wrapped thin strips of electrical tape to expose and stop the right barrel length for reliable connection (tube amps must never see an open load circuit).
Another common thing is changing something to make it easier to assemble but less durable or less easy to maintain or service. Good example of this is how the Fender chassis mounts with the four long screw rods. The old way used separate threaded nuts under the chassis. The new way those receiving nuts are welded to the bottom of the chassis. That saves a few seconds hunting and placing nuts when putting it together, but if a welded nut is stripped, cross threaded, or otherwise fouled it is a major ordeal to remove and replace with a free nut.
-
There is an old saying that if you have something with tits or wheels it is going to cause you trouble. I think we could add electronics to that list (and maybe frets).
Right now, I own 5 amps made by the following makers:
Henriksen (I own three amps from this maker)
Quilter
Milkman
Only my Quilter is still under warranty, but I feel secure that Henriksen and Milkman could repair those amps for less than they are worth if I had a problem. There are many Asian made modern amps that I would assume would be best sold for parts if they fail and you do not have the skill set to at least diagnose the problem yourself.
That said, I always had insecurities about taking my vintage Fender tube amps (all long gone) to gigs. Old amps fail and tubes fail. While these are not complex and expensive repairs, I would bet that the risk of failure on a gig is higher on a pre-CBS Fender tube amp than it is on a brand new DV Mark solid state amp.
In over 40 year of gigging and many thousands of gigs, I only had one amp fail on a gig. It was a Polytone and the culprit was a bridge rectifier. It cost me $215 to fix and I promptly sold it for the $300 it was worth (I just did not trust it after that). As luck would have it, the venue had a PA, so I finished that gig playing my 175 through their less than stellar PA. After that experience, i started keeping a spare amp in the trunk of my car for high dollar gigs.
Reply With Quote
Kenny Burrell - Greensleeves Guitar Solo
Today, 07:02 AM in Ear Training, Transcribing & Reading