Ampeg Peak Problem

[Eekum]

Okay, this my first post on these forums so hopefully I don't do anything wrong. If you see something I am doing wrong please let me know so I can fix it.

Anyways, I have this problem with an amp I just bought used. I purchased an Ampeg B2R used off of craigslist. I only paid $100 for it. I went to the guys house and tested it out and it worked great aside from the pots needing a good cleaning. Well, I got it home and starting playing more with it hooked up to my Hartke VX410 cabinet. I instantly noticed that the peak light was coming on every time I played a note with the gain or volume turned up past 1/4 the gain or volume. I turned both of them down almost so nothing was coming out of the amp and the light is still coming on. I also noticed that the volume of this amp isn't where it should be at. If I were to "crank" it, it doesn't sound like the wattage it is supposed to be. I have a 50 watt solid state combo that is louder than this thing.

I proceeding to take the amp to a local amplifier repair shop. The guy cleaned the pots and told me that the capacitors needed to be all replaced and that is what is wrong with the volume. He said it would be about $200 to replace them all and told me to just junk the amp because its only got about 400 hours left on it. I took it home and I have been sitting with it in my rack case. Any ideas of what could be wrong with this amp?

I don't know if I believe the amp repair guy or not so I thought I would ask all of you. Any help with this issue would be great. And yes, I understand that it is not the best amp in the world but its all I can afford right now.

[Bass_Pounder]

That light NEEDS to be lit up

Keep turning up until it sounds bad to you, and disregard the peak light

[B-string]

Exactly! The peak light is more of a signal present on that model.
No way an amp tech can estimate the "hours left" in an amp head. He is either a BS fool or just didn't want to work on the amp and blew you off.

[Ric5]

If you run pedals or an active bass into the b2r then it will peak sooner.

Also don't max out the eq sliders or the tone knobs or the gain knob any of those will make the amp peak sooner.

I have a b2r and I love it.

[Ric5]

Documentation here __>> http://www.ampeg.com/pdf/B-2r.pdf

The limiter can be turned off ... look at page 4 in the link above.

[Eekum]

Wow thanks everyone!

Any idea on why it doesn't sound as loud as I know it should be?

[JimmyM]

Because you're not giving it enough gain. Ampeg big iron SS amps like the 3 and 4 Pro and your amp need the gain cranked harder to where that light is lighting up pretty well. In those amps, it's not a clipping detector light but an input light. So you've got a lot more room to dial up the gain from where you're at now. Use your ears, not the light.

[jumblemind]

I vote for BS on the amp repair guy. I gigged a B2r hard for 8 years or so, through a Hartke 410 even. Aside from some dust and cheap pins on the XLR line out, the inside was immaculate the day I sold it. And yeah, no way there's a certain amount of hours left on it. I do think the 350w rating is a little generous when compared to other similarly rated amps, but I don't see how "all of the capacitors" would need to be replaced. Follow the advice mentioned above. If that fails, open the thing up and look at it yourself. You can see if stuff looks burned out, if pins aren't connecting, etc.

[JimmyM]

Oh dang, for some reason I missed the part where he turned everything down and the light was still coming on. That, indeed, does represent a problem with the amp, I do believe. And caps do need occasional replacing.

Honestly, if it costs $200 or more to repair, I'd probably junk it. That's about all you'd get for it used anyway. Would definitely get a second opinion, though.

[Eekum]

Everyone has been such a huge help with this issue. Thank you everyone. I think I am going to take it to another amp repair shop and see what they think about it.