Extended retailer warranties are bunk and are a waste of your cash. Just deal with Ampeg service center directly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PrietoBass
There ya go. So much for GC's "pro coverage"...
For those of you that already have it for your PF heads just look at it as a sunk cost... IOW, suck it up, and work with Ampeg for resolution.
What if 13-36 months from after I bought it my Ampeg craps out , or I drop it, or some idiot spills a beer in it? Can I deal with Ampeg for a FREE repair then?
What if 13-36 months from after I bought it my Ampeg craps out , or I drop it, or some idiot spills a beer in it? Can I deal with Ampeg for a FREE repair then?
My point precisely was, what good is an extended warranty if you won't get adequate and timely resolution when you need to act on such warranty.
Now, if GC won't help you adequately/timely now... what makes you think they will 13-36 months from now?
It seems (based on previous comments) that extended warranties are not that great... so, deal directly with Ampeg then. I agree with such line of reasoning.
Don't shoot me down now... I can care less about GC's pro coverage. If you feel like it gives you peace of mind, go for it!!!
My point precisely was, what good is an extended warranty if you won't get adequate and timely resolution when you need to act on such warranty.
Now, if GC won't help you adequately/timely now... what makes you think they will 13-36 months from now?
It seems (based on previous comments) that extended warranties are not that great... so, deal directly with Ampeg then. I agree with such line of reasoning.
Don't shoot me down now... I can care less about GC's pro coverage. If you feel like it gives you peace of mind, go for it!!!
13-36 months from now, I will still get a free repair or replacement. Dealing with Ampeg will get me a repair center and an invoice for repair. My guess is that if I am in a pinch, neither course will save me in a timely manner. If I have to wait, I'd rather it be free. Unless, of course, the repair costs less than the extended warranty...
37 months from time of purchase, it goes to Ampeg.
FWIW, I only buy the extended warranty on Ampeg stuff.
What if 13-36 months from after I bought it my Ampeg craps out , or I drop it, or some idiot spills a beer in it? Can I deal with Ampeg for a FREE repair then?
Yep it sure seems to be payin' off. Got your shipping label yet? Truly just think it over carefully next time before you get up- sold at the point of sale. Consumer organizations, whose mission it is to inform consumers, even recommend against extended warranty. Any hoo, I feel for you, your situation stinks its never fun to go through product failure. I hope it moves along nicely for you ASAP. I'm waiting for my 350 and have to survive the initial period of manufacturer calculated product failure percentages.
__________________
*1962 Jazz. '74ish Ampeg V4B, 115/210. * '75 Gibson G3. *Epi Tbird. *Squier: VM Jazz, CV 50's P. *Squier VM Jazz Assoc. *MBC 641. Squier owners club
Yep it sure seems to be payin' off. Got your shipping label yet? Truly just think it over carefully next time before you get up- sold at the point of sale. Consumer organizations, whose mission it is to inform consumers, even recommend against extended warranty. Any hoo, I feel for you, your situation stinks its never fun to go through product failure. I hope it moves along nicely for you ASAP. I'm waiting for my 350 and have to survive the initial period of manufacturer calculated product failure percentages.
Fortunately, I don't have a situation at the moment. My PF500 has been going great into 4 and 8 ohm loads with no issues regardles of how I set it. I picked up the extended warranty only because I bought a refurbed PF-500 that only came with 90 days from Ampeg. Still cheaper than new with longer coverage.
What if 13-36 months from after I bought it my Ampeg craps out , or I drop it, or some idiot spills a beer in it? Can I deal with Ampeg for a FREE repair then?
With the PF heads, you have 24 months in which to do so.
I am separating myself from this thread
I am going to return my PF-500 because I cannot get used to the sound and the constant tweaking I have to do to make me satisfied.
To me when I was at practice last night it would go out of phase, if that makes scene. I felt the highs where going in and out.
Don t get me wrong I did like the tone sometimes but not all the time. To mellow and soft for me.
__________________
Country Bassist Club #20, The 5-String club #555 , The Fender Jazz Bass Club #1109, Fender Rumble Club #9, Epiphone Club #122, Thunderbird club #375
I don't know if I'd use the words "mellow" and "soft" to describe my PF setup... I get plenty of snap and attitude from mine.
I posted this a few threads ago, but here's a song I played on from a pickup group at a "thank you" concert a while back. The group itself is a little loose (one two hour rehearsal to learn all the songs) and it's just a room recording, but you can definitely hear some Jazz bass snarl... I lead the melody and check 3:08 and 7:53. Lots of big warm low end, plenty of top end sizzle too, though the recording doesn't really do it justice. The settings from that show: Bass @ 1:00, Mids @ 12:00, slight treble cut 11:30, horn on -6, Ultra Lo on, Ultra Hi off. I had both PF115HE's, Gain was around 1:30, compressor at 9:00 and Master volume at 12:00.
FWIW, anyway.
That said, if you don't like it, you should absolutely return it. If we all liked the same sound, there would only be one amp/cab/effect/whatever out there. No reason to stick with an amp that doesn't work for you!
I am separating myself from this thread
I am going to return my PF-500 because I cannot get used to the sound and the constant tweaking I have to do to make me satisfied.
To me when I was at practice last night it would go out of phase, if that makes scene. I felt the highs where going in and out.
Don t get me wrong I did like the tone sometimes but not all the time. To mellow and soft for me.
You are dead to us!!
lol...jk
Good luck on the search for your ultimate tone.
I'm not there either, and I don't think it ever ends. Even if I found something I totally loved I'd still be trying out new and different stuff just for the fun of it.
__________________
These ARE the good old days!
Yamaha BB1200 - Hartke HA5500C - Boss GT-6B - Acoustic B210 NEO - Hartke Club #338
Well, my PF500 lasted a little over a day...I bought it yesterday and was running it through two 210av cabs, and picked up a PF115 today. I had it hooked up to just the PF115 cab (I sold one of the 210av cabs and a Micro VR head to fund the PF115 purchase) and was playing for about 45 minutes. I took a phone call and subsequently shut off the amp. Before I shut it off I hit the mute button (I guess this is sort of a force of habit from using old tube amps that have a standby, and the PF500 doesn't have a standby obviously). After my phone call I came back, turned on the amp and it make a loud "crack" sound, like a firework going off and a big blue spark shot out of the amp at the same time. Amp's now dead. Have no idea what it could have been. A fuse or cap blowing? THe fault light came on and wont go off. It took quite a while for the fault light and blue light under the Ampeg logo to go off. Gave it some time shut off and turned it on again. Fault light is still on, but amp doesn't work. Like I said, it was going into a PF115 cab and was using the power cord and speaker cable that came with the PF115. Needless to say I'll be taking it back to GC tomorrow. Part of me says get rid of it for good, another part of me says give another one a shot. I'm pretty bummed because I was plannig on picking up a PF210 as well in the near future.
I guess it shouldn't be surprising they are mellow and soft sounding considering their inspiration was the B series flip tops from days of yore.
I can make my B-15 mellow and soft, or I can make it angry and hard. Like pretty much every other amp ever made, it has controls that let me dial up any tone I want.
Well, my PF500 lasted a little over a day...I bought it yesterday and was running it through two 210av cabs, and picked up a PF115 today. I had it hooked up to just the PF115 cab (I sold one of the 210av cabs and a Micro VR head to fund the PF115 purchase) and was playing for about 45 minutes. I took a phone call and subsequently shut off the amp. Before I shut it off I hit the mute button (I guess this is sort of a force of habit from using old tube amps that have a standby, and the PF500 doesn't have a standby obviously). After my phone call I came back, turned on the amp and it make a loud "crack" sound, like a firework going off and a big blue spark shot out of the amp at the same time. Amp's now dead. Have no idea what it could have been. A fuse or cap blowing? THe fault light came on and wont go off. It took quite a while for the fault light and blue light under the Ampeg logo to go off. Gave it some time shut off and turned it on again. Fault light is still on, but amp doesn't work. Like I said, it was going into a PF115 cab and was using the power cord and speaker cable that came with the PF115. Needless to say I'll be taking it back to GC tomorrow. Part of me says get rid of it for good, another part of me says give another one a shot. I'm pretty bummed because I was plannig on picking up a PF210 as well in the near future.
Wasn't the debut and release of the new PF series at the Jan 2011 NAMM show? Hard for me to believe that after two years these same issues are still showing up.
I know we tend to hear more about the failures here on TB and I understand that.
That being said, there are reports of this type of issue in all the parts of the Pf threads so it seems to be an ongoing problem that IMO Ampeg should've resolved after two years.
I still can't help but wonder how many failures have happened that we've not heard about? I'm sure there are many heads that have never had an issue as well.
I can understand problems in the first run of a new design but after all this time Ampeg should have had more than enough time to iron out and refine the design.
__________________ Black N Maple Club #221, Fender MIA bass Club #30, Official Fender Precision Bass Club #133, #134, #135, P Bass Club # 635, Rickenbacker Club #374, Genz Benz club #317
Wasn't the debut and release of the new PF series at the Jan 2011 NAMM show? Hard for me to believe that after two years these same issues are still showing up.
I know we tend to hear more about the failures here on TB and I understand that.
That being said, there are reports of this type of issue in all the parts of the Pf threads so it seems to be an ongoing problem that IMO Ampeg should've resolved after two years.
I still can't help but wonder how many failures have happened that we've not heard about? I'm sure there are many heads that have never had an issue as well.
I can understand problems in the first run of a new design but after all this time Ampeg should have had more than enough time to iron out and refine the design.
Yeah, it is a little unnerving, but I am going to at least give them a second try and hoping GC doesn't give me any flack for returning it for another one 2 days after I bought it.
I'm not a gigging musician, and mostly play at home and occasionally with friends, but if I was a gigging musician I'd be a bit weary of using these in a live situation with the reputation these seem to have so far. I do realize that they are working for quite a few people who use them to play out, but seriously, how does that inspire confidence.
But man, was it fun for the few hours before it decided to take a poop on me. What's more fun on a Sunday night than having the house all to yourself and a bunch of fun pedals, a great bass and a (previously) great sounding amp?!
