First Problem w/ Genz Benz shuttle 6.0 =(

[selftitled907]

Hey everyone,

Just kinda curiouse if anyone has run into this problem before. And before anyone answers I have gone through ALL of the usual trade out on cords/guitars/power cords/surge protector swaps to make sure the problem was in the amp and no where else.

I currently own the GB shuttle 6.0. I take care of this thing like its worth its weight in gold......if it actually weighed anything that is. **<<haha horrible analogy now that I think about it>>** Either way...it hardly ever moves. It sits in my home (smokefree) on top of my 410 cab. when it does get moved its the last to go and it goes on my lap in the car or in my wifes lap....never with the rest of the gear.

I have only gigged with it 1 time and it did an astounding job. Got many many compliments on the sound. Then I brought it home and it took up its reg. spot on top of my 410....long story shorter....I had rehearsal on friday and its not getting a signal at all. It powers up fine but when i plug it in theres no signal light activity upon plugging in like there usually is, and no sound what-so-ever to go with it. I didnt actually realize the no signal light not doing anything till I had taken time to swap out everything I stated eariler....cords etc.

So does anyone have any idea what the problem might be? Im not really good with messing with this kind of stuff and even worse at spotting problems when I look inside it....I did take time to open it and the input socket has three contacts that are all appearing to make contact as they lift when I insert the 1/4".

Now for the weird part....I litterally played it the night before....and I have NEVER cranked this amp...volume has never seen even 4 of 10 on volume knob for more than a quick second just to show the shear power, then it goes back to a tolerable lvl. which is around 1 or 2 of 10. And thats with the whole band playing with me, never alone. the gain is never past 1 o'clock with the gain vol. at around the same.

I'm really at a complete loss with this thing. Cant imagine I have any kind of warranty with this thing as I bought it second hand from the TB classifieds.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated as I have a gig at the end of this month and next months gigging sched. is packed with parties and bar gigs. Thanks in advance guys.


-Gabe

[Stingray5]

Go straight into the effects return and see if you get output. If so it's the preamp.

[allexcosta]

Mute on?

[selftitled907]

No the mute isnt on allexcosta and Ill give it a go through the effects return and see how that does.

thank you both for the fast response. Thats exactally why I use this site!

[selftitled907]

Alright the signal light dosent do anything with the effects return either but I do get sound! So something with the preamp must be fouled up....though Im still such a noob to amps that well....no clue where to go from here.

[BassmanPaul]

While you're at the effects loop, connect a signal cable between the send and return. That removes the bypassing contacts out of the circuit.

[selftitled907]

Ya know....BassmanPaul....I dont know you but.....I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

I did exactly that....and what do you know....I plug in and the signal light works....the preamp is working....OMG!.....I got my amp back.


Although....Im nervous now. What if this happens in a live setting? I even unplugged the patch cord from the effects loop, and it still works. Its like it was glitched or something.

But at the same time Im not suprised its working because honestly I have treated this thing like I do my own daughter....with love and care and patience. But seriously....this was enough of a problem that I send good ol' Jeff Genzler an email concerning it. Although he hasnt responded yet ( im sure cause its the weekend an all) but damn....can an amp glitch out like that? It is a Class D power amp and has some different characteristics than standard amps im sure but this is a first for me. I read through a LOT of forums just for general knowledge and what not. but NEVER have I heard or read anything along these lines.

Oh well. Ill just be happy and even more careful than I have been in the past with it.

And thank you again Paul. I had actually considered tryin some trouble shooting with the effects loop but then decided aginst it cause I really didnt think it would accomplish anything. Guess Ill go with my gut instinct next time.

Cheers

-Gabe

[BassmanPaul]

Believe it or not this simple trick is trouble shooting 101. I don't like this method of automatically bypassing the effects loop when it's not in use and would prefer a solid switch.

If you are concerned about the future you can leave a short patch cable, such as those used between effects, permanently attached.

BTW You're welcome!

[selftitled907]

Yeah I do plan on at least bringing a patch cord along with me from now on just in case. However I have been playing it off and on all morning so far....and with no problems, thats also without the patch cord in it. But I might just start to keep it in there especially if the problem shows up again.

And like I said before I thought about doing it but didnt figure it would accomplish anything as I was almost certain that the effects loop was just before the Master volume in the chain, but that was really just a non educated guess. Either way Im extremely happy to have my amp in working condition again. I wasnt looking forward to using my 210 combo again. But glad that I have it for back up for cases just like this one.

Again thank you for your help bassmanPaul and Stingray5. Between the 2 of you the problem was narrowed down and solved flawlessly and quickly. (within 10 min of my original post). I couldnt ask for better help than I get on this web site. I see donations in the near future.

-Gabe

[Pilgrim]

If you think this is an ongoing problem, have the amp serviced. There's no reason to wait for it to give you a problem.

[JTE]

The FX loop interrupts the signal between the preamp and the power amp. Lots if of companies use switching jacks there. Dirt, humidity, etc. can build up and cause the switching jacks to not have good contact. Frequently just inserting and removing a plug a few times in both the send and return jack. Even better is to spray a little GOOD contact cleaner (Caig's De-Oxit) into the jacks then plugging and unplugging a cord a few times will generally fix it.

Make sure the amp is powered off before you plug or unplug anything. It sounds like one of your posts that you were plugging in your bass after you turned the amp on. I'd avoid that.

John

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by JTE

The FX loop interrupts the signal between the preamp and the power amp. Lots if companies use switching jacks there. Dirt, humidity, etc. can build up and cause the switching jacks to not have good contact. Frequently just inserting and removing a plug a few times in both the send and return jack. Even better is to spray a little GOOD contact cleaner (Caig's De-Oxit) into the jacks then plugging and unplugging a cord a few times will generally fix it.

right! i think this is exactly the problem with it, and a cleaning will fix it and not cost an arm and a leg.

[delta7fred]

I've seen this quite a few times, usually on older amps but not always. What happens is the switching contacts in one of the effects jacks gets a layer of oxide which prevents the bypass connection working when no effects are plugged in..

Usually pushing a plug in and out a few times will get a crackle or two out and sometimes a temporary cure. The best thing is to clean the contacts and add a trace of contact cleaner with lubricant. Silver contacts are particularly prone to oxidisation (they go black).

Sliding a piece of paper through the contacts is pretty good at removing the oxide from silver contacts, a small amount of cleaner lubricant can be put on the paper or it can be applied after cleaning. This assumes that you can actually get at the contacts.

Hope this helps.

Edit - Looks like JTE types faster than I do !!!

[Rick Auricchio]

Originally Posted by JTE

Even better is to spray a little GOOD contact cleaner (Caig's De-Oxit) into the jacks then plugging and unplugging a cord a few times will generally fix it.

I prefer to spray the plug and not the jack. This avoids getting the spray inside the interior of the amp, where it doesn't belong.

[BrentSimons]

If you continue to have problems with just contact Genz Benz directly. Their customer service is top notch. I am actually surprised that one of their guys haven't chimed in yet. But I'm sure they need days off as well as all if us.
Brent

[JTE]

Originally Posted by Rick Auricchio

I prefer to spray the plug and not the jack. This avoids getting the spray inside the interior of the amp, where it doesn't belong.

Rick's right, that's a lot better than spraying stuff around inside.

John

[agedhorse]

This kind of thing can (and does) happen sometimes. It can happen with any amp, by any manufacturer, that uses a series effects loop. There is a normalling switch inside the jack that returns the send signal directly back to the power amp when there's no external fx signal being returned to the effects loop.

Often, it's just a bit of dust, maybe a bit of oxide, or even spider web that can cause the problem and usually just cycling the return jack a few times will solve the problem. This advice applies to amps by any manufacturer as well.

[BrentSimons]

See? What I'd tell ya
Brent