RH450 problem!

[coedvette]

I've had the TC RH450 head and RS210 cab since around last Christmas and they've been great. Really happy with the tone, ease of loading, compressor etc... up until 2 days ago I was lovin' this amp..but:

A week ago at a gig it suddenly cut out?! Front panel leds all looked normal but no output. I turned it off and on pushed the mute button a couple of times but NO sound. Pulled the power cord, put in back in and it turned on and was back to normal. Weird but I thought maybe it was a funky AC line and a cheap power bar.

2 days ago practicing for another gig in my home studio, at quite low volume, within 25 minutes of powering up it cut out again. Same as the first time, front panel looks normal as if signal is still getting to the tuner etc but no sound. while I'm pondering this it shuts itself off and comes back on.... but still no sound. mute button won't un-mute it

I turned it off and on a couple of times and it came back to life... but within 10 minutes it had done it again.

I had to play this labour day holiday monday so I used my old GK MBE150 and plugged in the RS210 as well.

I just wondered if anyone else had any experiences like this with any of the TC heads??

Both the gig and the charts I was practicing were for a jazz big band. Not exactly a high volume/run the amp full-out situation. There was NO crackling/poping and I tried several different instrument patch cords. I never saw any P or H codes on the display.

Both times the amp was NOT hot to touch at all. And our studio has good stable power.

Gonna call Club Bass tomorrow and see what they say

Eddie

[brendanbassist]

Sorry, I can't help you; I have an RH450 on the way, so I'm curious to see what information comes up. Subscribed.

[MIJ-VI]

Have you contacted the folks at tc electronic via your support account?

I'd bet they'd love to get their hands on your amp to find out if its issue is related to a component or perhaps a production problem.

[::::BASSIST::::]

subbed.

[coedvette]

Yeah, I was thinkin the same thing.

Fired off a "question" to support @ TC earlier today. Says it could take 4 days to get back but we'll see...

I don't gig much and when rehearsing with the band they have an amp on site so it hasn't exactly been flogged since new.

Eddie

Originally Posted by MIJ-VI

Have you contacted the folks at tc electronic via your support account?

I'd bet they'd love to get their hands on your amp to find out if its issue is related to a component or perhaps a production problem.

[MIJ-VI]

Originally Posted by coedvette

Yeah, I was thinkin the same thing.

Fired off a "question" to support @ TC earlier today. Says it could take 4 days to get back but we'll see...

I don't gig much and when rehearsing with the band they have an amp on site so it hasn't exactly been flogged since new.

Eddie

You bought your amp new and registered it to ensure fast-track service in case of problems?

[Scott McArron]

I had a similar problem with my unit that arrived DOA. But with mine, no signal got to the tuner at all. Everything just froze. And that was before I had the chance to even play a single note out of it. Power cycled it and was able to play through it for about 5 minutes before it did the same thing. But my experience is a little different since mine was NIB and hadn't actually seen any real play time. My new unit works wonderfully! Love it.

[coedvette]

Originally Posted by MIJ-VI

You bought your amp new and registered it to ensure fast-track service in case of problems?

Yup, registered it right away>> new unit from Club bass here in the TO area

Eddie

[MIJ-VI]

Originally Posted by coedvette

Yup, registered it right away>> new unit from Club bass here in the TO area

Eddie

Then Club Bass can do an amp swap?

[coedvette]

Originally Posted by MIJ-VI

Then Club Bass can do an amp swap?

dunno, gonna call them as soon as they open at noon here.

[coedvette]

Dropped the amp off at Club Bass this afternoon. They'll send it off to TC's service place here in Toronto somewhere. Didn't have stock to give me a "loaner" so I'll see how long it takes TC to do anything about it.

Seems to me there was a thread about a GK mb2-500 that would suddenly go into "protection" mode for no reason after about 30 minutes playing time. This sounds like a similar sort of thing but I'm definitely NOT an electrical engineer so it could be something completely different.

[MIJ-VI]

Originally Posted by coedvette

Dropped the amp off at Club Bass this afternoon. They'll send it off to TC's service place here in Toronto somewhere. Didn't have stock to give me a "loaner" so I'll see how long it takes TC to do anything about it.

Seems to me there was a thread about a GK mb2-500 that would suddenly go into "protection" mode for no reason after about 30 minutes playing time. This sounds like a similar sort of thing but I'm definitely NOT an electrical engineer so it could be something completely different.

When you find out the name of tc electronic's service centre in TO could you post it here please? Confirmation that tc's new bass rigs can be repaired locally instead of having to be shipped overseas would put the brand back in the running for some future amp buyers--especially those with young backs and tight budgets who are eyeing the 70.5 lb. BG500 combos.

So far on TB I've seen a small number of posts involving five different amp brands re SMPS amps dropping into protection mode. The good news is that these tiny marvels protected themselves (and their owner's wallets) from sustaining $erious damage. The bad news is that this has happened repeatedly--on stage...

If I were still gigging the beer & blood bars I used to play, then a modern take on an older amp design would be my 1st choice (a Class D/SMPS head/headphone practice amp/active DI would make an attractive backup).

Short of a venue being blacked out, my late-'70's Traynor MONO Block II ran flawlessly for years in those hay-wired joints...

[coedvette]

Originally Posted by MIJ-VI

When you find out the name of tc electronic's service centre in TO could you post it here please? Confirmation that tc's new bass rigs can be repaired locally instead of having to be shipped overseas would put the brand back in the running for some future amp buyers--especially those with young backs and tight budgets who are eyeing the 70.5 lb. BG500 combos.

So far on TB I've seen a small number of posts involving five different amp brands re SMPS amps dropping into protection mode. The good news is that these tiny marvels protected themselves (and their owner's wallets) from sustaining $erious damage. The bad news is that this has happened repeatedly--on stage...

If I were still gigging the beer & blood bars I used to play, then a modern take on an older amp design would be my 1st choice (a Class D/SMPS head/headphone practice amp/active DI would make an attractive backup).

Short of a venue being blacked out, my late-'70's Traynor MONO Block II ran flawlessly for years in those hay-wired joints...

I mentioned to Dave (@Club Bass) that TC's web site doesn't have a listing for service/repairs for Canada and he said it's set up for dealers to route broken units to, not the general public!?! I don't really care so long as they fix or replace it. But it seemed to be local.

I'm hoping that since there hasn't been a huge FLOOD of similar incidents but rather a trickle (compared to # of units sold) that it's not a critical design flaw but more likely a component problem. It seems that if it were happening a lot, there'd be HUGE threads of people complaining

Back in the day-I went with the 80's hot set up pre-amp/amp Kroth cabs etc. Had a Yamaha power amp that got dragged around to every rehearsal and gig during that stretch then went on to power monitors in the sound room at a High School auditorium for the last 15 years....& yup, those Traynors could take even more abuse

Played through the little rs112 while there and it sounded pretty good to me although I didn't have MY bass there...a Sadowsky Super Jazz which is 3 times the $$ was a good stand in tho

[MIJ-VI]

Originally Posted by coedvette

I mentioned to Dave (@Club Bass) that TC's web site doesn't have a listing for service/repairs for Canada and he said it's set up for dealers to route broken units to, not the general public!?! I don't really care so long as they fix or replace it. But it seemed to be local.

Well, as long as the turnaround time is reasonable.

I'm hoping that since there hasn't been a huge FLOOD of similar incidents but rather a trickle (compared to # of units sold) that it's not a critical design flaw but more likely a component problem. It seems that if it were happening a lot, there'd be HUGE threads of people complaining

Whatever do you mean?... *a-hem* 'test pilots'

Back in the day-I went with the 80's hot set up pre-amp/amp Kroth cabs etc. Had a Yamaha power amp that got dragged around to every rehearsal and gig during that stretch then went on to power monitors in the sound room at a High School auditorium for the last 15 years....& yup, those Traynors could take even more abuse

A MONO Block II + a pair of Kroth cubes loaded with EVM 15Bs was what I used, followed by a short-lived and ghastly-sounding Yamaha PB-1/P2200/big TL/18" Fane box/pair of Bose 802s experiment which clanged & oozed like cars caught in a mud slide. But this was followed by an SVT/8x10/8x10. (If only a resource like TalkBass had existed back when I started...)

Played through the little rs112 while there and it sounded pretty good to me although I didn't have MY bass there...a Sadowsky Super Jazz which is 3 times the $$ was a good stand in tho

Yes the RS112 does look interesting. Is there any tilt-back mechanism on it?

[seamonkey]

These things likely have a chord that plugs into a computer to run diagnostics and monitoring. Probably not available to the general public.

[MIJ-VI]

Makes sense.

[Steve Clark]

Canadian tc user. Subscribe.

[coedvette]

Yes the RS112 does look interesting. Is there any tilt-back mechanism on it?[/quote]

Na, and apparently the Mark Bass little foldy stand doesn't hold them up because the finish is not grippy enough

[AMJBASS]

Dave's customer service is pretty top notch. I am sure he will get you back on your feet soon. I am sure TC will be interested in the amp as well. They seem like a stand up company that will try and make sure you are very happy with their product. I have to get down to Club Bass and try out that RS112...

[coedvette]

Originally Posted by Adrian Juras

Dave's customer service is pretty top notch. I am sure he will get you back on your feet soon. I am sure TC will be interested in the amp as well. They seem like a stand up company that will try and make sure you are very happy with their product. I have to get down to Club Bass and try out that RS112...

Agreed>> Dave's a great guy with a lot of years worth of knowledge... I had a good chat pickin' his brain about gear yesterday He has the little Orange "lunch box" amp there. I didn't try it out. The guitar version is like 15 watts of class A tube power so I was surprised to hear that the bass version is yet another 500 watt mini with probably a smps. No room in the box for a big traditional power transformer.