Want amp; scared of amp failure

[mouthmw]

Ever happened to you? You found a nice new amp you wanna buy and love the sound but you read some reviews about it breaking down in short time. And now you're scared yours might stop working in the middle of the gig.

Thats' my current thinking. I really want orange terror bass but I read a few reviews where the amp just stopped working. Im wondering if they have reliability issues. Any thoughts?

[JimmyM]

amps break. fact of life. some are more prone to it than others. one advantage of buying new is you have a warranty for a year or two or however long. but yeah, an amp that breaks on a lot of people does cause red flags. not really sure about the orange, but i'm sure more people will chime in about their experiences.

[R Baer]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

amps break. fact of life.

+1 The main reason I never did a gig without some form of back up head and certainly with todays inexpensive lightweight amps, there's really no reason not to own some form of back up head, just in case.

[Jaco who?]

Sure, amps break, but no reason to put up with some brands that have no problem using customers that have to have the "latest and greatest" for long term reliability testing. Irks the heck out of me.

I gravitate to the newest Peaveys that are still the two ohm made in USA models, heavy as hell, but if I were to replace them, I'd go with either RB series GKs or anything Genz Benz.

I can get "my sound" (whatever that means) from any amp, really, and reliability is far more important to me than "the endless search for my tone", (whatever that means).

[Sartori]

Amps break down. So do cars. Each is a complicated machine with many parts that can get screwed up or just wear out.

So far, no issues with my amp *crosses fingers*.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

I do know that this does sound like a broken LP, but amps do break down.

I'm probably in a different boat than most of the folks, since I've only bought one brand new amp in my life.

The problem with that particular amp wasn't bad reviews, since there was absolutely none. But I bought it anyway, and couldn't be happier.

If someone would dig a bit deeper into infant death amps, I'm almost positive that a common culprit would be found. Be that a crappy parts supplier, crappy sub-manufacturer chaging something without informing about it or something else (customer beta testers like Jaco who? suggested, for example), the problems can usually be traced to certain units.

Regards
Sam

[mouthmw]

I very much expected the "amps break down" replies

Anyways, I can't afford a backup amp right now, nor in the near future (thanks to the prices being more than 3X expensive here than they are in the US), and I would be getting a new amp, so thankfully, warranty is here.

I'm just kind of curious - Orange Terror Bass is small, but packs a lot of power. Something tells me that a powerful little amp is more sensitive to breaking (I don't mean literally dropping it or something) than a normal sized powerful amp. Since it's in a small package, everything is tightly packed and probably heats easier, fan or not. I don't know, it kind of reminds me of laptop vs desktop issue. Laptops are definitely more prone to faults and breaking.

[lazyone2]

I am not sure about the Orange Terror but if its reliabity you want buy a model that has been on the market for a sustained period of time. In a quality product, the bugs or flaws in the materials or manufacturing process usually get eliminated over time.

[craig.p]

Yeah, if you can't afford a backup amp, then you MUST choose an amp based on one attribute and one attribute only: field reliability. I think there are a few threads on this board about "which amps are the most reliable." Also, when it comes to reliability, don't overlook the option of preamp + power amp. Solid used power amps come up for sale from time to time in the classifieds.

[gregoire1]

Originally Posted by mouthmw

I very much expected the "amps break down" replies

Anyways, I can't afford a backup amp right now, nor in the near future (thanks to the prices being more than 3X expensive here than they are in the US), and I would be getting a new amp, so thankfully, warranty is here.

I'm just kind of curious - Orange Terror Bass is small, but packs a lot of power. Something tells me that a powerful little amp is more sensitive to breaking (I don't mean literally dropping it or something) than a normal sized powerful amp. Since it's in a small package, everything is tightly packed and probably heats easier, fan or not. I don't know, it kind of reminds me of laptop vs desktop issue. Laptops are definitely more prone to faults and breaking.

Your not insane! I do the same thing. I obsess over reviews til I'm not sure of anything, except, I know I'm about to put all my money in one basket (amp) and if it fails, I'll never be able to replace it.

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by mouthmw

Ever happened to you? You found a nice new amp you wanna buy and love the sound but you read some reviews about it breaking down in short time. And now you're scared yours might stop working in the middle of the gig.

Thats' my current thinking. I really want orange terror bass but I read a few reviews where the amp just stopped working. Im wondering if they have reliability issues. Any thoughts?

The general rule of thumb on solid state electronics is that, if they're going to fail, they're going to do so pretty early on. I.e. in the first weeks or months of use. If they've been going already for some years they're probably going to keep on going until you do something bad to them.

I have two GK 1001RB-II heads that both failed in the same way in about the first (total) 2 or 3 months worth of use (something went amputated in the preamp). I sent them back to GK for repair, several years ago now, and they've been fine ever since. That to me is a high failure rate, but sure enough conforms to this general rule of thumb about early failure.

With anything using tubes, they can develop problems at any time in their life cycle; the chances of it increase over time as the tube, socket and heat-cycled circuitry around the tubes gradually deteriorate over time.

So the even more general rule of thumb is: if buying solid state used, the older the better (up to a point). If buying tube gear, well, don't buy tube gear.

If you can buy new that's the best route to take because of the warranty. I.e. both my GK's were under warranty and GK repaired them FOC (except for shipping, and I think they even paid the return shipping). That's the best option for something you're suspicious about but want anyway....

LS

[mouthmw]

Originally Posted by gregoire1

Your not insane! I do the same thing. I obsess over reviews til I'm not sure of anything, except, I know I'm about to put all my money in one basket (amp) and if it fails, I'll never be able to replace it.

Yes, that's exactly how I do it too. Obsessing is the right word!

[sedan_dad]

My amps NEVER break down. Then again I use 40+ year old Ampegs.

[greenboy]

Backup? Preamp in the back of the vehicle, and a modern thing they call a PA system. Often have an extra channel of pro power amp available there too, so there are plenty of ways to skin the wilderbeast.

Not that I've ever had to worry.

[s_mcsleazy]

Originally Posted by Sartori

Amps break down. So do cars. Each is a complicated machine with many parts that can get screwed up or just wear out.

So far, no issues with my amp *crosses fingers*.

couldent agree more to both statements.

plus like cars diffrent amps develope diffrent problems

[mouthmw]

Originally Posted by greenboy

Backup? Preamp in the back of the vehicle, and a modern thing they call a PA system. Often have an extra channel of pro power amp available there too, so there are plenty of ways to skin the wilderbeast.

Not that I've ever had to worry.

Yup, already have a preamp, and we have our PA too, so I guess I'm covered to "get the gig done", even if I won't really hear myself that well.

[greenboy]

Well, obvious answers are... obvious. Buy better gear, and buy a backup if you want. And invest in better PA too.

[RobJ]

I've never had an amp fail in over 40 years of playing, knock on wood, but did have a speaker die once in the middle of a gig. In that case the PA was my friend but hearing myself was tough.

[mpdd]

my fails have been blown fuses like i had yesterday, but i didn't buy the orange, because i couldn't find one to try, and it was too many watts for my current cab

[guy n. cognito]

Once you come to accept the fact that any amp can fail and start planning for that eventuality, you'll stop worrying about such things.

Read: a gigging bassist should always have a backup.