Warning: Do not buy a Fender Rumble 350

dedmeat42 · #1 01-22-2013, 03:24 PM

They have defective speakers. I have owned mine for two years and the speakers have blown twice. First time the replaced the amp, now they will not help because the speakers have a 1 year warranty. I have never had this thing past 5. The rep I spoke with said it is not defective or they would have a file on it being a recurring problem. A quick search brings up a different response with tons of people stuck in the same boat. Now it is my personal mission to make sure nobody makes the same mistake I have. Hope this saves at least a few people some time and money. Thanks.

Mr. Foxen · #2 01-22-2013, 03:26 PM

"Warning: Do not buy a Fender Rumble 350 if you don't know how to work volume and bass controls"

**mjac28** · #3 01-22-2013, 03:32 PM

Thanks for the heads up and he said he never had it past five my Mesa has never been past 9:00 on either the volume or gain so I know what he means it sucks and the reps are robots for the most part they spit out what is written down for them to say.

Downunderwonder · #4 01-22-2013, 04:08 PM

They must have sold a bazillion of them by now. It's not a surprise a few get blown up or fail. Further no surprise you can find a few reports online from those guys. For a cheap made in PRC product they seem to be doing ok. First I've seen anyone call them defective, but noted.

I've played on one a few times awhile ago. The owner gigged it regularly with rock drums and guitar, no blown speakers. I don't recall the master knob being unusual. Most amps are pretty well maxed by 5/10 in my experience.

I remember lots of shaping controls and a decent sound. Maybe you like a lot of contour and bass and grind or whatever they call it. It would probably be easy to distress the speakers at "5" on the master.

I voted NO in the "Is a combo giggable?" thread last night. Not because combo's are no good, but because it's easy to blow them up asking too much of them.

RickenBoogie · #5 01-22-2013, 04:38 PM

"never had the thing past 5" What exactly does this mean? There isn't just ONE control. Everything, from your bass, through to the speakers, has an effect on your overall gain. I assume this is a combo amp? How many/what size spkrs? What bass? How about the eq settings? It ALL matters, and in general, ANY amp is capable of blowing ANY spkrs. Excessive low eq and/or volume is usually the cause.

joelb79 · #6 01-22-2013, 04:53 PM

10's can't handle much wattage before mechanical limits set in (in most cases but not all). Cheaper speakers can exasperate this problem, especially if they are shy in the lows causing the user to boost the lows bringing them into mechanical failure quickly. What the OP is probably saying is that the amp is capable of pushing the speakers into mechanical failure fairly quickly.

rimbaud · #7 01-22-2013, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Foxen

"Warning: Do not buy a Fender Rumble 350 if you don't know how to work volume and bass controls"

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

"never had the thing past 5" What exactly does this mean? There isn't just ONE control. Everything, from your bass, through to the speakers, has an effect on your overall gain. I assume this is a combo amp? How many/what size spkrs? What bass? How about the eq settings? It ALL matters, and in general, ANY amp is capable of blowing ANY spkrs. Excessive low eq and/or volume is usually the cause.

+ 10 000 000 000 000 000 !!

If you don't know how to setup correctly your EQ, you can blow out ANYTHING ! One of my bass-mates, a killing bass player, a nice guy also, already blown a 10" speaker in a Hartke VX 4x10 combo. How ? simple, he thinks that because his drummer and his guitarist play loud, he must set his EQ as a V, full bass, full treble... no mids ....

Hartke says that you MUST BE CAREFULL with the 30 or 50 HZ control on their graphic EQ, cos' it can results in severe damage for speakers.

What they say is just common sense.

And before saying "hey guys I'm playing since bla bla years and my sound is perfect bla bla bla" , hummm.... sometimes it's good to take a new look at oneself and to take into account all the parameters of a problem, not just saying "Fender, you are guilty"

**BFunk** · #8 01-22-2013, 05:57 PM

Why are you guys so willing to assume operator error rather than a defective product? Instead of assuming he does not know how to use the amp correctly, why not just ask him how he has used it? Then make a judgement.

RS66LB · #9 01-22-2013, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFunk

Why are you guys so willing to assume operator error rather than a defective product? Instead of assuming he does not know how to use the amp correctly, why not just ask him how he has used it? Then make a judgement.

yeah, great point -seems there are a few equine posteriers around here that have no idea they showcase "miserable personified" with their assumptive negative attitudes, anyway have a great day and thanks for calling them out

IPYF · #10 01-22-2013, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Foxen

"Warning: Do not buy a Fender Rumble 350 if you don't know how to work volume and bass controls"

Just to play devil's advocate here for a second, there's no real evidence that the OP damaged their own amp in this instance. There is every possibility that this is a Fender QC issue, because every amp company has a few bad eggs.

Just because the OP's reaction to his circumstances in this instance is rather overzealous doesn't necessarily mean that he is to blame for the damage to the amp. While human error can always be a factor, there's no indication that the OP was actually doing anything wrong. It's just a blithe assumption.

When I had QC issues with a GK cab I bought I got a similar finger-wagging lecture from several users of this website, even after the GK service centre acknowledged that they had made mistakes both times they had the cab in the shop.

Edit:

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFunk

Why are you guys so willing to assume operator error rather than a defective product? Instead of assuming he does not know how to use the amp correctly, why not just ask him how he has used it? Then make a judgement.

This guy beat me to the draw. haha

Drunk Heffalump · #11 01-22-2013, 06:17 PM

Just as a point of order why would any manufacturer create a combo capable of eating it's own speaker(s) Head and cabs, maybe, but I SHOULD be able to dime my combo and have it survive, not that I'd want to but in case I ever did.
Something doesn't wash, and their lack of support occasionally translates into

"We know, don't care, wadda ya wanna buy now....?"

tabdog · #12 01-22-2013, 06:18 PM

I don't think the 350 combo is defective. I do
think the 350 combo is not well thought out.

The worst two things are that the speakers
are not adequate for the amp and it does not
have a speaker out jack.

Then, they made a light weight head and called
it a Rumble. The head now suffers the reputation
of the Rumble line while the head is not bad at all.

Tabdog

**BFunk** · #13 01-22-2013, 06:27 PM

I really disagree with that. There are basses that are capable of putting out much higher than normal instrument levels in the lowest bass ranges. Even accidentally banging your strings against the pickup can produce very high levels of audio below 30 Hz that can kill speakers. Then there is the scenario where a player boosts everything and just starts smacking his/her bass as hard as possible. You can't engineer against that without seriously compromising the performance of the amp.

Floyd Eye · #14 01-22-2013, 06:28 PM

Hmm. Budget Fender line. Cheap components? Whoulda thunk it?

LiquidMidnight · #15 01-22-2013, 06:35 PM

There's a possibility that operator error was not the culprit. There is a possibility that there is something defective with the speakers. However, the OP's anecdotal experience of two instances of speakers being blown could just be dumb luck, and self-selected complaints on the Internet about problems with the amp doesn't paint the whole picture due to us not knowing how many overall units are out there in the world. Even the most stringent quality control measures built into manufacturers' operations allow for a certain margin of defects.

With that said, the Rumble is a budget line amp, so I wouldn't exactly expect high performance from it.

Floyd Eye · #16 01-22-2013, 06:39 PM

It is also worth noting ( to me at least), that there can be little doubt these speakers are some of the cheapest available. I hate to go here, but it reminds me of the never ending speaker blow out with my Carvin cabs. Original speakers lasted a long time. I blew through replacements very rapidly though. As it turned out, Carvin no longer uses Eminence drivers and they are now sourcing them out of China.

LiquidMidnight · #17 01-22-2013, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Floyd Eye

It is also worth noting ( to me at least), that there can be little doubt these speakers are some of the cheapest available. I hate to go here, but it reminds me of the never ending speaker blow out with my Carvin cabs. Original speakers lasted a long time. I blew through replacements very rapidly though. As it turned out, Carvin no longer uses Eminence drivers and they are now sourcing them out of China.

I love the B and BX series amps, but I still don't care much for Carvin's bass cabinets. They just always sounded really boxy and stiff to me.

Floyd Eye · #18 01-22-2013, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquidMidnight

I love the B and BX series amps, but I still don't care much for Carvin's bass cabinets. They just always sounded really boxy and stiff to me.

I thought my RL and BX 410s were ok. I never thought they were great and always intended to upgrade, but not being able to afford what I really wanted, I just replaced drivers as they blew. After the second replacement driver blew ( very first gig with it mind you) I decided I couldn't afford NOT to upgrade.

The original speakers in these cabs are US made Eminence. The replacements are Chinese and of unknown manufacture.

jazzbassman13 · #19 01-22-2013, 06:50 PM

That can't be the case with all Fender Rumble 350's.
I have recently finished a contemporary music course and the place I studied at had a couple or so Rumble 350's and had had them for a while and they have had no problems with them

msaone · #20 01-22-2013, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drunk Heffalump

Just as a point of order why would any manufacturer create a combo capable of eating it's own speaker(s) Head and cabs, maybe, but I SHOULD be able to dime my combo and have it survive, not that I'd want to but in case I ever did.
Something doesn't wash, and their lack of support occasionally translates into

"We know, don't care, wadda ya wanna buy now....?"

I think any combo is capable of total speaker destruction. My TNT 130 could smash speakers, my fender BXR100 smashed its speaker this past fall, and I'm confident my rumble 350 head could roast my rumble 410 cab.

Still doesn't mean this guy didn't get a couple bad amps.