As most of you know, i'm a big time Aguilar fan. Or shall we say... was.
Ok ok, i'm still a big fan. I love the sound of my DB680 and DB728 (although i've also switched to Epifani cabs, and the iAMP 800 is gaining ground). Anyway, my point is simply to inform the TB community of a couple things a few of us (funkyj, nightbass, etc) didn't realize.
The Aguilar's warranty is NON transferrable. That means if you buy used, you're completely screwed. Now I realize it's unrealistic to expect every manufacturer to provide the amazing service that Gary & John of EA do, but NO warranty (even on defective parts) is sad.
To compound the issue, Aguilar does not have any authorized service centers. Here's a quote from Aguilar: "To maintain high quality we try to be directly involved in any work done on our products." For a price. They charge $65/hr (reasonable bench fee) plus shipping both ways. Compare that to Crown (bigger company) who pays shipping both ways.
My DB680 is currently DEAD. Completely dead. Nightbass and I spent 1/2 saturday changing tubes, and nothing. Just the tiniest hint of gain, completely distorted. Aguilar tech support (I called) basically said.... well, you can send it in and pay for it to be fixed - even if it's a manufacturing defect. Other than that, they had no suggestions at all, and as usual, they weren't very nice about it either.
Like I said, I understand that economics prevents companies from fixing everything for free, but when you BOAST a 10 year warranty, you'd think they'd have the common decency to replace a $0.50 defective relay (or whatever).
That's my rant. Hopefully all you out there that THOUGHT the Aguilar warranty was transferrable have been updated. Their warranty has officially put them in the ranks of Fender, SWR, etc...
Feeling high and dry...
Ok ok, i'm still a big fan. I love the sound of my DB680 and DB728 (although i've also switched to Epifani cabs, and the iAMP 800 is gaining ground). Anyway, my point is simply to inform the TB community of a couple things a few of us (funkyj, nightbass, etc) didn't realize.
The Aguilar's warranty is NON transferrable. That means if you buy used, you're completely screwed. Now I realize it's unrealistic to expect every manufacturer to provide the amazing service that Gary & John of EA do, but NO warranty (even on defective parts) is sad.
To compound the issue, Aguilar does not have any authorized service centers. Here's a quote from Aguilar: "To maintain high quality we try to be directly involved in any work done on our products." For a price. They charge $65/hr (reasonable bench fee) plus shipping both ways. Compare that to Crown (bigger company) who pays shipping both ways.
My DB680 is currently DEAD. Completely dead. Nightbass and I spent 1/2 saturday changing tubes, and nothing. Just the tiniest hint of gain, completely distorted. Aguilar tech support (I called) basically said.... well, you can send it in and pay for it to be fixed - even if it's a manufacturing defect. Other than that, they had no suggestions at all, and as usual, they weren't very nice about it either.
Like I said, I understand that economics prevents companies from fixing everything for free, but when you BOAST a 10 year warranty, you'd think they'd have the common decency to replace a $0.50 defective relay (or whatever).
That's my rant. Hopefully all you out there that THOUGHT the Aguilar warranty was transferrable have been updated. Their warranty has officially put them in the ranks of Fender, SWR, etc...
Feeling high and dry...
