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A good reason to hate heavy amps

It's a classic engineer's dilemma. They could make the amp "bomb-proof" sturdy and probably could come up with some kind of structure that would protect the amp if it fell, maybe 4 or 5 feet, like off a loading dock. But of course that would make an amp that's already very heavy and very expensive even heavier and more expensive. :spit:

I wouldn't be surprised if'n some long time UPS guys were well aware of what's inside boxes marked "Ampeg", "Mesa" and "Marshall" - heavy as f#@% amplifiers and speaker cabinets. I'm sure most of what they deliver is shoes, clothes and books ordered from Amazon dot com and so forth, so when one of these knuckleheads is having a bad day and has to lift and tote a 85 pound tube amplifier, he might get an attitude about it and 'accidently' drop it. :rolleyes:
 
My SVT was left out in the rain by my delivery guys. The box was literally so wet that when I tried to pick it up it just peeled off instead of even ripping. Luckily, Ampeg does a good job with their own packaging which was inside that box and not a single drop made it to the amp. Understandably, I was still pissed as the delivery company lied to me twice about the delivery date and made me wait 2 1/2 weeks to get it followed by the soggy box flop (pun intended).
 
the mounting bolts on my VR were also sketchy when I bought it. cost me a dollar to change them all.

MEApV3W.jpg
 
I was being sarcastic at first, but after looking at how they secured the transformers, now I actually do believe the build quality is partly at fault.

An old SVT-II non-pro once came to me badly dropped by UPS, enough to bend the front faceplate and both handle bars, but at least most of the stuff mounted in there were still very safely secured. I love Ampeg, but that does look pretty weak to me. JimmyM, it's up to you to report it!
 
I was being sarcastic at first, but after looking at how they secured the transformers, now I actually do believe the build quality is partly at fault.

An old SVT-II non-pro once came to me badly dropped by UPS, enough to bend the front faceplate and both handle bars, but at least most of the stuff mounted in there were still very safely secured. I love Ampeg, but that does look pretty weak to me. JimmyM, it's up to you to report it!
No it isn't ;) Hey, the CL's on my gigs always show up and look and work great. Even with the pem nuts, it would still have to have suffered some kind of serious trauma to get to that point. They ship tons of those amps all over the world, and the vast majority get to their destinations without incident.
 
the ones that weren't 'broken' were easily pulled off with a pair of vicegrips. the nuts are pressed into the transformers mounting clips

I know this all too well. They are a good cheap solution for light weight low vibration situations. NOT this application.

Jimmy, I don't care if 100,000 units survived with them, it is irresponsible use of that fastener. Engineering or common sense wise. I sometimes play Craps or Black Jack, but I know I am gambling then. JM (not so)HO. ;)
 

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