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Aguilar TH500 just blew up

jzucker

jzucker

Supporting Member
Feb 3, 2005
4,726
1,357
Cleveland, OH
www.jackzucker.com
#1
my Aguilar Amplification TH-500 just blew up. I was smelling something burning the last few days and then the fan started making a really bad noise and today, the blue LEDs started flickering and just went out along with the output.

Anyone know the best way to reach them for service? Their email goes to korgusa
 
#3
If you haven’t checked this yet, look at the website related to Aguilar and see if there a factory-authorized service center near you.

I don’t know whether there would be or not. But seems like they would list any available service centers under their support page.
 
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#4
Geri O said:
If you haven’t checked this yet, look at the website related to Aguilar and see if there a factory-authorized service center near you.

I don’t know whether there would be or not. But seems like they would list any available service centers under their support page.
Click to expand...

There's nothing like that on their site. If you click on replacement parts, it links to a page saying the sight is under maintenance. There are only 5 or 6 dealers listed and 4 are sweetwater, musicians friend and other online-only retailers...I think emailing korg is the only option
 
#5
jzucker said:
There's nothing like that on their site. If you click on replacement parts, it links to a page saying the sight is under maintenance. There are only 5 or 6 dealers listed and 4 are sweetwater, musicians friend and other online-only retailers...I think emailing korg is the only option
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Bummer. Good luck.
Maybe call a dealer and see what they suggest?
But I’m thinking you are correct about emailing.
 
#7
unfortunately, korg sent me a link to authorized repair shops but there the aguilar produce line doesn't show up in their search query

upload_2023-4-7_18-0-16.png


Unfortunately, neither aguilar nor tone hammer nor TH-500 show up in the product queryupload_2023-4-7_18-0-16.png
 
#13
blowinblue said:
The bass world is watching. Will Aguilar customer service remain at the same high level under KORG ownership? I'm certainly watching. Carefully.

M. M.
Click to expand...

I can tell you emphatically, IT WON'T.

I finally got the repair facility locator to work. It turns out that Aguilar is not listed in their database so I was advised to use the model number for one of the VOX modeling amps and contact people.

I've called 3 (now 4 as of a few minutes ago) repair facilities that are listed in the repair locator.

So far, ZERO of them are even willing to repair them. They've all told me they can't get the replacement parts or schematics or test information.

Not a single of the 4 will even take the amp for repair.

And all 4 places told me I should contact aguilar directly and that they have never worked on aguilar products and how no idea how to get parts or schematics.
 
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#14
I finally found an authorized repair facility willing to repair. They've never seen one of these amps in person but looked up the part on the korg site. They estimate the power board is going to be $400ish plus an hour of labor @$100 and of course, no guarantee that'll fix the problem.
 
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#15
jzucker said:
I finally found an authorized repair facility willing to repair. They've never seen one of these amps in person but looked up the part on the korg site. They estimate the power board is going to be $400ish plus an hour of labor @$100 and of course, no guarantee that'll fix the problem.
Click to expand...
jzucker said:
my Aguilar Amplification TH-500 just blew up. I was smelling something burning the last few days and then the fan started making a really bad noise and today, the blue LEDs started flickering and just went out along with the output.

Anyone know the best way to reach them for service? Their email goes to korgusa
Click to expand...
May I ask how old your Tonehammer is?
 
#19
chris_b said:
As a long term and very happy Aguilar (10+ years) user, your experience leaves me disappointed and not very happy at all.
Click to expand...

Same here. About 2 years ago, there was a phone number listed on the aguilar site. I called them and bought a replacement tweeter for my SL-112. They shipped it promptly and included a little diagram of how to install it.

But it appears aguilar is simply a name now. One of the repair shops said he won't touch them or markbass anymore because the support for repair shops is so poor.
 
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#20
jzucker said:
Here's another thing, the last repair shop I spoke to says that korg only lists the main power supply board and rubber feet as parts for that amp. So if your problem is on the preamp board, you're screwed.

At this point, the best recommendation is just to trash it and write it off as a business loss.
Click to expand...

The power supply/power amp board is a non-repairable assembly since the safety certification is based around it. It's also incredibly difficult to repair, even the manufacturer of those modules doesn't repair them, it's just not cost effective.

The preamp board should be straight forward with the docs.
 
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