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Ampeg B200R Owners - Vibrations?

#21
dwhite1031 said:
Amen Rob! I have bruises all over my backside for kicking myself for buying the B200R and not the B100R or another model.......but NOOOOO... I had to have 220 watts.....
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I have both and love having that extra power (220 watts), but so far it has been unnecessary. Again, depends on the type of music and band member's volume, but my B100R will do the job for about 95% of the gigs we play. We aren't a stadium act!! I find my self using the B100R everytime.
 
#22
Groover said:
Just read your post... Pretty much the same exact description of what's happening on mine... Definitely a design flaw.

I guess I'll just suck it up and wait two weeks and see if they are actually able to fix it... starting to doubt it now.
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Try not to stress, that happened to me, and they had my B200R for 2 weeks! When I got it there was no charge and a loose part of the chassis was tightened. Works fine now. Just make sure there is NO CHARGE!!!
 
#23
Rob Martinez said:
I have both and love having that extra power (220 watts), but so far it has been unnecessary. Again, depends on the type of music and band member's volume, but my B100R will do the job for about 95% of the gigs we play. We aren't a stadium act!! I find my self using the B100R everytime.
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We play small to medium size clubs, but the one large club in particular that we play regularly (Graham Central Station) is the size of a gym, high ceilings, etc.. Hindsite is 20x20 and now I wish I had gone with the B100R or another brand altogether.
 
#24
dwhite1031 said:
We play small to medium size clubs, but the one large club in particular that we play regularly (Graham Central Station) is the size of a gym, high ceilings, etc.. Hindsite is 20x20 and now I wish I had gone with the B100R or another brand altogether.
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Keep it all in perspective. I'm keeping my B200R through the summer season, and if I never need it, I will probably just use it for practice and use the B100R for gigs. You could unload it, at a loss of course, but live and learn and get what you really want/need.
 
#25
Just wanted to follow up on this for those interested...

So just to recap:

- Purchased the 1st B200r, vibrated ('E' Note mainly), took it to repair shop.

- Repair shop requested Ampeg to send a replacement.

- 4th week, 1st replacement arrived but was damaged in shipping.

- 5th week, 2nd replacement arrived, no shipping damage, but same vibrations :mad:

I had called the store where I purchased if from, arranged for return (even though past the 30 days), explained, and they agreed to take it back (I was going to get a MIA B100R they had in stock for exchange)

I played to B200R a little more at home before making the final decision, tightened some screws, and "most" vibrations were gone. I think if I used wider washers on the side bolts that hold the chassis in place (wider washers so they don't sink into the wood), I can get it tight enough to eliminate all vibrations... I'm pretty sure I can fix it because when I hold the chassis with my hand (pushing it down or something), there are no vibrations. I plan on taking the chassis out from the cab and see if I can isolate it even better somehow.

The tone is fantastic. It's truly up to par with my 410HLF with SVT-6Pro (as far as tone goes), so I've decided to keep it.

The problem is indeed in the construction, but nothing a little detail to attention can't fix. Sad that Ampeg can't figure this out on their own and insists on just building a bad reputation because of lack of detail in this particular case.
 
#28
This is exactly where I am too. I can't get it open. I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction on this forum.
I've had my B200r for about a year and had no problems till recently. I couldn't tell if the speaker was blown or it was just vibrating like crazy.

After reading all these posts, I think its vibration.
 
#29
talkingmountain said:
This is exactly where I am too. I can't get it open. I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction on this forum.
I've had my B200r for about a year and had no problems till recently. I couldn't tell if the speaker was blown or it was just vibrating like crazy.

After reading all these posts, I think its vibration.
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Stinks, right?

Lordy, I love the way this amp sounds, but that rattle is a MAJOR headache. I used to be able to deal with it as it couldn't be heard over the band and the amp's "true" signal -- but it's worsened quickly.

I have been sent a warranty shop authorization form by LOUD support, and will get around to taking it in shortly. But it's still a major drag that an amp that's so well engineered is so poorly constructed, and I hope the repair shop is patient enough to root out a noise problem in an amp that actually operates perfectly.
 
#30
Lowbrow said:
Stinks, right?

Lordy, I love the way this amp sounds, but that rattle is a MAJOR headache. I used to be able to deal with it as it couldn't be heard over the band and the amp's "true" signal -- but it's worsened quickly.

I have been sent a warranty shop authorization form by LOUD support, and will get around to taking it in shortly. But it's still a major drag that an amp that's so well engineered is so poorly constructed, and I hope the repair shop is patient enough to root out a noise problem in an amp that actually operates perfectly.
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It totally stinks!

I was able to get it all apart tonight. There are 4 plastic-y type velcro connections in the corners. The grill cloth comes out of the front with the speaker attached. I jammed a screw driver in there and wedged it out.


The buzzing has become less frequent and loud since putting it back together, but I am sure it will start up again soon. I think I'm going to try some sort of rubber washer between the speaker and baffle. Right now its just metal on wood. We'll see if that helps.

Let me know if the warranty come through with the repair.
 
#33
Yes, I just got one and it sounds killer but vibrates. I just tightened up the chassis, but it still does it (on C and C#). I can make it stop if I put pressure on the chassis. My B100r has bracing on the back of the chassis where there is none on the 200r. It sounds nice but they cheaped out and turned the amp into junk.
 
#34
And 10 years later... these things are still frustrating.
Years ago, I bought a B200R combo. It had already had the horn/fuse issue repaired. But it had the rattles and vibrations. I tightened everything, braced the amp chassis better. Rattles stopped but still vibrated terribly when I play an E. High, low, anywhere.... Not ideal but usable.
I bought another one awhile back. It had a damaged chassis. Fixed chassis and sold the chassis. I planned on using it as a cab with a Aguilar TH500. I hit an E and the amp "walks off".... THEN I bought ANOTHER B200, cab only - no chassis, no speaker. It had some extra bracing and had been caulked to death. $20. The grill was in better condition than either of my others, so worth it just for the grill. Any time I play an E, anything sitting on top of it just vibrates and "walks" off the cab. I love the sound. I love the look. But these are practically unusable. I can't decide if any of the 3 of these are worth putting any more effort into or just toss them in the dumpster!
 

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