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Ampeg PF-500 problems

Steve Dallman

Steve Dallman

Supporting Member
Mar 5, 2006
2,660
2,302
East Central Wisconsin
#1
I purchased a new Ampeg PF-500 bass head on Sept 14 from Musicians Friend. They had a sale...I had the money (sold a Wurlitzer 200A piano) so I bought the amp I wanted. I haven't gigged with it yet. I powered it up yesterday and all I got was a fault light...no sound. No problem with the speaker, cords, etc. (I was an authorized tech for SLM later Loud Technologies Inc.)

I called Musicians Friend. I told them I needed this amp for a Friday gig, as my bass heads are down. She gave me some crap and told me the only way that would happen is if I purchased a new one, and when they received the defective amp, they'd re-imburse me. I complained that it was MF that sold me a defective head, and that I didn't have the money to purchase another amp. 10 minutes later, I asked to speak to a supervisor and Duran took the phone.

He was absolutely great! I had gotten the UPS return label while on hold. He said to call him as soon as the amp was at the UPS office. I ran there, and called Duran with the time and tracking number. He sent a new amp out overnight air. (This was already 4:45pm central time. I got the new amp at 10:15 this morning.

I will chock the amp failure up to a fluke. I will also take my PA head (PV 8600D...600 watts per channel) for a backup.

I was completely frustrated with MF at 4pm Monday, and am thrilled with them today, at 10:30am. Way to go MF. I will not bad mouth them ever again. It sometimes pays to ask for a supervisor.
 
#4
Steve Dallman said:
I was completely frustrated with MF at 4pm Monday, and am thrilled with them today, at 10:30am. Way to go MF. I will not bad mouth them ever again. It sometimes pays to ask for a supervisor.
Click to expand...

MF can be real hit or miss on customer service. Glad they got you settled. I bought a piece of rack gear and needed a single space unit, found what I wanted used and bought it. They didn't have it in stock so they sent me a similar (though more expensive) unit that was a double rack space. The first guy I talked to said their mistake, send it back for a refund because they couldn't get me what I wanted. I thought about it, called back, and the woman who talked to me that time sent me a brand new unit that I wanted and return shipping labels for the more expensive unit. She was great. The other guy was ok, but definitely not helpful.

On the PF, best of luck to you. Hopefully you got your run in with defectiveness out of the way. I've had mine for over a year now, almost a year and a half, and it's still going strong.
 
#5
There are also way too many success stories with that head for it NOT to be a fluke, or at least not nearly as widespread percentage-wise as TB would make you think.
 
#6
I was looking into buying an SVT 7 pro but I got cold feet given all the negative press around here. So I said to myself, " self, maybe you should go with the PF 500 instead. " and now I'm hearing theres been issues with that is well? I'm a bit of a worry wart to begin with, but now I'm really nervous.

It is nice to hear that musicians friend took care of you like that though.
 
#8
MLouis1981 said:
I was looking into buying an SVT 7 pro but I got cold feet given all the negative press around here. So I said to myself, " self, maybe you should go with the PF 500 instead. " and now I'm hearing theres been issues with that is well? I'm a bit of a worry wart to begin with, but now I'm really nervous.

It is nice to hear that musicians friend took care of you like that though.
Click to expand...


If you like the power and tone of the amp give it a shot.

My PF500 has been trouble free for 16 months since I purchased it new. I can recall 1 time the fault light went on for about 5 seconds because I was driving a cab hard and playing with the EQ. It's never happened again and I would have no reservations bringing it to a gig.

Some have had issues with the SVT7PRO. Rumor has it they have a Revision D board now hopefully that will solve any concerns a few people have had and if by chance you had an issue just contact customer service as they seem to be on the ball. My Rev C has been chugging along for almost a year without issue.
 
#10
this post seems to be just as much about MF taking care of a customer as it is about (another) reported PF500 failure.

nice to hear the good story on MF. I have used them for a number of purchases over the years and generally have been pretty satisfied.

regarding the PF500. Despite what the Ampeg/Loud advocates say, there have certainly been some non-trivial numbers of reported failed units here on TB. So, I'd say that it's a caveat emptor situation on the PF500. Plenty of people happy with their PF amps, but plenty of reports of them breaking down too.

In it's defence, Ampeg/Loud seems to handle failed units pretty reasonably - at least those under warranty. If you are a used buyer, you are definitely on your own.
 
#11
pfschim said:
regarding the PF500. Despite what the Ampeg/Loud advocates say, there have certainly been some non-trivial numbers of reported failed units here on TB. So, I'd say that it's a caveat emptor situation on the PF500. Plenty of people happy with their PF amps, but plenty of reports of them breaking down too.

In it's defence, Ampeg/Loud seems to handle failed units pretty reasonably - at least those under warranty. If you are a used buyer, you are definitely on your own.
Click to expand...

If it was a much wider issue than they're willing to admit you'd expect it to have been canned or revised at this point. I think in the PF-500 mega threads it was said by the ampeg rep (or quoted by someone who spoke with ampeg) that the failure rate was like 2-3%. I would have expected higher based on the amount of reporting, but we also have to give allowances for the fact that people generally don't report properly working amps unless provoked to do so. Either way, I agree, they seem to be handling replacements well for people who bought new. I don't think I'd buy one of these used either, but for the price they're pretty darn cheap new anyways.
 
#12
MLouis1981 said:
I was looking into buying an SVT 7 pro but I got cold feet given all the negative press around here. So I said to myself, " self, maybe you should go with the PF 500 instead. " and now I'm hearing theres been issues with that is well? I'm a bit of a worry wart to begin with, but now I'm really nervous.

It is nice to hear that musicians friend took care of you like that though.
Click to expand...
You have every right to be nervous. I would be very wary if I were you.
Take a look at this thread http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/poll-11248-has-your-portaflex-ever-cut-out-while-playing.html As you can see around a third of the people who voted in the poll had issues with the PF500. It's way to widespread to just be a fluke.
 
#15
arai said:
You have every right to be nervous. I would be very wary if I were you.
Take a look at this thread http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/poll-11248-has-your-portaflex-ever-cut-out-while-playing.html As you can see around a third of the people who voted in the poll had issues with the PF500. It's way to widespread to just be a fluke.
Click to expand...


As stated previously my PF500 cut out also on one occasion when I first got it. It hasn't happened again. Regarding the poll link you posted it appears a good number of the people reporting the PF500/PF350 cutting out also still list the amp as part of their current gear (assuming they update that page as I do). The issue with the amp maybe wasn't as much of a concern to them or they would rather their amps fault system engage before their amp fries.
 
#17
bassguppy said:
As stated previously my PF500 cut out also on one occasion when I first got it. It hasn't happened again. Regarding the poll link you posted it appears a good number of the people reporting the PF500/PF350 cutting out also still list the amp as part of their current gear (assuming they update that page as I do). The issue with the amp maybe wasn't as much of a concern to them or they would rather their amps fault system engage before their amp fries.
Click to expand...

FWIW, my PF500/115HE is still on my current gear list, but it only does rehearsals now and I will not use it on gigs because of my experience with it failing on the stand. The rest of my gear has never let me down.
 
#18
I have my first gig with it Friday. I'll see then how it does onstage. We are a three piece, and we play at reasonable volume. I lost two amps at this venue already...first my GK1001RB when a big cup of ice water fell into the cooling vent on top of the amp. I used my old Acoustic 370 which started distorting halfway through the night. I'm able to fix both of them (I'm a retired amp tech) but I've been jonesing for the Ampeg for a while. IF I get the cutting out many complain about, I'll return the head, but I suspect there have been enough revisions of this amp that the problem should be history. The problem with the Pro7 appears to have been a limiter problem, and a similar limiter is used in the PF500, if not the same circuit. I will take a backup head as I've learned to do.
 

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