Ampeg SVT4 Pro problem, please advise

[soupninja]

Ok so I bought a used , and what looked like in very good condition svt4 pro head with roadcase. last week at GC.
I played on it for about an hour and a half at GC before I put it on layaway.

Well I picked it up the following week and took it home. Brought it to practice. Plugged it in and started rocking..10 minutes later it starts to go out.

It sounded like when uo have a bad cable and you loose signal and the little red peak light would come on and stay on. The limiter light did not come on at all.

So me being who I am I pop it with my fist over the imput jack area with the logo, and it comes back on for a few seconds I play through it..and then does the same thing.

Iv tried brand new cables with it as well, no difference

I bought the warranty from GC as well. Do you guys know what the problem is, is it a common problem, what can I expect GC to do about the problem..Im thinking it go banged around when they put it up for layaway...because I treated it like porcelin when I got ahold of it.

 

[Mrdak]

If it came back on after you smacked it, then maybe you should take advantage of the warranty. But, do you have it hooked up properly? Using the right kinds of cables and all?

 

[soupninja]

I used the speakon in mono bridge mode and daisy chainged the 4x10 into the 1x15 first. Then I changed to two regular speaker cables, then I took it out of monobridge mode with the little push button. I tried every possibly speak combo into the head I could trying to eliminate any problems there.

 

[nightcityburn]

It sounds like it is overheating.

How big is the rack case it is in? Does is have at least one full rack space above it to allow for air circulation? Try playing it out of the rack case before you return it. You have bridged down to its lowest point, and thus are asking it to put out the most amount of heat.

 

[soupninja]

No it dosnt have a full rack space above it and theres not much room on the sides either..but if it was over heating..how come when I wacked it it started working for a few more minutes?

 

[Mrdak]

Is the speakon cable you're using, the one that comes with the head?
Do you have the manual for the head?
If not, then here it is............ http://www.ampeg.com/pdf/SVT4PRO.pdf

 

[soupninja]

no its not the one that came with the head, I tried to modify it but they gave me a crappy one that can be modified

 

[Mrdak]

no its not the one that came with the head, I tried to modify it but they gave me a crappy one that can be modified

Don't use that Speakon for mono bridged mode unless you know its wired properly.
Don't rack it unless you have a rack with a fan.
Try hooking it up to one cabinet using one side at a time, if you haven't already.

Do a search in the forum here for SVT4-pro problems.... and you'll probably find what you're doing wrong. Plus you'll learn a bunch from what you'll find there.

 

[soupninja]

Yeah, I have the manual...but even with all that..the fact that I had to hit it and it works for a few more min..tells me somthing internal is wrong. It was in that same road case hooked up to a peavy 4x10 while I played on it for about an hour at GC and no problems.

 

[nightcityburn]

Not sure why hitting it helped, but it might have knocked it out of thermal protect for a little bit. I am just giving you things to try though, I can't explain why things are happening, as I am just helping with some general troubleshooting.

 

[Mrdak]

If it were me, I'd return it and wouldn't waste any time doing it. Be glad you bought a warranty bro.

 

[soupninja]

yeah im taking it back on friday(my day off) and seeing what they will do with it, I want this one fixed or at least a replacement.do you guys know if they send them back to the ampeg , or do they send them to an in house guy to repair?GC

 

[derridiandrift]

Only a guess... they'll probably send it to a local repair contractor. Get them to give you a loaner for the duration of the repairs. Tell them you'd like the same amp.

 

[soupninja]

Didnt know they would give out a loaner..will try that

 

[soupninja]

So I took the head back to GC, instead of using the warranty I just traded an older guitar that I never use and got a brand new head too me thats better than having one problem fixed on a used head only next month have another problem that it needs to go back for again...I have no idea how thehead was treated before I bought it..and how long it has been used in that stuffy road case.

The GC guy said that it sounded like the mute switch was damaged and may be toggling on with vibration or somthing..but who knows.

 

[Gigabajillion]

I had the same problem. Not to the point of completely shutting off but cutting out a lot and peak light staying on with a loud buzz. Tt was a mixture of the mute switch and the input jack. Glad you got it worked out.

 

[realbadgroove]

I had a SVT 4 pro for years and it always had problems like over heating and did not like running mono. Sounds like something is loose inside somewhere if you smacked it and it came back on. My advise is that you sell it and buy something else.

 

[realbadgroove]

That amp just has to many components thus all the trouble. Just to much going on in its little head.... room because they don't have that great of a power output for there high rating

 

[soupninja]

well, either way..for some reason they dont loose much of there value, and I have 30days to decide if I like it or not.

 

[Mrdak]

Don't let the negative waves sway you in the least. You were able to get a new head, so take the time to work with it and get your sound. The 4-pro will do whatever you want.