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Another Red Flag On The Ampeg PF-500.....

#521
shoot-r said:
+1!

But to late, I sold my burnt-out PF-500 for pennies.
I was gonna follow in B strings footsteps and get a G.K. Fusion but then I stumbled onto a Hartke LH500...LOVE
IT!!!!!
It's already lasted through it's first power-up so it's surpassed my first PF-500, and it's run more than 5 hours now so it's already surpassed my second PF-500.......a win for me so far! :hyper:
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Ahh, the LH500, almost went for one of those it's a good solid amp, but the Ampeg tone won out for me - so enjoy and play the heck it. :bassist:
I've put 5 hours on my PF today alone, so don't put down my 4 month old PF.
 
#523
"... Ampeg has made NO consideration for repairs (at the owners expense) for the PF series of amps."

Huh?

Yeah, I'm not following shoot-r's point here. It's clear that Ampeg has made provision for allowing post-warranty service. Like most manufacturer's, they certainly provide tech documents and parts lists to authorized service centers for repair work. I'm sure they'll do the same for individuals if you ask. If your tech won't fix the unit, I'm sure there are many more who would do it. Perhaps you should look around.

If your problem is with the cost or timeliness of the repair, well I'd say that's a different issue.
 
#524
Just dropping in to tell all the whingers and nay-sayers here that my PF-800 performed like a champ at my gig last night.

A packed room of 150 people, an 8 piece stones tribute band (loud), modest PA (no subs), a single PF115LF cab, great tone and no problems at all. The amp ran at 12 o'clock on the master for 2 and a half hours solid. Not an ounce of trouble with it.
 
#525
Gretsch6136 said:
Just dropping in to tell all the whingers and nay-sayers here that my PF-800 performed like a champ at my gig last night.

A packed room of 150 people, an 8 piece stones tribute band (loud), modest PA (no subs), a single PF115LF cab, great tone and no problems at all. The amp ran at 12 o'clock on the master for 2 and a half hours solid. Not an ounce of trouble with it.
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Good to know. But this thread is about the pf 500
I don't think anyone has been nay-saying anything about the 800. It seems to be a champ.
 
#526
arai said:
Good to know. But this thread is about the pf 500
I don't think anyone has been nay-saying anything about the 800. It seems to be a champ.
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A very large part of this thread was devoted to a discussion of the guy who's PF800 cut out at a gig, but it turned out to be his dodgy volume pot on the guitar. I therefore thought it would be worthwhile addressing that part of the conversation.
 
#531
jeffmaxwell said:
Maybe you need to talk to a different Ampeg service tech. I repair these amps for my customers when they are out of warranty and I dont think any of them feel like they have been overcharged or treated unfairly. Believe it or not some repair techs do care about their customers.
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With a name like Maxwell, you should have James Clerk as your avatar instead of Edison. I guess more people know Edison.
 
#532
JimmyM said:
So I take that statement to mean, "I'm not looking to do anything constructive here...I just want to complain over and over."
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Well, maybe more like "I didn't read the Markbass repair thread about the cost of board level repairs, and I think board level repairs cost too much, so I want a replacement amp free for my out-of-warranty repair. Therefore, I will declare it a design flaw."

No point trying to reason with that mindset.
 
#533
I know we all just spit ball here. I do find it interesting that folks with no financial interest or responsibility to the manufacturer are defending (or detracting) where the actual "company" has not shown interest in posting an official position. Just an observance, don't shoot me.:)
 
#534
Are there any Ampeg authorized repairmen reading this post? If so, can they send an email asking Ampeg Customer Service, Corporate sales, or Ampeg repair representatives some questions like:

What revision of amp are we on now? What specific part (with nomenclature, numbers) is failing? Has that defective part been replaced in the last revision?

"I would like to order the P/N XXXX to replace blown board. How much is it and is there a backorder of that part?"

There are a couple people here who are editors and contributing writers for bass magazines. Can you guys possibly make some calls? Ask them these questions.

It's too bad there isn't a consumer protection group for musical instruments. But look at the corporate mentality. It seems people have to crash and die because of defective brakes in their cars before Company X does a recall, and it's ALWAYS years later. Very rarely do you hear of the recall in the same model year. We know why -- it will hurt sales.

I cut my teeth on Ampeg gear, it's one of the American Standards. But as MOST ALL of our products go global, we lose control over parts and the final results. The Chinese make so many millions of the items then when you ask them what went wrong and how to correct it, they kind of go deaf, it seems.

We can rant and rant and thump our chests all we want. But I want to hear quotes from Ampeg representatives. Everything else is speculation and singular anecdotal. I'm interested in seeing big numbers and ratios, if any Ampeg rep even has the guts to produce those numbers.

By the way, has anyone set up a poll on how many owners are using PF500's and if they're running fine? At least that would give us a number to start with.
 
#535
alaskaleftybass said:
But I want to hear quotes from Ampeg representatives. Everything else is speculation and singular anecdotal. I'm interested in seeing big numbers and ratios, if any Ampeg rep even has the guts to produce those numbers.
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Don't hold your breath
alaskaleftybass said:
By the way, has anyone set up a poll on how many owners are using PF500's and if they're running fine? At least that would give us a number to start with.
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http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/portaflex-cutting-out-poll-881882/
 
#536
Thanks arai. That poll is a year old. It would be nice if Talkbass were to allow it to be posted at least once a year, allowing an accumulation of new user results.

Larger numbers give us a larger voice on any issue.

Do these numbers look low or high to anyone compared to other brands?
 
#537
JIMHO the numbers are just interesting, but not conclusive as they rely on the honesty of the respondents. With an issue that was/is heated, either "side" can vote without actual experience. Not slamming any of the other member's or impuning their integrity but it can happen so where do you set the error rate? [Note: No vote from me as while I played one of each shortly, I have not owned one nor did they fail on me when I tried them.]
 
#538
Like I have said on more than one occasion in this thread....

Hanging around here and griping about amp failures out of warranty isn't going to achieve anything. If these people truly believe their amp to be a lemon and not of merchantable quality, there are consumer advocacy agencies that will go into bat for them if they also believe this to be true..

Why the heck hasn't a single person in this thread taken such affirmative action?

And why hasn't a single affected person spoken up about what type of cable they were using to connect the head to the speaker box? I also asked that question many pages back and there has been no comment on that possible cause of failure either.

Get off your lazy, apathetic backsides and do something positive to help yourselves. Playing the victim makes you a victim.
 
#539
Gretsch6136 said:
Like I have said on more than one occasion in this thread....

Hanging around here and griping about amp failures out of warranty isn't going to achieve anything. If these people truly believe their amp to be a lemon and not of merchantable quality, there are consumer advocacy agencies that will go into bat for them if they also believe this to be true..

Why the heck hasn't a single person in this thread taken such affirmative action?

And why hasn't a single affected person spoken up about what type of cable they were using to connect the head to the speaker box? I also asked that question many pages back and there has been comment on that possible cause of failure either.

Get off your lazy, apathetic backsides and do something positive to help yourselves. Playing the victim makes you a victim.
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+1

The various posting that keep bringing back the idea that all ECs are due to design flaws are getting tiresome, rev. J is the latest and that was a change to an op-amp (non-critical change, supply problem as I see it) a change to a cap in the PSU (no substantive changes that I can determine as my rev. G has the same value cap in it) and the most critical change of all -> to add fuse clips to the BOM.
Rev. H was a connector change - for the interconnect with the pre-amp, I doubt if any changes in H or J affected the reliability at all.

If you own an Ampeg amp and ask nicely (also agree not to divulge IP and accept responsibility for doing anything stupid inside) you can get for yourself a nice PDF package that has all the parts neatly drawn, plus order today and as an added bonus it comes with ECs and rev levels all detailed for your reviewing pleasure. :ninja: :hiding:

The EC and rev lists are part of the prints anyway so ...
 
#540
I would like to know if the answer PF-500 owners who have had early out of warranty failures get from Loud Tech is something like: "We regret that your Ampeg PF-500 amplifier has failed after the warranty has expired. Please take it to an Ampeg factory authorised repair provider to obtain a quote for out of warranty repair."

I have emailed two Loud Tech executives directly, (rather than any general inquiry route), regarding PF-500 engineering changes, and there has been no response, whatsoever. If nothing else, just tell me it is none of my business. Apparently Loud Tech executives lack the courage to engage in a direct conversation with someone whose purchases contribute to their compensation. It is a lot cheaper to keep an existing customer than it is to gain a new one. Loud Tech: I'm not angry with you. I just want to talk. Don't want to acknowledge me? OK. Carry on. I can live on vintage Ampeg gear for the rest of my life, if that is what you want.
 

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