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

#141
Biggbass said:
The big downside to all of this is that Ampeg is only hurting themselves in the long run.
It's a shame a company that big won't stand behind a product that they know was designed to be flawed. They've made their money on the sales more than enough times over. But day by day they are losing current and future customers. Perhaps they will eventually realize the power of the internet and word of mouth advertising, which in this case, is all negative, and stand behind their products. The PF line is a good idea...probably on paper. But in reality it may have turned out to be the Edsel for Ampeg. If it was a faulty Toyota, there would be a nationwide recall.
Ampeg should do the same. It may cost them up front, but in the long run they'd make tons of money from doing so. Sounds like someone at Ampeg should have been fired long ago and replaced with an individual who takes customer service more seriously.
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Part of what sells these things is that when they work, they sound great, and they have the looks to go along with it.....it's a pretty easy sell.

Then when people like something that much and it goes down on them, they feel even worse about it, more "cheated". Then when the company comes along and denies and denies and denies again that a problem even exists, and then blames the user for turning up their amp, it's a real slap in the face. Somebody up there at LOUD needs to pull their head out of their ass and take care of this stuff while they still can. They're nice amps when they work.
 
#144
will33 said:
If the guy were to buy a pf350..........

I wonder if I could put that power board in the 500 and mate it to that preamp so he could still have the mid selector switch and stuff the 350 doesn't have. I'd rather do that than buy an actual 500 board.

I bet they make them interchangeable like that to make manufacturing cheaper.
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Good idea but there would be a few issues. It won't be plug and play. The PF350 is lacking 52 Volts.

The PF 350 preamp is all op amps. The power supply puts out +-15 Volts for the preamp.
The PF 500 has a Mosfet preamp. The power supply adds a +52 Volt supply to bias the Mosfet preamp.
 
#147
Biggbass said:
The big downside to all of this is that Ampeg is only hurting themselves in the long run.
It's a shame a company that big won't stand behind a product that they know was designed to be flawed. They've made their money on the sales more than enough times over. But day by day they are losing current and future customers. Perhaps they will eventually realize the power of the internet and word of mouth advertising, which in this case, is all negative, and stand behind their products. The PF line is a good idea...probably on paper. But in reality it may have turned out to be the Edsel for Ampeg. If it was a faulty Toyota, there would be a nationwide recall.
Ampeg should do the same. It may cost them up front, but in the long run they'd make tons of money from doing so. Sounds like someone at Ampeg should have been fired long ago and replaced with an individual who takes customer service more seriously.
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Well said
 
#148
Eight_Stringer said:
Did not Bowe post cover the problem period(s), for these amps, ie the ongoing revision of main boards?

Will33, are the problems your helping with related to early revisions?
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My guys is around 3 years old and was bought used, but there have been failures in amps bought as late as July of this year if not even more recent. I don't know if those are the latest revisions or if they were sitting in a warehouse for a year or something before being purchased.

With the history of these things, I just don't trust the latest revisions to be bug-free enough to tell somebody to drop over $300 on one.

The pf350 doesn't have anywhere near the amount of reported failures as the 500 does, so, I'd rather have him get one of those new with a warranty.
 
#149
I popped the lid today and mine reads as follows:
PF500 Main board PCB-ASSY-2034544-01 REV:J 02.

The preamp board reads as follows: 2043705-00-REV:"D"-00

I also might add that the very last numbers in the main board "02" were hand written in ink.

With so many people on the fence about these, I hope this is helpful, still no problems with mine. I bought mine 2 weeks ago when it was "Musicians Friend Stupid deal of the Day". It was a restock, so I was a little leary, but at $287.00 shipped I took the chance. I sent LOUD an email, and they said it was made mid July of this year.

__________________
 
#150
I recently bought a PF800. I went with that model because there were no reported faults, and I assumed LOUD had learned a thing or two from the pF500 debacle.

The amp has been used for two very solid rehearsals with the band at full stage volume together with all my low volume practicing at home. So far so good - not a single issue. I set the input gain until the red light starts to flash and then back it off a touch. Then set the master to suit the situation. I keep an eye on the red light after making EQ changes and adjust gain again to avoid lighting it up.

I feel sorry for the poster here who has experienced on stage failure of his PF800, but the circumstances don't seem to be clear cut that the amp itself was the root cause. It would be good to hear how he gets on once his guitar has been fixed and he's using power known to be good.

One thing I have been wondering about is how many PF series failures may be due to the operator using an instrument cable as a speaker lead? Its an easy mistake to make and in my experience many highly experienced musicians are not aware that 1/4" speaker leads and 1/4" instrument cables are not the same thing.

Using an instrument cable as a speaker lead is a big no-no. Even with robust valve equipment, using one is courting disaster. Maybe with these class D power supplies it's not just courting disaster, it is disaster! There may be something in Ampeg's design that is particularly susceptible to this issue. I don't know, but I do feel this this is a valid question to ask.

I have a big gig coming up with my Rolling Stones tribute show in 3 weeks time. I will keep my fingers crossed for an incident free performance, and will check back in here to let you know the outcome.

Oh just popped the top :

Main board number: 2039833-00 Rev: A 02

Preamp Board: PF500 Pre Amp Board ASSY: 2034705-00 Rev: D 00

Cheers,

Mark
 
#151
Gretsch6136 said:
I have a big gig coming up with my Rolling Stones tribute show in 3 weeks time. I will keep my fingers crossed for an incident free performance, and will check back in here to let you know the outcome.
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People shouldn't have to keep their fingers crossed that their amp may stop working mid gig.
Best of luck for the show
 
#158
Fat Steve said:
Just picked up a PF-350 and an Eden EX410SC4 cab. I'll let y'all know if I have any issues with the 350 once I get it in the mail next week. I'll also make sure to use a heavy gauge speaker cable ;)
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I think you are really going to like the PF350 for upright. I used mine with an Epifani UL210 cab, a tech21 paradriverDI as the pre-amp, and a David Gage Realist piezo pickup. :cool:

What is your pickup/pre situation?
 
#159
JimmyM said:
So do we know if the repair guy is adding in his taste or not?
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I assume parts markup?

Be curious to know. I wonder what wholesale is for delalers, authorized service centers. I don't know much about how all that works. Used to be retail was roughly double wholesale but that's where a music store would deal down from on instruments and equipment and stuff, not for amp parts, etc.
 
#160
will33 said:
I assume parts markup?

Be curious to know. I wonder what wholesale is for delalers, authorized service centers. I don't know much about how all that works. Used to be retail was roughly double wholesale but that's where a music store would deal down from on instruments and equipment and stuff, not for amp parts, etc.
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Wow he only asked for $40. in labor, the S&H charges. Why should he get a markup on parts?? :rollno: Not picking on you Will :)
The fact that anyone would suggest a shop NOT get a little parts markup is insulting. Sounds like that place was being VERY reasonable. In my opinion anyway.
 

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