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Anyone have an amp die on them?

#62
My first GK head - 700rbII died twice. Preamp board both times - GK made good on it - actually shipped me a new one and asked that I return the old one in the same box with supplied shipping labels! Pretty killer customer service - the replacement has been going strong for 3+ yrs now.
 
#64
I had a Rickenbacker RB60 combo flame out onstage back in 1987 or thereabouts. Whatever it was, it was nasty - a loud crack followed by the magic smoke. Later inspection revealed a large scorch mark & crack in the circuit board. Wasn't worth fixing.

GT
 
#65
Since my first gig in the early 70's, I've had three heads melt down.

A Plush, an Eden and a Thunderfunk. I ended up fixing all three. The Plush was while I was living back on the farm, I had a guy who was a WWII radar man help. That guy took me under his wing and gave me a start as a tech fixing televisions in the tube era.

Knowing what I know, I'm surprised I only had that many failures.
 
#66
Has anyone else had an amp give up the magic smoke ON CAMERA? Here's my version at a big band jazz class concert three years ago. Thankfully the amp waited until the very end of Jobim's "How Insenstive" to die on me:



Note my cluelessness while the Magic Smoke starts to exude; then there's the "Oh $H!*T" moment when I notice and shut it off. Three minutes later we were playing the next song. Always bring a backup amp!
 
#67
bobcruz said:
Has anyone else had an amp give up the magic smoke ON CAMERA? Here's my version at a big band jazz class concert three years ago. Thankfully the amp waited until the very end of Jobim's "How Insenstive" to die on me:

Click to expand...


I love it how the camera keeps panning past your smoking amp.

Perhaps they thought they were at a KISS gig and the smoke was just a planned special effect? :D

GT
 
#68
Amp failures:
1. Mesa Mpulse crapped out on a gig located (ever so fortunately) 1/2 mile from my practice room. Took a quick break and ran for my practice head. No prob's since then.
2. Eden Navigator pre blew its power trans during sound check before a big wedding reception. Allowed plenty of time to rig a little 6 channel Alesis mixer as a (really good) preamp. That mixer travels everywhere with my band and has stepped in to give us a vocal-only system when our regular, 16 ch mixer died.

Speakers:
Had a few, but the most picturesque was at an outdoor, amusement park gig where we had been promised sound support that never materialized. I wound up playing my Schroeder 1515L+ for the whole gig, with amazingly good (and loud) sound. Alas, the 99 degree heat, high volumes and general abuse caused the poor thing to begin smoking profusely halfway through the last set. Both drivers were fried, but - hey - can't fault Jorge's cab for failing to reach the finish line in an impossible race.
 
#69
I've blown up just about every amp I've owned. Both of my Mesa's, GK 800RB and a Peavey combo. My Ampeg's are the only one's that haven't blown. Although my B2R did cut out at a gig but only because we played two really long sets and it overheated. I ended up trading that in for an SVT III Pro which has been solid...so far :hmm:
 
#71
at a basement show i played at our singer's house with our best-friend-band, the bassist from the other band's amp died on me during our last song. We couldn't get it to work again so I just put my bass down and went and moshed during the last heavy refrain in the song.
 
#72
Ampeg SVT CL (show,practice repaired 3x sold)
Ampeg B2RE ( show , practice repaired 2x sold)
Ampeg V4 (practice repaired 1x sold)
Ampeg VT22 (practice never repaired traded)
Ampeg SS150 ( Show never repaired still own)
Traynor YB1A (Show never repaired stolen)
Road220 (Show repaired1x sold)
MarkBass SA450 ( Show cutout only sold)
 
#73
rapturebass said:
at a basement show i played at our singer's house with our best-friend-band, the bassist from the other band's amp died on me during our last song. We couldn't get it to work again so I just put my bass down and went and moshed during the last heavy refrain in the song.
Click to expand...

Exactly the correct response, IMHO! :cool:
 
#75
I've owned/used a lot of amps in the last 50 years but I've only had two amps die on me during a gig:

1) A Vox Super Beatle. It actually broke down 3 times in a space of 6 weeks! After the 3rd repair I gave it up and bought an Acoustic 360 to replace it.

2) An Ampeg SBT, which was a solid state pre-amp with two powered 215 cabs. I don't recall exactly what went wrong but..... I should mention that all my other Ampegs
(SVT, B-15S and V4BH) were stellar performers that were as reliable as an anvil and never let me down.

Giorgetto
 
#78
This is one of the most common failures in modren amps.

Not to put the techs out of business but if you're in this situation jump your effects in/out.

And every year clean your pots and jacks.

bound'n'blocked said:
I had an RB800 die about 5 minutes before we started one night. It had worked ok in soundcheck but crapped out. Turned out to be something with the effect loop or something that made it close. If I had known I would have put a cable from the send to return and it would have worked but I figured it was something different since it kinda just, died...

BnB
Click to expand...
 
#79
I always try to jump Fx loops, especially on PV amps, and I go thru all my heads and combos every year - cleaning connectors, cleaning and lubing pots, cleaning and tightening tube sockets, etc. And in almost 34 years of practicing and gigging on guitar and bass I have never had an amp totally die on me. Never. I did have to replace a tube in the middle of a show on a Laney LC-50 once, but we just took an early break for me to tap them and replace the offending glass.

I guess my good fortune is due to meticulous maintenance and annual tech visits, and to using USA made Peaveys and GKs for many of those years. And a lotta luck. :D
 
#80
Gigged four times in a club with provided backline. GK 1001 + 410 NEO. The first gig it had intermittent problems - power amp turned on/off. DI was ok. I stacked my own rig (LM II + 210) on top of it. Got me through the gig. Exact same issue the next time we played there. Third time I did not even bother powering up their junk.
Fourth time the opening act (before us) managed to kill that GK rig totally...
 

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