Got my new Fender Bassman 250/210 home, and the pilot light in the power switch almost immediately stopped illuminating. The amp continued to work fine. After discovering that a warranty repair of this minor problem would entail losing the amp for an unknown period, I decided to have a look at the switch myself. The only challenge for me in removing it was the plastic retainers on the underside of the switch which I discovered could be retracted with a small pry-bar, permitting me to remove the switch from the amp face. The switch has four prongs which are easily disconnected from their leads. After the switch is dismounted, the red rocker (no pun) can be removed from the switch body by prying the sides of the black body off the retaining studs on the side of the rocker. I found a pilot light bulb inside with a broken lead. I don't know if this one was incorrectly assembled, but the bulb appeared to be situated in a way that caused the posts on the back of the rocker to push on it and bend the wire bulb leads each time the switch was activated. So, other Bassman owners may find they have the same problem (actually, I see this switch, or a look-alike on most new Fender products. Mine has CRTL111X18, and OLSO switch Made In USA printed on it). I had a bit of trouble tracking down the part, but have a line on a replacement from Link Removed which I hope will be assembled better and hopefully last longer. If you remember the correct arrangement of the wires and follow common sense electronics safety procedures, changing the $10.00 switch is pretty simple. Handy to have the pilot light working.
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Bassman Power Switch
- Thread starter seekir
- Start date
I just had the exact same thing go wrong with mine and it was exactly as you described. One lead was broken off right at the base of the bulb. No chance in soldering that back on.
I'm going to see about just replacing the bulb with something else if I can find it.
I'm going to see about just replacing the bulb with something else if I can find it.
After a trip to Radio Shack I came home with a panel-mount neon light for 120V AC. All it took was a small hole drilled into the front panel and two solder joints and now I have an amber (wanted to be different) indicator next to my power switch. Easy job.
