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Darkglass Microtubes 500v2 Nightmare

Mredubass

Mredubass

Dec 2, 2020
4
7
#1
I got a Darkglass Microtubes 500v2, as a replacement for faulty Microtubes 500V1. In a nutshell, I had to return two Microtubes 500v2 before switching to another brand.

At first I thought this new version was very cool because it had multiple features (Compressor, two distortions, cabinet emulation, aux in, headphone jack, etc). However, the problems started straight away. The first amp that I had, lasted on for 30 minutes and then it constantly turned off because the cooling fan never worked and the device overheated (which is the worst thing that can happen to a bass amp).

I changed this amp for another one (same model), and had similar problems. In this case, when I plugged the amp to my cabinet, the fan started working after some minutes (as most class D amplifiers work nowadays), and there were no problems when used this way. However, when I used the DI output or headphone jack (which I normally use in my home studio), the fan did not turn on and (again) started to overheat dangerously. It eventually reached a point that one day I turned it off because it was getting too hot and.... the amp never turned on again. I had to go back to the store and get my amp replaced for a third time.

Due to my really bad experience with Darkglass (I never had to return so many amps in my life!) I switched to an Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 and the amp is working flawlessly. Moreover, sounds much better for clean tones which suit my playing style better.

I really like darkglass distortions and pedals (I might get one for my TH500), but I think they need to put more work on their amplifiers (particularly their 500W versions). They sound great and have many features, but they are very unreliable. I know that some people complained about the noise produced by DG amps fans in previous versions (and that might be one of the reasons why DG tried to make their fans less noisy), but I would rather have a noisy fan than an amp that doesn't turn on because it gets dangerously hot.

For the ones that already bought this amp, I hope that you didn't have my problems
as it is a really good amp, with great sound and great features. Nevertheless, I recommend that you check the cooling system when using headphones or DI. I tend to play about 2 to 3 hours daily and therefore was able to spot these issues quite soon (1 or 2 days after purchase).

PS: Darkglass support is dreadful. Don't waste your time contacting them as they will not solve your issues. They will just tell you to contact the dealer.
 
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#2
I second this, I think there is issues with most all of there products from what I see on here, and from what I have experienced. Which at there price points is ridiculous, you $500 pedal is unusable 3 years later, buy the new version than for another $500.
 
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#4
That is great to hear AdamR as they have really cool products. I just think that this was a flaw in the design of that specific model and I hope that they solve it soon (releasing a ton of new products every year is risky)... Nevertheless, I must say that their support service should improve ASAP. Luckily, I had my problem solved by the dealer. I've read experiences from other people that had problems with their pedals and been told to buy a new one because the warranty period expired... I don' think that is a proper way to treat customers and the company should at least offer repair for a fee (considering the hefty price tag of their products). In the past, Doug was usually looking into these forums and solving problems personally, now the company grew and that is not happening anymore. Anyways, I don't have the amp anymore but just wanted to share my bad experience and mention some issues that people can check in case that they already bought these amps.
 
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#5
Most manufacturers use a dealer network to sell and maintain their products although some offer direct help and service.
Lean on the dealer. They are responsible for your warranty, service and exchanges. Their contract with the manufacturer spells this out clearly.
I’m not defending DG or their failing products. Just pointing out that they very likely don’t have the staff, time or resources to offer direct customer support as it’s been contracted out to the dealers.
It can be frustrating when one can call Traynor for example and talk to the guy that actually built your amp and another company won’t give you the time of day.
Happy you got something you like and my experiences with Aguilar have been stellar in both quality and customer service.
 
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#7
Roland GR 88 said:
Most manufacturers use a dealer network to sell and maintain their products although some offer direct help and service.
Lean on the dealer. They are responsible for your warranty, service and exchanges. Their contract with the manufacturer spells this out clearly.
I’m not defending DG or their failing products. Just pointing out that they very likely don’t have the staff, time or resources to offer direct customer support as it’s been contracted out to the dealers.
It can be frustrating when one can call Traynor for example and talk to the guy that actually built your amp and another company won’t give you the time of day.
Happy you got something you like and my experiences with Aguilar have been stellar in both quality and customer service.
Click to expand...

Yes, I second this, Aguilar has always had great customer support, even for international customers as myself. I still remember when I bought an OBP-3 pre-amp (back in 2004) that I couldn't make it work with my bass pickups and the guys told me to send it over to NY so they could check it, even when the warranty period expired. Back then, Aguilar was a much smaller company but still provided high-quality customer service and well, that's how they built their reputation. Most importantly, all their amps are placed on a "hot-desk" turned on for 14 hours to check that they don't have any problems. For that reason alone, it was a no-brainer to go for a TH-500, considering all the cooling problems that I had with the DG amp.

From what I know, the DG support guy is based in Chile and has no technical knowledge, so if you ask any question or have any problem, then he has to check with the engineering team back in Helsinki, which takes some days to get your reply. I totally understand when a company might not have resources or time to solve your problem, but I assume that when they release a new product, they would like to know why two of their units are reporting problems, so they can solve this ASAP not only for me, but for other customers.
 
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#8
lupien said:
I'll keep my fingers crossed I dont get any issues with my Microtubes 500v2. So far ive had it for almost 2 months and use almost daily with no fan issues or anything. I really love this amp.
Click to expand...
It is a great amp for sure! I was very disappointed to have to change it as you can get many tones out of the amp and it has many useful inputs, but I reached a point that I started to get scared of these amps.
Maybe I was just very unlucky to get two bad units. I hope that yours keeps working flawlessly so you can enjoy it without problems :-)
 
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#11
Resurrection!!!

Can any owners chime in on this? Have you had problems and, if so, were they satisfactorily solved? I'm about to get (probably) the MT500 and would like to know if the problems persist.

I'm based in Europe, by the way.
 
#13
Just had similar issues with my new MT 500 V2 , super high heat , noises and fan not working , the dealer was nice enough to lend me another brand new one , 90 minutes later same issues . I w8ll have to get a credit as I can’t trust an amp that let’s me down at any given time. I did a few gigs with it and I was noticing how hot the head got after a 45 minutes set , so I was turning it off , I guess that was giving it time to cool down , but if I play 90 minutes straight boom the amp is fried !
 
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#15
Hi all,

Just got a Microtubes 500 V2 this past week...

I was really digging it and after trying a few different amp heads, I decided this was the one I'd keep. After 2-3 hours of playing through the DI out, I then powered the unit off. When I came back about an hour later, I found that it wouldn't turn on! I had been using it primarily with a cabinet up until today, so I'm wondering if there is a consistent theme of these heads not performing well without a load. According to the FAQ, they do not need a load when using headphones or DI out...It's such a bummer and I do not want to go back on the hunt for a head.

Any recs for heads with capabilities to load cab IRs? This was such a selling point for me. I guess I'll probably go with one of the Mesa heads or the ToneHammer 500...
 
#17
I’ve owned a lot of DG Products over the years, since the very beginnings of this company. No issue with any of the pedals I’ve owned but I can confirm, in my experience, their customer service went from the best to one of the worst. Sent an email a few weeks back asking a question And received zero response. It used to be Doug would chime in and resolve issues. Sadly no more. I’m sure the majority of their issues are resolved just fine. For me though I won’t purchase any more DG products. I do value customer service over a lot of other things. Good luck with your problems, I hope it gets resolved.
 
#18
Updates: similar issues happened with a new micro tubes 500 v2 and both my dealer and DG recognize that 5here was issues with this particular batch. My dealer offers Great support by even offering me to lend me a new amp and in the end DG and my dealer offered me an upgrade to MT 900 V2 frère of charges and this is really performing the way it should amazing amp. Thank’s To my dealer who has introduced me to DarkGlass as well as Dingwall basses, Greatest selection in Canada In case you want this type of service musiquedepot.ca
 
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#20
AdamR said:
Ive had a ton of Darkglass gear. Both pedals and amps. Havent had a single problem with them.
Click to expand...
I still have my MT900 v1 it's never had a single problem. Neither have any of the DG pedals I've owned either. So they're distributed by Korg now, which could account for the substandard support but I hardly hear about any issues with their support either.
 

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