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Fender Bassman 500 Head

#241
So my amp blew last night – at home, not at a gig thankfully. It might just be a blown preamp tube, but I thought tubes should last longer than that. Bought 9/17 so still under warranty if it's something more serious, but it'll be in the shop for at least a couple weeks. Has anyone had any problems in that regard? It worked fine when I plugged my VT DI pedal into the power amp, so I'm thinking tube(s).*

*Tubes only under warranty for 90 days which is lame of Fender
 
#245
DJCalamari said:
So my amp blew last night – at home, not at a gig thankfully. It might just be a blown preamp tube, but I thought tubes should last longer than that. Bought 9/17 so still under warranty if it's something more serious, but it'll be in the shop for at least a couple weeks. Has anyone had any problems in that regard? It worked fine when I plugged my VT DI pedal into the power amp, so I'm thinking tube(s).*

*Tubes only under warranty for 90 days which is lame of Fender
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Did you try both channels? I believe they use different tubes for each channel. I think in the manual there’s a troubleshoot to see if the tubes are an issue and to see which one it is.
 
#246
warnergt said:
In my opinion, the tubes made today are inherently unreliable. Failures are not uncommon.
You can experiment with different brands but the problem continues.
Be glad that your Fender Bassman 500 only has two preamp tubes. Replacing power amp tubes gets expensive quickly.
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I've got a Fender Super Bassman with 6x6550 tubes and 3 or 4 pre tubes.
An Orange AD200B- 4x6550 power tubes and 3 or so pre amp tubes.
An Ampeg V4B, with 4x6L6GC's and, of course some pre amp tubes.

All have modern tubes in, none have been a problem. Not for the 1st 6 years at least

Not disagreeing with you, just saying
 
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#248
DJCalamari said:
Same deal on both channels – low volume, distorted sound (not in a good way)
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And did you try putting a cable in the effects loop? I’ve heard that a dirty jack there can cause similar issues. You can try plugging in and out a few times to see if it cleans the connections a little bit. I’d try the 2nd input as well to rule out the input being dirty.
 
#249
PotsdamBass8 said:
And did you try putting a cable in the effects loop? I’ve heard that a dirty jack there can cause similar issues. You can try plugging in and out a few times to see if it cleans the connections a little bit. I’d try the 2nd input as well to rule out the input being dirty.
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Good idea. Plugged into power amp only w/ my DI pedal and it sounded fine.
 
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#255
Might be a dead thread, but figured I'd give it a shot. I picked up a Bassman 500 today for $50 from somebody who claims it doesn't work... which isn't totally inaccurate. It isn't outputting any sound from a cabinet, but when hooked up to the XLR out, it works into my Apollo twin, (and sounds fantastic!). Anyone else with this issue know a fix?
 
#258
Jonahlane said:
Might be a dead thread, but figured I'd give it a shot. I picked up a Bassman 500 today for $50 from somebody who claims it doesn't work... which isn't totally inaccurate. It isn't outputting any sound from a cabinet, but when hooked up to the XLR out, it works into my Apollo twin, (and sounds fantastic!). Anyone else with this issue know a fix?
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I had mine repaired under warranty for an issue with the power amp. That is a steal at that price even for a dead amp like this. First, see if it puts out sound through the preamp out. Also make sure it puts out sound through the DI when it’s on post. If it doesn’t, could be a tube that needs to be replaced. If it does, then the power amp probably needs to be fixed or replaced. I think it would be worth doing, but I would contact a fender authorized shop to get an estimate first.
 
#260
SJan3 said:
I know. The answer was rhetorical but I'm surprised that the marketing geniuses choose asthetics over practicality.
It could be a nice unit but I wouldn't own it for it's size/weight when there are so many excellent heads in the 5 lb range.
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With the amount of knobs and the two tubes, I think it would’ve been larger than your average class D amp anyways. I’m guessing they wanted to win consumers who wanted a tube/vintage sound with less cost and weight, over the general micro amp buyer. I don’t think the amp is very popular, so who knows if they would’ve sold more units by making it as small and light as possible like you suggested. But it is a fantastic sounding and flexible amp, nonetheless.
 
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