Fender Rumble Club

[Figbassist75]

OK, I see. I believe you've got it backwards, Figgy. The footswitch is simply an On/Off switch, operated by foot, to more conveniently replace the functionality of the Overdrive button on the Rumble. It has no OD, or power, in it. As it says right on it, it can also switch between channels if the amp has 2 channels, which the Rumble doesn't.

View attachment 7082863

Yep, I'm showing my lack of knowledge again. It is a handy tool, though. I love having it, as I couldn't imagine switching it on or off from the amp by hand when playing out.

Interestingly enough, one of my former bands had an opening act where the bass player kept walking back and forth to his amp to switch the OD on and off. I remember the soundman asking him why he didn't get an OD pedal for his board or a footswitch of some kind. The bass player looked at the soundman like lobsters were crawling out of his ears. None of us knew what he was doing until he told us. Luckily, I won't have that problem.

 

[Stealth57]

I picked up a very clean Rumble 500 v3 for a good price. The only “cosmetic” issue is the top speaker has a dented dome. My OCD really wants to find a way to pop it out but the tape trick isn’t working. The dome material is pretty solid.

Any other suggestions to pop it make into shape?

Thanks

 

[GonePlaid]

I picked up a very clean Rumble 500 v3 for a good price. The only “cosmetic” issue is the top speaker has a dented dome. My OCD really wants to find a way to pop it out but the tape trick isn’t working. The dome material is pretty solid.

Any other suggestions to pop it make into shape?

Thanks

Face away from the amp. It won't 'fix' it, but you won't notice it.

 

[Stealth57]

Face away from the amp. It won't 'fix' it, but you won't notice it.

Thanks Mike, but OCD doesn’t work that way

 

[G-Dog]

I picked up a very clean Rumble 500 v3 for a good price. The only “cosmetic” issue is the top speaker has a dented dome. My OCD really wants to find a way to pop it out but the tape trick isn’t working. The dome material is pretty solid.

Any other suggestions to pop it make into shape?

Thanks

Bienvenue mon ami ! @Stealth57, you are now member #1801 in the Fender Rumble Club. Congratulations and welcome. Please put that number in your TalkBass Signature for safe keeping. Then make yourself at home here and on your Rumble Club Wiki page, the repository of all Rumbling wisdom and knowledge.

Sorry, I don't have another method to undent your speaker dome, but maybe stronger tape? Meanwhile, how about telling us a bit about yourself, such as your bass experience in general and your Rumble journey in particular? You'll fit right in here since we have all kinds. But we all love to ... ... ...

Rumble On!
.​

 

[Stealth57]

Bienvenue mon ami ! @Stealth57, you are now member #1801 in the Fender Rumble Club. Congratulations and welcome. Please put that number in your TalkBass Signature for safe keeping. Then make yourself at home here and on your Rumble Club Wiki page, the repository of all Rumbling wisdom and knowledge.

Sorry, I don't have another method to undent your speaker dome, but maybe stronger tape? Meanwhile, how about telling us a bit about yourself, such as your bass experience in general and your Rumble journey in particular? You'll fit right in here since we have all kinds. But we all love to ... ... ...

Rumble On!
.​

Thanks, unfortunately, the dent is stronger than duct tape. And that starts to make the paper a bit fuzzy.

I mostly hang out in the Thunderbird forum learning what I can from folks like @GonePlaid . I picked up the bass during covid, but already had some useful gear from playing keys a long time ago. The Rumble is the latest addition as I have an opportunity to join a band that gigs locally. My other amps are either too big a pain to move around or too low wattage. The 500 seemed like a perfect fit particularly with the ability to add a 115 if needed.

 

[Mvf]

Thanks Mike, but OCD doesn’t work that way

Or just keep the grill on..

 

[MadJack]

I picked up a very clean Rumble 500 v3 for a good price. The only “cosmetic” issue is the top speaker has a dented dome. My OCD really wants to find a way to pop it out but the tape trick isn’t working. The dome material is pretty solid.

Any other suggestions to pop it make into shape?

Thanks

Dent Repair - Speaker's Dust Cap

 

[G-Dog]

Thanks, unfortunately, the dent is stronger than duct tape. And that starts to make the paper a bit fuzzy.

I mostly hang out in the Thunderbird forum learning what I can from folks like @GonePlaid . I picked up the bass during covid, but already had some useful gear from playing keys a long time ago. The Rumble is the latest addition as I have an opportunity to join a band that gigs locally. My other amps are either too big a pain to move around or too low wattage. The 500 seemed like a perfect fit particularly with the ability to add a 115 if needed.

View attachment 7083038

Well, Stealy, you've got quite a gear collection there for such a relatively newbie bassist! But, you're right about the Rumble being a perfect fit!

And, as a T-Birder, you're probably acquainted with another of our preeminent Rumblers, @Miles_ONeal. He is also the number issuer for the TalkBass Combo Club, for which your Rumble (and possibly your Ampeg?) qualifies you.

For that matter, you may find some other clubs or groups of interest in the TalkBass Clubs and Special Interest Groups INDEX, if you're so inclined.

Oh, and @MadJack's speaker dome dent repair link looks promising! Good luck!!

 

[Stealth57]

Well, Stealy, you've got quite a gear collection there for such a relatively newbie bassist! But, you're right about the Rumble being a perfect fit!

And, as a T-Birder, you're probably acquainted with another of our preeminent Rumblers, @Miles_ONeal. He is also the number issuer for the TalkBass Combo Club, for which your Rumble (and possibly your Ampeg?) qualifies you.

For that matter, you may find some other clubs or groups of interest in the TalkBass Clubs and Special Interest Groups INDEX, if you're so inclined.

Oh, and @MadJack's speaker dome dent repair link looks promising! Good luck!!

Miles is known as the "Chick Magnet." The T-birders have a face-to-face get together each summer, so it's nice to actually know people more than just online.

 

[Stealth57]

Dent Repair - Speaker's Dust Cap

So far, I have tried tape, vacuum, and a dental tool (sharp and already bent). The coward in me wasn't willing to be too aggressive with the pulling as the dust cap seems to be pretty stiff. Is it safe pull harder with the "needle" approach?

 

[ratdoc]

So far, I have tried tape, vacuum, and a dental tool (sharp and already bent). The coward in me wasn't willing to be too aggressive with the pulling as the dust cap seems to be pretty stiff. Is it safe pull harder with the "needle" approach?

Would simply denting the other speaker take care of the OCD thing?

 

[MadJack]

So far, I have tried tape, vacuum, and a dental tool (sharp and already bent). The coward in me wasn't willing to be too aggressive with the pulling as the dust cap seems to be pretty stiff. Is it safe pull harder with the "needle" approach?

A dental tool should do fine. The dust cover is just a semi rigid coated paper, so you can pull a little harder than you might think. Don't try pulling it all from one spot. work around near the edges and pull a small to moderate amount at each point. You might want to try having someone hold the cone in place, keeping it from moving out or in while pulling.

Honestly though, the dents wont harm anything, just keep the grill cloth and frame on.

I'm running a tissue paper and white glue patch on one of the speakers on my 10" in my R210 V3. I colored it in with a black sharpie. The hole did remove the restriction designed into the speaker, causing the speaker to move too freely and distorting. I would have left it if it didn't cause the distortion.

 

[ricardol]

When you're an experienced bass player and you have two heads, an Ampeg SVT and a Rumble, stacked on top of a Fender speaker cabinet, which one would you connect your instrument cable to?

 

[SteveAG]

Hi Steve

Left is a 2016 Flea bass (alder, rosewood) with Lavaguard pickguard and PU cover. Right is a 2019 MIJ (basswood, rosewood) with new Fralins and control plate.

I'm calling them Toffee Apple and Candy Apple

Thanks for the info - nice basses.

 

[DishDive]

My 10 year old Rumble 200 finally crapped out. Amp is cutting in out.. mostly out. Guess it's probably best to just trash the amp and turn it into a 15" cab for my 500.
What do you think? It cost $100 to have someone look at it let alone fix it. It's only worth $200+.

 

[John Stephen]

Others here may differ, but I'd do what you're suggesting. Get a new one.

 

[lowplaces]

My 10 year old Rumble 200 finally crapped out. Amp is cutting in out.. mostly out. Guess it's probably best to just trash the amp and turn it into a 15" cab for my 500.
What do you think? It cost $100 to have someone look at it let alone fix it. It's only worth $200+.

Try the usual troubleshooting.

- run an instrument cable jack in/out of the effects send and return a few times.
- plug a jumper cable in the effects return and send
- pull the speaker and check the speaker wire connection
- pull the chassis and see if anything is obvious : burnt parts, loose connectors, etc

 

[G-Dog]

My 10 year old Rumble 200 finally crapped out. Amp is cutting in out.. mostly out. Guess it's probably best to just trash the amp and turn it into a 15" cab for my 500.
What do you think? It cost $100 to have someone look at it let alone fix it. It's only worth $200+.

Try the usual troubleshooting.

- run an instrument cable jack in/out of the effects send and return a few times.
- plug a jumper cable in the effects return and send
- pull the speaker and check the speaker wire connection
- pull the chassis and see if anything is obvious : burnt parts, loose connectors, etc

#1 plug an instrument cable in the FX Send and the FX Return!! If that helps, then see the FX Return Jack Fix wiki for explanation and repair. It has a few others from repair shop costs.

 

[MustardRumble]

My 200, too, has the flu. And has had it since I bought it used, to be honest. It might well have been the reason the guy sold it in the first place. The problem at the time really was the return jack and whenever the amp crackled and farted, I would run a plug in an out of the jack a couple of times and that fixed it. As time went on, I permanently installed a patch cable in the fx loop, because it just became too annoying. Since then, other sources of static, crackling and cutting out have been the pots, especially the master volume and the overdrive level pot, and, as of late, the push buttons. My usual procedure for setting up for rehearsals or gigs therefore doesn't just involve cabling everything, but also turning all the pots and pushing all the buttons quite a few times and hoping that it doesn't die on me, haha.

It really is too bad that it developed all these ailments, because most of the time it runs just fine and sounds great, but having to worry like that is a bummer. I'm still not willing to part with it yet, partly because I don't know what I would want to replace it with.