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GK amp heads smoking?

This thread is scaring me to death. I was in the market for an original RB800 but not so sure now....

I have been playing my 800rb since 1984. Over 30 years. It has never let me down, never seen a shop. Every time I think about something else, I'll fall in love with the sound all over again.

I'm on my 5th cab, tho'.
 
Well, the 1001RB has been out of production for at least 14 years so I don't know how he can assume the bolt was loose when it left the factory? The 1001RB II came out in 2001 IIRC and 14 years is a long time to say it left that way and has not been molested by someone else before him. ;)

I'm sure his attitude did not attract the best response possible.
 
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Well, the 1001RB has been out of production for at least 14 years so I don't know how he can assume the bolt was loose when it left the factory? The 1001RB II came out in 2001 IIRC and 14 years is a long time to say it left that way and has not been molested by someone else before him. ;)

I'm sure his attitude did not attract the best response possible.
Well the video looks pretty old. I just remember really liking the sound but don't want buyers remorse later.
 
Gc here has a 1001 2 demo for sale. Again I was warned of the smoking issues and I said yeah ok just hook it up.

So, I plugged in, the volume just above 1, I just hit an open E and let it ring, it kinda faded in and out.

Then, every knob I turned was a static mess.

I swear I got cat crap luck or God really doesn't want me to have a GK lol. Geez.
 
So, I plugged in, the volume just above 1, I just hit an open E and let it ring, it kinda faded in and out.

Then, every knob I turned was a static mess.
Well well, it seems that I just got a 1001RB-II that has almost identical if not exactly the same issue. It was a returned item, and a way cheaper than brand new (2/3 of the price), so I kinda knew that there must be reason for that. But I had to try. I bet it's not the same unit though. :D

Really weak sound with horrible static buzz when turning up Gain and Woofer even a notch. It's going back, see if they can fix it (they're not giving me a new one as a replacement, it's either repair or money back). Anyone guessing what's wrong with the amp since it seems that the fault isn't unique? :)
 
[QUOTE="Really weak sound with horrible static buzz... ...Anyone guessing what's wrong with the amp since it seems that the fault isn't unique? :)[/QUOTE]

I got an '88 400RB from eBay for a song, had the same thing going on exactly, and after a few DeOxit treatments of the pots, it is now tip top.

I had a new Trace Elliot that sounded like crap with a static-y input knob, an Ampeg SVT2 that sounded like crap, and an Ashdown that lacked the muster as well. All brand new from the well-reputed bass-friggin'-only store(s). Why don't they DeOxit the pots when they receive them from the wild?
Stands to reason that the static and dust picked up from transport out of the factory can make a great bass amp into just a mediocre over-engineered crap litter box, when it absolutely doesn't have to be.
The Ashdown was the only amp to survive with me in purgatory until I saw the DeOxit light. Or fumes. Now I've got two sweet sounding bass amps.
 
I was just at my local GC and asked to try out a used Carvin 210 cab and the salesman said, "let met get you a cable" to which I informed him that I would need to plug it into a head. He started looking around at all of the used guitar heads next to it I said "it would need to be a bass head" while motioning over to the bass area. He then carried it over to the bass section and then I watched him shove a 1/4" speaker cable into the center of a non-combo speakon connector and couldn't figure out why it didn't work. Then the "bass specialist" came over and said that the amp we were trying works BETTER with a speakon cable. I was looking for popcorn...

Can't put too much merit on the competency of the GC staff. Once and a while you find someone who actually knows something, but the general population is pretty minimally versed. But there isn't much need for them to learn their trade since they are just working there until their band gets discovered.