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GK Problem - Half Broken

Herrlster

Herrlster

Oct 27, 2004
1,159
19
Ontario, Canada
#1
My band played (tried to anyways) an outdoor gig this afternoon. The gig was located at a beach/campground area.

We started playing and throughout the first two songs I noticed my GK rig didn't sound as good as it usually does. It sounded boomy at times and dull at others. So once we finished our second song my 1001RB-II cut out and made this weird noise and the blue light on the head turned to orange. I assume this meant it went into protection mode?

It stayed in the orange and made this weird beeping/clicking noise. So I shut it off and every time I tried to turn it back on the same noise would come back and it would stay in the orange. So I just turned it off and unplugged it.

My guitar player's Line 6 half stack messed up just as mine did. It made a weird buzzing noise then completely died out. We smelled something weird and looked at it and there was smoke coming out from the head. So his is busted too, wouldn't turn on at all.

So we packed up and went home. I tried my amp out just now and it turns on and plays but its messed. Usually when I turn the GK on, the light is orange for a few seconds then goes to blue and its good to go. Now when I turn it on it makes a popping noise and automatically goes to the blue.

I have a NEO 410 and NEO 115 which I just bought 3 days ago and 2 weeks ago respectively. I have them set to biamp and it seems that the tweeter fuction on the head doesn't work at all. I turned the knob and nothing happens. So I put the cabs to full range and tried turning the high range knob on the back of the cabs and nothing at all.

So my rig is definitely messed up. I hope I can bring the cabs in to the store I bought them from. They are pretty much brand new right from GK. My head though I don't know what to do, I bought it used from a buddy and he hasn't even owned it for a year.

Sorry for the long post but any advice?
 
#3
It certainly does sound like the problem was from a generator. Bad news for amps when that happens.

The speakers should be fine. Take the amp in to a place that services GK and see what it'll cost to get it fixed. It might not be too bad.
 
#4
62bass said:
It certainly does sound like the problem was from a generator. Bad news for amps when that happens.

The speakers should be fine. Take the amp in to a place that services GK and see what it'll cost to get it fixed. It might not be too bad.
Click to expand...


Yeah, since both amps crapped out, I'd guess that power was the culprit... I learned long ago about generators and music gear - fortunately, at the expense of others... No generators for my gear, no matter what...



- georgestrings
 
#5
Thinking about it, another posibility is the use of a long, under-guaged extension cord - and voltage drop... or, switched hot and neutrals... I always take an outlet tester with me at a new to me venue, and know better to run off an extension cord that's more than 50', unless it's a 12/3 cord...



- georgestrings
 
#7
Herrlster said:
No generators at the area we played. It had its own electrical box. My buddy figures it was dirty electricity at the area, like a power surge or something. So you don't think its the speakers themselves just the head?
Click to expand...

Probably just the head no matter. It's easy to check out the speakers. Try them with a known good bass head. You could just take them with you to a GK dealer who hopefully is also able to fix GK gear and while you have them look over your damaged head, check the speakers out in the store.

I once did lose some speakers because an amp malfunctioned back in the 70s. Had a big custom rig with tube preamp and a couple high powered BGW power amps driving 6 JBL 15s. Something went wrong with one of the BGWs and it passed direct current to 4 of the JBLs at sound check. Fried them instantly. Luckily our roadies had recone kits and knew how to do it. Had the speakers back up and running 2 days later. The amp got serviced by a tech in the city we were in a day later. We had a spare power amp and extra cabinet and I was able to limp along with only 4 of the JBLs.

But I think the GK stuff has better protection against this than those early BGWs.

God, that was loud rig and actually didn't sound bad either. I'm glad those days are over though.

These days I use a little GK MB 150S and bring along an extension cabinet if needed. Combo amp=26 lbs. Extension cabinet=16 lbs. Old custom rig=about 140 lbs per speaker cabinet and 100+ lbs for the rack holding the preamp and power amps. I don't have roadies these days. That's fine. They were rather an uncouth bunch at best. :)
 
#8
I brought it to my local store today. He said he'll test it but he said there's only so much he can test because he's not familiar with the head. He said I may have to get ahold of GK to have it fixed but I'm in Canada and the head is used so I don't know how that'll work out.
 
#9
Came back from the store just now. Guy said the tweeter horns are gone on both cabinets and the tweeter section and power protection on the head is gone.

Cabinet will be fixed, no issue nor cost to me, its under warranty. Its just gonna take an undetermined amount of time.

The head however is used and not under warranty. So he said he can ship it outta town and have an authorized GK dealer fix it or send it to a guy in town and have him fix it.

Sending it outta town will cost me on shipping, fixing and wait time but its gonna be guaranteed fixed properly from an authorized GK dealer. Keeping it in town will cost me on fixing it and less wait time but there's no guarantee it will be fixed properly. I don't know what to do, any recommendations?
 
#11
Not sure what power protection broken means. Does the main woofer section still work? I assume you were biamping...

Send it to an authorized GK repair shop. They will have the schematics of the amp and most likely will have the right parts on hand to fix the problem and get it turned around to you quickly. The longer you wait, the longer you wait...
I still question why this happened with the power at your gig. Did you have any type of surge supressor/strip? What is your guitarist going to do with his broken rig? Has he got his looked at yet?
 
#12
I would send it straight to G-K if I were in your shoes - you'll probably get it back faster, it'll likely be less expensive, and it'll be right when you get it back... As a side benefit, if you develop any problems later on with this amp, G-K will already have a bit of history with it... I've *heard* they're good at backing their products - now's as good a time as any to see just how true that is...

My main gigging amp is a 700rb-II, and that's just what I'd do if I had a problem with it... Good luck, whichever way you decide to go with it...



- georgestrings
 
#13
The protection part I guess works when I turn the amp on. It has a 5 second muted warm up before it actually lights up to blue and is playable. Now when the amp is turned on, that 5 second muted warm up doesn't happen. A popping noise happens and the blue light is on right away.

My guitar player's boss's husband (wow that was long) is some sort of technician so he offered to look at his head for him. Hopefully his is fixable.

So yea I thought about it (very shortly mind you) and decided to get the local store to send the head out to the closest authorized GK service center. The store is gonna get my cabinets fixed as well like I said.

Hopefully the whole repair process doesn't take too long and hopefully the head doesn't cost too much. I just got this rig 2 weeks ago. I don't really wanna have to wait around for a long time for it to get fixed.
 
#14
Not to hijack or anything, but what exactly is the problem with using a generator? Additionally, is this when an amp is plugged straight in or even if you use a power strip surge protector AKA Furman-esque product?

My guitar player at a show on Friday didn't want to plug his amp into my rack with a Furman unit on it because "it will mess up our stuff just like a generator." I'm curious to see what he meant.
 
#17
Okay so the local store owner called me later today.

The owner talked to either Gallien Krueger themselves or the authorized GK dealer in Canada, he didn't specify and I forgot to ask. Anyways, I guess for some reason they wouldn't cover the damage on the cabinets. I don't know why, he didn't say and again I forgot to ask. So they said to fix it it would cost $180 plus possibly shipping. So that sucks, I worked all summer and bought the 115 2 weeks ago and the 410 3 days ago. Its not a huge amount of money but I'm student and all my money went to buying the cabs so paying for the repair is a bummer.

The head is gonna be sent out around the Toronto area to be repaired and I won't know the cost until the GK service guy takes a look at it. I don't mind paying for the head repair because I bought it used and understood that if anything went wrong it would cost me.
 
#19
georgestrings said:
I would send it straight to G-K if I were in your shoes - you'll probably get it back faster, it'll likely be less expensive, and it'll be right when you get it back... As a side benefit, if you develop any problems later on with this amp, G-K will already have a bit of history with it... I've *heard* they're good at backing their products - now's as good a time as any to see just how true that is...
Click to expand...
I'll +1 that!.....Although it looks like you've already sent the head elsewhere.
After Hurricane Katrina swamped my eighteen year old 800RB, G-K told me to send it to them. Less than two weeks later, they called and had it ready. Cost? $70 including shipping. Can't say enough good things about the company!
 
#20
Sounds like you need a friend who dabbles in speakers/electronics. Get your cabs back and have him find out if both horns are truly blown, and replace just one of them. You only need one horn to work in a stack. You can get replacement horns off of the GK site, and it will save you the labor if you guys do the work.
You should still call GK personally and tell them your story...maybe they will help you out.
Wes
 

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