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Is this something I should have reasonably expected as being a repair?

B

Bassbuster

Mar 6, 2010
50
0
Christchurch, New Zealand
#1
I've had my Fender Bassman 150 amp for awhile now and the power light which is also the power switch stopped lighting up. I took it back to the shop and they sent it to their local repair guy. Anyway, it comes back and just over two weeks later it goes again, so once again I send it back. It got returned to me today and instead of fixing the light in the switch, he just added an led light just above the switch. Is this something repairers will normally do if they can't fix the problem? He hadn't even consulted me about it and I feel like he has defaced my amp by drilling a hole and sticking a huge led bulb there. I've included a picture of what the bassman power switch/light looks like normally and included a picture of how mine looks now. What am I supposed to do now? Do you think it will have devalued the amp?
:mad:
 

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#5
This repair is unconventional. It may have been easier and cheaper than replacing the lighted switch, but to do this without your consent was overly presumptuous, and unacceptable, IMO.

I can't say what I'd do if I were in your shoes, because it would depend on my history and relationship with the shop.

By coincidence, I have the same amp, with the same problem; discovered just last weekend. Haven't gotten around to pricing a replacement switch yet.
 
#8
There is a bright side, pun intended :) He now owns it.

Consider your amp under his lifetime warranty. Or he'll just refund the repair money plus some to make you go away.

I'd just have him put in a black power switch (on his dime) though. Call it a one off, and be done with it.

It would look good then, so I'd be happy. If it was a classic, not so much.
 
#10
Did the repair tag read " repair power on indicator light" or did it read "replace power switch"?

Personally, I would be happy my tech was knowledgeable enough to know the lighted switch was a chronic problem, and what to do to make the problem go away, and took the initiative to solve the problem for me once and for all, but that's just me.
 
#11
I used to work as a rep. tech and I had often to "find" different solutions due to various reasons (spare parts out of stock or customers who wanted their amp fixed for "yesterday") but when I had to modify the "layout" of an amp I always asked for the customer permission so as to avoid complains.
In your case I don't know why the tech didn't simply replace the "lighted switch" that is usually available to an "electric supplies store" (<= I apologize if that is not the right translation).

Regards,

Roberto
 
#14
As most here has said, you should have been informed before any modifications were done to the amp. I, personally, would ask for the repair drone to give you a new amp as what you got back was not the same amp, in a sense, that you gave him to repair.
 
#16
Bassbuster said:
I've had my Fender Bassman 150 amp for awhile now and the power light which is also the power switch stopped lighting up. I took it back to the shop and they sent it to their local repair guy. Anyway, it comes back and just over two weeks later it goes again, so once again I send it back. It got returned to me today and instead of fixing the light in the switch, he just added an led light just above the switch. Is this something repairers will normally do if they can't fix the problem? He hadn't even consulted me about it and I feel like he has defaced my amp by drilling a hole and sticking a huge led bulb there. I've included a picture of what the bassman power switch/light looks like normally and included a picture of how mine looks now. What am I supposed to do now? Do you think it will have devalued the amp?
:mad:
Click to expand...

Not sure about value of this amp, but I would not accept if something like this happened to me.
 
#18
I would bet the guy thought he was doing you a favor. Rather than replace it again, with a cheap switch, probably made for pennies, in China. He took the extra precaution of adding an LED light that he felt was more reliable. On your little Fender combo, I believe that is a fine fix. I would really hope that if you had taken him an original 70s SVT, or something similar, he would check with you first before altering it.
 
#20
fhm555 said:
Maybe the LED in the OEM switch keeps getting blown by a spike on power up so a more robust LED is needed to keep it from blowing so often?
Click to expand...
More likely that the power switch has a neon lamp in it. The latter have finite life, sometimes flickering for months before they die altogether.

An LED (and resistor) across 115V is not practical. At 20 mA LED current, the series resistor would dissipate over 2 W. Even a high efficiency LED would require too much dissipation inside the switch.

Running the LED from a low voltage DC output of the power supply solves the heat problem, but runs into UL/CSA safety considerations if built into the power switch.

The best solution is an unlighted power switch and a separate power indicator LED operated from a DC supply, which is what you now may almost have. As suggested above, replace the power switch with an unlighted one.
 

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