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MAJOR Ampeg cabinet issues

L

laurie

May 21, 2007
19
0
#1
I bought an Ampeg SVT410 HLF about 2 years ago and has been giving me nothing but grief. Speakers were being blown out at a rate of one every two months, after the third time I took it to a tech and he told me the factory wired it all wrong and fixed it. Then it happened again and I was told it must be the head because it's an old 400RB that may have worn transmitters, not worth fixing. So I went out and got a brand new 700 RB, and another speaker. I just came back from tour and the club had poor electricity and had a black out. When the power came back on, I had nothing. The head works fine(tried it on the other band's amp) . But the cabinet has ZERO power.

Has this happened to anyone? I'm seriously ready to throw this cabinet off a cliff, and for the amount of $$ I put into it, I could have had another cabinet by now. Any suggestions?
 
#2
I went through this with my old GK 4x10 and GK RB400. Make sure your impedance is correct (meaning 4 ohm max head with 2 8 ohm cabs or one 4 ohm cab for example).

The manufacturer told me it was a "bad batch" of speakers that I switched out TWICE, but it turns out it was my own dumb fault for running the wrong impedance in the end...

this was long before Talkbass ;)
 
#3
The HLF is 4ohm, the GK700RB is 4 ohm as well. Everything matches, even with the old head. Has ampeg ever had a bad batch of cabinets with the worst wiring ever? If not I might be the first one to debate it.
 
#5
Just wondering if this is a US or Asian version?

If US version, I would suspect certain things, possibly major low-end boosting, etc. The Eminence speakers in US Ampeg units are tough.

If an Asian version, I understand the speakers have been re-sourced, and might be a real, legitimate, problem. or not.
 
#6
Without being a dick here. Something sounds a little funny with this thread.

Ah, this is the same problem from her thread 6 months ago. You have not found assistance from anybody in six months?

Inverted cone? I make jokes about inverting cones, but never actually seen somebody do it. Well actually I did it once myself but it was a 2" speaker I hooked up to my Bassman in 1969 for the fun of it.

This sounds like bringing up the rig and then plugging in the guitar cord into the amp with the volume up full and then trying to plug the cord into the bass...

I have an SVT-410HLF along with a bunch of 810's and 215's and haven't popped a single speaker myself. There's either something seriously wrong with the amp, possible operator error or somebody abused this cab so badly that I can't believe it would even sound good before the speakers leave.

BOB
 
#8
To answer some questions:

- It's not a guitar cord, it's a speaker cable.
- I posted that six months ago and took the advice of bringing it to a tech.
-The volume on my head NEVER went above the half way mark, the boost also never went up. I don't crank my equipment. Even at shows.
- When the speakers blows, the cone is shot out, hanging by the wires, the inverted one looked like it was gonna blow any moment, so that one was replaced too.
-All the replaced speaker are Eminence with proper ohm.

To add:
Back at home in NY I had a great old Ampeg 810(early 70's model) which never gave me any grief and I bought this one brand new at GC in San Francisco and I wish I never did.
 
#11
laurie said:
To answer some questions:

- It's not a guitar cord, it's a speaker cable.
- I posted that six months ago and took the advice of bringing it to a tech.
-The volume on my head NEVER went above the half way mark, the boost also never went up. I don't crank my equipment. Even at shows.
- When the speakers blows, the cone is shot out, hanging by the wires, the inverted one looked like it was gonna blow any moment, so that one was replaced too.
-All the replaced speaker are Eminence with proper ohm.

To add:
Back at home in NY I had a great old Ampeg 810(early 70's model) which never gave me any grief and I bought this one brand new at GC in San Francisco and I wish I never did.
Click to expand...

Well you should be using an instrument cable between your bass and amp, but that isnt the problem.

You missed his point, he said it seems like you are turning the amp on and then plugging in your bass (causing a massive spike in output). The gain and volume don't have to be all the way up to be pumping out the juice. Are you clipping the amp at all (regarldess of where your dials are set).

Are you adding huge amounts of bass with EQ anywhere along the line?
 
#13
Do i know you? hhaha we did that around 1971 or so with a Marshall major into a 2 inch... Poooof.. :D
if i knew then what i know now about amp transformers i never would have done it.. but the amp is still working today without issues.. that speaker caught on fire though... boy that was more fun than fireworks...:eek:

rbonner said:
Inverted cone? I make jokes about inverting cones, but never actually seen somebody do it. Well actually I did it once myself but it was a 2" speaker I hooked up to my Bassman in 1969 for the fun of it.



BOB
Click to expand...
 
#16
svtb15 said:
Do i know you? hhaha we did that around 1971 or so with a Marshall major into a 2 inch... Poooof.. :D
if i knew then what i know now about amp transformers i never would have done it.. but the amp is still working today without issues.. that speaker caught on fire though... boy that was more fun than fireworks...:eek:
Click to expand...

I think I did mine about 1970 but yes we think alike, and you are correct it was way way cool to do. Ah to be 15 / 16 again.

Ok back to Laurie's problem.

This should not be happening obviously. It sounds like the spider on the INVERTED speaker unglued itself and the cone is dangling by the wiskers. This is something Eminence and AMPEG / LOUDPEG / LOUD should be involved with.

Laurie this is a warranty issue if you registered your cab when you bought it. Even so, with the manufacturing date, you should still be under the five year warranty and should be getting FREE replacements not having to pay for this. Especially spiders coming apart. Even if a normal speaker blow happens the spiders should not come unglued.

I think this tech took you for a ride.

I'd feel better if an SVT-3PRO was involved Manufacturer vs Manufacturer instead of the 700RB GK, but lets put out a call... Robert Gallien are you around somewhere?

BOB
 
#17
Thanks for all the replies, I do appreciate it.

I just spoke with another tech. He told me that I may have an issue with the crossover and I'm going to go over there and troubleshoot the speaker with him tomorrow. He seems to think the blackout and the power surging back on may have caused this. I also got a phone number of a repair shop that's Ampeg authorized and you're right. It is under warranty and I'm gonna make sure to not spend any more money on this thing. Seriously, I think Ampeg owes me that much.

The GK has been tested on two other cabinet to make sure it wasn't the head. The head works fine.

I will update you guys and let you know what happens because nobody should ever go through this.
 
#20
I've had nothing but trouble with authorized Ampeg technicians, especially on warranty issues with my newer SVT-CL. Make SURE you let them know that you refuse to pay a cent to have it fixed, and if they tell you to talk to Ampeg about it, one of two things will happen: 1, you won't be able to contact a human being in the company, and 2: if you do, they will tell you the dealer is responsible for fixing it. I've been turned down at multiple service centers literally because I didn't buy it there, and it would take too much time for the money to come from Ampeg to the shop (so they could be paid). They told me to take it to where I bought it.

Sorry for the wall of text, I'm just trying to save you some trouble based on my experience with the goons that are involved with Ampeg today.
 

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