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Double Bass New Focus Overheating

phlybass

phlybass

Dec 18, 2003
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#1
Greetings to all!

I'm not quite sure which forum to use for this post since it involves an both an EBG and a Focus Amp which has been getting a lot if interest on the Double Bass Forum. Please feel free to copy or redirect it to the proper forum if more appropriate.

I took my new Focus 2R out for the first time last night to a Jazz Big Band rehearsal. There wasn't a full band there, only one bone, one trumpet and four saxes. After about an hour and a half of playing, at the end of a song, the setup was doing some serious hissing and crackling. I shut things down right away and noticed the little beauty was quite warm.

The setup I was using was a Steinberger XL2 into a Boss MB50 into the Focus into a 4 ohm Acme B1. Volume pretty full on the Bass, stock patch 1 on the boss, level at about 10 o'clock and master volume at about 1 o'clock. I figured there should have been a lot of headroom.

I was worried I had fried something! I called Acoustic Image this morning and the tech said there was a thermal "something" that might need some tweaking, gave me their Fedex number for 2nd day and said they'd work on it the day it got there.

I'm packing it up as soon as I finish this post. I'll let you all know the story as it develops.

Regards, Alex
 
#2
phlybass said:
Greetings to all!

I'm not quite sure which forum to use for this post since it involves an both an EBG and a Focus Amp which has been getting a lot if interest on the Double Bass Forum. Please feel free to copy or redirect it to the proper forum if more appropriate.
Click to expand...

You posted in exactly the right forum. Thanks for the review - I'm sure a lot of folks will be watching this one. Keep us all posted. :)
 
#3
phlybass,

Check this out. A couple weeks ago I was on a very low volume jazz gig here in Los Angeles with a piano trio. Small club with acoustic piano, double bass, drummer not too loud. Used my AI Clarus with a 4 ohm, 15 inch speaker.
Well, about ten minutes into our second set the pianist suddenly stops the band mid-tune and says, "Hey, your amp is smoking!" Sure enough, I turn around to see thick clouds of acrid smoke rising from my amp, and it's so hot that I can barely pull the plug! Really stank up the joint, had to take it outside until it cooled off. I have a very loud old Kay Bass that I was using that night, so I was able to get enough volume to finish the gig in good shape.
I called AI the following morning, was a weekend, so I got a machine. Left my message. Rick called back first thing Monday morning. Here's the thing, I bought this particular amp second hand, about two and a half years ago, and the amp was about one year old then. Still Rick from AI fixed it, in fact just one week from the day I sent it to him UPS Ground, it was returned to me, Fed-Ex, with a compleate new power section installed. All this at no charge to me, not one red cent and it was a used amp when I bought it! The folks at AI are outstanding, they really took good care of me. Great service, great amp!
 
#4
Outstanding story! It's really impressive to see a manufacturer stand by their product, even when the user didn't buy it new. It may have cost AI a power section, but it has gained them a great deal of goodwill and confidence from the end users.

Go AI!
 
#5
Here's the promised followup to the original post. Looking forward to trying it tonight.

>Alex

>Glad to hear that you got the amp back quickly. Sorry for >the trouble.

>Once I made the mod to the amp, I ran it at 200W with a >pink noise signal for over 2 hours (that is a very severe test->-you couldn't be in the same room with an amp putting out >that kind of continuous power). The amp passed the test >without a hiccup. It should be fine. But, if there are any >problems, let me know and we will take care them asap.

>Rick Jones
>Acoustic Image
>7517 Precision Dr, Suite 102
>Raleigh, NC 27617
>919-598-3113
>www.acousticimg.com







>>At 06:31 PM 8/30/2004, you wrote:
>>Gentlemen and or Ladies as may be the case,
>>
>>Thanks to you all at Acoustic Image for the great service >>in getting
>>the modification done and getting my Focus 2R back to me >>so quickly. I
>>won't get a chance to try it out 'till tomorrow (Tuesday) >>night at the
>>big band rehearsal at the local college. A total of seven >>days from
>>the problem occurring and having it fixed and back in my >>eager hands is
>>indicative of a great product and wonderful customer >>service.
>>
>>Thanks again and warm regards, Alex
 
#7
JSCHRO7376 said:
I received my Focus 1R yesterday, ran it non stop last night during rehearsal for almost 5 hours, and that little beauty hardly got warm. Besides producing a Killer sound it's so light weight, unbelievable; a definite keeper. :D
Click to expand...


Whats the focus like, when compared to the
Thunder funk or iamp 800 with your speakers?
 
#10
"Focus? He hardly knows us!" is what the two Country Western singing sisters were overheard whispering to each other after a break was called by the director durring their last album's video shoot.

Maybe this belongs in bass humor...well maybe not!
 

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