Salvage Rumble 200 combo with a dead power amp

[2thAche]

I build PCs as a hobby. I built one for my son's friend a few years back, he moved, and texted me recently that a shop told him the PC was toast because the motherboard failed, and he needed a new PC. I had him bring it to me, and had it running in 30 minutes. He had dropped it, and a component was jarred loose. Just took some troubleshooting.

Lesson is, not all shops are equal. Some are lazy or at worst dishonest.

That all said, if replacing the power amp is more $ than it's worth, can't this cab be wired with an input jack for an external amp? Doesn't seem like that would be a big deal, then just add an affordable amp head that matches the power capability...

 

[Ken R]

If your Rumble 200 is a V3 model, I sure would call Fender again. Mine failed just as yours seems to have. I called Fender, explained the situation and asked to buy a new Ice power board. The Fender rep asked for the serial number, deduced it was still under warranty and sent a new amp under warranty. In my case, Fender went above and beyond to earn my future business. I'm sure they will for you too. Perhaps the rep you spoke with was having a very bad day. Call them again.

 

[GregT]

Every once in a while, a remedy that has worked for quite a few Rumbles is very simple. You might try taking a patch cable and plugging it in and out of the effects send about ten times. Believe it or not, this has fixed a lot of Rumbles in the past when they had the exact problem you are talking about. Hope you get it fixed; the Rumble 200 is my favorite amp.

 

[agedhorse]

+1!

Or.....

Watch the T.B. Classifieds for a used G.K. MB500 head and wire it in as Cristophe C suggested.

That'd give you 350 "clean" watts to the 8 ohm 15" driver, add a extension 8 ohm cab for a full 500 watts at 4 ohms.

Used MB500's can be had for between $250.00 to $350.00.

I bought a used, mint condition, GK MB2-500 with a carry bag to be used as a backup head.....$250.00.
Liked it enough that when a second, mint condition GK MB-500 also with a carry bag popped up locally I bought it also for $300.00.

The speaker in the Rumble 200 is not capable of handling 350 watts rms. Not even close.

The repair is not going to cost more than the combo is worth (provided the shop is not a crook).

 

[agedhorse]

Every once in a while, a remedy that has worked for quite a few Rumbles is very simple. You might try taking a patch cable and plugging it in and out of the effects send about ten times. Believe it or not, this has fixed a lot of Rumbles in the past when they had the exact problem you are talking about. Hope you get it fixed; the Rumble 200 is my favorite amp.

Presumably the shop he took it to troubleshot to this point, but if not, it’s a good next step.

 

[shoot-r]

The speaker in the Rumble 200 is not capable of handling 350 watts rms. Not even close.

The repair is not going to cost more than the combo is worth (provided the shop is not a crook).

Biggest reason I mentioned this idea is there's a local player that gigs a Rumble 115 cab with a GK MB-500 head, (not sure if the 15" driver is the same in the cab as in the combo.)

The GK/Rumble 115 cab combination sounds pretty good in the moderately loud country/rock group he plays with.

 

[Mastermold]

OP

Hi, I'm looking for some advice on salvaging my Fender Rumble 200 combo amp. Long story short, the power amp is dead so no sound goes to the speaker and this amp isn't serviceable. Looking for advice on what I can do with it.

Background
Amp powers on and sounds good, but no sound comes out of the speaker. Sound does go to headphone jack. Bought this amp back when they first came out so it's out of warranty. Took it to a technician that diagnosed it as "dead power amp, reach out to Fender". Contacted Fender and they told me "the Rumble line isn't field serviceable and no replacement parts are available". As of now the best idea I have is to throwout the amp "head" and and salvage the cabinet by adding an input for the speaker. Then I can just get a small amp head to power the speaker. Do I have any other options?


Side note
It is what it is but I am a little sore about this. I bought this amp when I was starting out and decided to spend the extra cash on the Rumble 200 so I didn't need to spend more money for an upgrade later. The nail in the coffin was finding out this amp ins't serviceable and being to told by the Fender agent "your only solution is to buy a new amp". Really didn't expect these to be so disposable.

Sounds like agedhorse has you covered on the advice front. My only other suggestion would be, as you referenced, using it just for the cabinet with another amp. I did this with my old Ampeg B200R, when the amp started going out I pulled the chassis and just used it as a cabinet. There was a speaker plug in the back so it was super easy to make it transition. Not sure if the Rumble has access to speaker plug like the Ampeg did, but if it does you're at least salvaging the cabinet and extending your use.

 

[agedhorse]

I don’t understand not simply fixing the amp and being done with it rather than kluging it up.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

the photo is the actual one Fender uses and sells, to give you an idea of what to look for. When I went shopping for my 125 replacement, I first went to the audio hobbiest sites to find which ones were kosher. I am sure some audiophile is using these in home stereo, so you could find out which ones to buy. Ebay has some already in a case for home stereo use, so that should give yo a starting point.

Audiophiles using class D amps!?

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Agedhorse is right.. But repair may be more than the beast is worth is my guess.. That is if poweramp is the problem.. But no way of knowing without finding a repair shop.. Indeed

My guess is it's worth $275.00 to $325.00 used.. If the part is $150.00 the tech fee would be $100.00-$125.00..

Used Rumble 200's
Used Musical Instruments & Gear | Guitar Center

Are you saying the labor cost is tied to the cost of the part?

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

The speaker in the Rumble 200 is not capable of handling 350 watts rms. Not even close.

The repair is not going to cost more than the combo is worth (provided the shop is not a crook).

I can attest to this having owned a Rumble 200C.
At 140 Watts @ 8 Ohms (stand-a-lone config.) I could get the speaker to fart out if I really dialed in a lot if low end.
The Rumble 1x15 cab uses the same speaker as the 200 combo. Fender says the 1x15 cab is rated for 300 W continuous/600 W music.
Invalid Link Removed

The 200 combo, however seems to present a smaller cabinet volume including the amp. This could affect power handling.

I'm skeptical about the R200 combo used just as a cab, being able to handle 350 Watts. Of course the 350 Watt claim also didn't specify what kind of Watts.

 

[2thAche]

I can attest to this having owned a Rumble 200C.
At 140 Watts @ 8 Ohms (stand-a-lone config.) I could get the speaker to fart out if I really dialed in a lot if low end.
The Rumble 1x15 cab uses the same speaker as the 200 combo. Fender says the 1x15 cab is rated for 300 W continuous/600 W music.
Invalid Link Removed

The 200 combo, however seems to present a smaller cabinet volume including the amp. This could affect power handling.

I'm skeptical about the R200 combo used just as a cab, being able to handle 350 Watts. Of course the 350 Watt claim also didn't specify what kind of Watts.

Well, if then the cabinet blows up: Rock and Roll!

And then a new cab.

 

[agedhorse]

Used Rumble 200's
Used Musical Instruments & Gear | Guitar Center

Are you saying the labor cost is tied to the cost of the part?

I see good condition Rumble 115 V3 combos going for between $350 and $400 with the occasional oddball selling cheaper. Spending $250 -$275 to repair it is pretty much a no-brainer provided it's fixed correctly with factory parts and not counterfeit parts.

I can attest to this having owned a Rumble 200C.
At 140 Watts @ 8 Ohms (stand-a-lone config.) I could get the speaker to fart out if I really dialed in a lot if low end.
The Rumble 1x15 cab uses the same speaker as the 200 combo. Fender says the 1x15 cab is rated for 300 W continuous/600 W music.
Invalid Link Removed

The 200 combo, however seems to present a smaller cabinet volume including the amp. This could affect power handling.

I'm skeptical about the R200 combo used just as a cab, being able to handle 350 Watts. Of course the 350 Watt claim also didn't specify what kind of Watts.

I'm not sure this is correct. At one time there were 2 different drivers, both Eminence DG but different part numbers. The combo driver was a lower powered version with a smaller motor and either a 1.5 or 2" voice coil, whereas the extension cabinet used a larger motor and a 2.5" voice coil.

This MAY have changed since my involvement with Fender, but I doubt it.

 

[G-Dog]

Every once in a while, a remedy that has worked for quite a few Rumbles is very simple. You might try taking a patch cable and plugging it in and out of the effects send about ten times. Believe it or not, this has fixed a lot of Rumbles in the past when they had the exact problem you are talking about. Hope you get it fixed; the Rumble 200 is my favorite amp.

Good advice, Greg, but it's the FX Return jack that has the switch that could be the problem. First, just connect the FX Send to the FX Return to see if that works. If so, then "exercising" the FX Return jack with several in-&-outs of the plug may be a fix. Yes, this simple troubleshooting has saved many a Rumble.
.

 

[fdeck]

Is there any hiss or hum at all coming from the speaker when the unit is turned on? Even a small amount of "controlled" noise might be a sign that the power amp is OK and something else is wrong.

 

[GregT]

Good advice, Greg, but it's the FX Return jack that has the switch that could be the problem. First, just connect the FX Send to the FX Return to see if that works. If so, then "exercising" the FX Return jack with several in-&-outs of the plug may be a fix. Yes, this simple troubleshooting has saved many a Rumble.
.

I always get that backwards, but I know you will see anything on TB about Rumbles eventually. Thank you for straightening that out. It would be great if that were the case this time!

 

[ElectricGroove]

OP here with a quick update. Welp, things aren't looking good, more of the same.

• Tried FX Send to FX Return, nothing
  
• Tried plugging in and out of the FX send multiple times(probably 50), nothing. D my wife thinks I'm crazy now)
• No sound, hum or noise from the speaker
• Contacted a local Authorized Fender Service Center and explained the situation. The person on the phone was very kind. He warned me that Fender doesn't provide parts for the Rumble line out of warranty. I bought mine 2015 or 2016 so I'm out of the 5 year warranty. I trust this shop by the way, they've been around since the 70's and the staff is a wealth of information.

I'm on the fence about dropping it off. The diagnosis fee here is $95 and there sin't a guarantee that it can be fixed. Some of you were asking about the type of amp it's Rumble 200 combo V3

 

[Aidenn7]

Used Rumble 200's
Used Musical Instruments & Gear | Guitar Center

Are you saying the labor cost is tied to the cost of the part?

one if he sell it at a guitar center they will only give him a $150.00..
look on reverb.. and how many are there.. and see how long they been setting there.. look at the lowest price... now to get it sold you'd have to under cut that price by $30.00.. then give a portion to reverb.. now if he puts it one facebook market place.. he's going to get the looky loos who will try to talk him down.. and waste his time in person..

now for the tech.. anyone who is licensed by fender.. automatically will make more money.. unless the warranty covers the parts and labor.. it stands to reason.. it may not be worth repairing due to cost.

Simple as that..

 

[Aidenn7]

OP here with a quick update. Welp, things aren't looking good, more of the same.

• Tried FX Send to FX Return, nothing
  
• Tried plugging in and out of the FX send multiple times(probably 50), nothing. D my wife thinks I'm crazy now)
• No sound, hum or noise from the speaker
• Contacted a local Authorized Fender Service Center and explained the situation. The person on the phone was very kind. He warned me that Fender doesn't provide parts for the Rumble line out of warranty. I bought mine 2015 or 2016 so I'm out of the 5 year warranty. I trust this shop by the way, they've been around since the 70's and the staff is a wealth of information.

I'm on the fence about dropping it off. The diagnosis fee here is $95 and there sin't a guarantee that it can be fixed. Some of you were asking about the type of amp it's Rumble 200 combo V3

So 250 bucks for $300.00 amp?

 

[Aidenn7]

So 250 bucks for $300.00 amp?

I bought my broken $1600 amp $200.00 and I got it upgraded repaired by maker for $400.00.. Used those sell for a $1000.00.. So in my case it was worth it. In your case are you getting your moneys worth? For the money you can get a mesa subway pre.. And good in ears.. Which the fender tone On steroids.. So idk..