TC Electronic BG250 Club (Part 2)

[JazzMarius]

Hi there!
Guess I'm a little late to join the Club since the production discontinued a few yes ago. Got one of the last BG250-208 new for about 230 Euro. Loved the Combo for practicing, recording and jamming and even gigging with a 1x15" (8 Ohm ;-) underneath. Soon after warranty it had the usual NTC issue which I repaired easily with an EPCOS TDK B57237S100M. Because of different band projects I now also own a BG250-210 and a BG250-112 that I really like (only miss the speakon speaker output of the 208)
The easy but effective tone control, the simple but precise tuner, the incredible one knob spectracomp and another toneprint, the pre/post switchable DI in a compact and lightweight Combo with enough power is all I need.
But I hate tc for using the cheapest NTC and (because of that) had stopped production of these nice little combos. The repair is easy. ...if you manage to detach and open the small amp case (of an 208). I didn't have to open the bigger amp case yet. But it takes time (to long for a warranty repair of a cheap amp!) to replace an electrical part for a few cents.
That's it for now.
Do you have any suggestions for using the Combo with a drop-A multiscale 5-string? Additional Cabinet, replacement speaker, toneprint effect?
Thanx
Tom

Welcome!

What are you refering to when you speak about the NTC issue? The whining that came from the ceramic cap? And you've changed it to another ceramic cap? I've changed it for a Film cap and whining has gone!

If your speaking about something else, can you elaborate please? I have a BG250-210 and it stopped producing sound. Aux in and headphones put work perfectly so I'm guessing the IN is good.

Couldn't see anything blown inside the head and no burnt components....

 

[tieftoni]

Nah, the NTC or negative Temperature coefficient is a ceramic capacitor look-a-like part just behind the mains fuse to limit the inrush current to prevent your home or rehearsal room fuse to blow. During production tc reduced the costs by chosing a low quality part of this ntc that does not support the drawn current for a long time (or is it a timer for must buy a new amp? )
I will search and attach the according thread

 

[tieftoni]

If your preamp is still working, its NOT the NTC!

 

[tieftoni]

Hi,

This will be my first posting in this forum.

About the BG250 I would say it is what it is.
Not very expensive and possibly built to reflect just that.
When that's said I see no reason to trash it because of a fairly common to this amp. problem with the inrush current limiter NTC-resistor (R4 in the power-supply).
This component seem to be a bit underrated for where it's been installed or it doesn't quite live up to it's spec's.
Not that uncommon with Chinese components

I do repairs by removing the fried NTC Type 10D-11 replacing it with a more potent cousin, the 10D-15, see the attached pic's.
The typeno. says part of the spec's for the NTC.
10 is 10-Ohm and D-11 or D-15 is the diameter of the disc in mm., see the attached file.

Good luck with repairs !View attachment 3016820 View attachment 3016822

 

[tieftoni]

Here is the english version of the description of the repair of the small amp of a BG250-208. For the larger amps 112, 115, 210 it's just the same but way easier!

 

[Sparky Mark]

Here is the english version of the description of the repair of the small amp of a BG250-208. For the larger amps 112, 115, 210 it's just the same but way easier!

Thanks for posting this repair note. It prompted me to take a look at the NTC in mine:-

I know this thread is rather dated now but as I managed to find a mint condition BG250 210 secondhand I did some research into known problems. The failure of the NTC seems to have been a problem for some units so I thought I'd open mine up to see which NTC was used. The NTC in mine is approx 20mm diameter so I'm thinking this issue was resolved by the use of a higher performance NTC. Hopefully these larger NTC won't fry like some of smaller devices have.
View attachment 5056287

 

[IvanMike]

Hey there I got a used one of these for my girlfriend's daughter and I haven't messed around with changing any tone prints. It seems to have kind of almost like a weird compression going on all the time. Even with the tone print
circuits disengaged. is that normal for the amplifier? There's no actual indicator light or anything that's popping on telling me that it's compressing anything. The horn works fine but flat It just sounds a little bit muffled and compressed

 

[Cartentoya]

Just got this beauty (BG 250 112) in the used market. It is like new, previous owner had it unused, and I cannot believe how awesome it sounds, and I like quite a lot of the toneprints, specially the vibrato and the drive/comps. Bummer that there cannot be two effects at the same time. I would love to have delays and reverbs as an option also, but those cannot be charged, I think. I hope this amp will last a lot of time. Do you know when was the last year this combos were produced?

 

[JIO]

View attachment 5377936

Just got this beauty in the used market. It is like new, previous owner had it unused, and I cannot believe how awesome it sounds, and I like quite a lot of the toneprints, specially the vibrato and the drive/comps. Bummer that there cannot be two effects at the same time. I would love to have delays and reverbs as an option also, but those cannot be charged, I think. I hope this amp will last a lot of time. Do you know when was the last year this combos were produced?

That's the one I have. I bought mine used for a great price. My band uses it live as a keys amp, but I've also used it for bass and it does sound great. Not being a tube amp - it is more durable and should last a long time. I've not used re Toneprint option, but will take your word that it's good. It's light too - so easy to cart around. Don't know when it was produced.

 

[Cartentoya]

Not being a tube amp - it is more durable and should last a long time

Good to know, Im hoping for the best also

 

[Jamvan]

View attachment 5377936

Just got this beauty in the used market. It is like new, previous owner had it unused, and I cannot believe how awesome it sounds, and I like quite a lot of the toneprints, specially the vibrato and the drive/comps. Bummer that there cannot be two effects at the same time. I would love to have delays and reverbs as an option also, but those cannot be charged, I think. I hope this amp will last a lot of time. Do you know when was the last year this combos were produced?

I believe the 115 was introduced in 2012 and the 210, 112, and 208 were introduced in 2013.

I don't recall when they stopped making them.

 

[Cartentoya]

Just a heads up. I used the amp on rehearsals, and I loved it as well, now I want a spare haha, difficult I think. EQ is very simple yet very responsive, a little bassy when flat, but as always, you have to tune to the room and the kind of bass you have, and I got a very cool sound out of a couple of basses. Plenty of volume, I don't know if those are 250 watts, but they are very powerfull. The combined toneprints choices are a clever idea, since the version II of this amp only allows for just one toneprint, not two together. I love the "little comp and drive", and the Jaco vibrato. I would love a version III of this amp!

 

[gordansim]

Hi, all, I just bought used combo amp TC electronics BG250-112. Serial number 14087170, i wonder what year of production is it?

 

[BassChap]

For those who pair a BG250-208 with an extension cab: Which cab are you using and what does it do to the tone & volume? When do you leave the cab home and solo the combo? When do you bring the cab along?
Any love for the TC RS-112? And for other options?

 

[Jamvan]

For those who pair a BG250-208 with an extension cab: Which cab are you using and what does it do to the tone & volume? When do you leave the cab home and solo the combo? When do you bring the cab along?
Any love for the TC RS-112? And for other options?

I used to use an RS112 with my 208 and it worked really well. But then I got a second 208 to create a mini rig of doom!

 

[BassChap]

I used to use an RS112 with my 208 and it worked really well. But then I got a second 208 to create a mini rig of doom!

Awesome! Do you have 2 combo's, or is one a cabinet? If the former, do you use one as a cab or do you have a Y-splitter in front of them?

Can you say something about how the tone changes with an added RS-112? I have an opportunity to buy an RS-112 second handed, hence the interest.

 

[Jamvan]

Awesome! Do you have 2 combo's, or is one a cabinet? If the former, do you use one as a cab or do you have a Y-splitter in front of them?

Can you say something about how the tone changes with an added RS-112? I have an opportunity to buy an RS-112 second handed, hence the interest.

The speaker jack on the back of the cabinet is wired parallel so I simply use the speaker jack from the main cab and run a Spreakon into the second cab, bypassing the second head altogether. (Make sure to unplug the second head from the cab.)

And the RS112 adds a nice bottom end to the 208. It worked really well together with nice articulation form the 8" speakers and good low extension from the 12".

 

[BassChap]

And the RS112 adds a nice bottom end to the 208. It worked really well together with nice articulation form the 8" speakers and good low extension from the 12".

Thanks! That's the kind of info I was looking for.

 

[Dogbass777]

I'm late to the party but, I've just acquired a BG250-208 as a smaller and more manageable rig for acoustic gigs, etc. So far,I'm liking it and I successfully managed to beam the Spectracomp Toneprint onto it (which is more useful to me than the chorus it came preloaded with).
This evening, I plugged my iPod into the aux so I could practice along - I wasn't that impressed with the volume I was getting from the iPod but it was manageable for a low level run through. After about twenty/thirty minutes the amp went into Protection Mode - I turned off the amp, unplugged the iPod, and turned down the Toneprint level (from 12 o'clock to around 7 o'clock) before firing up the amp again.
I wondered if running something into the aux input or having the Toneprint turned up too much was the likely reason for the amp going into Protection Mode..? Has anyone with more experience got any words of advice?
I'm a little worried that this lovely little combo isn't gonna be reliable enough for gigging!

 

[frankie5string]

I'm late to the party but, I've just acquired a BG250-208 as a smaller and more manageable rig for acoustic gigs, etc. So far,I'm liking it and I successfully managed to beam the Spectracomp Toneprint onto it (which is more useful to me than the chorus it came preloaded with).
This evening, I plugged my iPod into the aux so I could practice along - I wasn't that impressed with the volume I was getting from the iPod but it was manageable for a low level run through. After about twenty/thirty minutes the amp went into Protection Mode - I turned off the amp, unplugged the iPod, and turned down the Toneprint level (from 12 o'clock to around 7 o'clock) before firing up the amp again.
I wondered if running something into the aux input or having the Toneprint turned up too much was the likely reason for the amp going into Protection Mode..? Has anyone with more experience got any words of advice?
I'm a little worried that this lovely little combo isn't gonna be reliable enough for gigging!

Try twisting off and on again the Speakon connection from the speaker in the back to the amp. It could be loose or misaligned, somehow.
Make sure the power cable into the back of the amp isn't loose.

Otherwise, there's nothing about playing backing tracks through it that should trigger shutdown like that.

If it still does it, can you try a different electrical circuit? Does the one you're using now have any kind of appliances hooked to it?