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Who has a troublefree Fender Rumble 500 v3 Combo?


Guest MoJo
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I love my little Fender powerhouse and so do the band but recent horror stories ('lasted less than 5 minutes') have knocked my confidence in the beasty. At the risk of knocking the bottom out of the Rumble 500 v3 Combo market, I've read on Basschat of three or four that have had issues and equally as many, if not more on Talkbass. Seven or eight failures in the great scheme of things isn't a huge amount but I've come from a world driven by Peavey amps which, although uninspiring are as tough as a airliner's flight recorder. I have often thought that 'black boxes' were built from an old Peavey TNT design.
I need to know that my backline is dependable and I'm teetering on the edge of bailing on the Rumble and it's associated 210 extension cabinet. I bought mine second hand so it's been gigged before I got it. I've gigged it a couple of times without issue. Maybe mine is a 'good one'. It still doesn't stop me worrying about it, so much so that I left the Rumble at home last Saturday and took my TC Electronic BG250-115.
I'm looking for positive stories to increase my faith in this little monster.

Anyone? :(

Edited by MoJo
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Not the 500 but I have a 100.

First one I bought was faulty out of the box so got a replacement. The replacement has been completely reliable since (dozens of rehearsals and about 15 pub/club gigs) and sounds great.

The tolex tarnishes easily but apart from that I have no complains about its fit and finish.

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I fell in love having heard Norris' at the West Midlands Bass Bash. I believe his started playing up shortly after. If I'd have read of these failures earlier, I would probably been put off too. I've never had an amp fail on me and I don't want this to be the first as I'm led to believe that they're pretty much unrepairable and as I bought mine secondhand, I have no warranty to fall back on

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The was a thread full of people raving about them not so long ago, some of those posters may be able to help.

With the amount of units Fender probably sell, I wouldn't be worried about a few complaint threads - they represent a tiny percentage of the user base. It's unfortunate because when things are working people very rarely start a thread about them (I know I've never done one for my Warwick amp despite over a decade's worth of reliable use) but as soon as there's a problem they jump straight onto the internet complaining, often before discussing the issue with the retailer/manufacturer/amp tech.

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[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1443446323' post='2874719']......when things are working people very rarely start a thread about them ....... but as soon as there's a problem they jump straight onto the internet complaining
[/quote]

Good point

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[quote name='Muppet' timestamp='1443450734' post='2874781']
Interesting you chose to use the BG250-115 instead of the Rumble as the TC unit has also had it's fair share of unreliability threads.....
[/quote]

Don't tell me that :lol:

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I've been using my 500 V5 since the beginning of the year for wedding gigs so it's on for 4-5 hours at a time and for rehearsals.

Absolutely love it still - it's a perfect match for my Yamahas.

I bought a Roqsolid cover for mine the day I got it so it still looks brand new.

If you do decide to sell then I'd be interested in your 2x10" cab

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[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1443452560' post='2874805']
Don't tell me that :lol:
[/quote]

I meant it in a good way, in that, despite there being threads here about unreliability, I have found my amp to be very reliable. I agree with the previous posters in that people rarely start threads that say 'Fender Rumble 500 still bulletproof after 200 gigs and a European Sleaze Pit Tour', but when an amp goes wrong a thread quickly gathers momentum.

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I've never had any trouble at all when playing through a Fender Rumble.

Mind you, I've never actually played through one.

But this is the Internet so why should that stop me from (i) having an opinion on the subject, and (ii) posting extensively as if I'm an expert?

:)

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[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1443512705' post='2875304']
I've never had any trouble at all when playing through a Fender Rumble.

Mind you, I've never actually played through one.

But this is the Internet so why should that stop me from (i) having an opinion on the subject, and (ii) posting extensively as if I'm an expert?

:)
[/quote]

:D

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[quote name='Muppet' timestamp='1443510709' post='2875278']
..... people rarely start threads that say 'Fender Rumble 500 still bulletproof after 200 gigs and a European Sleaze Pit Tour'[/quote]

Once I reach 200 gigs with it, that's exactly what I'm going to do. Redress the balance :lol:

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  • 5 months later...

Hi, I'm a Pro Bassist and also work in a Music Shop that sells Fender and TC Electronic among others.
I have been using a TC BG500 210 for a few years but at 85lbs.(it's Analogue not Digital) it's just too heavy for me now.
We've had a number of TC 250s blow up instore, so I decided on a Rumble 500 V3. instead. Also the TCs cannot take an extension cab. (they run a 4ohm speaker).
It weighs 35.5 lbs and packs as much punch as my old TC combo.
It comes with a transferable 5yr. warranty so there's no risk at all.
A few of my fellow Pros. use Rumbles and not one has had any faults at all.
I've always got P.A. support so don't need an extension cab,but the 115 Cab is a perfect add-on if you need to blow the windows out.

Edited by Maz LFC
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Discreet / all the other rumble users here , does anyone know the differences between the Rumble V3 , V4 V5 ? or even the 2014 edition that Thomman seem to stock .
I'm sorely tempted , but trying one of these would mean a trip to Guildford .

Over the Easter bank holiday weekend I played a gig at a social club beer festival and ran out of volume from my Trace GP7 SMX ive never before had to dime the pre-amp gain to squeeze a little more out of the amp just to compete on stage. The performance space was tiny so there was physically no way to accommodate my expansion cab unless. Usually the trace is enough on its own for this sort of pub / club gig, but apparently the only songs where I could be heard were Chelsea dagger * tubescreamer* and uptown funk where its just me for large periods of song.

Our , Guitarists were running at about 6 /10 master on 100 watt fender SS gear , which we had raised ontop of the PA woofers in sound check
because I was worried about their volume projecting into the room >.< apparently you couldn't hear even hear the drummer .

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[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1459182649' post='3014200']
Sounds like your guitarists are too loud.
[/quote]

No guitarist needs 100W in my humble opinion. Or even 50W. Or even 30W.
Just completed three very different gigs in three days, my Rumble 500 didn't miss a beat. :)

Edited by discreet
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Whoops SMC not SMX Its a 715 GP7 SMC , Perhaps i need to consider more watt's I dont think the Guitard's are going to be convinced to turn "Down" and were talking 100 watt's Solid state through a single a 1x12.

Not my photo' but pretty much my exact amp , I don't want to drag the expansion to every gig but maybe its time for a change.

Edited by synthaside
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You should trying driving my 6 series with it in the boot ... To say the front end gets a bit squirrelly and light is an understatement.

Its around 42kg , So just about 90 lb's in old money ... Problem is the thing has tone for Week's and weeks , makes a rather fetching seat at
rehearsals and will still be working long after cockroaches have learn to play bass post the end of the world.

Edited by synthaside
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If your drummer couldn't be heard [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][b][color=#000000][size=4]synthaside [/size][/color][/b][color=#000000][size=4]then your guitarist(s) is simply too loud, insanely loud. [/size][/color][/font]

The Rumble 500's are fantastic combos and they are loud. However, if your guitarist is drowning out drummers then the combo on its own might be asking a bit much and you may need an ext cab.

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