Ben Jamin Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 (edited) Hi guys, I was just wondering if anyone could help me figure what went wrong with my head this evening? We did two sets in a fairly big venue. I had a 1x15 and a 2x10 stacked for monitoring on-stage (but only running the 2x10) and the FOH signal was coming from the DI output on my Ampeg PF500. The first set went fine - sounded ace. At the end, I turned the volume down on my bass, hit the mute switch on the amp and left it like that for the 20 minute interval. When I came back though, we went straight into the first song and there was nothing from the cab. I could hear the boom from the FOH system and managed to get through it on that before quickly switching to the 1x15 in a quiet section. Still no sound. Then I noticed the fault light had come on on the amp, so I turned it off and left it for about ten seconds (hurrah for really long quiet sections) before rebooting it. Still nothing from the cabs, but I could hear the FOH still working fine, so I played the rest of the set based on the general rumble I could hear, mourning what I guessed was the death of my power-amp. Weird though, as the gain was set at less than a quarter and the volume at under half, so I was hardly driving it. However, after just about making it through the gig, I had a chat with the bloke on PA, rebooted my amp again after about 5 minutes, and it worked fine! He double-checked my channel on the desk and there was nothing out of the ordinary - just a bit of EQ - no phantom power or anything. Obviously I'm happy it works again, but it'd be nice to know what happened so that I can hopefully avoid it re-occuring! Cheers! Ben Edited July 15, 2012 by Ben Jamin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Some SMPS can be sort of sensitive to power fluctuations I think. And one of the mini Ampeg heads was sensitive to impedance (which caused issues with the mini 2x10 cabs they came with, so might not be that head). Were you using all speakon? A part pulled out jack could have shorted and make trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Jamin Posted July 15, 2012 Author Share Posted July 15, 2012 [quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1342388153' post='1734256'] Some SMPS can be sort of sensitive to power fluctuations I think. And one of the mini Ampeg heads was sensitive to impedance (which caused issues with the mini 2x10 cabs they came with, so might not be that head). Were you using all speakon? A part pulled out jack could have shorted and make trouble. [/quote] Ahh the elecricity in the venue can be a little bit iffy every now and then so that might be it! I've used those cabs with the head quite a few times with no issues and I was using speak-on only Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 When they first came out these amps suffered a lot of problems, according to Talkbass posts. Is this an older amp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Jamin Posted July 15, 2012 Author Share Posted July 15, 2012 (edited) [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1342391008' post='1734298'] When they first came out these amps suffered a lot of problems, according to Talkbass posts. Is this an older amp? [/quote] Not unless it had been in stock for a while - I only bought it new from GAK a couple of months ago... and then of course a couple turned up on here pretty much new for £100 less Edited July 15, 2012 by Ben Jamin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Yes, check early Talkbass threads on these amps. Some have had similar problems - though must admit, I never had any with mine, and used it a fair bit, though always with the full load of 4ohms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Jamin Posted July 15, 2012 Author Share Posted July 15, 2012 [quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1342391294' post='1734311'] Yes, check early Talkbass threads on these amps. Some have had similar problems - though must admit, I never had any with mine, and used it a fair bit, though always with the full load of 4ohms. [/quote] Will do, thanks I'd never had any problems with mine either until it decided to be lazy this evening! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 I think most problems with these amps occurred a year or more ago. You could take it to be checked out by an amp tech but it sounds like you are still in warranty, so I’d call GAK and let them know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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