EBS Fafner 2 Problem... and other hybrid amps.

[jrobjumpsship]

[font=Helvetica][size=3]Hi everyone. Iam a long time reader of these forums but Ive got myself into a little bit of a pickle which has called me to post in the hope of finding some answers![/size][/font]

[font=Helvetica][size=3]Ive been offered a used EBS Fafner 2 at a very good deal. I went to try it today and it sounds great (well half of it did). Credit to the seller he did mention that the preamp valve needed replacing. So i took a spare 12ax7 valve with me to try that. Sadly it was unsuccessful and did not light up. That means the “Dirt” channel on the amp does not work, at all. And when you send the full signal via the valve the amp went silent. The clean Solid State side of the amp worked perfectly. [/size][/font]

[font=Helvetica][size=3]Has anybody had an experience with this or any other hybrid amps and the preamp valve playing up? And more importantly how much it cost to fix the issue? I really love the amp and its defiantly the sort of sound I’d like. However I don’t know how comfortable Iam taking the risk and getting it, only to be slapped with a big repair bill.[/size][/font]

[font=Helvetica][size=3]Any advice would be highly appreciated! [/size][/font]

[Graham]

I wouldn't know about cost I'm afriad, but I was thinking about EBS repairs this morning as my HD350 seems to have developed a fault where it suddenly goes silent at gigs without warning.

When I had a Fafner 1, the bulb behind the valve died, so I contacted Bernie Goodfellow at GB Guitars in Brighton, who was at the time the UK distributor. He replaced the filament bulb with an LED cluster.

I was planning on giving him a call and seeing if he can take a look at it for me, particularly as I've had experience with their current UK distributor recently, and they seemed to be hopeless.

[jrobjumpsship]

Thanks for the reply Graham.

I dropped EBS Technical a direct email after reading on a few forums that they are incredibly helpful, and they were! (It might be worth dropping them a line yourself. They've been known to supply parts and advice on amps that aren't even in warranty!) They basically said the Fafner 2 has a very low failure rate and is no doubt in need of a small repair to a broken connection on the pc board. I could probably afford to spend £50-£100 repairing it and it would still stand me a lot less than I could get for it on the second hand market.

So I think Iam just going to bite the bullet and take the risk!

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='jrobjumpsship' timestamp='1441558982' post='2859816']
Thanks for the reply Graham.

I dropped EBS Technical a direct email after reading on a few forums that they are incredibly helpful, and they were! (It might be worth dropping them a line yourself. They've been known to supply parts and advice on amps that aren't even in warranty!) They basically said the Fafner 2 has a very low failure rate and is no doubt in need of a small repair to a broken connection on the pc board. I could probably afford to spend £50-£100 repairing it and it would still stand me a lot less than I could get for it on the second hand market.

So I think Iam just going to bite the bullet and take the risk!
[/quote]

Who has said it is a £50-£100 repair? If it is EBS I'd be amazed if they have the capability to diagnose an issue from your description, most repairers won't even give you a 'guesstimate' for a repair quote until the amp is on the bench. If the seller thinks it is a simple fix then I'd suggest (were it me it'd be 'insist') that they get it fixed then I'd give them the market value of a fully working used amp. Taking an amp that needs unknown repair is only something that I'd do if it was very cheap. Used these appear on BC for £600 - £700 so I'd be wanting to get the amp for significantly less than that.

[jrobjumpsship]

You may have mis-read the post there my friend. No one said it was a £50-£100 repair, I was suggesting thats how much I'd hope to pay. From talking to a few amp repair companies thats a good couple of hours on the bench.

I gave EBS a very detailed description of the fault and judging by the signal path within the amp it could only be a few components that are causing the Valve channel to be faulty. I am certainly a lot more confident with EBS' diagnosis than anyone else's. One amp repair company I spoke to said if I gave them the amp to repair they'd even do the same thing and email EBS for a diagnosis. The seller has no clue what the issue is, he's been happy to use it as a Solid State and just wants something all valve for his studio.

Regards the purchase, it would be a trade. With the Fafner standing me about half of what you suggest the going rate for them is used.

[Graham]

Yeah, I found EBS Sweden very helpful, my local guitar shop were really struggling to get a replacement switch for one of their pedals from the UK distributor; so I e-mailed EBS Sweden and got a reply from their technical director about 10 minutes later.

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='jrobjumpsship' timestamp='1441563933' post='2859871']
You may have mis-read the post there my friend. No one said it was a £50-£100 repair, I was suggesting thats how much I'd hope to pay. From talking to a few amp repair companies thats a good couple of hours on the bench.

I gave EBS a very detailed description of the fault and judging by the signal path within the amp it could only be a few components that are causing the Valve channel to be faulty. I am certainly a lot more confident with EBS' diagnosis than anyone else's. One amp repair company I spoke to said if I gave them the amp to repair they'd even do the same thing and email EBS for a diagnosis. The seller has no clue what the issue is, he's been happy to use it as a Solid State and just wants something all valve for his studio.

Regards the purchase, it would be a trade. With the Fafner standing me about half of what you suggest the going rate for them is used.
[/quote]

Ah, gotcha.

If you are paying half the going rate for it then not so bad.