lewiswhitebass Posted July 15, 2022 Share Posted July 15, 2022 Having an amp blow up on stage is rare and they always seem to go at the worst time. Picture the scene, 3000 people festival today in Hertfordshire and I'm playing with a brand new Kylie Tribute act and my Darkglass AO500 starts losing volume. It's been doing this before where the volume would fluctuate a bit so I sent it back to PMT who said it was fine and nothing needed to be done... Second to last song final chords and pop. Burning smell. Shout-out to my friend Alex on sound who helped me with a DI. Get the amp home and plug it in and there is the most awful, loud note coming out the speaker out and a bad burning smell. What should I do next? I have sadly lost all confidence in the head now so I was going to ask PMT to refund it. I only bought it in Sep 21. Any thoughts/advice appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted July 15, 2022 Share Posted July 15, 2022 PMT, as the retailer, are responsible for sorting it out as it's still under warranty. Whether that is repair/replace/refund is a discussion you need to have with them. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassAdder60 Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 PMT will probably only send it back to the manufacturer I had an issue with my Orange LBT and PMT sent it Orange. In its return shipment it got damaged !! PMT gave me a new head which I then sold ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJPJ Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 Slightly off topic question but I'm curious, if you only had a DI for the last song, does that mean you were playing to a 3,000 audience festival direct through a 500 watt amp / cab? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewiswhitebass Posted July 16, 2022 Author Share Posted July 16, 2022 12 minutes ago, CJPJ said: Slightly off topic question but I'm curious, if you only had a DI for the last song, does that mean you were playing to a 3,000 audience festival direct through a 500 watt amp / cab? No haha! That would be a big ask! The amp had blown so I went directly into a DI box 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 For interest what cabinet(s) and what impedance were you using with the amp when it failed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewiswhitebass Posted July 16, 2022 Author Share Posted July 16, 2022 34 minutes ago, BassmanPaul said: For interest what cabinet(s) and what impedance were you using with the amp when it failed? It was an Ampeg 410HLF rated at 8ohms. I am certain that it wasn't the cab because the head has been misbehaving with a range of cabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewiswhitebass Posted July 16, 2022 Author Share Posted July 16, 2022 20 hours ago, BassBunny said: PMT, as the retailer, are responsible for sorting it out as it's still under warranty. Whether that is repair/replace/refund is a discussion you need to have with them. I spoke to them today and the lad I spoke to is going to give me a call on Monday to see what they can do as he has to talk to his returns manager. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 I may be wrong but I thought the 410HLF was a 4Ω box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewiswhitebass Posted July 17, 2022 Author Share Posted July 17, 2022 50 minutes ago, BassmanPaul said: I may be wrong but I thought the 410HLF was a 4Ω box. It may well have been. As the head can handle anything down to 2ohm it shouldn't matter to much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 How are your speaker cables and what connectors are they using? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewiswhitebass Posted July 17, 2022 Author Share Posted July 17, 2022 2 hours ago, BassmanPaul said: How are your speaker cables and what connectors are they using? Tsunami pro Speakon cables which have neutrik or a Klotz Jack-Jack speaker cable. I've used the head with a range of speaker cables and it's been the same result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agedhorse Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 3 hours ago, lewiswhitebass said: It may well have been. As the head can handle anything down to 2ohm it shouldn't matter to much Is there a switch that needs to select 2 ohm operation? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewiswhitebass Posted July 17, 2022 Author Share Posted July 17, 2022 Just now, agedhorse said: Is there a switch that needs to select 2 ohm operation? No it auto selects it on the head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agedhorse Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 4 minutes ago, lewiswhitebass said: No it auto selects it on the head. According to the docs, it’s 4 ohms minimum load. I wonder if this is the root cause? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewiswhitebass Posted July 17, 2022 Author Share Posted July 17, 2022 1 minute ago, agedhorse said: According to the docs, it’s 4 ohms minimum load. I wonder if this is the root cause? It's not at all, see the screenshot of the manual attached. Trust me the head has been misbehaving through many cabs over a period of time. It's not an isolated thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agedhorse Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 (edited) Not according to the docs on the Darkglass website: https://www.darkglass.com/app/uploads/2022/05/AO500-Manual.pdf Maybe you are looking at the wrong model, or there is an error in your documentation? 3 ohms minimum, which is 4 ohms nominal with room for excursions into sub-nominal territory. I am very familiar with the module they use and the following is accurate. Edited July 18, 2022 by agedhorse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewiswhitebass Posted July 18, 2022 Author Share Posted July 18, 2022 That's weird as the head has min 2ohm printed on it above the speaker output and the manual that was sent with mine says 2 ohm in it. They might have changed it since I purchased it because that manual is from 2022 and I purchased it in Sep 21. Anyway it's only been used with 2 cabs a couple of times and at least one of the cabs was 8 ohm so it wouldn't have gone down to 2. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agedhorse Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Maybe they discovered an error and revised the docs and chassis? Happens sometimes in spite of best efforts. The 900 watt models are 2 ohm capable and use a switch to operate at 2 ohms. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewiswhitebass Posted July 18, 2022 Author Share Posted July 18, 2022 2 hours ago, agedhorse said: Maybe they discovered an error and revised the docs and chassis? Happens sometimes in spite of best efforts. The 900 watt models are 2 ohm capable and use a switch to operate at 2 ohms. +1 for your insight I'll make sure to watch out for that in the future, lets see if i get a new head! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunderwonder Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 If the cab was 4 ohms that's all that really matters, no? Sounds like PMT gave you the runaround with the first return. Does the UK have a 'lemon law' whereby duff stuff gets replaced? Obviously the amp has suffered a major malfunction and the best thing for you would be a replacement and Darkglass themselves autopsy it for posterity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewiswhitebass Posted July 19, 2022 Author Share Posted July 19, 2022 1 hour ago, Downunderwonder said: If the cab was 4 ohms that's all that really matters, no? Sounds like PMT gave you the runaround with the first return. Does the UK have a 'lemon law' whereby duff stuff gets replaced? Obviously the amp has suffered a major malfunction and the best thing for you would be a replacement and Darkglass themselves autopsy it for posterity. This +1 PMT have been very nice about it and called me yesterday. I'm not sure about Lemon Law to be honest. Sometimes things just break when they are being gigged hard regularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakester Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 23 minutes ago, lewiswhitebass said: This +1 PMT have been very nice about it and called me yesterday. I'm not sure about Lemon Law to be honest. Sometimes things just break when they are being gigged hard regularly. Well, there's a requirement that goods are supposed to be reasonably fit for purpose, and I would expect that would include being gigged for a bass amp! If the issue manifested within six months of purchase, then the onus is on the retailer to prove it was fit for purpose, not for you to prove it wasn't. After that, you have to prove that the amp was not. Note also that if PMT offers to repair, then they must do so within a reasonable period of time, and bear all of the associated costs (including postage). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agedhorse Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 If the amp's specs have been revised to operate at a minimum 4 ohm load and you had problems that may have been contributed to be being operated into a 2.67 ohm load, you might have another path to get this resolved in your favor. You should not be responsible for somebody else's mistakes, heck it's tough enough being responsible for our own, right? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunderwonder Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 On 17/07/2022 at 07:30, lewiswhitebass said: On 17/07/2022 at 06:52, BassmanPaul said: It was an Ampeg 410HLF rated at 8ohms On 18/07/2022 at 18:16, lewiswhitebass said: been used with 2 cabs a couple of times and at least one of the cabs was 8 ohm I am seeing a problem here if the 8 ohm cab was (actually) a 4 ohm 410HLF. A pair of 4 ohm cabs is a 2 ohm load. That's nasty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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