police squad Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 a quick and crap update, Tried it in the studio, running two mark bass cabs into 4 ohms, same problem after about 5 minutes. Digital village won't swap it because it's outside of their 30 day plan. could take 2-4 weeks to fix. That is crap customer support/service. what I have learned is that I won't be using digital village again!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 (edited) [quote name='police squad' timestamp='1337612625' post='1662759'] a quick and crap update, Tried it in the studio, running two mark bass cabs into 4 ohms, same problem after about 5 minutes. Digital village won't swap it because it's outside of their 30 day plan. could take 2-4 weeks to fix. That is crap customer support/service. what I have learned is that I won't be using digital village again!! [/quote] Really? They refunded my amp no problems, and it was 6 months old. It was the 2nd PF-500 I'd had. I dealt directly with the store who shipped it to me, which was Bristol. The decision to refund, or not, lies with the store manager. Edited May 21, 2012 by bartelby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moos3h Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Point them in the direction of this thread... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 I bought on line, but it was shipped from Barnet. I've just spoken to Barnet and explained to them and he said he would phone the on line part and try and get them to swap for a new one, after all, he said, we've got 11 in stock. Still, I'm not holding out much hope. It's not like I want my money back because I don't like it, far from it. I think it's a great sounding amp for my purposes. I'll keep you posted on what happens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I ordered online too, but as it was shipped from Bristol that's where the central customer services diverted my call to. I explained that it was the 2nd one that had failed, I don't want a replacement as I don't trust them and they had nothing in stock suitable at that price point. I also mentioned there were a number of threads on internet forums from people with similar issues and it's was probably a widespread problem. The manager was happy about that and refunded the money there and then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 thought I'd update this thread. After 3 weeks my amp came back. No details as what went wrong so I phoned Ampeg UK (loud technologies) and quoted the serial number, 'no,' said the service department. 'we've not seen that one back'. It turns out DV repalced it after all, but why did it take 3 weeks? But it's still working after 8 gigs and sounding great. Fingers crossed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weepaul Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 So is this a common problem with these heads ? Or just a dodgy batch ? These have been out for about 2 years now, I would like to think Ampeg would have the problems sorted by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 Still seems to be happening. Was GASing after a PF500, but fixation now transferred to [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]SVT PRO7. Still light at 7kg, just need a lightweight ABS or soft fabric rack case. [/font][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buff Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 My PF500 was great, until it packed up whilst using it on less than half volume. Set to ampeg's own recommended setting's. Ended up finishing the gig by boosting the output from my sansamp. Was gutted to send it back, traded it in with manson's (as the couldn't find a fault with it) for a MB500. But in the end i traded the MB for a ashdown touring combo, just because i knew if it went wrong i could get it fixed. I'd rather have something heavier and reliable, the ashdown+sansamp gives near enough the same sound as my svt head. That's good enough for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 I had a particularly loud Marquee last weekend and I had to crank it for the entire night. two songs from the end, the magic light came on and cut the signal for maybe 30 seconds but that was enough for me I sold it and replaced with a lovely big loud and heavy Hartke LH1000. Clear as a bell nearly wet myself when I heard how loud, clear and punchy it was Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 [quote name='weepaul' timestamp='1378649922' post='2202757'] So is this a common problem with these heads ? Or just a dodgy batch ? These have been out for about 2 years now, I would like to think Ampeg would have the problems sorted by now. [/quote] Still a problem I know someone recently who went through 3 brand new ones and each one had major issues - even more worrying is that the issues were slightly different each time! There's one Ampeg dealer I know of that won't sell the PF series any more because they've had so many warranty returns (plus they don't feel they can 'responsibly' recommend them to their customers). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 According to Talkbass these amps started off with a very poor reliability record, but I thought Ampeg had got on top of the issues. Sounds like they haven't, or maybe they are protecting US sales and dumping on overseas customers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weepaul Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 Was gonna go for one, think I may steer clear. Genz Benz shuttle may be in order then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I bought one second hand a while back and all has been fine until last night , subtle cutting outs and and db drops that I knew were happening, very irregularly but they were happening and really distracting . is this the sign of death for this amp ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LloydyG10 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Just picked up on this thread. I've got a PF350 which I think i bought off of here at the end of September, played six gigs and rehersed with it a couple of times since, including gigs in Europe, has performed fine so far. Are the issues described mainly with the PF500 or have the same faults cropped up with the PF350?? Cheers!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudpup Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Think its pretty much exclusively on the PF500 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I have just come back from practice and ran it quite hard , did loads of eq messing , tried putting a hot signal into it but it behaved fine , quite odd . found some great tones in there while I was at it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan670844 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Pains me to say, that I think that there appears to be some problems with QC on the Non US made Ampeg stuff. I am a former SVT user but moved away, due to reliability issues. If you ask any of the renta rig companies the Non us SVT has a habit of popping its OT. Not good... They will get it sorted and not the first bass amp co to go through this, pain. I hope it doesnt cause any permanent damage. This is the problem when you get other companies to make your gear. However I still rate the PF highly its a cracking little amp. I have a couple of mates using them as a fliptop with no issues at all. I guess if you persevere and get a good un, then no worries they have great tone and thump, for the money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan670844 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 P.S. As with any class D amp, I guess the quality of the mains supply is important. Maybe the PF doesnt quite have enough mains filtering maybe this is the issue? thats an easy fix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefrash Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 Bit of a thread resurrection but I'm afraid to say my pf350 seemed to be having the same issues as described above. Unfortunately I didnt react quick enough to notice whether the warning light came on, as each time it only cut out for 2 seconds, but its enough for me to be quite worried about gigging it. I only had it at half volume (so hardly cranked) but I am running a 4ohm cab with it rather than a 16ohm cab (I rewired the speakers this week). the speaker wiring is fine (as I've played it via another amp at home for hours on end). I'm gonna give it one more rehearsal and if it does it once more then I'll be returning it (its about 10 months old) Disappointed and annoyed right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moos3h Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 Why wait? Bin it now, those things are junk - I had one, b0rkage, replaced...and more b0rkage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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