duncan66 Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Hi - recently got a used shuttlemax 6. Set it up over the weekend (eg sorting out gain, eq, etc). Took it to band practice last night and it died midway through second piece. All lights were still on, but no sound. Going from preamp pedal (bddi) into fx return - still no sound. Ended up DIing into PA. this morning, seemed to work ok. Anyone got any ideas / suggestions ? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bottomfeed Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 (edited) Is a protect mode kicking in for some reason? I had a similar situation with an Aguilar head a while back... Would cut out suddenly but could be re-set by re-cycling the amp[i] (turning off & on again, to the likes of me!)[/i] Turned out that of the two protection modes: Thermal/DC & Overcurrent, it was the later that was at fault... Kinda had a bit of a 'hair trigger' After a tiny adjustment to something inside [i](not really up with the tech side!)[/i] It's been working fine.... I was so relieved, losing confidence in your gear is the worst! Edited April 2, 2014 by bottomfeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan66 Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 The protect led was not lit after the sound died - there may have been something before the failure but the amp was behind me so I would not have noticed. Tried 'recycling' a number of times on the night, but had no effect. Presume that any adjustment of a protect circuit is a specialist tech job - any recommendations (ideally close to swindon)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Try replacing the valve first. See if anybody can lend you a good working 12AX7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 How did it died? Any pops or fart noises? Distortion? Just got muted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan66 Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 The shuttlemax has 2 preamps (one tube, one FET) and a solid state power amp. If it was a tube problem, I suspect that the FET preamp would have been unaffected, and that bypassing the onboard preamps by going straight to the power amp from a separate preamp pedal would also continue to function. To my mind, this eliminates tube failure as a source of the problem. I did not notice any pops, burps, farts or sizzles prior to failure - the sound just died. We do, however, play quite loud so there may have been noises that I didn't hear. As indicated in OP, very quickly tested the amp this morning and it made some sound - but this was connected to a seprecate cab so I suppose it could have been a cab failure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bottomfeed Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 [quote name='duncan66' timestamp='1396445703' post='2413720'] The protect led was not lit after the sound died - there may have been something before the failure but the amp was behind me so I would not have noticed. Tried 'recycling' a number of times on the night, but had no effect. Presume that any adjustment of a protect circuit is a specialist tech job - any recommendations (ideally close to swindon)? [/quote] I go to Martin Bailey in Hengrove Bristol.... Knows his stuff & charmingly eccentric! ...cheap as chips too! PM me if you want a contact number.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bassman7755 Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Possibly a thermal shutdown, which would be why it worked after a rest period. Shuttles are fan cooled so check that the fan is connected and working (some people disconnect them because they are fairly noisy). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Also, don't discard failure from the speakon cable. Use it again and go swapping cab/cable/etc. until you isolate the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 I haven't noticed it was a shuttlemax. Yes you're right assuming that the valve is fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan66 Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Thanks for all responses so far - really appreciated. Will check cab & cable next to be sure these are sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassdep73 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Have you contacted whoever you bought the amp from and asked them what the problem could be? If they have been using it they would be my first point of contact as they have experience with this amp. My other questions would be: What is the ohm rating of the cabinet you are using? What is the wattage rating of the cabinet? Are they compatible? Have you checked the cabinet with another amp? Have you checked the amp with another cabinet? Have you checked the speakon cable is working? You say that the amp was ok when di'd through the PA which would say that there is a problem with cab or the cable Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan66 Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Hi - have contacted seller; he reports 2 years trouble free operation. The cab used at the time of failure was a peavey headliner 115 - 500w (program) at 8 ohm. Should match fine. The cab is in my practice room - have not yet had a chance to get back there to check it with a different amp. As stated earlier, the amp worked fine the next morning - within the window of failure there was no opportunity to test the amp with an alterntive cab. The speakon cable worked ok the next morning. As stated above, the solution when the amp failed was to DI from a seperate pedal into the PA - if the amp was in the signal chain at any place no sound was forthcoming. The one option I did not test on the night was DIing from the shuttlemax preamp into the PA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan66 Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Hi - have contacted seller; he reports 2 years trouble free operation. The cab used at the time of failure was a peavey headliner 115 - 500w (program) at 8 ohm. Should match fine. The cab is in my practice room - have not yet had a chance to get back there to check it with a different amp. As stated earlier, the amp worked fine the next morning - within the window of failure there was no opportunity to test the amp with an alterntive cab. The speakon cable worked ok the next morning. As stated above, the solution when the amp failed was to DI from a seperate pedal into the PA - if the amp was in the signal chain at any place no sound was forthcoming. The one option I did not test on the night was DIing from the shuttlemax preamp into the PA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassdep73 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Hi You say the amp worked fine the next morning. So is it still working now? Have you just tried unplugging everything and just pluging your bass straight into the amps main input, not using any effects pedals and just plugging the amp straight into the cab? Try to remove any potential problems and keep the set up simple and check through by process of elimination. It may be something very simple. If your bass is active is the battery dead? If it is you won't get anything out at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan66 Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 All your suggestions were tried on the night when the amp failed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan66 Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Hi all. Thanks again for all the thought and suggestions to help diagnose the shuttlemax problem. Went over to the practice room tonight to pick up the peavey cab - looks like it is the cab that failed, not the amp. Will do a thorough diagnostic later tonight / tomorrow just to be sure. Bottomfeed - will pm you later to get details of your amp tech, if that's ok. May not be necessary now, but she will be at some stage. Thanks again all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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