phil.c60 Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Fun and games last night: had a great gig having welded together parts of two bands for the night as the pub (where we play a few times in the year) had been let down, one rehearsal and up,up and away! A bit rough in parts but everyone loved it. High points: having my shirt and shoes admired by lots of people which narked the singer quite lot, and best of all having my shirt stroked by two identical 6' blonde, slim, identically dressed twins (girls, before you start, Discreet) while being told in two sexy foreign voices "your shirt, it is amazing, your hair, it is amazing, your band, it is amazing". shame my wife was watching, really. Lot's of compliments all round and I blagged a return booking for next NYE which is also a Saturday! Now for the low point: I think my amp's (LM3) blown up. Half way through "Run Through The Jungle" which I'm sure you all know is essentially a drums and bass groove, simple but effective, I went quiet. As in silent. Completely. Demonstrating that well know bass players saying "No one knows what you do until you stop doing it". No pops, no crackles, just stopped. Turn off, turn on nada. Unplug everything while the rest of the band soldier on, cut out tuner pedal, swap leads, still nothing. Remove Sansamp VT Bass from it's tin (thank god I bought it from Colgraff less than 6 weeks ago as I have always worried about this with class D stuff)) plug it in, plug in to PA and away we go again. Phew. Worked like a dream for the rest of the night. Today, set it up in my music room and it doesn't work. Turns on, lights up, no output. No output from the DI either, except a very low/weak signal with the gain and line out at max (at this point the clip light does not flash or illuminate). Any Mark Bass knowledge out there? Next gig is 16th Jan, so any help appreciated. I do have an Ampeg combo I could use but it's so bloody heavy after the LM3 and Barefaced Cab! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 There is a slow blow fuse in a fuse holder under the AEC connector on the back of the amp. You could test that to see if it has blown and if so replace it. If it blows again immediately, I'm sorry to day that an expensive repair may be on the cards. Is it still under warranty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil.c60 Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 (edited) Sadly not I bought it 18 months ago, second hand but new in it's unopened box. It was an unwanted insurance replacement for a stolen item (the guy had his gear nicked on tour, had to buy a replacement and his insurance co would only replace it not pay). I've gigged it for all this time, always carried in a genuine bag, never dropped, never left in the car after a gig, etc.It's unmarked and looks mint. (I only mention this to show I'm absolutely scrupulous with my gear). Thanks for the advice, I will check the fuse now (although it seems to be the mains fuse, and as i said, it lights up and the fan works etc. just no output) I'm quite handy at that sort of thing but not up to repairing the electronics themselves. If it's going to be an expensive repair I'll probably go out and buy an Ampeg PF500 as I've got a bit of post Christmas gas...... And there goes last nights gig money (and more besides!) Edited January 1, 2016 by phil.c60 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 It might be worth taking the top off in that case. It's been a while since I opened up my lm2 and I can't remember if there are any more fuses inside the amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil.c60 Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 And now: took off the lid to see if there were any obvious smells or crispy bits, nothing apparent so put the lid back on, decided to see if the effects return worked ie power amp so turned it on, plugged in for one last try and hey presto the f***ckin' thing works. God knows. Just have to suck it and see, and make sure I [u]always[/u] take my Sansamp with me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Thank god for that! Although I would say that a PF500 may not be the most reliable alternative. The PF800's are not as unreliable, see if you can get one of those instead? Also, more power Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 (edited) Could be that the thermal cut out activated, I seem to remember that this was an occasional situation with the LM2. Edited January 1, 2016 by ezbass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 I didn't think the LM2 was a class D. I may be totally wrong with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Yes, kharma is a bitch. Shirt stroked by 2 blondes, great gig but now nagging doubt about amp..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machinehead Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Same thing happened to mine. I found one of the loom connections loose. Might be worth just giving them all a little wiggle just to check this. They do also cut out automatically at high temperatures. Hope you get it sorted. Frank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Used to have a PA amp with a thermal trip.....used to take a good 24 hours before it would deactivate. Never had this issue (touch wood) with my LM3.....hope it's sorted for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telebass Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Only relatively recent LMIIIs are class D - the earlier ones are upgraded LMIIs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 [quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1451657031' post='2942139'] The PF800's are not as unreliable [/quote] A ringing endorsement of Ampeg Class D amps there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil.c60 Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 [quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1451676195' post='2942392'] Only relatively recent LMIIIs are class D - the earlier ones are upgraded LMIIs. [/quote] Funny you should say that - I assumed it was class D, but when I took the lid of there is a suspiciously transformer like device and a large heat sink with 4 or 5 conventional transistors on it so I'm not so sure it is, now. Manufacturing date is 01-2104? Frank: the loom thing might make sense, because although I didn't really pull anything about, I was using a pen torch to see the circuit boards more clearly and may have moved some of the cable runs with it. I must say, it looks very tidy and nicely made in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprocketflup Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 I think we need to see this shirt.....purely for research purposes o'course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil.c60 Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Happy to post a photo if only I knew how! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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