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Post subject: Problem w/Bassman TV Fifteen
Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 8:59 am
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So I was playing a show last night and about 2 or three songs into the first set, my Bassman TV Fifteen starts cutting out. I looked back at the amp while I was playing and the red jewel power indicator would go off for like a second then come back on while I was playing. In between songs, I checked the power cord to make sure it was plugged in all of the way, still the same thing. Switched outlets, still the same thing. Checked the power toggle switch and it was fine.

During the break, I used some QD Electronic contact cleaner on the plug-in for the power cord on the back of the amp and on all of the switches and knobs. I talked to our sound man and asked him what the problem could be and he said I could possibly be over-loading the amp (it would only do this while I was playing). So, I turned my gain down from 5-1/2 to 4-1/2 (I keep the master volume all the way up and control my volume with the gain control). Low and behold, the amp never did it again for the rest of the night.

Does anyone know if the TV Fifteen has built-in protection circuitry that would cause the amp to do this? Was it the contact cleaner that fixed the problem or me simply turning the gain control down one notch?

Thanks!
Eric


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Post subject: Re: Problem w/Bassman TV Fifteen
Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 12:50 pm
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Eric -

That amp is designed to run at 80 percent capacity all day. If you were playing through the built in speaker system at high output levels, I can only believe that the vibration in the cabinet is affecting a loose connection in the power supply. Broken solder somewhere or even a bad on/off switch internally would be subjected to cabinet rumble, shake and vibration and cause the power indicator to do what you said it was doing in addition to the amp cutting out. I'd suggest that y'all take it to a factory authorized Fender service center to get it taken care of before your next gig. An intermittent connection could possibly cause a big voltage spike and mess things up even worse.


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Post subject: Re: Problem w/Bassman TV Fifteen
Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 4:16 pm
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PaducahLuke wrote:
Eric -

That amp is designed to run at 80 percent capacity all day. If you were playing through the built in speaker system at high output levels, I can only believe that the vibration in the cabinet is affecting a loose connection in the power supply. Broken solder somewhere or even a bad on/off switch internally would be subjected to cabinet rumble, shake and vibration and cause the power indicator to do what you said it was doing in addition to the amp cutting out. I'd suggest that y'all take it to a factory authorized Fender service center to get it taken care of before your next gig. An intermittent connection could possibly cause a big voltage spike and mess things up even worse.


+1!!!

If you're a pro player, then that's a totally unacceptable situation.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: Problem w/Bassman TV Fifteen
Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 3:54 am
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Arjay - Sounds as if you had some problems similar to Eric's in the past...

In any event, having a piece of equipment that you use in your occupation failing in mid-performance is not good.

Eric, have it checked by a professional Fender Authorized service center and good luck with that... Please let us know what the dealer finds is wrong with it and post that info here so any other BassmmanTV15 owners can 'be on the lookout' for similar issues. Thanks.


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Post subject: Re: Problem w/Bassman TV Fifteen
Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 10:16 am
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PaducahLuke wrote:
Arjay - Sounds as if you had some problems similar to Eric's in the past...


Not me actually. But I'm a very astute observer of similar situations involving others with gear that turns out to be sub-standard for professional applications. I really don't trust too many amps built after 1980......

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: Problem w/Bassman TV Fifteen
Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 1:36 pm
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Could it be the OT getting overloaded? I have a 52 TV Bassman head that did the same to me when hooked up to a mismatched impedance cab.


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Post subject: Re: Problem w/Bassman TV Fifteen
Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:51 am
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Thanks for the tips everyone. I'll probably take it in and have it looked at just to be on the safe side. I'm a bit disappointed though because I bought this amp brand new just 8 months ago and I'm already having problems with it. I bought it for my smaller club shows simply because all of my Ampeg gear is it bit too much for smaller venues. Maybe I should've just stuck with Ampeg, but I wanted to try the Bassman TV Fifteen because I loved the retro look it has and it sounded great with all of my basses (which are all Fender, except for one Hofner).

I'll post as soon as I find out if there was a problem that had to be fixed.

Thanks!
Eric


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