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Post subject: Rumble 75 smells like it is fryed
Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 6:07 pm
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I have a Rumble 75 , bought it new last October . It has seen limited use , it is most often used with my I POD while I practice drums , occasionally used as it was designed , with a Bass guitar plugged into it. A couple of weeks ago , some friends came over to jam , one of them plugged in his Gretsch white falcon into the Rumble 75 to play . He was using the overdrive channel , after fifteen / twenty minutes the amp started to smell like it was overheating or some component was way hotter than it had been before , the smell was quite strong . turning off the overdrive made the smell go away , it returned when OD was selected again . We plugged his guitar into another amp , and started using the rumble bass amp with a Bass plugged into it for the rest of the evening . The amp still works fine , or appears to be , I have not used overdrive before this , we tried it a number of times that evening but not since have I used OD .

Anybody think I may have damaged this amp or should I be concerned ? , I think it has warranty but like I said it still works.

I'd just like some suggestions on what the smell may have been ?


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Post subject: Re: Rumble 75 smells like it is fryed
Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 6:37 pm
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That's quite disconcerting there bluesguy55. I do hope you registered your amp so your warranty is in force.
My Rumble 75 just turned a year old and is doing fine. I use my overdrive fairly frequently too without any issue.
Try plugging in your bass and play with overdrive on at a normal practice volume level. Put your hand on the steel amp cover and feel for abnormal heat. I've never noticed mine to ever get warm to the touch. If you see any smoke at all turn it off immediately.

If it's getting hot and stinky you're going to want to get it to an authorized Fender dealer for service. Call Fender's Customer Service about it for sure.

Maybe you just have some fried spiders in there. :shock:

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Post subject: Re: Rumble 75 smells like it is fryed
Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 6:41 pm
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linnin wrote:
If it's getting hot and stinky you're going to want to get it to an authorized Fender dealer for service. Call Fender's Customer Service about it for sure.


+1!

You'd be wise to take it in for a comprehensive bench check.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Rumble 75 smells like it is fryed
Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 6:59 pm
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Thank's for the replies , I did register the amp after purchase , I'll speak with my dealer. Yes , I'll play my bass through it and try the overdrive channel while I'm at it . It's been used several times since the evening when the smell was observed , maybe once with a Bass guitar , several times with my I pod . Another question , since the owners booklet doesn't describe this , ..... when you plug in an external source ( I pod , CD player ) , the pre amp section , is it bypassed ? , I have no control of volume at the panel on the amp , only when an instrument is plugged in . I assume this is normal.


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Post subject: Re: Rumble 75 smells like it is fryed
Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 3:42 am
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bluesguy55 wrote:
A couple of weeks ago , some friends came over to jam , one of them plugged in his Gretsch white falcon into the Rumble 75 to play . He was using the overdrive channel , after fifteen / twenty minutes the amp started to smell like it was overheating or some component was way hotter than it had been before , the smell was quite strong . turning off the overdrive made the smell go away , it returned when OD was selected again .

My guess is you were smelling the effects of the driver's voice coil overheating. Typically that's the smell of burning laquer, because that's actually what it is. Overdrive and other forms of distortion greatly increase the amount of high frequency energy sent to a driver's voice coil. And if the guitar player was adding more high frequencies by boosting treble and/or cutting bass, that would've sent it even more high frequency energy. Add this to the pile: Bass drivers usually have limited high frequency capabilities, and that would invite an ignorant user to compensate by (yep) boosting treble and/or cutting bass to force the driver to mimic a guitar-style driver, making matters far worse.

When a voice coil overheats, the former will often go out of round and cause the assembly to start scraping the magnet, causing a buzzing sound. This is typically not recoverable, and the driver has to be reconed or replaced entirely. Seems like things didn't quite get to that point in your case.

If anyone tells you a bass driver's voice coil can not be damaged by fuzz, overdrive, and so on, you'll have an easier time of it by ignoring his opinion.

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Post subject: Re: Rumble 75 smells like it is fryed
Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 7:20 am
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To answer your question about the IPOD/CD input, yes it goes directly to the power amp bypassing the entire preamp so whatever goes into that jack gets pushed out full throttle with no way to turn it down on the amp. This is the most common setup for auxiliary inputs on bass amps. Only a few combos have volume controls for the axillary input, such as the Ampeg BA-108.

I have to agree that it likely was being pushed into tonal territory it wasn't intended to visit. The problem isn't with your amp but how you were likely using (or abusing) it.

Still the warranty is nifty for this. "I have no idea what happened! It just blew!"

Save your receipt for the warranty work. I'd have the dealer where you got it check it out and make sure it is A-OK.


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Post subject: Re: Rumble 75 smells like it is fryed
Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 7:51 pm
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Thank's again for the replies . I just tried the amp , normal & overdrive channel , using my Bass guitar , the smell returned , it sounds odd too , hard to describe , kinda flubbery ? and it seems to lack some of the the power it had , um , not that it was ever super powerfull . It sounds OK while my I pod is being used .

I found the receipt and paperwork that came with it , next step is to discuss the issues with the dealer where I bought it I suppose


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Post subject: Re: Rumble 75 smells like it is fryed
Posted: Fri May 24, 2013 3:05 am
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That's interesting. You could have two problems going on. Could be there are some shorted windings in the voice coil (again, from overheating), and the cone might be creased from being played too loud with too much bass. ("Too much bass" covers a lot of ground, worthy of a topic all on its own.) Let's start with the second problem. Look for a faint, irregular line around the outside of the cone, just inside of the accordion surround. Use a magnifier and a strong light if you have to. The line can be very faint. Sometimes you can make the line more visible by pressing on the cone evenly and gently around its circumference. Creasing is one of the things that can happen when you drive a cone past its mechanical limits. Your "flubbery" description is right on target when it comes to describing what a creased cone sounds like.

Now back to the first problem. A side effect of a partially shorted voice coil would be the amp section would see a lower than normal impedance and would run hotter than usual. But hopefully its protection would kick in and shut the amp down before it began to run so hot that it stank up the place, and that's why I'm focusing on the speaker's voice coil, rather than the amp section, as the source of the smell. However, a simple bench test will determine which it is: full power into a dummy load for five minutes. If the amp coasts through that, then it's the driver.

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Post subject: Re: Rumble 75 smells like it is fryed
Posted: Fri May 24, 2013 7:41 pm
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We'll see what's up shortly , I dropped it off at the store where it came from , a tech will be looking at it next week. Yup , it's on warranty. While there , we discussed upgrading to something more powerfull too.


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Post subject: Re: Rumble 75 smells like it is fryed
Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 4:46 am
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Bluesguy55 - While the 75 is good for what it's designed for, you may wish to read the reviews and discussions concerning the Rumble 350 combo in this same posting area. Good luck on the repairs and if you do decide to upgrade, please let us know what you decide on...

Discussion: http://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=79866

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Post subject: Re: Rumble 75 smells like it is fryed
Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 6:02 am
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Of all the Rumble Series bass amps, the Rumble 350 Combo, makes the most sense for one use for everything amp. If I were to go to a different size amp than I'm using now, the Rumble 350 Combo would be it.

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Post subject: Re: Rumble 75 smells like it is fryed
Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 2:04 pm
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I forgot to post up a conclusion to this ....................

The amp went in , they email me a few days later , their diagnosis ? - no problems found.

I left it at that , I'm not convinced that there isn't a problem.

I've not used the amp a whole lot since then but it has been used , gently , and there have been no further issues , yet.

At the same time I dropped off my Blacktop Jazz bass for a set up and had them install some flat wound strings at the same time , quite an improvement !!


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