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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 2:24 pm
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Fender Staff

Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:46 pm
Posts: 860
Hi VerySlowHand,

I'm sorry that you are so unhappy with my comment on this thread. I was actually responding to a particular person posting on this thread. The gentleman in question had already scheduled a time with a local service tech in his area. This is a customer I had already been in touch with by phone as well prior.

To date, we have seen only a few issues with these headphone jacks. When did you buy your Fender G-DEC 3? If this is a continual issue on your amp, we urge you to contact us directly. It gives us the opportunity to assist you personally, rather than trying to communicate through discussion-based forum postings. We look forward to assisting you with your Fender product.

Best Regards,

Alan Willey
Fender Technology Support Lab
TSL@Fender.com
480.596.7195


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Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 3:02 pm
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Hi Alan,

Sorry, I obviously took your previous post out of context.

My amp is 2 weeks old and I've only used it half a dozen times so far.

Thanks for the offer of assistance, but it's simply not practical dealing direct with you in the US to resolve various issues from the UK - for a warranty issue, that's what my dealer is for and I'll see him in the morning.

I'm just disappointed and frustrated that a brand I know and trust is letting me down with what otherwise is a great product.


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Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 4:20 pm
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Posts: 860
Hi VerySlowHand,

It's all good. I did not realize that you were in the UK. In that case, I would suggest that you start with going to your dealer, and requesting a replacement amp.

And please let me know how it is going. I can get you in touch with Fender UK as well if need be. Thanks.

Best Regards,

Alan Willey
Fender Technology Support Lab
TSL@Fender.com
1.480.596.7195


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Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 12:17 am
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Posts: 298
Thanks Alan,

I'll do that and keep everyone posted. I feel like I'm multi-tasking the Forum with this problem... I've got Loren offering assistance on another thread.

I wanted to at least reassure you guys that I'm only pushing this here because I do like the new G-Dec and want to get the problems resolved.


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2010 7:39 am
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Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2007 12:05 pm
Posts: 147
Location: Ohio
I'm not an engineer or audio engineer for that matter, but since audio can be heard through the headphones, would a work around be plugging a 1/8 cord from the headphones jack to a 1/8 IN on a pair of studio monitors or PA? If you'd rather hear the sound from a speaker(s) than headphones, this might suffice until you or Fender gets this resolved. Could you use the stereo outs on the back of the 30 or does this become disengaged as well?


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Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2010 9:49 am
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bluesdelux wrote:
I'm not an engineer or audio engineer for that matter, but since audio can be heard through the headphones, would a work around be plugging a 1/8 cord from the headphones jack to a 1/8 IN on a pair of studio monitors or PA? If you'd rather hear the sound from a speaker(s) than headphones, this might suffice until you or Fender gets this resolved. Could you use the stereo outs on the back of the 30 or does this become disengaged as well?


Erm... thanks for the input, but how do I do this, when the amp is with Fender for a repair??? :wink:


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Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:16 am
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Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2007 12:05 pm
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Location: Ohio
VerySlowHand wrote:
bluesdelux wrote:
I'm not an engineer or audio engineer for that matter, but since audio can be heard through the headphones, would a work around be plugging a 1/8 cord from the headphones jack to a 1/8 IN on a pair of studio monitors or PA? If you'd rather hear the sound from a speaker(s) than headphones, this might suffice until you or Fender gets this resolved. Could you use the stereo outs on the back of the 30 or does this become disengaged as well?


Erm... thanks for the input, but how do I do this, when the amp is with Fender for a repair??? :wink:


Well, maybe try it when you get it back. I'd be curious if it works or sounds okay whether or not your speaker is working. Also, did Fender say how they would fix this? Are they going to replace it with the same part? Seems dumb to do that!


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Post subject: Re: Question about Headphone/Speaker Problem
Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 1:40 pm
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Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 12:57 pm
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My G-Dec 3 Thirty speaker gave up after just 1 week from new, following regular evening use with headphones. A replacement would, I reasoned, behave similarly so I contacted Fender UK for guidance. They are in denial over this, and referred me to my dealer (guitarguitar) who behaved in an exemplary fashion, and replaced the unit without question after a check of my receipt. A big thumbs up to guitarguitar for customer care!

I tried using headphones in the "Line out" jacks in the rear of the new amp (using a suitable adaptor from Kenable.co.uk - part PSG03289, £1.70 inc postage thro' Amazon), but it was a bit quiet for my liking, even with Line out at max. I ended up using the "Line Out" jacks to connect to an external amp I already had and I now run the headphones from that. 100% successful. G-Dec 3 Fifteen users don't have the "Line out" jacks, so can't use this "fix".

However, Fender, I shouldn't have had to do that. The G-Dec 3 appears otherwise excellent, but is let down by an incredibly poor quality flimsy 3.5mm jack socket - a minor component. Please don't quote me statistics about failure rates - my failure rate was 100% with this product when I contacted you, and I have had to engineer a solution because I do not intend to allow my new amp to suffer a similar fate. I suspect that anyone using headphones will suffer from this problem sooner or later. I am careful with my gear, yet it failed after, I guess, about 10 insertions of the headphone jack, so I can only guess how the more heavy-handed will fare.

If anyone uses a G-Dec 3 mainly with headphones, and does not have an external amp lying around, I'd suggest leaving the headphones plugged in, and not disconnecting them each time as I did. I'd also tape the headphone cable to the amp handle to ensure that it doesn't get pulled out. Then, when yours does eventually fail, maybe Fender will have cured the problem and your replacement won't suffer from this.

Windy


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Post subject: Re: Question about Headphone/Speaker Problem
Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 3:10 pm
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Fender Staff

Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:46 pm
Posts: 860
Hi Windy But Warm,

I would suggest that you simply use the headphone jack located on the front panel of the amplifier. That is designed specifically for headphones.

Best Regards,

_________________
Alan Willey
Fender Technology Support Lab
TSL@Fender.com
480.596.7195


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Post subject: Re: Question about Headphone/Speaker Problem
Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 3:37 am
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Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 12:57 pm
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Hi Alan,
Thanks for your suggestion, but it misses the point.

The headphone jack on the front panel on my first G-Dec 3 "failed" after just one week. I initially assumed that I was just unlucky and got a rogue one. Then I started reading about others to whom this had happened and I realised there was a problem. I do not expect my replacement amp to be any better in this respect, but I have no intention of finding out the hard way (I have not plugged my headphones into the replacement amp). Hence my workaround. Besides, it is a 2 hour round trip for me to go to my dealer, so I don't want to be doing that too often!

I guess that not many people play their guitars through headphones, hence most customers will not experience the problem. However, I suspect that those who do use headphones will encounter this. I accept that maybe I was unlucky to encounter this problem in such a short period of time after purchase, but that probably contributed to the highly efficient way in which my dealer handled the issue. I would have been left very frustrated if the dealer had wanted to send the amp back to Fender for "investigation" or repair.

I have to agree with the sentiments of "Scenter" from April 17 2010 (page 1 of this subject) regarding the quality of this particular component. It, for me, has taken the edge off my enjoyment of an otherwise excellent product.

Windy


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Post subject: Re: Question about Headphone/Speaker Problem
Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 8:52 am
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Fender Staff

Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:46 pm
Posts: 860
Hi Windy But Warm,

We have had a small amount of headphone jacks not releasing audio back to the main speaker. As far as specific headphone jack failure, that has not really been an issue. To your assumption about the replacement unit being the same, I would only suggest again that the issues we have seen with the headphone jacks have been very few, and a replacement unit has addressed all cases to my knowledge. You do not need to assume that the replacement unit will be the same as the first.

In regard to the Line outs, they are just that, Line outs. They are not headphone outs. So if you choose to use them as such, of course you would need to use a headphone amp. But again, this should not be needed. If you are running into some challenges working with your local Fender contact point, please let me know, and I will be happy to make inquiries personally on your behalf. We want you to be happy with your Fender product and will do all we can to insure that you are happy with it.

Best Regards,

_________________
Alan Willey
Fender Technology Support Lab
TSL@Fender.com
480.596.7195


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Post subject: Re: Question about Headphone/Speaker Problem
Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 1:19 pm
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Hobbyist
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Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 12:57 pm
Posts: 5
Hi Alan,
Thanks for your response. Just to be clear, my actual problem was the headphone jack not releasing audio back to the internal speaker. The amp still worked through the headphone jack. The headphone jack plug never felt like it engaged properly with the socket - it just sort of slithered in and stopped.
My assumption about the replacement amp probably being the same was simply based on the relative age of the original and replacement units (original failed after just one week and replacement obtained very shortly after that). They original and replacement probably came from the same delivery from Fender.
I have no complaints at all about my Fender dealer, but I wouldn't like to have to go back in another week and ask for yet another amp. His patience must have bounds (he was raising an RMA before I left the shop), as does mine because it is a 2 hour round trip for me. However, thank you for your offer to assist, though this will not be necessary. I am happy to hear that Fender take customer satisfaction seriously.

Windy


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Post subject: Re: Question about Headphone/Speaker Problem
Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 2:27 pm
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Fender Staff

Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:46 pm
Posts: 860
Hi Windy But Warm,

So, at this point I just want to make sure that you are taken care of. So, do you have a working unit? Or do you still need assistance. Thanks.

Best Regards,

_________________
Alan Willey
Fender Technology Support Lab
TSL@Fender.com
480.596.7195


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Post subject: Re: Question about Headphone/Speaker Problem
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 6:02 am
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Joined: Tue May 11, 2010 7:20 am
Posts: 54
I've been following this thread as I have had the same problem with my headphone jack and have gotten no response to my posts. To repeat a bit from that thread, I AM an engineer and the current design, 1/8" jack mounted directly to a CCA, as I understand, is not a reliable mounting method for any connect/disconnect device that is going to see constant useage. I imagine the majority of users use the headphone jack infrequently if at all. Obviously this will result in a low overall number of breakages compared to other reported failures.

If you look at the posts regarding this, however, you will see that the breakage is occuring with those users who spend much more time using their headphones, particularly those who switch from headphone to internal speaker and back again. This is not a knock on Fender. It is an excellent amp and the the technical response has been quick and reassuring in addressing a repair (via replacement of the amp). Being from a technical field, you are most likely familiar with the concept of "continuous improvement". If the failure constantly points to the exact same conditions occuring for breakage, this indicates a problem that can be improved on by addressing the conditions causing the failure, in this case, frequent mating and unmating of the headphone jack causing a failure. The volume of failures would determine if it is cost effective to fix or cheaper to simply address it with warranty replacements.

I am presuming a direct solder joint mounting, which is a typical manufacturing method. There are multiple ways to strengthen this junction including a short wire interface, or even use of a small bracket or support stand to decrease the stress on the solder joint. It is a typical problem that would not present itself as an issue during design phase unless the designer had experienced this type of failure previously. It is not so much the number of failures that is telling, it is the consistancy of the conditions causing the failure that should raise the flag that this should be investigated to see if there is a low cost, simple solution to eliminate the issue.

Again, this is not a slam at the amp. I love this amp and if necessary, once the warranty has expired, I will most likely reinforce or modify this connection myself so I can continue to use the headphone jack frequently for my situation. Just trying to share from our experience at my company what we have learned from a similar situation. It cost us only .30 cents per CCA to correct this issue so it disappeared altogether.


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Post subject: Re: Question about Headphone/Speaker Problem
Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 12:43 am
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Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 12:57 pm
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Hi Alan,
I have a replacement G-Dec 3 amp in full working order, so no assistance required, thank you.
I regularly/mainly use headphones and will continue to use the Line-out through an external amp to power these. Sorry, but I have no faith in the 3.5mm jack socket on the front of the G-Dec 3. I suspect that valcom2 is probably correct regarding the infrequent use of headphones by customers being the explanation for any low incidence rate of this problem. I also suspect that Fender may be tolerating this problem rather than dealing with it.

However, I am familiar with supply chain issues for parts sourced in China, so I know how long it can take to resolve such issues, mainly for the remedy to work its way through the lengthy supply chain. I hope that is the case here.

This is an excellent product, let down by a single minor component, but it is a vital component in my application for the product.

Windy


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