Can this amp be fixed?

[shaggyrun]

I posted this topic earlier but realized it was in the wrong forum category sorry. I have a blackstar HT stage 60, and I love the amp but it has left me dead on stage twice now. The amp will have small pops then a little static and its dead. The next morning (both times) it fired back up and worked and sounded great. After the first time that it left me dead on stage I took it to an authorized repair center (universal electronics repair) Roger Pinto looked the amp over and couldn't find anything wrong with it. He did give me a 3 month warranty and told me if it came back he would credit the 50.00 I paid for same day service and his fee to look it over towards an future repairs in the 3 month period. with that being said it worked great for 6 weeks then went down again last Friday, and true to form it worked fine the following Saturday morning. I have contacted roger and he told me to bring it back and he would go over it again but it may take him a while to find the problem and get it fixed. Can this amp really be fixed? I mean I imagine it something simple like bad solder joint that periodically fails under just the right conditions, so I would hate to close the curtain early on it but I also don't want to spend half of what the amp is worth to get it fixed. is it really a difficult task to find a weak solder joint or a weak component?

[gbono]

If you think it's a bad solder connection did you try pounding on the cabinet? Have you used the same guitar/cable/effects/etc when the amp failed? New tubes? etc, etc,etc.

[olddawg]

Does it have an effects loop?

[tubeswell]

Any amp can be fixed. It just depends on what is broken. If you aren't sure what is broken, you need to start diagnosing every single thing that could cause the symptom you are experiencing, and just keep plugging away at it until you have it nailed.

[shaggyrun]

yes same guitar cables, effects and everything, and yes the amp has an effects loop that I use. my rig is as follows I run from the guitar to my wah to the front of my amp, then from the send on the effects loop I run to my mxr carbon copy to my tc electronics corona chorus to my electro harmonics lpb-1 to a bbe sonic stomp then back to the return on the effects loop, both times the amp has died the first thing I do is to shut it down, pull the send and return cables, the I power the amp back up wait about 20-30 seconds then flip it off stand by and the amp comes back up working fine only to die again a few songs later then I cant get it to come back. as far as diagnosing the problem I haven't pounded on the amp but I have played it numerous times through my bands set list leaving the amp on during what would be our between set breaks and even playing it about an hour longer the amp never seemed to get to hot, and it never failed and I have done this about 4 times this week. each time the amp was on for at least 6 straight hours. and yes I have replaced the tubes and rebiased the amp I have never really been good at diagnosing tube amp problems. I will tell you that when it does fail if I hate and hold a chord or note the amp will briefly cut in and out

[soundguruman]

In a case like this, it may be wise to just re-solder the entire amp.
Thermal intermittent solder connections do not always show themselves as being visible or obvious.
It actually saves time just to re-solder it. Rather than hunting for "1" bad connection....
at least that's what has proven true.

Jacks also fail, because they contain switches, which become oxidized. When the switch fails to close, the amp stops working.
Jacks will also cause a problem like this, and frequently...

So, I take a more aggressive approach, rather than "waiting" for the failure to occur, I try to MAKE it fail.
I knock on it, heat it cool it, run it to full temperature, flex the board, pull on the wires, and abuse it in any way possible to MAKE it fail.

Then after I fix it, I try to make it fail again and again, to make SURE it keeps working.

Although this may seem UN-conventional, the approach has worked better that 99% of the time, in ALL intermittent failures.

FYI- I would have charged $75 to fix it and guaranteed it for 90 days.
If I failed to fix it, I probably would have charged ZERO.

I usually do not charge, if the amp is not fixed, but that is very rare. I am here to FIX amplifiers.
I am not here to collect money, and show no results.
What I charge for, is Delivered. That IS the guarantee! Bank on it.

[shaggyrun]

Ok I was sending the amp back to the original guy to look it over, and one reason why it might not have been fixed was due to the fact I paid a45.00 fee fir same day service because I had a gig that Friday. This time I'm leaving it with him to have more time to go through it. If it comes back and is still not fixed then I will hit you up to see if you want to take it on.

[soundguruman]

Ok I was sending the amp back to the original guy to look it over, and one reason why it might not have been fixed was due to the fact I paid a45.00 fee fir same day service because I had a gig that Friday. This time I'm leaving it with him to have more time to go through it. If it comes back and is still not fixed then I will hit you up to see if you want to take it on.

Read My Lips:
If your amp is not fixed 100% correctly, and does not keep working correctly...
You pay NOTHING. NO BS.

[shaggyrun]

Ok only reason why I'm hesitant to send it to you right now is I'm in virginia so the shipping charges will be more then the repair but I may have no choice, I can't afford a new amp right now. Can you send me your contact info?

[pontiacpete]

You could take the head out of the cabinet and just ship that to SGM.

[soundguruman]

You could take the head out of the cabinet and just ship that to SGM.

There's a lot of good guitar amp techs, I'm not the only tech on the planet.
Hire any tech you please!

But please, be sure to pack your amp very carefully. Make sure it does NOT get damaged from lack of proper packing!!!

I cannot be responsible for damage to improperly packed equipment. So, pack it REALLY REALLY good.
DOING THIS CORRECTLY IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, NOT MINE!

A. Lots of bubble wrap and padding, protect ALL sides of the equipment.
B. Make sure the amp CANNOT shake around inside to BOX. FILL all voids! Fill ALL empty spaces with packing materials.
C. Use Strapping Tape on heavy items, make sure the box cannot tear or break. Especially on the CORNERS.
D. DOUBLE BOX fragile items. Pack it "as if" it were an EGG.

READ THIS: *The post office does not pay damages on poorly packed equipment either.*

Insurance DOES NOT cover improper packing. I DO NOT take responsibility for damages in receiving badly packed items.

I Recommend you send items PARCEL POST. This is much cheaper than UPS or FED EX, etc...you save lots of money.
Slower shipping yes. But at least you are not breaking the piggy bank.

* I had a guy send me a JCM 800 head. He just threw the chassis in a box, with NO packing materials of any kind. IT WAS DESTROYED!!!
It arrived in fragments. It tore out of the box, fell onto a concrete floor, at the post office.
Insurance DOES NOT cover this.





PLEASE exercise better judgement than "this guy." REMEMBER the responsibility for proper packing is YOUR responsibility.

[soundguruman]

Ok only reason why I'm hesitant to send it to you right now is I'm in virginia so the shipping charges will be more then the repair but I may have no choice, I can't afford a new amp right now. Can you send me your contact info?

Check your private massages in this forum.

Send equipment by Parcel Post, and save Big Bucks on shipping.

You should "always" have a spare amp. This will save panic attacks, and big repair rush charges.

[supawah]

bad volume pot?

I posted this topic earlier but realized it was in the wrong forum category sorry. I have a blackstar HT stage 60, and I love the amp but it has left me dead on stage twice now. The amp will have small pops then a little static and its dead. The next morning (both times) it fired back up and worked and sounded great. After the first time that it left me dead on stage I took it to an authorized repair center (universal electronics repair) Roger Pinto looked the amp over and couldn't find anything wrong with it. He did give me a 3 month warranty and told me if it came back he would credit the 50.00 I paid for same day service and his fee to look it over towards an future repairs in the 3 month period. with that being said it worked great for 6 weeks then went down again last Friday, and true to form it worked fine the following Saturday morning. I have contacted roger and he told me to bring it back and he would go over it again but it may take him a while to find the problem and get it fixed. Can this amp really be fixed? I mean I imagine it something simple like bad solder joint that periodically fails under just the right conditions, so I would hate to close the curtain early on it but I also don't want to spend half of what the amp is worth to get it fixed. is it really a difficult task to find a weak solder joint or a weak component?

the last one of those I had with similar problems turned out to be a bad master volume control, it had some mechanical slop in it that rarely showed up, but when it did. nothing. I replaced the MV and it's been fine ever since. so, know that a tleast one blackstar had a defective MV pot.

[g1]

Did the amp ever have the problem without all the FX in the loop? If not, you should send all that stuff with a connection diagram when you take it back for repair. Maybe that's why the tech didn't find the problem the first time.

[soundguruman]

the last one of those I had with similar problems turned out to be a bad master volume control, it had some mechanical slop in it that rarely showed up, but when it did. nothing. I replaced the MV and it's been fine ever since. so, know that a tleast one blackstar had a defective MV pot.

I would not be surprised if the Master Volume was bad. Thanks for heads up.