Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: Dmoney on February 18, 2009, 03:37:45 AM
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just thought id say!
been using some BKP's a while and thought id join in the forum
I have an LTD EC-1000, chucked out the EMG's and put in a SD '59 neck, and Miracle Man bridge.
and my baby is a les paul custom with Emeralds, due to be replaced with Rebel Yells.
I also own a 1979 double cut Gordon Smith Graduate (serial 00156) which is yet to have BKP's.
amp wise i have a 50watt jcm800 2205 with KT88 power and few other mods, 6V6 powered 3ch Dual, and a soldano avenger.
my band...
www.myspace.com/thedirtymoney
www.youtube.com/watch?v=terXnugB9GQ
hope this is one of the first of many posts!
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Welcome-join in the fun and banter.
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Welcome aboard Dmoney !
You've got some nice gear there. I have a GS Graduate myself - my fave guitar at the mo.
Checked out your myspace - some hectic shows there - are you guys insured !!
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no we dont! we should be!
ive seen people dislocate their knee, get knocked out. during one of our shows people started throwing food at each other, tipping over merch tables and frizbee'ing records around the room full at force, then throwing the merch tables at each other! ive seen a sofa in a venue get ripped apart and thrown all over the place.
it actually effcects my gear choices. like if i have any pedals about the floor someone, usually our vocalist, will run all over them and either brake them or just tangle wires around em. so i only play with a tuner and a wah. im trying to branch out to a delay pedal too. means i have to hide my pedals which means looking like a cool SOB while playing solo's on the wah is REAL hard. ive been pushed back into my 4x12 and Amp a couple of times. one real bad show i nearly hit that so hard almost tipped over, same with our old bassist, but when i looked over to him he was just kicking backwards hard as hell while playing bass to stop that happening to him.
sometimes its really quiet!
haha
here is my LTD in a poor photo. '59 neck, MM bridge. (cts pots and a sprague cap)
(http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/22/l_c71dd8d8853a4d52bf2d89db1c1341bf.jpg)
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Hi Dmoney!
Welcome to the forum, it's a good laugh in here.
I like your video at the underworld, nothing like letting off some steam is there! :D
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Welcome indeed Dmoney !
That guitar of yours really does look the business, I love the satin black , the control layout , recessed toggle switch and well - everything . :)
I do not play the same style as you, but if weilding that guitar it would certainly feel like a 'weapon of mass distraction'.
As 38th Beatle said, I hope you enjoy the fun and banter.
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Hi there and welcome :D
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cheers everyone.
id just like to say that other then what im playing there, i do like a bit of woodie guthrie, robert johnson, paul lamb & the kings snakes. all sorts. some nice indie. band of horses. the band american football. velvet revolver.
so many people that play what my band plays use whatever guitar + EMG's and a 5150. i will say a lot of the time it sounds the same. i like to think i spend a bit more thought on my 'tone' even if im not the most accomplished player. hence why i use bareknuckle.
my Rebel Yells are waiting for my at the post office!!!!!! tomorrow i will post my les paul in the gallery! sweet!
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Hay man welcome.
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1st: Hi and welcome to BKP Forum man!
2nd: An Avenger!!!!!! droool
3rd: Emeralds are a very rare choice in here. I'd love to hear clips with em and your Soldano!
4th: Looking at that video, I would definitely go wireless if I were you (have seen too many ripped out input jacks or fallen amp heads) :O)
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do you want my avenger? honestly its a piece of cr@p and im debating throwing it away. or at least driving to manchester and smashing it over the floor of sounds great music. no im not joking.
wireless aint a bad plan. it might come across as cheesy.haha.
ive seen full stacks get knocked right over, ive had a pint tipped into an JCM 900 i had. luckily ive never had anything like my amps being totally ruined, (the JCM was actually fine, robust!) or jack plug being snapped off in the inputs on my heads due to people jumping on my stuff. i did loose a homebrew medicine bawl wah to a swift kick. i dunno what broke in it but i never worked right again.
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Howdy
Whats up with the avenger? I've heard nothing but glowing honeymoon reviews. Give us the dirt!
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Nice gear bro, cant check out your sites cos im at work, do you guys play some type of hardcore by the sounds of it?
had many rough shows when i end up worried for my gear.
yeah, im also keen to hear whats wrong with the avenger? i wanted to get one but theyre stupidly expensive down this way. was gonna try and pick one up when i was in canada last year but spent too much money on booze in the few months of holiday prior
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Really?
I played an Avenger for an hour once at half volume (that was darn loud), and it was smashing.
What is wrong with yours?
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nice ESP! welcome
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Hi and welcome. :)
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Hi there and welcome
Got some nice gear
Don't know how you play with so many loonies jumping on the stage - brave man!
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Really?
I played an Avenger for an hour once at half volume (that was darn loud), and it was smashing.
What is wrong with yours?
Here is the saga of my Avenger....
I got it in April 08 from Sounds Great near Manchester. I played it at home with a 16ohm hotplate just to tame it a bit on and off for a few weeks and i was really into it! then my band went on tour round europe in june 08 for almost 3 weeks with 2 other american bands. the US didnt have work permits so i said they could all borrow my gear and id hook up some cabs and drums and transport etc. (they returned the favour last month when we toured in the USA). All three bands used my 6505 (which i swapped for the LTD in the photo) and my soldano.
At the penultimate show, the soldano just cut out. all the volume dropped right out. cos im busy with work when im not doing band stuff, i got straight in touch with the dealer and with soldano to ask about diagnosing the fault. Bill at soldano sent me some details and i agreed after communication with sounds great that id take it to my tech in london to see if he could narrow down the fault. save courier cost to get it to manc etc....
Anyway, after he had it a week it took me a while to get a lift to go pick it up, and then i was going to drop it off in manchester in october when i had to get a lift up to sheffield to pick up some merch. we were gonna stay in manc and swing by sounds great in the morning and drop it off. basically, it took me a while to get it back.
after a while trying to find out what went wrong with the head (sounds great didnt tell me they had recieved it back or that anyone had even looked at it yet) i eventually was told it had a faulty output transformer. I had serious missgivings about the amp at this point from a reliability point of view. I was also accussed of damaging the amp by using the hotplate in a stupid way, which offended me greatly.
i told them id be going away to tour after xmas in america so they could take it easy with the amp as i was in no rush to get it back (this was in november when i called them). when i got back from the USA at the end of January this year, i email a few times and find out nobody has done any work on my amp. At this point i was getting angry and just asked for my money back. they told me a replacement transformer has been shipped out and they'd fix it soon and soak test it.
i was offered a the chance to get a different amp, a 50watt Avenger plus store credit, or store credit. I didnt want store credit as i wasnt happy with the service id had and i dont intend to buy anything from there again, so all those options where out. i just wanted my money but that wasnt going to happen. I thought id give them the chance to fix it and get it back to me. then i could play it and maybe get into it again. fair chance aint it!
so yeah. i get it back yesterday and unbox it.
i notice the bolts that would hold in the chassis have been replaced with rusty big fat flat head types with rusty washer that dont match the marks in the tolex. so they clearly lost the original bolts. which really annoyed me. loosing the nice looking bolts out of a £1300 head!!
on seeing this i thought id take out the chassis and give it the once over. the preamp tubes had all be changed for sovteks, which didnt actually sit in the preamp sockets well. they were so loose they kept tipping up. i put some electro harmonics tubes in and they sat fine. sturdy.
I then decided to use my Bias Rite to check the current draw on all the 5881. i would assume a matched quad would draw 36mA at 490v plate current. the tubes read 35mA & 67mA for the centre pair, and 45mA & 55mA for the out pair. NICE! so i pulled those and put in my spare set of 5881 and rebiased and they all lined up. but hey... thanks sounds great for sending my amp back with horribly hot power stage!
THEN! with nothing in either input i put the preamp up to 2 and the master up to 2 with the head straight into my 4x12 and i get the odd pop and crackle with lots of noise and low frequency hum. i swapped out each preamp tube one after the other and the problem hasnt done away.
definetly all good fun that you want to go through with such an expensive and well built amp. maybe.
in april i will have had this amp year and used it for a total of 2 week. well less than that in terms of hours!.
ill never buy soldano again or buy anything from sounds great after this mess is sorted.
im so bored of this im tempted to walk into sounds great with the head and just ram it into the floor and walk out. im that angry about it. if they'd have given me my money back when i asked id have probably gone with them for something else.
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Sounds like a very poorly designed amp and the shop service you have had is fuking awful BUT don't smash it up and loose your money. Take it out on them with a massive sound off in front of their other customers and refuse to calm down when asked or talk somewhere privately! Just keep repeating the poor service and they way they have tried to mug you off with a repair job that is a bodge, call them cu-nts, i fuking would, i'd go mental! Make them draw out the cash or walk out the shop with a 1500 quid guitar and tell them this is mine, they're lighter than amps. Take your mates to back you up.
Good luck!
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hahahah! i like your thinking!
when i first got it, it was awesome. but ive used amps half the value that have been so much more robust. like the JCM900 i had that took a soaking, new tubes and a fuse and away it went. never had a problem.
5150's ive used in quebec, in bizzard conditions that are FREEZING cold and soaked through with condensation once inside a club. not an issue!
2 weeks of average use, and months of agnoy from the Avenger. sweet f**king life!
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Thats what I mean, its just not designed right. Most amps are bullet proof, they know what us nutters put them through.
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my band...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=terXnugB9GQ
Oh god, being in a crowd like that is my worst f*cking nightmare :x . But I hope you enjoyed it! :lol:
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my band...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=terXnugB9GQ
Oh god, being in a crowd like that is my worst f*cking nightmare :x . But I hope you enjoyed it! :lol:
Ive had worse haha! there comes a point when you just have to stop playing and start pushing people away from you.
as for the Avenger. id read so many reviews of their kit. and even the store said it was the most reliable line of amps on planet. maybe the soldano SLO's are all those things. but i dont want to spend that much money in search of tone. since fiddling with my mesa im more happy with it than ever. i just want to get rid of this thing and sounds great are making it difficult. maybe i should go the store this weekend and get buck wild! i sound nuts when i shout cos it comes out in a scary as hell scouse accent.
so yeah. im in the market for something else.... maybe
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my band...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=terXnugB9GQ
Oh god, being in a crowd like that is my worst f*cking nightmare :x . But I hope you enjoyed it! :lol:
Ive had worse haha! there comes a point when you just have to stop playing and start pushing people away from you.
as for the Avenger. id read so many reviews of their kit. and even the store said it was the most reliable line of amps on planet. maybe the soldano SLO's are all those things. but i dont want to spend that much money in search of tone. since fiddling with my mesa im more happy with it than ever. i just want to get rid of this thing and sounds great are making it difficult. maybe i should go the store this weekend and get buck wild! i sound nuts when i shout cos it comes out in a scary as hell scouse accent.
so yeah. im in the market for something else.... maybe
Sounds like a good idea, banshee scouse should :rock: get some results! Good luck mate! :D
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Hmm, this all seems weird. The Avenger should be built like a tank I'd expect.
Say you did exchange speaker cables, just to make sure (stupid question maybe)?
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To be honest no. but i had been using the same cable when i was playing with my mesa 3 seconds before which has no noise issues. im confident in the cables.
i dont know what to do now at all. i feel like im at a loss with an amp i cant use and no way to get any of my money back. im really frustrated.
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I'd get in contact with Mike Soldano if I were you. He won't be pleased that Sounds Great are giving you such poor customer service with one of his new amps. Even though it sounds like Sounds Great's are taking the p1ss, it is clearly reflecting badly on Soldano too. Mr Soldano may be happy to exert some pressure on Sounds Great to resolve things for you.
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I'd get in contact with Mike Soldano if I were you. He won't be pleased that Sounds Great are giving you such poor customer service with one of his new amps. Even though it sounds like Sounds Great's are taking the p1ss, it is clearly reflecting badly on Soldano too. Mr Soldano may be happy to exert some pressure on Sounds Great to resolve things for you.
Great minds think alike! i included soldano on the emails i last sent to sounds great about the condition of my 'repaired' amp. i havent heard back from anyone yet though. so if i dont hear from them by midday ill make some phone calls. i mean, this thread has been read a lot by guests and whatever. and i vented in the reviews pages of harmony central hahahaha. so people are going to see my opinion of whats gone on.
i dont know what to do. get a splawn? haha.
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I'd get in contact with Mike Soldano if I were you. He won't be pleased that Sounds Great are giving you such poor customer service with one of his new amps. Even though it sounds like Sounds Great's are taking the p1ss, it is clearly reflecting badly on Soldano too. Mr Soldano may be happy to exert some pressure on Sounds Great to resolve things for you.
Great minds think alike! i included soldano on the emails i last sent to sounds great about the condition of my 'repaired' amp. i havent heard back from anyone yet though. so if i dont hear from them by midday ill make some phone calls. i mean, this thread has been read a lot by guests and whatever. and i vented in the reviews pages of harmony central hahahaha. so people are going to see my opinion of whats gone on.
i dont know what to do. get a splawn? haha.
Nah, get a Koch! :lol:
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I'd get in contact with Mike Soldano if I were you. He won't be pleased that Sounds Great are giving you such poor customer service with one of his new amps. Even though it sounds like Sounds Great's are taking the p1ss, it is clearly reflecting badly on Soldano too. Mr Soldano may be happy to exert some pressure on Sounds Great to resolve things for you.
Great minds think alike! i included soldano on the emails i last sent to sounds great about the condition of my 'repaired' amp. i havent heard back from anyone yet though. so if i dont hear from them by midday ill make some phone calls. i mean, this thread has been read a lot by guests and whatever. and i vented in the reviews pages of harmony central hahahaha. so people are going to see my opinion of whats gone on.
i dont know what to do. get a splawn? haha.
Nah, get a Koch! :lol:
what was that you said? Diamond Spec Op?
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Welcome!
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I'd get in contact with Mike Soldano if I were you. He won't be pleased that Sounds Great are giving you such poor customer service with one of his new amps. Even though it sounds like Sounds Great's are taking the p1ss, it is clearly reflecting badly on Soldano too. Mr Soldano may be happy to exert some pressure on Sounds Great to resolve things for you.
Good suggestion! Soundsgreat are European importer, I'm sure they have some obligation to give 1st class support!
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they are sending a courier for my soldano tomorrow. i guess CC'ing in soldano on the last emails i sent might have helped my cause. who knows!
anyway. even if then "can" fix it, im not sure i want it back.
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^ Well thats a start i suppose.
I was referring to Koch amps in my earlier post, a bit of a very long running joke around here but they're bomb proof and sound fantastic. :D
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Come on then Dmoney, spit it out, what's the latest ?
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my band...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=terXnugB9GQ
Two stepping and hardcore dancing, is without doubt, the funniest thing that can be observed in music. :lol:
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my band...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=terXnugB9GQ
Two stepping and hardcore dancing, is without doubt, the funniest thing that can be observed in music. :lol:
I've just watched it again too, its a great bit of video, I love it! :D Your audience Dmoney are loving it. So which one are you on stage?
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my band...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=terXnugB9GQ
Two stepping and hardcore dancing, is without doubt, the funniest thing that can be observed in music. :lol:
I've just watched it again too, its a great bit of video, I love it! :D Your audience Dmoney are loving it. So which one are you on stage?
im closest to the camera.
you cant see me really. it sounds terrible because we jumped on and played that set as a surprise and our other guitarist at the time was so drunk he couldnt actually play at all...haha.
synchronised 2-step that has been practiced in a kids mums front room is the worst. i hate the idea you have to be some kind of tattooed irish jigger or whatever.
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It pleases me a great deal that every punk and hardcore gig I've ever played at has been waaaay to crusty for anyone to be remotely interested in the dance compititions that plague the more fashion concious versions of the scene.
8)
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crusty in what way? Severed Head of State? Amebix? DS-13?
i see people 2-stepping at shows but how bad it is depends on where you're at. as far as im concerned, huge gangs of kids doing that stuff completely in sync and trying not to touch each other while doing is rubbish. i guess hardcore has a broad definition, but if you watch that video there isnt that much. the best bit is where the dude in the yellow shirt just walks on people heads
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Crusty like Crass to Amebix to Totalitar.
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Over here theres a lot of variation in dancing style from town to town, in my town everyones just drunk and partying crashing about. then theres a town which is packed full of christian straight edge kids who have spent way too much time practicing theyre moves, and at shows sometimes people stand in front of you playing watching the dudes sick moves in the pit, Such a load of balls. then the other main city everyones just too cool for school, theyll go to the show to hang outside and be seen/scene
we played with severed head of state last year and the different towns had such different shows, the one in my hometown was the best obviously 8)
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obviously the best was in your hometown. haha
i saw them in Liverpool years ago, severed head of state. i mean. im not hugely into crusty and i probably have a bad idea of what bands are crusty. I like discharge. im not a big fan of Tragedy. its just not my thing.
i noticed stuff when i was in the US. like in connecticut people were just getting punched in the face. full on. Brockton was awesome, although ive heard stories, but it was really fun. some place in New Mexico was full of weird dancing and circle pits. ive never seen an unprompted circle pit before at a small show. when we played in Albany kids where facing backwards but only because they were in danger of being smashed by the people behind them. that was the same for every band that played. im straightedge, and a a few years back a lot of my friends were. some still are. but im not talking skinny dudes with jansport rucksacks and big fringes that two step with awesome styles.
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Most of the super skinny, straightedge guys in camo shorts and Terror shirts aren't 18 anyway, thus actually just being law abiding, rather than straightedge :lol:
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bit late, but welcome! :)
i really liked the avenger i tried, shame yours was acting up (and sounds great was no use in helping until, presumably, soldano twisted its arm).
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haha Terror. not a straightedge band at all. but yeah, one of those bands kids dig. though to be fair they have good records. just new york style hardcore i guess. like madball. why don't i see straightedge dudes in youth of today shirts any more? my thinking, is that a lot of people into that stuff now have got into it via slipknot and nu-metal stuff, because a lot of it does sound like BAD metal with 'dance parts'. i actually being restrained because i dont want to have a huge rant about how things 'used to be better'. imagine when hardcore is done and everyone is a crusty with a bicycle courier job.
bit late, but welcome!
i really liked the avenger i tried, shame yours was acting up (and sounds great was no use in helping until, presumably, soldano twisted its arm).
hey thanks!
they sent my amp back... "fixed"... i notcied they had replaced the chassis screws with old rusty ones, so before i played it, i thought id check the bias. the outer tubes where idling at 42mA and 55mA... the inner pair at 35mA and 67mA!!!
5881's on 490v plate current. 67mA is SUPER hot! so i emailed them. complained about that, and the low frequency hum coming from it and they said tubes are prone to 'drift' and require a burn in and that it was set up perfectly before leaving the repair shop. so yeah... the bias for one tube drifted over 30mA? actually! soldano bias the 5881's in their avengers to 25mA! so in theory its 40mA over what it should be! thats a considerable drift. since it was set up perfectly and it drifted during transit!!! so its gone back to Sounds Great. Soldano offered me some free tubes... to go in my broken amp... sweet!
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yeah, i read that after i posted, that's ridiculous :( i'd be beyond pissed off too.
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yeah man.
maybe you guys can help because i honestly dont know what to do.
Sounds Great obviously dont want to give me my money back.
the offers so far are...
1. Talk to Soldano/Sounds Great and try to sort the amp out and get it back. (the problem being i dont trust any of the work that has been done to that amp while SG have had it, especially after the bias fiasco, which SG tried to tell me was only natural).
2. I take a cheaper amp. 50watt Avenger, and get the outstanding money paid back as store credit. (i dont really want to loose my money to store credit at a store ive had so much trouble with)
3. Give them MORE money and get a new (hopefully) totally functioning amp, which ill either love, or sell, cos it'll be totally new and unplayed. making a loss overall but coming away with more cash than if i went with the other deals.
im actually really worried im going to get stuffed and left with an amp i wont take on tour, dont trust, wont use, and sounds great and going to keep my money and never sort it.
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It's faulty, they are legally obliged to give you your money back if you want it. Regardless of what their company policy is, your statutory rights dictate that if goods aren't suitable for their intended function then they're compelled to give a refund.
I'd be completely polite and everything, don't lose your temper or be aggressive, just state that you want your money back for the faulty item they sold you, that you even gave them the opertunity to fix it and they didn't. Lots of pleases and thankyous but firm.
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i asked em already and got told no. maybe i wasnt speaking to the right person. ill have another go.
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They've probably got superiors on their back telling them to avoid refunds at all times, the guys in the shop will gt caught between a rock and a hard place to an extent. But refusing to refund your money for a faulty product is against the law.
Sale of goods act 1979.
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yo. tomorrow i'll just call up ask to be put onto the bloke in charge. see what happens.
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Actually the sale of goods act says that they don't have to give a refund after you've had the item for 'a reasonable length of time', they just have to repair it. I know that's vague, but I think the legal interpretation is that is if you had it long enough to establish that it wasn't faulty in the shop. If a componant goes within a couple of months then you can probably get your money back, but if you've had the item for say 6 months, they only have to repair it.
Ask Elliot he's a legal eagle I believe?
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You need to take your audience with you to SG, that should give you a bit of leverage! :lol:
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^ there's no need to be aggressive, that can be counter-productive. once the shop knows that he knows that the law's on his side, odds are that'll fix it. ask to speak to the manager, too, the assistant won't have any power to decide what to do, anyway.
It's faulty, they are legally obliged to give you your money back if you want it. Regardless of what their company policy is, your statutory rights dictate that if goods aren't suitable for their intended function then they're compelled to give a refund.
I'd be completely polite and everything, don't lose your temper or be aggressive, just state that you want your money back for the faulty item they sold you, that you even gave them the opertunity to fix it and they didn't. Lots of pleases and thankyous but firm.
+1
http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/after_you_buy/know-your-rights/electrical/
from that link
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If you have only used it a few times or haven’t had a reasonable opportunity to check them, you are probably entitled to a refund for a fault or poor description, or alternatively you may request a replacement.
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If the fault is only minor and can easily be put right, it is reasonable to accept a repair. This won’t stop you claiming a replacement or refund if the repair turns out to be unsatisfactory.
I've bolded the important bits. would be worth printing that out and taking it with you (the consumer direct link, not the stuff i bolded :lol: ). make sure they KNOW that you know your rights. a lot of times shops are betting that most customers don't. it's amazing how quickly they'll change their tune when they realise that you know that they don't have a leg to stand on. unless they're complete crooks... which i doubt. but could be wrong.
the old OFT website was better than the consumer direct website which has replaced it... the consumer direct one is a bit gimmicky and a bit grey on certain things, whereas the old OFT one told you in black and white exactly what your rights are. But it still should be enough. Throw around the OFT name a bit too, it doesn't hurt to let them know that you know to whom to go to complain.
first things first- do NOT accept store credit, and do NOT give them any more money. A lot of the time, the law is on your side until you decide whether to accept a refund, repair or replacement. once you've accepted one, that's often it. A lot of more unscrupulous shops will try to get you to accept store credit etc. without letting you know you're entitled to a refund.
according to that link i posted, you *should* be ok, as the repair was completely shoddy. you accepted the repair in good faith, assuming it'd fix the matter. it did not. you're now entitled to a refund.
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Actually the sale of goods act says that they don't have to give a refund after you've had the item for 'a reasonable length of time', they just have to repair it. I know that's vague, but I think the legal interpretation is that is if you had it long enough to establish that it wasn't faulty in the shop.
But the only reason Dmoney's owned it for a "reasonable length of time" is that the shop have actually had it for the majority "fixing" it.
And the repair wasn't remotely satisfactory.
EDIT: Dave was in there first :lol:
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yo.
turns out the guy i thought was an assistant is actually the MD.
he said that using an attenuator puts stress on the OP transformer and can make it blow... he said that to me like he was trying to blame me for breaking it... then i also had to explain to him why the bias problem was bad.
he told me how much new tubes and shipping for the OP transformer had cost him like it was meant to make me feel bad, or just to prove they had done something. apparently they have sent it to a new 'better' tech in manchester, but when i asked for the tech's number the guy said he'd liase with him first and then find out if he could give it to me. i think the guy talked me out of being angry... im actually bloody furious now.
yeah, i had it a 3 months before it broke down, but in that time i only got 2 weeks reasonable use.
Rob
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Dave, I was only joking when I suggested Dmoney takes his audience for more leverage, but after reading the latest update I think a bit a of scene is called for. What that so called manager has just told him is a load of fuking bollocks! I don't get treated like this when i make purchases in shops and if I did i go ballistic. Sometimes you have to make it known that you won't put up with bullshiteeee of any kind whatsoever and it works. I had some trouble with a mobile a few years back and I got what I wanted, I didn't swear to begin with but i made the people who were obviously trying to mug me off feel very uncomfortable and things start to happen when you take control of the dispute and tell them what you want.
Don't let this firm walk all over you mate. Get your money back.
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on the phone the MD was weird. asking me 'why' i checked the bias. I said the fact the bolts and washers on the underside of the amp didnt match the tolex marks made me think some idiot had lost em, and if that was the case what else had they done. forgot to mention the ill fitting preamp tubes and general untidyness of the amp.
i just sent the dude an email saying how upset i am, i quoted that consumer direct stuff and i also emailed a complaint to consumer direct anyway. if i end up with that amp and seriously gonna waste a grand on smashing it over the shop floor. i dont want to hear more things like "well i have to believe you when you tell me about using it with the attenuator... i wasnt watching you in your bedroom or while you were on tour". that that i use the attenuator live. but that seems to be the guys main gripe. I also pointed out how THD makes amps...the he sells!... why would they produce a product that would damage their own products? i also pointed out Weber and Dr.Z attenuators. and apparently he hadnt heard of the 'contraption' (weber bias rite) that i use to check the bias in my amps.
im getting pretty next level pissed off.
to put it in context. some dude called me '4 eyes' once on trafalgar square. i terrified 6 of his mates and hit him in the mouth for his trouble. you want to rip me off for £1000? its only gonna go so far.
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^ I would find a guitar in his shop that exceeds the value of your amp and just walk out the door with it, seriously. Flog it and get yourself something decent. He needs fuking slap treating people like that, it ain't on.
I've decked loads of idiots in my time, it feels good for a bit doesn't it! :lol:
Keep us updated. I've never heard of a music shop being so out of order before. Its got to be something to do with this downturn and they're clinging on to every penny cos of some corporate scalping bar-steward breathing down there necks.
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^ I would find a guitar in his shop that exceeds the value of your amp and just walk out the door with it, seriously. Flog it and get yourself something decent.
Of course, if they're being this difficult over things, They WILL phone the police and you WILL get charged with theft.
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^ I would find a guitar in his shop that exceeds the value of your amp and just walk out the door with it, seriously. Flog it and get yourself something decent.
Of course, if they're being this difficult over things, They WILL phone the police and you WILL get charged with theft.
The police have got better things to do, really they have. They don't attend drive outs in petrol stations for example or burglarys.
I know its not an ideal solution but I feel they're not going to give him his money back. Anyway you could do it with out drawing attention to yourself. They have taken 1000 pounds of his hard earned and sold him a load of shitee and then tried to repair it using someone who hasn't got a clue what they're doing and they're mugging him off saying an attenuator has damaged his transformer. There is no other option. :evil:
You should see how we do business in the game i work in. People who don't pay get referred to 'Plan B' and Plan B always gets paid.
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In my experience of phoning the police regarding thefts from instrument shops, they're there in a flash (two cats that would otherwise be wandering the streets get to go hang about somewhere warm and chat to folk, after all!) how much it gets persued afterwards I don't know, but if the shop can name the offender, then it's a nice easy arrest to add to the tally, y'know?
You'd have no defence at all, regardless of the situation, you'd still be a thief, in terms of legality. It'd be at best a palaver to sort out.
One more try at sorting things out face to face, then a lawyers letter I reckon, which will sort things out in two seconds I imagine. If you're on a low enough wage legal aid will do it for free, I think.
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In my experience of phoning the police regarding thefts from instrument shops, they're there in a flash (two cats that would otherwise be wandering the streets get to go hang about somewhere warm and chat to folk, after all!) how much it gets persued afterwards I don't know, but if the shop can name the offender, then it's a nice easy arrest to add to the tally, y'know?
You'd have no defence at all, regardless of the situation, you'd still be a thief, in terms of legality. It'd be at best a palaver to sort out.
One more try at sorting things out face to face, then a lawyers letter I reckon, which will sort things out in two seconds I imagine. If you're on a low enough wage legal aid will do it for free, I think.
I appreciate what your saying, I really do and a few years ago I would have done it your way. I wouldn't now. They're is no guarantee a lawyer would get an instant result. 60 sheets a letter, these days. Sure one more try amicably is well worth a shot but the manager isn't going to cave in is he, we both know that. Legal aid is for criminal cases but I'm not certain on that. I'd be surprised if they would grant legal aid in a dispute over 1000 pounds. Each letter that you pay a lawyer to write, phone call, any of their time, the meter is on. That grand would run out in a few weeks and then your running on a loss. A bit of risk taking doesn't seem so that bad does it? I mean they do owe him despite the technicalitys.
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They absolutely, I'm just wary of taking other goods approach because (althoug it was in the hands of the recievers at the time, so effectively it was the bank doing it) when Soundcontrol went down the pan and customers who were owed money or goods were simply taking other stock, the recievers were making a point of pressing charges on every single one. We're talking people taking three packs of strings and stuff, it was ludicrous.
Whether Sounds Great would do that I don't know, but I'd certainly be wary.
To be honest, I'm astouded they're being this awkward at all. I've never heard of such a thing outwith rogue traders on the telly! :lol:
I suspect you'll be right about the legal aid only applying in criminal cases, that's the only time I've had experience of it, anyway :roll: :lol:
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I suspect you'll be right about the legal aid only applying in criminal cases, that's the only time I've had experience of it, anyway :roll: :lol:
Me too! :wink: :lol:
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oh my word johnny i love your thinking!
i've got onto consumer direct via email. ill give em a few days then chase them up.
I was annoyed at sound control too! i wanted an ABY pedal and i got told a boss line selector would do the job. only it didnt at all. so i took it back and said the advice i had been given was wrong, and they would only give me store credit. then the place went bust and i lost £80 or whatever. cheers. so i refuse store credit on principal its just bullshitee from stores protecting their earnings at the loss of someone else. at the time i didnt mind because i thought id use the credit up popping in for strings and cables. its not like im gonna go to manchester from london to pop into sounds great for £1000 of regular slinkys!
ill see what happens over the next few days. worst comes to worst and they have my amp back from whoever, ill just say im gonna pick it up from the store and ill have it out face to face. or i could walk in and not declare myself and "accidently" knock few stacks over. ooops! haha
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^ Well you never know they may fix it properly and hopefully it will work the way Soldano intended.
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this is also true. and why i wanted to speak to the new tech. because that really would put my mind at ease to talk to someone who could tell me what was going on technically with the head. but i wasnt given this guys name, or the company he works for (if he does work for one). i just got told my number would be passed on so ill hope something comes of that.
the whole thing has put me off soldano. in the time its taken to fix this amp ive tinkered with my dual rec... new tubes, new rectifiers, new preamp tubes, swapped the presence pot on the orange channel, got my rebel yells in my les paul. im so happy with it now.
our other guitarist uses my JCM800 2205 now, where as he used to use the Soldano (i was jealous) because when we toured i shared my 6506 with the guitarist from another band. so i used that to save on setup times between sets, and the others used the soldano. if that makes sense. so ive never actually even played it live!
i walk around london looking for interesting heads. they have some Diamond amps in town but i think they are £2000+ and probably not what im after. everything else is orange, marshall and peavey.
id like to try a cornford or a blackstar. well, more cornford, i got told the mods in my JCM800 where done by the blackstar designer (before i came to own it, but paid for by the previous owner). or one of the designers. and if thats trues hes melted the corners of a couple of caps in my head. so that worries me. the amp works fine... but im not sure how much im into people melting capacitors.
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^ We're having a little gathering in a studio soon if you want to come along and try out some Bkps and an amp with a bit of a reputation! :lol:
http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=16174.0
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Dave, I was only joking when I suggested Dmoney takes his audience for more leverage, but after reading the latest update I think a bit a of scene is called for. What that so called manager has just told him is a load of fuking bollocks! I don't get treated like this when i make purchases in shops and if I did i go ballistic. Sometimes you have to make it known that you won't put up with bullshiteeeeeeeeee of any kind whatsoever and it works. I had some trouble with a mobile a few years back and I got what I wanted, I didn't swear to begin with but i made the people who were obviously trying to mug me off feel very uncomfortable and things start to happen when you take control of the dispute and tell them what you want.
Don't let this firm walk all over you mate. Get your money back.
haha, no worries jonny, sarcasm doesn't come across well online :oops: i just didn't want him to walk in with a kalashnikov and an armful of C4, haha! definitely not taking any guff is a good idea. :)
bringing someone else is also a good idea, for moral support... not necessarily to be threatening, but for moral support. also bring stuff to show that, in the eyes of the law, you're in the right.
as i've already said, his attitude is terrible. he's claiming that he didn't see you using the attenuator? what kind of guff is that? did he offer to come on tour with you? why doesn't he do the same thing with speaker cabs (as if they're attached to the wrong impedance, they can also cause damage)? "why did you check the bias?" jeez. that's skating on very, very thin ice. he's basically asking why you had the nerve to find out he was up to gip.
yo.
turns out the guy i thought was an assistant is actually the MD.
he said that using an attenuator puts stress on the OP transformer and can make it blow... he said that to me like he was trying to blame me for breaking it... then i also had to explain to him why the bias problem was bad.
he told me how much new tubes and shipping for the OP transformer had cost him like it was meant to make me feel bad, or just to prove they had done something. apparently they have sent it to a new 'better' tech in manchester, but when i asked for the tech's number the guy said he'd liase with him first and then find out if he could give it to me. i think the guy talked me out of being angry... im actually bloody furious now.
yeah, i had it a 3 months before it broke down, but in that time i only got 2 weeks reasonable use.
Rob
yeah, i'm pretty sure that's complete rubbish about the attenuator. that's a terrible attitude which that shop has- if it's any consolation (which it won't be), i'll definitely think twice before ordering anything from them.
But the only reason Dmoney's owned it for a "reasonable length of time" is that the shop have actually had it for the majority "fixing" it.
And the repair wasn't remotely satisfactory.
EDIT: Dave was in there first :lol:
exactly (to the first bit). :)
and cheers to the edit. :lol:
EDIT: whatever you do, do NOT do something which you consider to be illegal, whether that be stealing something, or "accidentally" knocking something over, etc. etc. there is a good chance that you WILL be charged, as the cops like to go after the easy targets. It's entirely possible that the cops would refuse to help you with your dispute, but not refuse to help the shop with their dispute- they have a tendency to just assume that the shop is in the right (which sucks). Apart from anything, the shop might have CCTV, etc. etc.
So, as i said, in the strongest possible terms, do NOT do anything illegal. With any luck, this will work itself out just fine legally. I know you're pissed off, but if you get a criminal record, fine, or, god forbid, a prison sentence, will that make you feel any better? You need to be sensible. Being sensible will help you to win, legally. the shop doesn't have a leg to stand on. it knows this. it's hoping that you don't.
Do you happen to know a solicitor, just out of interest? it's amazing what a solicitor's letter can achieve.
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Personally I would do it by phone, sod the body language and be direct with a firm voice. I haven't read every single post, but have you suggested asking him to forward the call to the next guy up? Be it the manager of the branch/ chain of stores / distributor / manufacturer. Suggest that the shop should hand back the dealership of the product as the service is not satisfactory.
Make sure you have notes in front so you cover everything, a mass of evidence helps rather than " well there was this, then that happened. Oh I missed out____"
On a brighter note: Do you think you could actually smash the amp head on the floor? I reckon it would be quite hard to do any more damage than a re-tolex and re-valve wouldn't cure :P
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i'm not sure about phone. they can palm you off on the phone. obviously it's harder since you're further away, but that could be what they're banking on.
i'd see what the OFT and consumer direct say first. the big problem is that your problems are a bit technical, and they might not understand them. i'm guessing that that's also what the shop is banking on.
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You're a good bloke Dave :D
When I suggested take your mate, i meant so he can hold the door open so the lock doesn't go on as they have to buzz you out! :lol:
have a cab outside waiting
Wear a hoody.
Go there in different clothes earlier in the day to find the most expensive and easy to pick custom shop big name guitar. Go for around the 5 grand mark.
Write the amp off.
Flog the Guitar.
Buy a Koch and Jump off it in your mad gigs chugging like a muthfuker!!! :twisted:
Good luck! I wager you 50 quid Dave that DMoney pulls it off!! :lol:
God, this Whisky is going down a treat tonight :lol:
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HAHA!
cheers for all the advice. Consumer Direct think that because i took the repair job and it was bodged, that i have a claim...
I also called up Bill Sundt, the Soldano tech in Seatle. He told me they know about the situation and aren't happy either. he asked to my mobile number so he could pass it to micheal soldano, and he said he'd write me an email with his opinion on attenuators, which we discussed due to this email from Gary Sharpe, Managing Director of Sounds Great Music...
"Rob,
You’re not entitled to a refund because the amp failed due to use not recommended by the manufacturer and connected to a piece of equipment not supplied or recommended by ourselves. This will all be confirmed when the consumer direct people are in possession of all the facts.
If you want to discuss a different outcome give me a call.
Gary"
Basically, the "use not recommended..." and the "equipment not supplied" refers to the Hotplate i used. the hotplate i used with 3 other amps without issue. the hotplate i didnt take on tour for two weeks when it failed.
im going to call Soldano back in the middle of next week. give everything some time. also write a formal letter and post it recorded to Sounds Great. When all else fails i have a friend ready and willing to drive me to cheshire for a calm and collected face to face chatter.
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I use an attenuator on my amp each time I use it, which has been 3.5 years and its fine. He is talking out of his lying arsehole.
Find out where he lives! PDT_045
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HAHA!
cheers for all the advice. When all else fails i have a friend ready and willing to drive me to cheshire for a calm and collected face to face chatter.
Drink high alcohol content ale laced with the herb Borage. It was used by the infantry before the broad swords came out before firearms were invented. That should put you in the right frame of mind! :lol:
Seriously I really hope you get this shitety situation sorted soon.
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A fellow scouser.
Welcome.
Looks like you have been really unlucky with Sounds Great.
I've been a customer for nearly 10 years and have never had any problem with any of the staff mentioned
It doesn't sound like them at all
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Don't take yesterdays posts from me seriously!! That was my whisky talking. :drink:
I would personally do what I suggested if i was in your boots but I don't want to influence you to do that and then hear you got nicked! :lol:
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A fellow scouser.
Welcome.
Looks like you have been really unlucky with Sounds Great.
I've been a customer for nearly 10 years and have never had any problem with any of the staff mentioned
It doesn't sound like them at all
Im Jarg scouse really. Burscough is my place! but yo!
yeah. this is honestly the first time i've ever really complained this much about anything. I feel like ive really been treated badly. people probably do use them all the time without an issue.
I actually called Bill Sundt the soldano tech on the phone last night and spoke to him about the use of attenuators. he said what everyone here has said. he also said they neither advise against, or recommend the use of attenuators. so in my opinion Gary's statement is "inaccurate" to say the least. I also dont see why i cant get the phone number for the tech he's sent my amp to this time. against my wishes as i might ad, as i want a refund and im now entitled to refuse any offers of repair.
Bill also told me Micheal Soldano is across whats been happening.
next week im writing this letter and talking with soldano. im now well within my rights for a refund.
Its only Gary ive really dealt with. its also difficult dealing with this from london.
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Hahahahahaa
for those who dont know... sounds great music do not recommend the use of these
http://www.soundsgreatmusic.com/amps/amplifierDetail.asp?prID=1200&sbc=^23^
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Hahahahahaa
for those who dont know... sounds great music do not recommend the use of these
http://www.soundsgreatmusic.com/amps/amplifierDetail.asp?prID=1200&sbc=^23^
I wonder if anyone at SoundsGreat sees the irony of selling something that they recommend that people actually don't use.
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You're a good bloke Dave :D
When I suggested take your mate, i meant so he can hold the door open so the lock doesn't go on as they have to buzz you out! :lol:
have a cab outside waiting
Wear a hoody.
Go there in different clothes earlier in the day to find the most expensive and easy to pick custom shop big name guitar. Go for around the 5 grand mark.
Write the amp off.
Flog the Guitar.
Buy a Koch and Jump off it in your mad gigs chugging like a muthfuker!!! :twisted:
Good luck! I wager you 50 quid Dave that DMoney pulls it off!! :lol:
God, this Whisky is going down a treat tonight :lol:
:lol: i assume that's the whisky talking.
Anyway, reading over the last page- now you're getting somewhere. If you've got soldano to admit that they're not happy, and that attenuators are fine, then sounds great don't have much of a leg to stand on (saying that the manufacturer doesn't recommend it, when it clearly does nothing of the sort, won't be too helpful to them). the fact that they actually sell hotplates will not help either (might be worth doing a "print screen" on the sounds great website to show that they sell the hotplate, in case they're sneaky and try to remove it). if they're suggesting that they break amps, and that they won't honour the warranty of anything used with a hotplate- why the *$&! are they selling them?
just before i go any further, make copies of all email and normal mail correspondence (if you haven't already).
would be worth calling up and telling them not to proceed with this next repair. if you haven't given them the blessing, then they shouldn't do it. and the law should take a dim view (as it's YOUR piece of kit, not theirs, now).
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ok! way ahead of you. print screened the sounds great site already. going to print a copy off to go with the letter. along with weber bias rite details.
i'll keep a copy of all that.
i haven't had a formal email from Bill @ Soldano about attenuators, but i intend to speak to Soldano again this week. hopefully to Michael.
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Hi dude!
Man, I read the entire thread. That sucks, totally sounds like they're trying to take you for a ride. Good luck with it!
I watched you band vid too. Not my thing personally but pretty cool nevertheless. Although, I'd have been like "Get off my $%&#in' stage!" to those kids! :lol:
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one way or the other i aint gonna get mugged off.
i love it when people get on stage. as long as they dont step all over my pedals. but our singer usually does that anyway
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Gary is now using the information i gave him on faults caused by attenuators when he tried telling me "they cause extra stress on OP transformers", to tell me now that i was driving my amp too hard into one over a long period of time into the attenuator. ironic.
and slightly annoying.
letter is in the post!
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that's just idiotic. if the amp can't be driven that hard, it shouldn't be allowed to go that high. an attenuator isn't driving the amp any harder than if it were at full whack. it might be worth checking with soldano that they're ok with people running their amps flat out. if so, an attenuator would be fine too. And if they go for, "maybe you plugged it into the wrong impedance" guff again, remind them that they could say the same about speaker cabs- if they're that worried, why are they even selling halfstacks?
good luck, and keep us posted. Glad to hear that you're making copies of everything. :)
i could be way off here, but it sounds to me that sounds great is assuming (hoping? :lol: ) that the OFT will take its word as gospel because it's a shop (or at least it's hoping to scare you into thinking that). I don't think it works like that. if they were pros, they'd be building amps, not selling them.
Anyway, don't let them intimidate you- i've been told tons of cr@p in shops which would clearly show to anyone with even half an idea that the shop wasn't an expert. And I'm not exactly an expert either (nowhere near it), so if I'm spotting their mistakes... what would someone who actually builds amps do to them? :lol:
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yeah man i found the last email pretty intimidating... talking about the long drawn out process id have trying to get a refund, and how they are 'trying to work with me' for a resolution. they made the usual offers saying it was for my benefit.
It's this intimidation, and flip flopping on the reason for not giving me a refund. its nuts man. i want it resolved quickly and it looks like its going to come down to who is most stubborn.
thing is, i haven't had the amp for almost a year, so i can do patience, and its no loss to me to attempt to get my money. they still have my amp, and i wont accept that to be returned to me. so i don't really have anything to loose by going for it. i think they are hoping ill get bored and give up. thats the least likely outcome.
seriously though. thanks for all the help regarding this. i realised i did like the amp, i was probably unlucky, and that sounds great kind of ruined my opinion of soldano by association. which is silly. so i like soldano still, just wish i had one of their amps. haha
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Kinell Dmoney! Sounds like you're having fun with them. I've spent thousands there and I get mostly ignored by the staff when I pop in to salivate at stuff. It would be nice if the guy I usually spend my money with actually remembered my name.
A guy from another forum I'm on http://www.jcfonline.com had a fun with some EVH amps from there. Three of them blew up on him, I need to check on what happened refund wise with him.
I'm only 20 minutes down the road from the shop, so if you and your mate need a floor to kip on you're welcome. But only if I can watch the argument when you go there!
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hahaha!
yeah man, if you can find out about that other situation that would be awesome.
this is all funny especially when you call them on and the 'on hold' message tells you they have some award for customer service!
thanks for the offer of a place to kip! we actually drove up a while ago to return the amp in person, but we got let down by the guy who was giving us a place to stay. we were going to drop off the amp in the morning but we had to drive back to london. we went to sheffield first to get all my bands merch for a gig the next day, and went home via manchester. had a drink in the thirsty scholar. been a while since i was at uni in salford.
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Well after having re-read all the posts by him the condensed version is he had 3 EVH III amps fail, two of them caught fire in the shop and I believe he now has a Peavey 6505+ half stack or something along those lines. As Soundsgreat are Peavey dealers I'm assuming he got to half stack through them, so I'm assuming he got the half stack as the monetary equivalent of the EVH head. So not a refund as such.
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tonight i spoke to Mike Soldano.
Best guy ever!
he was across everything and hes going to arrange getting me a totally hew avenger built with EL34's hopefully and orange tolex... guy is a king!
it'll come through sounds great so i might go collect in person. word!
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tonight i spoke to Mike Soldano.
Best guy ever!
he was across everything and hes going to arrange getting me a totally hew avenger built with EL34's hopefully and orange tolex... guy is a king!
it'll come through sounds great so i might go collect in person. word!
Wow!! Well done, i bet your over the moon! Good job you didn't listen to me a few days ago when i was necking scotch!! :lol:
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I think you'd call that a result!
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everything still has to be confirm cos sounds great still need to import it.
but they dont offer the EL34 option anymore, so that feature would be special in itself if they have the OP transformer they need to do that. i hope they do. orange tolex would be sweet.
mike was the best person ever on the phone. we both understood each other positions and he knows how ive been treated as all my correspondence with Gary was cc'd to him by me.
think im gonna ask him for a photo of the head prior to shipping. and ill go inspect and test it at sounds great.
maybe buy an attenuator while im at it!!!!
hope this plan works out.
i kind of feel like Gary is getting away scott free though.
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^ yeah, i know it's annoying that he's getting off- but you'd have taken this result when you started the thread, wouldn't you (doesn't mean you aren't right to want to stick it to him too, just putting it in perspective!)? Plus, you don't know what's happening behind the scenes, for all you know mike soldano phoned up sounds great to give him a tongue-lashing, maybe even threatened to withdraw the dealership if it happens again, etc. :) plus as i said, after hearing what happened to you, I'll not be buying anything from them, as i'm a lot further away than you (well, harder to get to it, at least), and i can do without that kind of hassle.
yeah man i found the last email pretty intimidating... talking about the long drawn out process id have trying to get a refund, and how they are 'trying to work with me' for a resolution. they made the usual offers saying it was for my benefit.
It's this intimidation, and flip flopping on the reason for not giving me a refund. its nuts man. i want it resolved quickly and it looks like its going to come down to who is most stubborn.
thing is, i haven't had the amp for almost a year, so i can do patience, and its no loss to me to attempt to get my money. they still have my amp, and i wont accept that to be returned to me. so i don't really have anything to loose by going for it. i think they are hoping ill get bored and give up. thats the least likely outcome.
seriously though. thanks for all the help regarding this. i realised i did like the amp, i was probably unlucky, and that sounds great kind of ruined my opinion of soldano by association. which is silly. so i like soldano still, just wish i had one of their amps. haha
yeah, they're banking on the fact that most customers don't know their rights, aren't willing to wait, don't want to cause a scene, and don't realise that they can contact the manufacturer directly. The fact that you are willing to do any and all of those means that you're likely to succeed.
which leads to...
tonight i spoke to Mike Soldano.
Best guy ever!
he was across everything and hes going to arrange getting me a totally hew avenger built with EL34's hopefully and orange tolex... guy is a king!
it'll come through sounds great so i might go collect in person. word!
awesome! that's great news, better than i'd hoped even. Most companies (especially the smaller ones) don't like their dealers to be screwing over their customers, because as you've rightly said, it puts you off the manufacturer, when it's really the retailer's fault.
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thanks for all your help Dave.
I feel if this idea for a resolution comes good then ill be super happy, and cos of all the trouble i feel ill keep that amp forever and have a super good bond with it. Soldano where so cool. I spoke about getting EL34's, Orange tolex, and even about what to do with supporting the warranty. we come do an arrangement that wouldnt involve sounds great, as a one-off deal due to my experiences with them. so i really hope it all works from this point on.
but, thanks for your help with giving me some direction and places to go to find stuff out.
im actually going to ask if i can buy an attenuator from sounds great when i go to pick it up... you know... if the plan works out... knock on wood.
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Great that it looks like there's a good outcome coming out of this!
But even i'm pissed off, not used in the proper way intended? how exactly? he hooked it up at a 16/8/4ohm resistance, exactly like its $%&#ing intended to!
Hell you could have even quoted the THD website, as it has a long bit on how it states it does not damage the amp one bit.
Doesn't matter if it's speakers, hot plate, palmer, big resistor with a load out... its designed to work with a resistance.
the bit from THD -->
Will it hurt my amp?
The THD Hot Plate® will not damage your amplifier. When you play continuously at full output, you cause your tubes to age more quickly than they would at lower volumes. Using a Hot Plate® will maintain the life of your tubes at exactly the same rate, no more or less, as when you play straight through the speaker.
Using a Hot Plate® will also not hurt your transformer any more than playing through a speaker, as long as the impedances are matched (i.e. 8 ohm setting on the amp, 8 ohm speakers and an 8 ohm attenuator). If you are using a well-made amp, then the transformer should last indefinitely, regardless of whether you are driving a speaker or attenuator. If you are using an inferior amp and the transformer blows, it would have done this whether you play through a speaker or an attenuator. The Hot Plate® puts the same load on the transformer as a speaker (which is why it makes such a good dummy load).
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Result !!!
Really pleased for you Dmoney ! :D
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Nice one - really glad it's working out :D
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Great that it looks like there's a good outcome coming out of this!
But even i'm pissed off, not used in the proper way intended? how exactly? he hooked it up at a 16/8/4ohm resistance, exactly like its $%&#ing intended to!
Hell you could have even quoted the THD website, as it has a long bit on how it states it does not damage the amp one bit.
Doesn't matter if it's speakers, hot plate, palmer, big resistor with a load out... its designed to work with a resistance.
the bit from THD -->
Will it hurt my amp?
The THD Hot Plate® will not damage your amplifier. When you play continuously at full output, you cause your tubes to age more quickly than they would at lower volumes. Using a Hot Plate® will maintain the life of your tubes at exactly the same rate, no more or less, as when you play straight through the speaker.
Using a Hot Plate® will also not hurt your transformer any more than playing through a speaker, as long as the impedances are matched (i.e. 8 ohm setting on the amp, 8 ohm speakers and an 8 ohm attenuator). If you are using a well-made amp, then the transformer should last indefinitely, regardless of whether you are driving a speaker or attenuator. If you are using an inferior amp and the transformer blows, it would have done this whether you play through a speaker or an attenuator. The Hot Plate® puts the same load on the transformer as a speaker (which is why it makes such a good dummy load).
haha. dude i did quote that!
in the end, he gave up telling me about 'extra stress on output transformers' and started using the explanation of faults caused by attenuators that I GAVE HIM to tell me i didnt know how to use them, by accusing me of causing the fault using the method i described to him...tit.
he also lied about soldanos policy on attenuators and lied about his own stores policy on them...
i hope this new idea works out.
ill see what happens today. Gary should get the print outs of his own online store. the screen prints of where he sells THD Hot Plate...that he doesnt recommend people use...i wonder if you walked in the store and said "can i please buy a THD Hot plate for £249" some member of staff would say "yes you can, but we wouldnt recommend it at all, and if it damages anything else you've bought from us it will totally nullify your warranty"...
i bet they dont say that do they
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Wow, just finished reading all that. Think I'll be avoiding sounds great then, wonder if they realise how much business they'll lose as a result of treating one person like shite. Congrats with the resolution dude, glad to see it ended well. Hope the new amp works out
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You should do a print screen of this thread and send it to this Gary character and then tell him how many people use this forum, or better still send it to his boss! :) Then apply for his job when the schmuck gets fired!
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id love to own a music shop. would be sooooo good. or i dunno, some kind of store.
i havent heard from him today. or soldano. im really worried this isnt gonna come together but i think thats just my paranoia.
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thanks for all your help Dave.
I feel if this idea for a resolution comes good then ill be super happy, and cos of all the trouble i feel ill keep that amp forever and have a super good bond with it. Soldano where so cool. I spoke about getting EL34's, Orange tolex, and even about what to do with supporting the warranty. we come do an arrangement that wouldnt involve sounds great, as a one-off deal due to my experiences with them. so i really hope it all works from this point on.
but, thanks for your help with giving me some direction and places to go to find stuff out.
im actually going to ask if i can buy an attenuator from sounds great when i go to pick it up... you know... if the plan works out... knock on wood.
haha, no problem. i'm not an expert by a longshot, just don't like seeing people getting ripped off, and just was giving a little advice which worked for me in the past when stuff went wrong. :)
You should do a print screen of this thread and send it to this Gary character and then tell him how many people use this forum, or better still send it to his boss! :) Then apply for his job when the schmuck gets fired!
i'd just be careful about that- i'm not entirely sure what the law says about stuff like that, but we have ridiculously draconian libel laws here, so it's worth being careful. :)
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i think ive been careful. i havent said anything that isnt true. i don't plan on printing this stuff off. i plan on going to his shop to pick up an amp
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yeah, definitely. :)
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thanks for all your help Dave.
I feel if this idea for a resolution comes good then ill be super happy, and cos of all the trouble i feel ill keep that amp forever and have a super good bond with it. Soldano where so cool. I spoke about getting EL34's, Orange tolex, and even about what to do with supporting the warranty. we come do an arrangement that wouldnt involve sounds great, as a one-off deal due to my experiences with them. so i really hope it all works from this point on.
but, thanks for your help with giving me some direction and places to go to find stuff out.
im actually going to ask if i can buy an attenuator from sounds great when i go to pick it up... you know... if the plan works out... knock on wood.
haha, no problem. i'm not an expert by a longshot, just don't like seeing people getting ripped off, and just was giving a little advice which worked for me in the past when stuff went wrong. :)
You should do a print screen of this thread and send it to this Gary character and then tell him how many people use this forum, or better still send it to his boss! :) Then apply for his job when the schmuck gets fired!
i'd just be careful about that- i'm not entirely sure what the law says about stuff like that, but we have ridiculously draconian libel laws here, so it's worth being careful. :)
Another joke Dave don't worry!! :lol:
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Awesome bro, nice to see some results, whenever reading anythinga bout soldano people always say mike soldano is one of the best dudes to work with. Nice to see mike going out of his way for customer satisfaction.
hopefully sounds great get some comeuppance as a result
i havent heard from him today. or soldano. im really worried this isnt gonna come together but i think thats just my paranoia.
hopefully soldanos just busy going to work on your new amp
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Awesome bro, nice to see some results, whenever reading anythinga bout soldano people always say mike soldano is one of the best dudes to work with. Nice to see mike going out of his way for customer satisfaction.
hopefully sounds great get some comeuppance as a result
i havent heard from him today. or soldano. im really worried this isnt gonna come together but i think thats just my paranoia.
hopefully soldanos just busy going to work on your new amp
I hope so... i gotta do some stuff over the next few days. rewire some guitars, sort band stuff for going to belgium at the weekend. ill relax and see what the deal is in a couple of days.
Mike is indeed super awesome, and he really is going out of his way.
bought some more Rebel Yells and a Trilogy Suite set today! woop!
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Apparently the amp being built regardless of what Sounds Great are gonna say!
EL34's even though Soldano dont do that option any more. (they found a transformer to do it in their workshop!)
Orange Tolex.
oh my lord!
Soldano go above and beyond!
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Another joke Dave don't worry!! :lol:
haha, i've been on a roll the past few days... :oops: :lol:
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From this result, now I want to buy a soldano that cr@ps out, then get bad service.
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:lol:
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From this result, now I want to buy a soldano that cr@ps out, then get bad service.
might be hard. apparently mine was the first to break down in europe in the last 10 years or something.
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Damn soldano with your good QC and high build quality
Never heard of any breaking down in New Zealand, we might be due for one.