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ie/ the 1k resistors connected to the PNP transistor
the PNP transistors connected to the 1M resistor
the 1M resistors connected to the ecc82 preamp valve
if the ecc83 preamp's connected to yourr eyelids
you'll soon be skeletal bones
We can get tech support and parts from BOSS / Roland, and frequently repair SMD gear to the component level.
In the past BOSS / Roland would give support and sell parts to anyone, however you now have to be an approved repair centre, which we are.
The main problem is usually not that we can't fix it but that it will cost more to fix than the device is worth, which makes the repair pointless. I have two Cube amps in the work shop that fall into this category.
Regarding reliability, a major cause of failure is use of the incorrect power supply (that's the case with both these amps), and this seems unlikely to change in the future.
Sound/ tone is of course, subjective but knowing that something is built well or not is useful, particularly if there is a propensity to fail due to poor design, components or manufacture.
There's whole websites and surveys devoted to the reliability of cars so it's a big undertaking but I'm sure it would be appreciated
Besides, I don't imagine it's going to cause anyone any legal problems if their opinion is largely anecdotal, after all that's the sort of chatter that guitar and gear forums are full of.
But if there was maybe a 'noob' listing for top 5 suggested amps below 500, then below 1000, etc, where people could research stuff based on wiser forum members' experiences, it may be seen as less likely to be biased or agenda-based than some of the online & YouTube reviews /advertorials.
The alternative (which I spend countless hours doing, rather stupidly) for buyers is to study forums for weeks or months to glean info on the stuff they're looking to buy. Often its hard even then to determine what qualifies a poster, ie have they worked on amps for 30 years or are they a 14 year old playing around with a soldering iron.
I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel - gear forums are chock full of this info - but my feeling is that there are some posters here who are far better placed to assess and offer opinion on certain things than the bulk of us.
Me, I'm a bit of a guitar tourist, I mean I love the instrument, sure, but I don't ever gig and so I have different needs to many here....but I still don't want to buy shit gear
If we could just distill the key knowledge into some sticky threads.....which could even be vote-based, if subjectivity bothers some, but which could at least give a starting point.....I don't know really the best way to do this, but it's an age-old idea that this forum may benefit from if we could somehow get it together.
It's not really fair on manufacturers or retailers who may be already working on ironing out glitches, especially as the return rate on faulty goods is pretty tiny on even the least reliable gear these days.
I'm happy enough to ask for people's experiences on here before I buy stuff, that way you at least get a balanced view.
I've had much-vaunted products from Boss and Atomic die on me in the last year but although I'm happy to share my experiences they should be seen in a much wider context of generally happy customers.
Although I have just ordered an EHX C9, so wish me luck!
As a general rule really try to avoid making negative comments about gear made by small manufacturers (or indeed the work of other amp repairers).
Firstly, I feel this represents a major conflict of interests.
Secondly, I want the success (or not) of my business to be based on the work we do rather than by trashing other people's work.
Thirdly, I wouldn't want people to put negative things on the internet about my work / business, especially without trying to resolve the issue directly with me first.
Having said that, I don't have any qualms about pointing out problems with gear from the larger manufacturers, eg Fender, Marshall etc, not only will their businesses survive my criticism (and they employ people to manage their internet profile), they shouldn't really be making the mistakes they have, eg TSL100 etc.
Here it becomes difficult (potentially) to separate endorsement of gear from self-promotion, hence a group approach based on various posters' opinions and perhaps some kind of vote/count based thing. I don't know - I've never done this before, just was thinking aloud really.
Maybe Fender and Gibson (for example) are both big enough boys to take it on the chin (Gibson have had to for years, let's be honest, although that's guitars rather than amps so somewhat different to where we began this conversation) but as you say, that shouldn't excuse them for fundamental design flaws that go uncorrected.
If true, the Blues Junior pcb issue that's been written about on this forum and stretches over several revisions of that model seems pretty poor and at least worthy of mention to warn prospective buyers about.
If indeed it is one of the best selling small combos in the world, as is commonly stated - shouldn't there have been some effort to eradicate that issue?
On a car, or a tumble dryer, for instance, there would have been product recall mania if something were prone to burning out or catching fire, even moderately often.
Maybe it's not very sporting to name and shame stuff like this, that's not really where I was going with the whole thing, but that point about the Blues Junior did prompt me to think that a short list of things that fb members like and know to be generally free from such issues might be handy (and more in the spirit of the forum!).
One thing to bear in mind is essentially there are 3 classes of amp, valve, Linear solidstate and class D solid state.
Almost everything I get to fix (apart from the odd Peavey Bandit or similar) is class D and I have to say the reliability is depressing. There are some amps where the caps in the SMPS won't last as long as your average EL34 or similar in terms of working hours. People think these new designs of class D digital amps are going to be more trust worthy for gigging than an old valve design and in some cases they are completely wrong ..... these newer amps are going to go wrong because everything is stressed to death and put in a package that's way too small. I have 3 mini bass heads in at the mo, A TC electronic, an Ashdown and a Mark Bass head. All class D, all not very old and all faulty.
I've done the Ashdown, faulty fan circuit but hopes aren't high for the other 2. There's a 50 % chance changing the caps, the switching transistor and the pulse width controller chip might be enough but you can go down a real rabbit hole with these designs. Because the design is essentially rectifying direct mains a fault in one component can cascade into disaster way before the fuse blows or even the MOV responds I've spent weeks on some HK power amps before.
So basically modern super efficiency, lightness and cheapness (no big linear transformers etc) comes with the downside of more complexity and in my experience a shorter working life. Be careful what you buy, especially used and don't think playing a used Katana or similar amp for an hour in someones living room means you have thoroughly tested it ...... modern BGA design means modern guitar amps can now suffer the same kind of under chip faults you see on laptops and phones. Fine one moment but move it and it can go wrong in an instant.
So bit of a minefield really all round
My feedback thread is here.
It would sure help both me and @ICBM out at the minute - me for knowing what to look for and it'd help him to not be pestered by me every 10 minutes.
I'm sure it would also be very useful to cut down on the threads we see all day every day about "what XYZ should I buy for £XYZ" or similar (which, lets's be honest, more than some of us have been guilty of)
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein