5150III problem...

  • Thread starter Thread starter crwnedblasphemy
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crwnedblasphemy

crwnedblasphemy

Well-known member
I have the 2x12 combo...had it over a year.

problem: Once in about 7 times i play it, after a bit it will switch automatically to clean channel...footswitch only will light on the green channel, but will switch to the others, but lights won't change. They change on the amp. It's not a huge problem, but I contacted fender and they told me where to take it. I took it to the tech, and after no word for 2 weeks I went and got it. He said it never did the suspected problem in the two week time.

on a side note: He let his kid's band rock it for two weeks and my amp smelled like weed when i got it back, so i was PISSED about that! I've taken stuff to him before, and never had an issue, but won't anymore.

So, after getting that stench out, the amp hadn't done the switching issue for about a month, then did it again this week? :confused: I've switched the footswitch cable. Wondering if there is a tube misfire that actually shoots the amp back to clean/green channel, which i believe is default? :confused:

Rock on, for any thoughts?
 
Pretty sure this happened a lot on the first greneration 5153's. The one I had did the same thing. Can't remember who got it from me, but I remember warning him a bunch about it. He said it never gave him trouble, but he never used the foot switch.
 
rottingcorpse":dt8kjqe7 said:
Pretty sure this happened a lot on the first greneration 5153's. The one I had did the same thing. Can't remember who got it from me, but I remember warning him a bunch about it. He said it never gave him trouble, but he never used the foot switch.
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It is a newer combo, but It has done it on me before even without the footswitch plugged in, so I am thinking has to be something in the amp? relay or something? But I'll play it for awhile now without the footswitch, see if it does it again?
 
Mine is currently in the shop because it has hum but also changes to the green channel on it's own once it's on for a little while. With mine the footswitch doesn't have to be plugged in for it to do it. It's been at an authorized Fender repair place for 5 weeks and the guy isn't sure how to fix it. He has contacted Fender and they haven't been too much help with a solution. It seems like something is and has been wrong with the switching system since the beginning on these.

About the kid using your amp.... Id be pissed as hell.

Ohh.. I have the 50 watt head from Mexico.
 
crwnedblasphemy":2f2zfcvt said:
I have the 2x12 combo...had it over a year.

problem: Once in about 7 times i play it, after a bit it will switch automatically to clean channel...footswitch only will light on the green channel, but will switch to the others, but lights won't change. They change on the amp. It's not a huge problem, but I contacted fender and they told me where to take it. I took it to the tech, and after no word for 2 weeks I went and got it. He said it never did the suspected problem in the two week time.

on a side note: He let his kid's band rock it for two weeks and my amp smelled like weed when i got it back, so i was PISSED about that! I've taken stuff to him before, and never had an issue, but won't anymore.

So, after getting that stench out, the amp hadn't done the switching issue for about a month, then did it again this week? :confused: I've switched the footswitch cable. Wondering if there is a tube misfire that actually shoots the amp back to clean/green channel, which i believe is default? :confused:

Rock on, for any thoughts?
Click to expand...

that would REALLY piss me off.

how long are you playing when it does that? is it always after a certain time? does it only do it when warmed? what happens if you turn it off and back on?
 
slaveunit":2aeewq32 said:
Mine is currently in the shop because it has hum but also changes to the green channel on it's own once it's on for a little while. With mine the footswitch doesn't have to be plugged in for it to do it. It's been at an authorized Fender repair place for 5 weeks and the guy isn't sure how to fix it. He has contacted Fender and they haven't been too much help with a solution. It seems like something is and has been wrong with the switching system since the beginning on these.

About the kid using your amp.... Id be pissed as hell.

Ohh.. I have the 50 watt head from Mexico.
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Please keep me posted. I would appreciate it. Fender told me to take it to the tech above. I haven't told fender he couldn't find a problem. Would help if I knew what it was.
 
Trashedlostfdup....seems to vary. But if I turn it off and back on seems to reset. Sometimes it will be fine after that , other times it does it again after 5-10 minutes.

I usuay let the amp heat up for a minute before I hit the standby.
 
Howard said mine sounds a bad transformer. Who knows though...
 
Emailed Paul from fender. Guy who told me where to take it to get fixed/looked at. That was 5 days ago....no reply. Who's Howard Kaplin?
 
Howard Kaplan - Senior Electronic Engineer and Project Manager at Fender.
I think he designed and developed the 5150 III 50w head
 
Mine is still in the shop. The guy still has no idea. He said that he is trying to find time to go through the whole thing.
 
I dont get understand your possible "bad transformer" diagnosis? I am in no way a qualified tech, but reading bad transformer symptoms, didn't really meet your criteria slaveunit. But if he designs them, he should know....

I hope we can get some answers from someone soon from fender, or a tech.
 
Log in on the Gear Page and send a PM to Howard Kaplin. You can find his username in the amps forum in a thread called 5150 III 50 watt or something like that. As stated earlier he is the engineer that designed this amp and he will get you fixed up. He helped me on a couple of problems I had when I fist bought my head. He's a great guy and will steer you in the right direction to getting the problem resolved..

That being said...

I believe I would whoop somebody's ass for loaning my amp out while in for repairs without my knowledge!
 
jrh_67":2vvwolqg said:
Log in on the Gear Page and send a PM to Howard Kaplin. You can find his username in the amps forum in a thread called 5150 III 50 watt or something like that. As stated earlier he is the engineer that designed this amp and he will get you fixed up. He helped me on a couple of problems I had when I fist bought my head. He's a great guy and will steer you in the right direction to getting the problem resolved..

That being said...


I believe I would whoop somebody's ass for loaning my amp out while in for repairs without my knowledge!
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Will do...thanks.

Well, His repair shop is outta his house, and where he does repairs/garage is his son's practice space...there were drums/bass rig/etc there. So I am guessing he let his son's friend/the guitarist play it during rehearsal to see if the issue would pop up. I really don't have a problem with that so much, but all my eq settings were way different, and it was two weeks. I called to see the progress and he told me So and So really loves that amp. Not one of the first things i wanted to hear, cuz I assumed he let the kid(who is 16) jam on it multiple times. Then, when i picked it up, the whole house stank of weed. I am pretty liberal...I don't smoke, haven't forever, if it's in your house whatever...but if you are running a business outta your house, then probably not a good idea right?
 
Update: Howard is currently helping me, and we are trouble shooting together via email. He gave me a few things to try and report back.
 
another update: Switched out the footswitch cable to a monster 1000 series speaker cable, and the amp hasn't acted up in damn near 2 weeks. Crazy! Howard said don't use a guitar cable cuz the internal nature of a guitar cable can't power the footswitch. Gonna fire it up today for more playing!
 
The guy let his kid's band use your amp?? What a Douche! I'd be pissed to high hell... He probably didn't even have a look inside.
 
anomaly":3uqsf7tz said:
The guy let his kid's band use your amp?? What a Douche! I'd be pissed to high hell... He probably didn't even have a look inside.
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I am thinking that. Felt like he didn't pull it...to check .
 
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