My beloved XTC sounds really bad now

[Everyonesdarling]

$700 hundred for a retube, and now it sounds like shit. You need to contact that guy and get that straightened out, ship it if you need to, but make sure you pick it up in person and check it there before you leave, which is what you should have done in the first place, sorry.

Really an eyeopener what i read here. Lately i too often get disappointed by people. Seems one can`t trust people anymore or i just had a shitload of bad luck lately. Problem is when i drive back there i guess the problem is they do not have qualified personal. Bit of a downer taken into consideration that they are the only authorized Bogner dealer here in this country.
I will first let a hopefully better technician take a look and make a judgment. If that guy then finds they did a crappy job i will definitely let them know.

 

[Marshall Freak]

They should have given you your old tubes back. At least change out the preamp rubes.

 

[halebox]

Please name the store so everyone is warned. Buy a bias probe $75, open it up and all you need is a small screwdriver to tune bias its very easy. New JJ EL34power tubes will be $100? 6 12AX7 will be $90? Its very easy and you wont have to pay labor next time.

 

[PBGas]

Not happy to hear this. Boutique store that does a non-boutique tune up is what it sounds like to me. If your amp sounded great before, there is no reason why it can't sound great again!

Hope it gets fixed! This is why I figured out how to do things myself and got a Bias probe, multimeter and tube tester. No more issues and it sounds even better than when I got it.

 

[messenger]

Definitely call Bogner and let them know about your experience with one of their authorized repair shops.

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

Honestly you got shafted. I would go back to that store and get some money back and have them do what you paid them to do. If they don't have a qualified tech, they should be refunding all but what the tubes actually cost providing they even put new tubes in it. At the price they are charging, they seem shady enough to have not even swapped tubes. I would mention the name of the shop and perhaps some EU members can guide you to a good place.

Yes!!! I agree!

 

[FourT6and2]

A complete tube change and bias shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. Maybe add in another 15-20 minutes to make sure the bias doesn't drift. Done.

A quad of decent EL34s (new) shouldn't cost more than $100 or so on average. I just bought a matched quad of NOS Siemens/RFT EL34s for $200. I don't understand how NEW tubes would be anywhere close to $450. And $700 just to install and bias the amp? Wow. Horrible. Sorry man, I feel for you.

Learn how to do it yourself. If you can change a lightbulb, you can change tubes.

 

[Mesa\Kramer]

I couldnt imagine paying an electrician to change the light bulbs in my house..............

 

[Ventura]

Thanks a lot to all of you! I will do what i can to get my XTC fixed. It`s a 2,5 hours ride to that store. Most likely i am best adviced to check with the other amp tech. That means more money to pay. If that doesn`t work i will call Bogner. I think there is only one authorized dealer in this country and that is were i was .
Wish me luck.
I will keep you updated.
Thanks again

Start with a call to Bogner - and like I said, email is good too if you need a direct connection let me know. But call them, and let them know exactly what's happening regardless of where you take the amp next.

Keep us posted.

 

[Little B]

Like others said.Call Bogner and start from there.The XTC is one the best amps ever and can easily be an "island" amp for sure.When I bought my 20th ann.xtc, after much tweaking, I knew this amp had "more" in it that just wasn't coming out,I had my tech do a rebias and the xtc really came to life.The bias was way way too hot.Its a wonder the tubes or a fuse didn't blow.Dont give up on the amp.

 

[Everyonesdarling]

Seems i have been played for a sucker here. Thing is that i have to get the facts on the table first.
I will contact the other amp tech and if my suspicion of sloppy work gets substantiated it will be payback time. And yes i will learn how to bias an amp. Since there was another issue with the amp i want to take it to the tech to get everything sorted out and to get a second opinion. And if i get objective evidence for sloppy work i will call Bogner and will make some "promotion" for that store on the internet.

 

[born_hard]

I would call the first shop first and tell them everything you told us here (that it was quite pricey and that the amp doesnt sound quite right now). Maybe its just a faulty tube...dont overthink it. Just speak to them on the phone and tell them that you want to send the amp back so they can check and repair your amp FOR FREE now. You can share shipping costs. If they agree, then ok, if not then i would say them you will "promote" them in the Internet and call Reinhold Bogner.

 

[born_hard]

another option might be, you check the tubes first yourself(without BIAS setting). You need a set of El34 (buy the cheapest you can, Electro Harmonix or JJEL34 2) and 1 or 2 12ax7. That isnt a bad option since you need a spare set of tubes.

 

[Alex_S]

I would call the first shop first and tell them everything you told us here (that it was quite pricey and that the amp doesnt sound quite right now). Maybe its just a faulty tube...dont overthink it. Just speak to them on the phone and tell them that you want to send the amp back so they can check and repair your amp FOR FREE now. You can share shipping costs. If they agree, then ok, if not then i would say them you will "promote" them in the Internet and call Reinhold Bogner.

Yes, I would ask them first too. Probably they will help you (at least, that's what I would expect).

Besides that: where in Europe are you located? Possibly someone here could recommend you some good amp tech....

 

[Everyonesdarling]

I am not too keen to take contact with that store again. First time i contacted them i got the number to the tech. I called him and he said he would call back since he was busy with some other stuff.
He didn`t call so i called again several times but he never answered or called back. I feel i am at the end of my tether and i doubt they can fix that amp.

 

[Alex_S]

Understood. Do you know which tubes they put in?

 

[Everyonesdarling]

Understood. Do you know which tubes they put in?

Opened up to check out: Tube amp doctor EL 34 SVT and TAD ECC83 selected.

 

[prsplayer86]

You mentioned that the amp was set at a 8 ohm load when you got it back. That tells me that the shop most likely had a 8 ohm cab to test it with. You never mentioned setting the ohms back to a 4 ohm load when you got it back. Might be a no brainer dumb question.. but are you still running your head at 8 Ohms on a 4 Ohm cabinet?

 

[FourT6and2]

Understood. Do you know which tubes they put in?

Opened up to check out: Tube amp doctor EL 34 SVT and TAD CC83 selected.

Wow. Just looked at the price for those tubes on TAD's website.

The EL34-SVT is $270 for a quad. The preamps are $20 each.

$270 for modern, new tubes is a rip-off. You can get awesome NOS tubes for that price.

One could argue that they are =Winged C= tubes blah blah blah. But SED stopped making tubes a few years ago and the only ones left on the market are factory seconds. Not worth the price tag.

 

[Everyonesdarling]

You mentioned that the amp was set at a 8 ohm load when you got it back. That tells me that the shop most likely had a 8 ohm cab to test it with. You never mentioned setting the ohms back to a 4 ohm load when you got it back. Might be a no brainer dumb question.. but are you still running your head at 8 Ohms on a 4 Ohm cabinet?

No i run it at 4 OHM using a 8 OHM cab. As written above and according the manual if you use the half power switch (amp always was in half power mode- they didn`t change my settings) you have to reset the the ohms switch using half of the actual value of the cabinet (A 16 ohm cab should be set to 8 ohms, an 8 ohm cab to 4 and don`t use a 4 ohm cab in half power .
So if they did it right they used a 16ohm cabinet since they used the 8 ohm setting in the half power mode. I highly doubt they used a 16 ohm cabinet!
Could they have ruined my amp using the wrong resistance?