War_in_D
Well-known member
New Amp Day!! That got sent back to the builder for repairs! 
Been waiting to post this one because technically I don't have the amp here, but I figure now is as good as time as any. Bit of a long story, but here goes. I've been on the look out for a single channel, hand wired PTP amp for a while. Most everything I have is multi channel, with tone shaping whats-its and do-dads and knobs and switches galore to dial in. I just wanted something hand wired and simple. So the search began. I missed out on a couple here locally, couldn't quite make the deal work on a couple of others and finally stumbled onto this 2018 Fusionbear Amps "Sloth" head on TGP. Why is it named "Sloth" you ask? Is it furry, and really slow?? No.. I would imagine it's because the circuit is base on the legendary Soldano SLO and Avenger amps.. and I guess the "th" just seemed to fit to finish out the name. LOL So, while the foundation of this beast is pretty much pure Plexi, it's got a lil' "spice" built into it as well with the SLO/Avenger DNA.
Anyway, I bought the amp and it arrived seemingly unscathed... only there was a problem. Low sensitivity side of the amp seemed to be working fine, but on the high sensitivity input side of the amp, I couldn't get the preamp gain knob past about noon before it would start sqealing something awful. I figured, no big deal.. probably a microphonic tube or something. Checked the tubes, and ended up cycling through all the preamp tubes AND power tubes and none of them were bad. So, at this point if became very concerning.
Long story short (too late!!), I contacted Carl ( @Fusionbear ) to see if he had any ideas on what the problem might be. While speaking with him, he mentioned that if I didn't mind covering the shipping out and back to get the amp to him he would be happy to figure out what was wrong with it UNDER WARRANTY at NO CHARGE other than the shipping! Talk about amazing customer service!! Now, being the third owner of this amp.. I told him that I didn't expect him to eat the total cost of fixing it under warranty but I could tell from talking to him that every amp he builds are like his children so who better to have work on it than him, right? So, I boxed it up and sent it out there, and I received the below video today with notifcation that the amp is fixed, and getting ready to be sent back! I asked Carl, what did I owe him... and told me once again that it would just be shipping costs to get it back and that's it.. But, I couldn't in good conscience do that so we worked out a repair fee that was fair for the both of us, and I am one extremely happy camper!! I just want to say here and now, that Carl (AKA Fusionbear) is a stand up guy, stands behind his products and creates a pretty mean amp if I do say so myself!
So, on to the video. Keep in mind, this is basically the amp running on the high sensitivity side, with the preamp dimed so you're hearing it basically at it's meanest and nastiest (minus the volume not on 10, of course).. But from what little bit of time I got to mess with it before I sent it out to have worked on (about half a day), this thing does a pretty decent clean to mean on the low sensitivity side quite well. Can't wait to get it back!! Thanks again Carl!!
And some obligatory pictures (chassis and gut shots). The pics below are from before it was repaired that I got from the seller.
Carl sent me an updated pic, with the repairs and some improvements that he had made while he was in there.
Been waiting to post this one because technically I don't have the amp here, but I figure now is as good as time as any. Bit of a long story, but here goes. I've been on the look out for a single channel, hand wired PTP amp for a while. Most everything I have is multi channel, with tone shaping whats-its and do-dads and knobs and switches galore to dial in. I just wanted something hand wired and simple. So the search began. I missed out on a couple here locally, couldn't quite make the deal work on a couple of others and finally stumbled onto this 2018 Fusionbear Amps "Sloth" head on TGP. Why is it named "Sloth" you ask? Is it furry, and really slow?? No.. I would imagine it's because the circuit is base on the legendary Soldano SLO and Avenger amps.. and I guess the "th" just seemed to fit to finish out the name. LOL So, while the foundation of this beast is pretty much pure Plexi, it's got a lil' "spice" built into it as well with the SLO/Avenger DNA.
Anyway, I bought the amp and it arrived seemingly unscathed... only there was a problem. Low sensitivity side of the amp seemed to be working fine, but on the high sensitivity input side of the amp, I couldn't get the preamp gain knob past about noon before it would start sqealing something awful. I figured, no big deal.. probably a microphonic tube or something. Checked the tubes, and ended up cycling through all the preamp tubes AND power tubes and none of them were bad. So, at this point if became very concerning.
Long story short (too late!!), I contacted Carl ( @Fusionbear ) to see if he had any ideas on what the problem might be. While speaking with him, he mentioned that if I didn't mind covering the shipping out and back to get the amp to him he would be happy to figure out what was wrong with it UNDER WARRANTY at NO CHARGE other than the shipping! Talk about amazing customer service!! Now, being the third owner of this amp.. I told him that I didn't expect him to eat the total cost of fixing it under warranty but I could tell from talking to him that every amp he builds are like his children so who better to have work on it than him, right? So, I boxed it up and sent it out there, and I received the below video today with notifcation that the amp is fixed, and getting ready to be sent back! I asked Carl, what did I owe him... and told me once again that it would just be shipping costs to get it back and that's it.. But, I couldn't in good conscience do that so we worked out a repair fee that was fair for the both of us, and I am one extremely happy camper!! I just want to say here and now, that Carl (AKA Fusionbear) is a stand up guy, stands behind his products and creates a pretty mean amp if I do say so myself!
So, on to the video. Keep in mind, this is basically the amp running on the high sensitivity side, with the preamp dimed so you're hearing it basically at it's meanest and nastiest (minus the volume not on 10, of course).. But from what little bit of time I got to mess with it before I sent it out to have worked on (about half a day), this thing does a pretty decent clean to mean on the low sensitivity side quite well. Can't wait to get it back!! Thanks again Carl!!
And some obligatory pictures (chassis and gut shots). The pics below are from before it was repaired that I got from the seller.
Carl sent me an updated pic, with the repairs and some improvements that he had made while he was in there.
