Smallbox Died - Help Needed

[jcj]

if The amp was working for a couple of days since you got it, why do you think the seller is at fault?

I seem to remember a thread about someone who sold an amp thru reverb and the buyer claimed it wasn’t functioning properly and returned the amp. And it was a big fucking fiasco with loads of butthurt, threats, and reverb and PayPal are the devil.

Now the shoe is on the other foot and obviously it’s the sellers fault and he gets to clean up the mess. Even though in this situation, the buyer received a functional amp.

I wonder if it worked for a week would you still think it’s the seller’s responsibility? A year? Is there an implied warranty? How does a buyer qualify for this warranty? Because clearly some buyers are just scammers.

Dude is apparently a professional victim, whether buying or selling; a shockingly different perspective, now that he's on the other end.

SMFH.

 

[scottosan]

If it lights up, it will not be the Mains fuse. You need to check the HT fuse. Don’t just look at it but test continuity. I don’t know the order of operation troubleshooting everything, so if this was tested early on before changing tubes it could have blown again. If you have a bias probe, check for voltage on the plates. Only if you have voltage, you will know the HT fuse is good.

As another forumite said OT, it’s not that common as he states. I know of 2 people that have had loops go bad which needs to be ruled out.

Next, relax! This isn’t something that the seller could no about or predict. There are no temp fixes, so chalk it up to bad luck. There is nothing in the amp that’s reficulously expensive. Not to mention Dave Friedman is known for going above and beyond for his amp owners. A

 

[glip22]

If it lights up, it will not be the Mains fuse. You need to check the HT fuse. Don’t just look at it but test continuity. I don’t know the order of operation troubleshooting everything, so if this was tested early on before changing tubes it could have blown again. If you have a bias probe, check for voltage on the plates. Only if you have voltage, you will know the HT fuse is good.

As another forumite said OT, it’s not that common as he states. I know of 2 people that have had loops go bad which needs to be ruled out.

Next, relax! This isn’t something that the seller could no about or predict. There are no temp fixes, so chalk it up to bad luck. There is nothing in the amp that’s reficulously expensive. Not to mention Dave Friedman is known for going above and beyond for his amp owners. A

I didn't mean for it to sound like it was that common but it does happen. I assumed he ruled out something as simple as testing the loop. Of course there are a number of things it could be and a tech will need to scope it and or test the OT.
Based on his description, how it happened, and his symptoms, it pointed toward the transformer but obviously we have no way to know for sure.

 

[Deleted member 21375]

Before this turns into a shit show, SavageRiffer does not believe it’s the sellers fault and has been in contact and the seller is willing to give a refund on the amp as long as it’s not simply a tube issue which it doesn’t seem to be. I’m still leaning toward a cold or broken solder joint,wire or dead component in the phase inverter section or the send of the loop because he said when he plugged into the return jack he got sound in both channels.Is Dave using the Metro loop on this one?

 

[scottosan]

If it lights up, it will not be the Mains fuse. You need to check the HT fuse. Don’t just look at it but test continuity. I don’t know the order of operation troubleshooting everything, so if this was tested early on before changing tubes it could have blown again. If you have a bias probe, check for voltage on the plates. Only if you have voltage, you will know the HT fuse is good.

As another forumite said OT, it’s not that common as he states. I know of 2 people that have had loops go bad which needs to be ruled out.

Next, relax! This isn’t something that the seller could no about or predict. There are no temp fixes, so chalk it up to bad luck. There is nothing in the amp that’s reficulously expensive. Not to mention Dave Friedman is known for going above and beyond for his amp owners. A

I didn't mean for it to sound like it was that common but it does happen. I assumed he ruled out something as simple as testing the loop. Of course there are a number of things it could be and a tech will need to scope it and or test the OT.
Based on his description, how it happened, and his symptoms, it pointed toward the transformer but obviously we have no way to know for sure.

wanst trying to are on toes and yes could be OT. Just trying to deescalate stress levels. The small box doesn’t have a loop bypass switch like the BE100 that I am aware of, so a little difficult to rule it out. If the amp is getting voltage to the plates you should get some white noise if you put your ears to speaker even if no signal is making it past the preamp. The most expensivething in the amp outside the headshell should be the OT and even so a replacement OT would be less than $200, but the first thing I would do after the advise above would be to reach out the Dave Friedman. His customer support is stellar

 

[Jeff Hilligan]

Good to see someone who I trust,
Raiken make a suggestion!

 

[SavageRiffer]

For the record, I do NOT think the seller knew of it in advance. Certainly it's something that I considered given my past experience getting ripped off, but the guy seems like he's telling the truth and he said he'll issue a refund. He only requested that I test all the tubes first, which I did. That's perfectly reasonable. I told him that I would not troubleshoot the amp any further because if I was the seller, I wouldn't want anyone poking around in it either. Anyone who has anything else to say about it is just being a worthless piece of shit trying to create a mess on the forum. Your bullshit has gotten old already.

Raiken's suggestion sounds like it would make sense. I was using my new Strymon Blue Sky reverb on the FX loop, so that was the first thing I unplugged to see if the FX loop was causing the problem. I'm sure there's an easy way to disconnect the FX loop board or something. I just don't want to mess around with the guy's amp. It's going straight to Friedman so I'm sure this will all be resolved well.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. You were a great help in resolving this deal. I appreciate it.

 

[RaceU4her]

he said he'll issue a refund.

dude must be an asshole. id tell you to fuck off

 

[GregM]

Dave will usually honor the lifetime warranty even if you aren't the original owner.

 

[SavageRiffer]

he said he'll issue a refund.

dude must be an asshole. id tell you to fuck off

Well good for me that it's none of your fucking business anyway, and good for you because I'd shut your big fucking mouth real quick if you did Internet tough guy. Who the hell are you anyway, and why the he'll do you think you're entitled to chime in with your worthless bullshut? Fucking big talker little dick.

Dave will usually honor the lifetime warranty even if you aren't the original owner.

Yeah I think it's all going to work out OK. If so, I might agree to just keep the amp as long ad it doesn't take a long time to get the amp back to me.

 

[messenger]

Does a seller have to refund something that arrived working fine and died a few days later? I’d think after everything checks out the first day the seller is off the hook IMO

 

[CrazyNutz]

From what you described it's something between the input jack (would not rule out input jack) and where the pre-amp ties into the effects loop. Basically something in the pre-amp.

Possibilities:
input jack
Preamp tube, or socket
Cracked resistor
Bad solder joint
Short in a coax cable
Bad pot
Effects loop (have your tried bypassing it?)

None of this stuff is disastrous. The fact that you plugged into the return of the effects loop and it was fine rules out power section, and transformers.

 

[hammered]

Does a seller have to refund something that arrived working fine and died a few days later? I’d think after everything checks out the first day the seller is off the hook IMO

I sold an amp on eBay 4 yrs ago , buyer left me positive feedback then 3 weeks later opened a case and said he wanted a refund cause the amps volume was cutting out . I offered to send him new power tubes he said he was sure it wasn’t the power tubes , eBay sided with him of course and I had to refund him. I got the amp back installed new power tubes and it worked fine . Sorry I know you didn’t ask for all that info

 

[Whowantsamustache]

Wow this guy has the worst luck when it comes to buying/selling anything related to music gear. Time to hang it up dude.

 

[napalmdeath]

Does a seller have to refund something that arrived working fine and died a few days later? I’d think after everything checks out the first day the seller is off the hook IMO

I sold an amp on eBay 4 yrs ago , buyer left me positive feedback then 3 weeks later opened a case and said he wanted a refund cause the amps volume was cutting out . I offered to send him new power tubes he said he was sure it wasn’t the power tubes , eBay sided with him of course and I had to refund him. I got the amp back installed new power tubes and it worked fine . Sorry I know you didn’t ask for all that info

That's fucked up.

 

[mooncobra]

if The amp was working for a couple of days since you got it, why do you think the seller is at fault?

I seem to remember a thread about someone who sold an amp thru reverb and the buyer claimed it wasn’t functioning properly and returned the amp. And it was a big fucking fiasco with loads of butthurt, threats, and reverb and PayPal are the devil.

Now the shoe is on the other foot and obviously it’s the sellers fault and he gets to clean up the mess. Even though in this situation, the buyer received a functional amp.

I wonder if it worked for a week would you still think it’s the seller’s responsibility? A year? Is there an implied warranty? How does a buyer qualify for this warranty? Because clearly some buyers are just scammers.

Dude is apparently a professional victim, whether buying or selling; a shockingly different perspective, now that he's on the other end.

SMFH.

+1

 

[copilot]

I suggest you wash and powder your vagina.

 

[RACKSYSTEMS]

It's something simple. It's not a transformer, in thousands of amps never have I seen a bad output transformers.. I happy to look at it either for seller or buyer, could be a bad silver mica cap, I have eliminated these on newer amps because occasionally they go...

 

[SavageRiffer]

From what you described it's something between the input jack (would not rule out input jack) and where the pre-amp ties into the effects loop. Basically something in the pre-amp.

Possibilities:
input jack
Preamp tube, or socket
Cracked resistor
Bad solder joint
Short in a coax cable
Bad pot
Effects loop (have your tried bypassing it?)

None of this stuff is disastrous. The fact that you plugged into the return of the effects loop and it was fine rules out power section, and transformers.

I had a few exchanges with Friedman. He had me try a couple of things. I first replaced all the tubes. The second time around, I opened a few new Tung-Sols and tried those to make sure, but still the same. Dave told me to leave the 7025 in the 3rd preamp position and replaced the other two, but still nothing. Then I checked to see if it still worked through the return jack, and it did. Then right before I was about to turn it off, the channels started working again, except at very low volume. Maximum volume is like a 1 watt amp or something. I then replaced the 7025 back again with the Groovetube 12ax7, and it was still low volume except for channel 1 which got a little less volume. At that point, Friedman said they'd have to look at it themselves.

 

[Starman22]

Ask seller if he wouldn’t mind paying one way shipping to Friedman. That way all karma is kosher. You would need to leave him some stellar feedback.