Anyone here repair bass amplifiers?

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

I have an Ampeg B3 bass amp head that blew up last Sunday. We use it at church and we think the transformer is toast. Does anyone here repair these? We are taking the bass direct to the PA for now, but we normally run the bass through the head unit, then to the PA. I'm a drummer, not a sound guy so I have no idea what's involved, I just don't want to throw something out that could be repaired. Thanks!

dhoward · dhoward's Garage

Go to Ampeg's site, Dealer locator.

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

Dan,
Thanks, I'll try that...

targa911S · 10-22-2008, 01:36 PM

Actually Jess Oliver the guy that invented the Ampeg bass amp still does repairs, if you google his name you can contact him. LONG LIVE THE BIG "A"!

rouxroux · 10-22-2008, 02:28 PM

Gotta' love a sweet PortaFlex!

targa911S · 10-22-2008, 02:47 PM

I wish I could afford one of his redos. Big $$

ramonesfreak · ramonesfreak's Garage

this is the website of the local amp builder/tech i use. i have used him probably 10 times over the past 10 years. he is very well respected locally

http://web.mac.com/tom.hedrick/iWeb/Nau/Welcome.html

otherwise, i imagine if you ask around, you will find a similar guy in your neck of the woods to save on shipping costs

fixing amps, for an engineer, is a piece of cake. dont toss it

ramonesfreak · ramonesfreak's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by targa911S

Actually Jess Oliver the guy that invented the Ampeg bass amp still does repairs, if you google his name you can contact him. LONG LIVE THE BIG "A"!

2 or 3 years ago, he had some of his own personal collection, maybe 2 or 3 amps on ebay..listed by himself, models that he had designed...i lost the bids but they were sweet. right out of his basement where they had been since new and only played through by him

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

Guys,
Thanks for the advice! I'm trying to find a local shop and have a few to call tomorrow. I do not want to throw the amp head away because my plan is to have it repaired, buy a cabinet wo go with it (Ampeg, of course) and then get my Rickenbacker 4003!!

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Call you local Guitar Center and find out who they use to farm out their repair work. Then go to them directly. Guitar Center will just hand the work off to someone else and probably mark up the tab for you, but their work gets taken of faster than if you bring it straight to the repair shop yourself. This is how I got a Twin Reverb fixed that I got on eBay and it arrived trashed.

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

Thanks! I'm going top call a few repairs shops directly, then go to GC if I have to. I jsut bought a Yamaha drumset at my local GC last night, so I do shop there, but they are typically only good for things they have in stock. whenever they offer to "order this" or "check into that" for me, they never do...

targa911S · 10-24-2008, 04:51 AM

It is GC policy NOT to hire musicians. I try not to support them.

T77911S · 10-24-2008, 08:52 AM

i work on amps, just tube though, but not good at doing it online.
go direct using a direct box if your system has subs, your FOH guy will love you for it. i play guitar/drums and i am also one of the sound techs at our church, about 2000 seats, ronny milsaps old theater. steve bailey comes and plays bass every now and then and he even goes direct, as do all our bass players. it keeps the stage volume down. the only people that bring a bass rig are the bands that come in, but they dont bring them as much. we just had michael w smith and steven curtis Chapman here. he had a very small matchless with maybe a 15. we had 2 guitar amps off stage facing the wall behind our monitor board and the other had a marshall and a mesa against the back wall off stage.
try dshepp806, he may be able to help.
just curious as to what happened?

targa911S · 10-24-2008, 09:03 AM

Yep, that's why I dumped the SVT and went to a single 15" Ampeg with 260 watts. It has a built in DI outlet so if the room is big I just tap into the FOH and use it as a a monitor. It only weighs 68 lbs! What a blessing after moving a refrigerator every time we played. The days of shooting the room from the stage are long gone.

Heel n Toe · 10-24-2008, 10:07 AM

Art, many times the people in your local music scene can best steer you toward someone who works on amps.

You're looking for an adult who does this... not some kid.

If there is a club that has blues at least one night... or an open mic blues night, go and ask around. Many times this person is very well-known for his abilities at hotrodding amps and tweaking the setup for guitarists and harp players who are trying to get a certain tone.

targa911S · 10-24-2008, 10:24 AM

Art, check the input jack they are notorious on these amps. Do a search for Ampeg B3 and you will get a lot of reviews and repair problem forums.

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

Thanks, I believe it is the transformer because there was some noise, then a puff of smoke and the B3 died. I have a shop to take it to opne day next week. Thanks again for the advice!

targa911S · 10-24-2008, 06:18 PM

I hate it when they go up in smoke. Had that happen with an old BGW once on stage. It looked like a Kiss concert.

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

I'm looking forward to getting it fixed, adding a bottom cabinet and then getting my Rickenbacker 4003!!

T77911S · 10-27-2008, 05:18 AM

looked for a schematic for the B3, could not find one. i assume it is solid state since none of my tube sites had it listed. if so, you do not have an output transformer, at least the solid state amps i did see did not have one and i have not seen one that does. if you let the smoke out, you may be able to open it and see what burned up, but you still may have a problem down the line from what every burned that caused it to blow. found this http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/msg/892373171.html, you may be better off just buying another if they are not that expensive.