Help Needed with Laney Amp

Discussion in 'Guitar Gear Talk Forum' started by sanjivdas, Jan 22, 2007.

  1. sanjivdas

    sanjivdas New Member

    Recently I bought myself a 30W Laney Richter RB2 bass amp from Kolkata (bajaoo, though cheaper by 100 bucks, were too slow to respond and most of the times the site never opened).

    Have played it just about 2 or 3 times, and already the amp has developed some problems. The problem seems to have developed in the speaker section, though I'm not sure. The sound starts breaking whenever i play lower notes, awful farts come out of the speaker anytime I play the E or A strings. I have checked the guitar tuning, even checked it with another amp, its fine. It sounds as if either the amp is under powered and is not able to drive the speaker, or that the speakers has cracked at the edge or something like that. Now my question, who do I go to claim warranty? Is there a Laney representative in Bangalore / India?

    Please let me know if you have any pointers. Thanks in advance!
     
  2. sanjivdas

    sanjivdas New Member

    Problem Solved

    Turns out it was not an amp problem after all. The 2 band preamp in my bass needs a 9V battery. Decided to check the battery with a multimeter and it was showing only 2 volts. Changed it and things were alright. Also, seems the battery is drained even when you don't play the damn thing, because the preamp design does not have an on / off switch. my 9V battery got drained in 15 days static and about 2 hours of playing.
     
  3. alpha1

    alpha1 I BLUES!

    I thought Ibanez are Japoos.
     
  4. thehundredthone

    thehundredthone Well-Known Member

    Well in my guitar the preamp switches on only when plugged in, or so said my brother...
     
  5. sanjivdas

    sanjivdas New Member

    Thats how its supposed to be. There is supposed to be a sensor at the jack. Wonder how Ibanez got so dumb. Anyway, I fixed an on off switch at the back.
     
  6. ronnieanand

    ronnieanand n00bier th@n th0u

    There wont be a sensor but instead they use a Stereo Jack and one wire it in such a way that when not plugged in, the circuit breaks.

    I dont think Ibanez would have made such a mistake. I have seen several Ibanez bass with Active pickups. The problem could be something else, I am not sure if the switch is a solution. The Stock Batteries that comes with the guitar in most cases come in a dying condition. That could be a reason too...

     
  7. sanjivdas

    sanjivdas New Member

    Trust me on this one, there is no switch, and the circuit is on all the time. I have checked the wiring at the jack too, its independent of the preamp circuit. The battery is always connected to the preamp, no circuit breakers here. I have checked the voltage drop after the switch, I'm pretty sure thats the cure, but I'll keep you posted. And I had thrown off the stock battery and put in a new Energiser, no less.

    About the other Ibanez active basses, I'm myself curious about the other models like the 200 etc, if they have done the same. I read some reviews in harmony central saying one needs to keep taking the batteries out to prevent them from draining. In theory, the circuit breaking using the jack will not be feasible because then both the DC voltage and the sound signal will get mixed, which is the last thing anyone would want. I checked my guitar, no such connections at all. Neither have they used any shorting to ground when the jack is not plugged in which is one option they could have used.

     

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