New amp purchase opinions please!

[sirbuh]

I think I might just do what Sirbuh did... if Fender won't just replace it after this repair i'll try and sell it as a like new amp for 700 and just go get a 6505 plus.... this 5150 has such a great clean tone though... sucks! I really loved the sound and features of this amp. Why are they so popular if they break down? I really think I got a lemon. But it sounds like i'm not the only one.

Something to consider , I did have the 6L6 combo (earlier run) and it didn't have these issues.
However the shop (final, non fender shop) I took in the el34 mentioned they had an up tic in issues.
It is possible that the earlier pre el34 years are more stable.

 

[USMarine75]

Something to consider , I did have the 6L6 combo (earlier run) and it didn't have these issues.
However the shop (final, non fender shop) I took in the el34 mentioned they had an up tic in issues.
It is possible that the earlier pre el34 years are more stable.

Yeah I'd be curious. I didnt hear any complaints about MIM amps or MIM/MIJ guitars. And it sounds like MII stuff has been good as of late. My MIM 5153s are fine and I think my first one was MIA (I forget) with no issues... and no complaints from any of my Peavey/EVH friends either. IIRC I have a friend that works at GC in VA and I believe he commented that they had some issues with recent EVH stuff too, which at the time I was in disbelief of.

But I still don't trust MIC products beyond cheap pedals like Joyo and Hoe-Tone. Too many bad B52s, Egnater, and recent Peavey stuff (I'm talking pre-Invective... not sure how those have been). Mostly just things like lower quality components and bad soldering... some of which can easily be fixed but at that price point you shouldnt have to.

I'd feel a lot better about stuff that is MIC if it had a final QC check after, like T Jauernig does with his pedals.

 

[glytch5]

Crap. Had no idea. Every review I had seen gave it thumbs up. I saw one post of a guy a 100 watt version who has it "blow up" but there was never any info on what happened or why. I thought these were road worthy amps... apparently plenty of bands do tour with them.
If nothing happens this week, I will speak with my Fender rep again and ask if I can just go take the amp back from the shop (since they haven't looked at it yet) and just send it in for RMA.

Fender guy said they generally try to fix the amp three times before replaccement (this will be the second) but since I was treated so poorly at the first place he is willing to take it back after 2 attempts...

I think 5 weeks going on six now is grounds for another repair attempt! I am done man. I want to play my amp. I have a feeling after it changes hands again and they poke around in there it just won't be right. This amp sounded reeaaaally good... like better than I expected. For what I play it was the best amp i've ever used... and the clean tone! was so damn good. Very irritating.

 

[Deadpool_25]

I’d think you just got a lemon. Many people seem to love theirs.

 

[glytch5]

the end of this week will be week 7 of repair shop with no word... They hadn't touched it after 4... Fender unwilling to do anything until it comes back from this shop... Never buying a Fender amp again.

this will be 10 weeks of my amp sitting in repair limbo

 

[Meeotch]

Sorry to hear that man. My story with EVH isn't great either, but thought I'd share:

I bought a 50 watter back in 2013, and all the knobs started developing cracks in the plastic. After contacting Fender, they sent me a set of replacement knobs as a DYI. During the process of replacement, one of the tone pots broke. I took it to the closest certified Fender Repair Center, and yeah...12 fucking weeks later the tech said he had fixed the pot but now couldn't get channel 3 to work. I raised hell with Fender and got a replacement amp...

Brand new one came in and was making a weird crackling sound. I said fuck it and sent it to Jens at Kruse Kontrol to have it modded, and he immediately found the crackling problem and after replacing a capacitor the problem was solved.

I actually really like the tone of EVH amps, and prefer them to the Peavey. But it seems like finding a tech that can work on them is epic to say the least. If you can stomach spending a bit more on the amp, send it to Jens and hell he can repair/mod it for you too.

 

[Werecow]

the end of this week will be week 7 of repair shop with no word... They hadn't touched it after 4... Fender unwilling to do anything until it comes back from this shop... Never buying a Fender amp again.

this will be 10 weeks of my amp sitting in repair limbo

Jesus, i'm sorry man. I think your experience with them would make me feel ill. I hope you enjoy the amp when you finally get it back, as it really is a great amp tone-wise. You were really unlucky, as i've not seen many complaints before about issues like yours has.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

Sorry to hear about all this trouble you've been having these amps sound great when they work, but I don't blame you for writing off Fender amps moving forward

 

[glytch5]

Sorry to hear that man. My story with EVH isn't great either, but thought I'd share:

I bought a 50 watter back in 2013, and all the knobs started developing cracks in the plastic. After contacting Fender, they sent me a set of replacement knobs as a DYI. During the process of replacement, one of the tone pots broke. I took it to the closest certified Fender Repair Center, and yeah...12 fucking weeks later the tech said he had fixed the pot but now couldn't get channel 3 to work. I raised hell with Fender and got a replacement amp...

Brand new one came in and was making a weird crackling sound. I said fuck it and sent it to Jens at Kruse Kontrol to have it modded, and he immediately found the crackling problem and after replacing a capacitor the problem was solved.

I actually really like the tone of EVH amps, and prefer them to the Peavey. But it seems like finding a tech that can work on them is epic to say the least. If you can stomach spending a bit more on the amp, send it to Jens and hell he can repair/mod it for you too.

Wow... from the shared stories it sounds like when you get a bad one... it is a super pain to get it fixed! Ridiculous. I am sure Eddie would be very disappointed to hear these stories. I know Marshalls have problems... but I don't hear about them not working out of the box like this... a marshall DSL or a full fledged 6505 were close seconds... I own the 6505 plus combo though.

This is week number 7.,.. still no word. Fender has said I can take it to a different shop if I want.... but crap man the nearest shop now is Buffalo... its over an hour away! They absolutely will not replace the thing. Guys... MAKE SURE IF YOU BUY A BRAND NEW EVH 5150 YOU 100% BUY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mine crapped out literally a week after the 45 days.

 

[Mathemagician]

That suuuuuucks bro. I wish I had advice. But at this point I’d be uploading videos to YouTube about their unreliable amps and tagging them on social media. That gets replies.

 

[Deadpool_25]

Wtf. After this long they should absolutely just replace it. Ridiculous. I’ve been thinking if they did a 50w Stealth I would get it, but....well....fuck em.

 

[glytch5]

They called the shop... I sent a super bitchy email to Fender. The shop called me and said "we will have a look at it this friday and see if we can fix it, and give you a call back" well that was last week. WE ARE ON WEEK 9!!!!! FUCK YOU FENDER

PS: week nine of THIS shop... three weeks at the last shop. It is as if they are just hoping I will go away.

 

[USMarine75]

They called the shop... I sent a super bitchy email to Fender. The shop called me and said "we will have a look at it this friday and see if we can fix it, and give you a call back" well that was last week. WE ARE ON WEEK 9!!!!! FUCK YOU FENDER

PS: week nine of THIS shop... three weeks at the last shop. It is as if they are just hoping I will go away.

Does NY have a lemon law? I know in MA there's a certain percentage of the time, or number of repairs, that constitutes a purchase being a lemon and requiring the seller to refund you. Not sure if applicable, but another avenue you may approach. Did you use a credit card? You might try contacting them and telling them the purchase has been in the shop and out of your hands XX% of the time and for how long. That might meet their metric for a chargeback?

 

[G_3_3_k_]

Man, I feel for you. Check the lemon laws and metrics for a chargeback. There's got to be some kind of buyer protection that you have. A buddy of mine has been waiting on an amp repair for 4 or 5 years from Jackson Ampworks. So I guess it could be worse. Fender has the resources to make it right though. Which makes the situation frustrating. They could just do the right thing and it wouldn't make any difference to their bottom line.

 

[glytch5]

Hmm I have heard of Lemon law... and we have it but I am pretty sure it only works with cars? Not entirely sure.
Some good news today. Fender associate is sending me an EVH T shirt, and they now have called the Fender techs onto it and escalated my case. Apparently they are going to take another look at it today so I (should) be all set by next week on knowing whats to come.

I hope anyone who reads this can learn from me and all the other posters on this thread.... if you buy an EVH 5150... BUY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY! lol Worth every penny.

 

[oneblackened]

All I'm gonna say, "Fender Certified" shops are usually a load of crap. It's worth knowing a good amp tech in your area or learning to work on things yourself, because shit like this happens.

 

[glytch5]

I hear ya... problem there is they aren't going to fix it for free under warranty.

 

[glytch5]

**Update
Still no word from shop... they stopped answering EVH techs as well.
They said send us a receipt copy so we can get approval to send you a new amp...

So I go into my musicians friend order history... guess what? NO EVH RECEIPT!!!!!!

I almost punched a hole in my monitor, had to call Musiciansfriend and have a guy find it for me on their back end.

ANYWAY-looks like the shop is sending it in so I don't even have to ship it! It still has to be "approved" but sounds like i'm getting a new amp

I'll let you guys know if i'm "approved"
Bought the amp back on 2/14/19... its been almost 7 months.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

Looks like there's a light at the end of the tunnel at least. Again, sad to see you've had such problems with it

 

[Karmaic]

Buy a Mesa. They have customer service. And they rarely go down.