Absolutely no reason to apologize because nothing worked! Your help was great. And if it didn't work for this, I will remember your advice for any future similar issues. You certainly had goos ideas, and it made me realize I should ground my acoustic bass and probably also my Strat. So you did help. And made me think of some of these problems from a different point of view. I love learning about fixing my own gear. But, I really think this unit is defective. I know you say there are rare, but if anyone is going to get the dud, it would be me.
Get comfy, make a sandwich or grab a cup of coffee
BecauseI have a long story that should help you understand my frustation level, and why it has such a short fuse lately....
I am determined to learn how to work on my own amps/electronic gear. I've been pretty successful doing work on my guitars and basses, but for some reason am hesitant to open up and work on my amps, or anything like that. Until recently. I bought an older Peavey 2x12 from the 80's. It was bought used from the "Center" I don't want to mention it's name fully, I don't want to make negative comments about them. But I'm sure you know what guitar superstore I'm talking about.
Anyway I found it used for a great price. It was at a store in New York, and I'm in California. I asked the salesman to give it a thorough checking over, and he said he spent 45 minutes checking everything and everything worked perfectly. So I ordered it and had it shipped to me. Within 5 minutes I noticed the footswitch didn't work. I don't "need" a footswitch except on this model it has 3 features...turn on/off reverb - switch between channels clean/distortion - and to combine the two channels. If you don't have a working pedal it automatically combines the channels and that is really a pain to have to deal with ll the knobs for 2 channels. So I looked at the footswitch jack and it was very loose. If I wiggled it, then it would work.
So I called the store and told them it wasn't working and they told me that everything worked. So they actually paid for me to have it fixed. Problem was that the amp "tech" I took it to was stubborn and did lousy work. When I brought it in, I told him simply to replace the female end of the 6-pin DIN input for the footswitch, and leave the footswitch alone. It would cost more for his labor to work on it combined with the parts needed, so again, the "Center" gave me the green light to just get an aftermarket one that is new. It will end up being cheaper anyway. So when I told the tech, he raised his voice and said, "what...do you think that a new one would be better??!!"
Well, yes, it is brand new, very sturdy, made out of metal instead of plastic, and has a brand new cord and male end of the DIN that would have needed replacing on the old one. So yes, I believe it would be much better. He lost it and said "why is your amp in my shop then?"
I told him for the reason I told him up front, to replace the female DIN f.S. input jack on the amp. He refused. He said it was just fine, and when I get the new footswitch he promises that it will be fine, that the input jacks are supposed to be loose. What??
So he calls and says it's ready to pick up. I go to get it and he charged $150 to replace a tiny LED light that turns on when the amp is fired up, and to screw down the reverb tank to the cabinet.
Oh ya, my footswitch was all taken apart, and he didn't fix it. I did work before if I wiggled the male/female connection, so it did work. Now it's in pieces in a paper bag! And he didn't fix the female end on the amp like I asked. So $150 for a light and a few screws in the reverb tank. And nothing I asked him to fix was done, he actully did more harm then good.
I got my new footswitch in the mail, plugged it in, and it DIDN"T work! I knew it wouldn't. Same deal, if I wiggled it, then it would work. So i was right, it was the female input jack. I emailed Peavey a photo of the jack and the head tech replied and told me that it's nowhere near normal and needs to be replaced. Send it to us and we will fix it up for $50. And they did. Excellent job too.
So ever since then, I am determined to learn how to do this stuff myself. Luckily the store I bought it from stood behind their word, and amazingly paid me back for all the repairs. It end up costing as much as the amp itself! So I basically got it for free.
I wasn't trying to do that, but that's just how it worked out. I had to pay Peavey for their work, since the store paid for the original repair, and it wasn't their fault the guy charged so much to do nothing. I also had to pay for the new pedal, but in the end it all evened out because I got ALL of my money back from that awful tech. Had to threaten small claims court, but he paid me back in full. So during this whole mess someone told me "if you want something done the way you want it done...you have to do it yourself. So get a soldering iron and learn" And that's what I've been doing.
So any advice you've given me goes into my fading memory and I will use it someday on something. I'm soaking up as much repair/troubleshooting info that I can.
Sorry fo the long story, but I thought it may shed some light on why I was so frustrated with the Presonus. It's been a long summer of sending things out for repair and not getting good results. Lots of wasted time and cash. So when I bought the TubePre brand new I figured that it would be good to go...plug and play. But after spending two solid days troubleshooting I got a bit frustrated. It's like I wasn't meant to play instruments, I was meant to repair them. It feels like I've spent so much more of my time fixing things then playing them.
And that's when I put it all down and pick up my drumsticks. My drum kit never needs to be repaired!
And I'm also curious to see what a replacement TubePre would be like. But I don't know if i should do that or just return it. I'll call them tomorrow when they are open and see what they have to say. That will determine my next step. If they say it sounds like something they've encountered before and it's broken...so send it back and we will glady send yo a new one, I probably will. But if they are unsure about it and act reluctant at all, it's going back for a full refund. Customer service can make or break a business. I hope they have good customer service.
Have a great day! Thanks for listening to my long tedious story (or reading it I mean)
And if anyone can recommend a better preamp in the $100 range, PLEASE do!
I know a quality $100 premap is an oxymoron, but maybe one exists.
I've heard great things about the ART Tube MP preamp, but 've also heard they are junk. So I don't know what to think about those?? Anyone have one?
Doesn't that preamp have a control of how much "tube" you want in the sound. I'd say turn that all the way down.
