I recently won a 5150 212 combo on Ebay. The auction photos showed rust on the cabinet screws and speaker hardware, but it was described as working and sounding great with no electronic issues, so I decided the price was low enough that I could live with the cosmetics.
Imagine my disappointment when it arrived and I discovered that:
¤ the grounding prong was missing from the lead
¤ two of the preamp tube sockets hang loose because of missing screws
¤ when set to the Rhythm channel, the Rhythm Pre knob is the only one that does anything. The Low EQ, Mid EQ, High EQ, and Rhythm Post knobs have no effect on the audio whatsoever. Also, the Low EQ knob only turns between positions 10 and 7, where it meets physical resistance and stops.
¤ when set to the Lead channel, the Lead Post knob is the only one that does anything. The Low EQ, Mid EQ, High EQ, and Lead Pre knobs have no effect on the audio whatsoever. Also, the Lead Pre knob only turns between positions 10 and 6, where it meets physical resistance and stops.
¤ the channel switch button works, but there is a reverb crash noise when switching from Lead to Rhythm, despite the reverb effect not actually being audible while playing in either mode.
¤ the Effects Send and Return jacks seem okay, but the Resonance and Presence knobs in the power amp section have little or no effect on the sound.
Now, I'm not here trying to bash the seller, or to vent, or looking for sympathy. He seems sincere about being unaware of the problems and about wanting to make things right, and has given me a couple options. I have an inquiry in to my local Peavey repair guy, but would really appreciate your thoughts, too. Here are the options so far:
#0) There was no apparent damage to the outside of the packaging when it arrived, so there's little or no chance of successfully filing a claim with the delivery folks. So that's not an option, really, I just thought I would address it before anyone asked.
#1) The seller will take the item back and give a full refund, which would work out to each of us having paid for shipping one way. I'd be cool with that; I'd certainly rather be out $80 and lesson learned than $400+.
#2) The seller would refund me $260 (I don't know how he arrived at that particular figure) and I would be responsible for repairs on my own. If nothing else, I could salvage the speakers, which appear to be UK-made 1970s Celestion G12M "blackbacks" and seem to work fine. The fixit joints around here usually charge $80 just to do a diagnostic, so I'm thinking I would rather spend that on return shipping and wash my hands of the whole thing.
So what do y'all think?
Does the one-working-knob-per-channel ring any bells with those of you who have owned 5150s before?
Is there any chance in hell that $260 would cover repairs on all the problems listed?
I haven't pulled the chassis yet, so for all I know entire sections of PCB could be slagged. I'm going to try swapping out all the preamp tubes this evening to see if that solves the no-EQ problem, but even if it does, a pair of pots still have mechanical problems and probably need to be replaced.
Imagine my disappointment when it arrived and I discovered that:
¤ the grounding prong was missing from the lead
¤ two of the preamp tube sockets hang loose because of missing screws
¤ when set to the Rhythm channel, the Rhythm Pre knob is the only one that does anything. The Low EQ, Mid EQ, High EQ, and Rhythm Post knobs have no effect on the audio whatsoever. Also, the Low EQ knob only turns between positions 10 and 7, where it meets physical resistance and stops.
¤ when set to the Lead channel, the Lead Post knob is the only one that does anything. The Low EQ, Mid EQ, High EQ, and Lead Pre knobs have no effect on the audio whatsoever. Also, the Lead Pre knob only turns between positions 10 and 6, where it meets physical resistance and stops.
¤ the channel switch button works, but there is a reverb crash noise when switching from Lead to Rhythm, despite the reverb effect not actually being audible while playing in either mode.
¤ the Effects Send and Return jacks seem okay, but the Resonance and Presence knobs in the power amp section have little or no effect on the sound.
Now, I'm not here trying to bash the seller, or to vent, or looking for sympathy. He seems sincere about being unaware of the problems and about wanting to make things right, and has given me a couple options. I have an inquiry in to my local Peavey repair guy, but would really appreciate your thoughts, too. Here are the options so far:
#0) There was no apparent damage to the outside of the packaging when it arrived, so there's little or no chance of successfully filing a claim with the delivery folks. So that's not an option, really, I just thought I would address it before anyone asked.
#1) The seller will take the item back and give a full refund, which would work out to each of us having paid for shipping one way. I'd be cool with that; I'd certainly rather be out $80 and lesson learned than $400+.
#2) The seller would refund me $260 (I don't know how he arrived at that particular figure) and I would be responsible for repairs on my own. If nothing else, I could salvage the speakers, which appear to be UK-made 1970s Celestion G12M "blackbacks" and seem to work fine. The fixit joints around here usually charge $80 just to do a diagnostic, so I'm thinking I would rather spend that on return shipping and wash my hands of the whole thing.
So what do y'all think?
Does the one-working-knob-per-channel ring any bells with those of you who have owned 5150s before?
Is there any chance in hell that $260 would cover repairs on all the problems listed?
I haven't pulled the chassis yet, so for all I know entire sections of PCB could be slagged. I'm going to try swapping out all the preamp tubes this evening to see if that solves the no-EQ problem, but even if it does, a pair of pots still have mechanical problems and probably need to be replaced.
Plus the seller thinks the speakers (1970s Celestions) are worth more than that by themselves, so double win.
