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I just upgraded to my first "real" amp - an Acoustic b200h. It's no Sunn, but will do me well until the time when I need something with more secks. It arrived yesterday, and since the cab (115) will be arriving today ( ) I hooked it up to my 8ohm Workingman's 210 to try it out.

The amp sounds great and is loud as hell (not sure my rickety little cottage was built to handle this much wattage), but I noticed that the power light was intermittently flickering in reaction to the signal, although not at the signal's peaks as I would expect. At most, the gain and volume were set around 9 o'clock so I can't imagine that I was pushing it too hard. The manual says nothing about a built-in limiter and the amp has a separate LED to indicate clipping. The max load is 4ohms so I don't think the cab was the problem either. I am running my pedalboard in front of the amp, but not pushing it any harder/hotter than normal.

Is this normal or usual? Any ideas as to what might be happening?

All expertise and suggestions are greatly appreciated! I would hate to blow up my amp on day 2.



Cheers.

Is it the clipping led or the power led that is flickering? I have the same amp but never had any problems like that. I never even see the clipping led usually cause I keep the gain down.

It's the blue power light, not the clipping led.

The matching Acoustic cab shows up tonight, so I will try it again. I guess I will have to send it back for replacement if it keeps acting funny, even if it is a pain in the ass.

Dumb question -- have you tried reseating the lamp?

As in moving it around in order to make it more stable ie. less vibrations?

Did you buy it from GC or Musician's Friend?

theavondon wrote:Did you buy it from GC or Musician's Friend?

GC.

Online though, so I am under the impression that I can't just take it downtown and get a replacement...

spacelordmother wrote:

theavondon wrote:Did you buy it from GC or Musician's Friend?

GC.

Online though, so I am under the impression that I can't just take it downtown and get a replacement...

Well, you could still give that a shot. Mine broke, and I just took it in sans box, and they handed me a new one right then and there.

Yea it shouldn't be doing that. Is there any unwanted noises? Or does anything sound like it's bad other than a flickering power light? If everything sounds good and works properly other than that then likely it's simply the light.

spacelordmother wrote:As in moving it around in order to make it more stable ie. less vibrations?

Yes, dumb as it sounds I had an old amp that kinda did that - the bulb socket was chipped so the bulb was rattling around a bit as you played. Worth a shot. But if you bought it new, I'd hit them up for a replacement.

I tried moving the amp off the top of the cab (to reduce vibrations) but it still flickered.

Could it be a dirty power thing? I live in a pretty beat-up little cottage and don't have enough outlets so there's lots of extension cords and power strips...

Everything sounds and seems to be fine otherwise. They needed a sig to drop the cab on my porch, so I will get it tonight and try again again. I should probably just get a replacement since it's an easy (although pain in the ass) option.

spacelordmother wrote:I should probably just get a replacement since it's an easy (although pain in the ass) option.

This is the best bet. I have heard of there being minor problems with a couple of these here and there. When the cab comes, let me know what you think. I've had problems with the horn making hissy noises so I always leave it off.

Jero wrote:

spacelordmother wrote:I should probably just get a replacement since it's an easy (although pain in the ass) option.

This is the best bet. I have heard of there being minor problems with a couple of these here and there. When the cab comes, let me know what you think. I've had problems with the horn making hissy noises so I always leave it off.

Same here on the horn thing. They get really annoying with the fuzz.

Well, no cab again today!

The tracking said "out for delivery" all day, but it never showed, and now it has updated the delivery date to tomorrow. wtf.

I believe the light problem is just the light itself - when I turned the amp on tonight there was no light at all! It did some random flickering here and there, but it was mostly just off.

Sound, volume, eq, and the lot all work as they should. DB>Sovtek Muff>Hype resulted in HOT/TONEZ but no clipping or weirdness in the slightest.

I think that when (if?) the cab ever gets here I will call them and see what they suggest, but seeing as there's a 3-year warranty on the lotI would rather not send it back unless it's a must.

Yeah my guess at that point would be the light. Was it new in the box or a floor demo? I have had two floor demo amps from GC [a long time ago] go south, both ampegs, the first was with in a day so I got it replaced the second was after warranty... turned out the amp had been a demo for 2 years in Berkley CA.. Overheated right in the middle of a recording session cost over $400 to fix.