Ashley customer service is tops!

[buffo]

Most SELEM veterans will recognize the heavy Ashley FET-2000 amps that I use each year to power the JBL JRX-125 cabinets that are normally set up in "Club-SELEM". I got these amps from Paul Berthot (Clandesty), by way of David Zurcher. (DZ was thinking about buying them from Paul, but wasn't sure that he needed all that power, so he helped me work out a deal with Paul.) I've had them since 2010, and they've been rock-solid.

A few years ago the amps suffered a nasty shock during transport that bashed the gain pots on the back of the aps up against each other. They still worked, but they were bent pretty badly. Last year at SELEM we had to fiddle with the pots on both amps to get clean audio, and although we finally found the sweet spot, it was clear that I needed to replace those pots.

Fast forward to earlier this month, when I dragged the amps out of the storage unit to have a look. The pots were conveniently mounted on a removable panel, so it was a cinch to get at them, but finding some 20K, dual-channel, linear taper pots that also had 21 detents (with only 7/8 of rotation) proved difficult. In desperation, I sent an email to Ashley customer service and asked them if they could point me to a modern supplier for these pots.

Imagine my surprise when I got a reply from the Director of Service and Technical Support at Ashley Audio Division (Jim Schwenzer) asking me for my mailing address, as he intended to just ship me some replacement pots for free! The pots arrived a few days later, and after a quick solder job, I'm happy to report that both amps are working perfectly again. Only difference is that the new pots don't have the detents, but I can live with that. This is the first time I've had to do anything to these amps. I should also point out that these two amps are positively *ancient*. One was manufactured in March of 1992, and the other in July of 1992.

Jim mentioned that one of the first amps he ever purchased was one of the Fet-2000 series units. It was a B-stock item, so he got a deal on it, but it still cost him around $650 or so (in mid-1990's dollars). He said he regretted ever selling it, as the amps are more or less bulletproof. So long as you don't drop them down a flight of concrete stairs, they'll last long enough to enable you to leave them to your grandchildren...

Only issue is that they are *heavy*. They come in a 19-inch rack-mount enclosure that is solid steel, and they've got a massive transformer right in the middle (plus some enormous filter caps that are quite scary looking). They weigh about 55 lbs each. (oof!) But each one will do 1350 watts bridged-mono into a 4-ohm load, and do it all day long at that. Nice, clean, reliable sound.

I've loved these amps ever since I got them, but now that I've dealt with Ashley's customer service, I love them a little more! Just had to share...

Adam