CLASS 5 BAD RATTLES

[pablues]

Hi just joined the forum,recently bought my first Marshall for some time.
I tried one Class 5 in my local shop and it was unusable.As soon as the volume and bass were turned up a horrendous rattle appeared from inside the unit mainly when playing an A chord .
This was not a microphonic valve type sound but a severe resonance problem.A few days later another unit seemed fine so I bought it.
Its got a great sound, i've used it at low level gigs and jam sessions.After a while the output valve started to rattle on certain notes so I changed that out and all was fine for a week or so! Gradually a rattle/buzz developed when I played a B or C note on the bottom string.The upper area of the back panel behind the amp could be felt to vibrate severely when this noise occurred.
The back panel is only screwed in along the sides and bottom so I fitted a screw down through the thin area of top panel behind the controls into the thickness of the back panel.At the moment this has cured the problem.I hope to see Marshall at the South West Guitar Show next week and see what they say.

Sorry my first post is about a problem,this amp has a great sound, but any as bad as the first one I tried would be useless in my opinion.
Phil

[SteveD]

Welcome to the forum pablues.

Sorry about the issues you have had. I have already been made aware of this by another member here and I will be sure to mention this tomorrow as something to be looked into. It's always the way when mass production quantities start appearing. Thanks for the heads up.

I hope it hasn't dampened your Class 5 experience too much. I think it's a very enjoyable amp to play. :rocker

[LivewireBlanco]

Welcome Pablues! Don't worry about your first post being something negative about the Class 5. These are the things that need to be addressed about a new amp and this is definitely the place to address them. With any new product (cars, amps, computers) there are usually some bugs to work out. I'm sure that Marshall will address these problems if it is something that affects a good number of the amps. The VM had a rattle problem with the transformer which was soon fixed with a spacer. I'm sure Steve will keep us posted.

[SteveD]

OK I spoke to our QA department this morning and they inform me that there has been some rattling issues addressed and seemingly rectified since production began. Chris George went down and tried some straight off the production line today and reported no issues.

[parvulesco]

Good to hear. Thanks Steve!

[surfnorthwest]

Man Chris has the best job in the world, here I thought he was just the demo guy. It is nice to see you take a concern like this serious Steve and get on top of it quickly, good job!

[pablues]

All is VERY VERY well in Class 5 land now.
I took my amp along to the Frome Guitar Show after getting a message from Chris George.He asked about my experience with the amp,had a look at the serial number told me it was from the first week of manufacture and there had been a few teething troubles but all is now well.Chris gave me the choice of keeping my now slightly modified amp, or having a brand new just off the production line amp that he had double checked and which had no odd rattles or resonances.
So I now have a new Class 5.

This one sounds even better than my original and I cannot provoke it into making any unintended noises.

Many many thanks to Chris and Marshall for there concern and help.
Phil

[rvin28]

I'm on amp number two both from DV247 in Romford (super store and all very helpful).

This one rattles more than the first but sounds great.

I have emailed the Marshall service team but I'll ask the same question here - does this need to be returned or is there a simple mod that can be applied by a home user??

Is this a case of the internal chassis being too thin which causes the rattle??

Thanks

[SteveD]

Welcome to the forum rvin28.

We are aware of the issue and it turns out that maybe 40 or 50 units got through in very early production that may be prone to rattling before we implemented a revision that cured it.

We would ask anyone who has purchased a unit which is unacceptably rattling to return it to the store and exchange it for a post revision unit.

Apologies for the upheaval but we want you to be fully satisfied with the product.

[rvin28]

RESOLVED!!!!
many thanks to DV247 in Romford who kindly supplied me with a 3rd amp (highly recommended for their help and service).

However, I've still got rattles, its not the amp through but just about everything in the house!

I'm sure that it sounds sweeter each time that I use it and I am so glad that I decided not to swap this for another amp (Blackstar anyone).

Thanks again Marshall.

:blues

[SteveD]

RESOLVED!!!!
many thanks to DV247 in Romford who kindly supplied me with a 3rd amp (highly recommended for their help and service).

However, I've still got rattles, its not the amp through but just about everything in the house!

I'm sure that it sounds sweeter each time that I use it and I am so glad that I decided not to swap this for another amp (Blackstar anyone).

Thanks again Marshall.

:blues

That's good news. Now give that speaker a couple of weeks to loosen up and get broken in and you'll be in tone nirvana!

[burnsy]

Does anybody know what is causing this problem which I do not believe has been fixed?
I bought a Class 5 yesterday after being blown away by the unit I tried on display. The amp I brought home was factory sealed and brand new. I should have took the one I demo-ed. Out of the box the new amp rattles and vibrates like crazy if I dare to roll down the tone pot on my guitar and hit a low C or D. This thing kicks out so much bass it just feels like somethings not bolted down properly and can't cope? Tried feeling around for something external rattling but it's coming from inside the box somewhere and I'm not going in there. Condition is exaggerated by laying the combo on it's back - ouch don't do that again.
Of course my friendly local dealer has said bring it back and we'll sort out a replacement. I really don't want to jump through those hoops unless I have to. If there is a simple fix can someone let me know.

[rvin28]

Hi Burnsy,
Take the unit back and ask your dealer to replace it or sort it out for you. As per my posts, I'm on my 3rd as the first 2 rattled like crazy but my helpful dealer did resolve the problem for me (thanks again DV247).

I did feel the same as you are now that it is so frustrating that it sounds so good apart from the rattle.

[burnsy]

Blimey! Mega-quick reply! This forums good ennit!

Cheers rvin28 - Yeah of course back to the dealer and change the unit is probably going to be the way to go. I would be happier to know what the problem is and that Marshall has fixed it. If I do get one that doesn't rattle it would seem to me that there is still a problem that hasn't been fixed but it's not showing it yet (does that make sense?)

[rvin28]

Hi Burnsy,
Yep agree - excellent forum.

I think that the problem is due to the thinness of the chassis and its design (bis mistake here Marshall surely for a few extra quid this was a problem easily cured at the pre production stage). If you look at the back panel there are no screws across the top which i think doesn't apply enough tension to the chassis. This I think (I may be wrong here) causes the top of the panel to vibrate.

I suppose that you could modify this yourself ( I have read of another person doing this on one of the other forums) BUT whilst the amp is under warranty its just a simple to take it back and have it replaced.