Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall…

I always wanted to find out how my amplifiers would respond to a drop test.  Little did I know that I would be given such an opportunity.

I was bringing the amplifier back from a friend’s house and I set it on top of what I thought was a full cardboard box.  The box was sitting on the ledge shown in the first picture.  I left to grab another load from the car and when I came back, I found the amplifier laying flat on the ground!

I soon realized the cardboard box collapsed under the weight and the amp slid off and landed on the concrete floor, about 36″ down.  The amplifier was not in any sort of chassis.  It was (other than damage) just as pictured.  I picked it up and inspected it for damage.   I feared the worst….

The gain knob had come off completely, the bass knob was pushed in which broke off part of the knob, the green lens had a scratch and the power switch was broken.  Looking at it from the side, the front panel was bent inward significantly!  Fortunately, none of the tubes were broken in the fall.

I replaced the power switch and powered it up.  The light bulb was burnt out, but everything else worked.  The knob shafts were intact and all the controls turned smoothly like nothing had happened.  I closely inspected the circuit and there was no internal damage.  Had it been mounted in a chassis, I am convinced that the amplifier would have suffered no damage at all.

I put a new knob on the gain control, leaving the broken bass knob as is, and put it to use as my personal amplifier.

*Please note: damage resulting from falling is not covered under warranty.