Info on Seymour Duncan powerstage 170. Any of you guys use one?

  • Thread starter Thread starter romanianreaper
  • Start date Start date
flimz said:
Ok, so I got the 200 yesterday. Either it's defective or it just really likes a VERY low input signal. I had to cut my preset levels by half just to get the preamp clip light to shut off. Annoying.

The 170 I had didnt have this issue. Of course the 170 doesnt have an input clip light, but still my brain says..."clipping no good". And running it into an 8 ohm cab was plenty loud.

If you go the Powerstage route, I would definitely only use it with a 4 or 8 ohm cab at minimum. 16 ohm probably wont satisfy you.

So, I'm returning the 200 and picking up another 170. I had great results with that one.
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That sucks. I hate when stuff like that happens because it should just be easy and make sense.

I think im going to skip the SD 170 and Pedal Baby for now and give the Quilter stuff a whirl. I had been looking at one of those before so we'll see what happens. I'm going to get a cab eventually but will probably use the Friedman 1x12 to try it.
 
flimz said:
Ok, so I got the 200 yesterday. Either it's defective or it just really likes a VERY low input signal. I had to cut my preset levels by half just to get the preamp clip light to shut off. Annoying.

The 170 I had didnt have this issue. Of course the 170 doesnt have an input clip light, but still my brain says..."clipping no good". And running it into an 8 ohm cab was plenty loud.

If you go the Powerstage route, I would definitely only use it with a 4 or 8 ohm cab at minimum. 16 ohm probably wont satisfy you.

So, I'm returning the 200 and picking up another 170. I had great results with that one.
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This post also mentioned the 200 having clipping issues - sounds like that one's no good. https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/threads/seymour-duncan-powerstage.304155/#post-3889641
 
iff said:
This post also mentioned the 200 having clipping issues - sounds like that one's no good. https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/threads/seymour-duncan-powerstage.304155/#post-3889641
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So. We told Seymour Duncan about a problem with the Power Stage 200. PS200 input clips if a guitar alone is plugged in. Input clips if a preamp pedal is plugged in. Input clips with a Helix, Quad and presumably anything else. None of those things happen with the Power Stage 170. Seymour Duncan's initial solution was to manually put the lane output on the Quad Cortex to -10db or lower so the PS200 doesn't clip. That's not a viable solution considering you'd have to lower the output significantly on other preamp pedals, modelers, etc..

We took a decibel meter and measured the PS170 vs PS200 on two different 8ohm 280W Mesa 4x12 Cabinets..
  • PS200 Level = 3 O'Clock (75% on +/-) = 94db.
  • If you raise the Level knob any further the OUTPUT clips.
  • PS170 Level = 9 O'Clock (20-25% on +/-) = 98db.
  • If you raise the Level knob 12 O'Clock it was too loud to continue testing because we didn't have ear protection
We emailed Seymour Duncan the findings and they admitted they had the same findings with their PS200. There's something wrong with the way the PS200 is designed. We returned our Power Stage 200's and were credited. We couldn't exchange because PS170's were back ordered so we all just bought PS170's on reverb. We asked for a straight return and they were dodging us for a bit. I don't know if it's because of the active EQ or what, but I'd avoid the PS200's at all costs. I'd actually avoid all Seymour Duncan products since they know they're selling defective products and won't remove them from the shelves.

We = A business I worked for that had business ties to Seymour Duncan. That company laid it's entire staff off so I don't give a fuck about hurting their feelings or Seymour Duncan's feelings about this shitty product. As soon as there's a pedalboard alternative to the SD PS170, I'm replacing it. Nothing wrong with it, it honestly just rubs me the wrong way that we were sold defective products, they know they're defective. They refused to refund us and instead "credit" us so we can just use it towards our next order... And they're still selling them on the open market.
 
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hammered said:
I had a Quilter 202 Tone Block years ago , the model with the non conventional EQ and that thing put out some serious volume. Worked really good with a Friedman BE OD pedal
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That's good to hear! I'll be using it with an IR-X so hoping it is a killer solution.
 
vultures said:
So. We told Seymour Duncan about a problem with the Power Stage 200. PS200 input clips if a guitar alone is plugged in. Input clips if a preamp pedal is plugged in. Input clips with a Helix, Quad and presumably anything else. None of those things happen with the Power Stage 170. Seymour Duncan's initial solution was to manually put the lane output on the Quad Cortex to -10db or lower so the PS200 doesn't clip. That's not a viable solution considering you'd have to lower the output significantly on other preamp pedals, modelers, etc..

We took a decibel meter and measured the PS170 vs PS200 on two different 8ohm 280W Mesa 4x12 Cabinets..
  • PS200 Level = 3 O'Clock (75% on +/-) = 94db.
  • If you raise the Level knob any further the OUTPUT clips.
  • PS170 Level = 9 O'Clock (20-25% on +/-) = 98db.
  • If you raise the Level knob 12 O'Clock it was too loud to continue testing because we didn't have ear protection
We emailed Seymour Duncan the findings and they admitted they had the same findings with their PS200. There's something wrong with the way the PS200 is designed. We returned our Power Stage 200's and were credited. We couldn't exchange because PS170's were back ordered so we all just bought PS170's on reverb. We asked for a straight return and they were dodging us for a bit. I don't know if it's because of the active EQ or what, but I'd avoid the PS200's at all costs. I'd actually avoid all Seymour Duncan products since they know they're selling defective products and won't remove them from the shelves.

We = A business I worked for that had business ties to Seymour Duncan. That company laid it's entire staff off so I don't give a fuck about hurting their feelings or Seymour Duncan's feelings about this shitty product. As soon as there's a pedalboard alternative to the SD PS170, I'm replacing it. Nothing wrong with it, it honestly just rubs me the wrong way that we were sold defective products, they know they're defective. They refused to refund us and instead "credit" us so we can just use it towards our next order... And they're still selling them on the open market.
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I'd keep an open mind about everything but not telling you how to feel by any means. I mean they offered to credit and admitted something was wrong and could have just not answered or lied about it, etc.

I'm just saying that communicating with a person from the company doesn't represent the whole company. I'm sure they will try to get this fixed. I've always loved their pickups and all I've owned from the company.

Again, not trying to tell you not to be frustrated because that is jacked up what is going on but I'd say there is alot of moving parts. I felt that way about LINE 6 years ago when I had two defective Flextone II amps. But thankfully they have made some great products again.
 
I'm really hoping the Quilter works with my pedals and is a great option. I have the Keeley El Rey Dorado, and Keeley AT, as well as the Friedman IR-X so would think those would work good with it. Got plenty of boosts too like the Griffin Boris, etc.

It just sucks that every thing always seems to have a catch. Whenever I'm looking at gear, there will be one thing I'd like it to have and one solution never seems to cover it. I'll always find something missing.
 
It will work. My buddy was a big time Vegas guy til he passed. He ran his pedalboard into a Quilter - 101 I think. Very reliable, no problems for many years, show after show with 2 a day on weekends.
 
Just find yourself a working Peavey CS800 or CS800X. I also have a Matrix GT1000FX and the Peavey has more lowend thump and sounds just as good if not better with no coloring to the tones. I bought my CS800X in excellent shape for $200 bucks....I consider it a viable cheaper option to an H&H V800. I picked mine up on a whim and it really works well.

Maybe a used Matrix would also work but I hear they went way up in price since Matrix ceased production.

Check out these Rockvilles, they show high wattage, are cheap and look to be built fairly well. People on YT are using these in W/D/W rigs and they all seem to like them. For the wattage advertised these are dirt cheap.

https://www.rockvilleaudio.com/rpa5...MI8s7K1L29hgMVhiKtBh1ApQ23EAQYFiABEgKruvD_BwE

https://www.rockvilleaudio.com/rpa9/
 
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