Mr. Foxen

Wasn't it a Hiwatt one though? Kind of a different league.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1333795796' post='1606531'] [b]If you really want to get the max power out of your amp then yes, though 375W into a 212 cab should be pretty loud.[/b] [/quote] Bear in mind its an SP isobaric job, so it isn't really a 2x12 but a dual motor 1x12.

If you have a Rick, get a 2x12 to go with the Marshall, and use it with Rick-o-Sound for the bridge pickup. That should be mint with another head into the 18.

You problem is pretty much definitely lack of sensitivity in the cab. Half the power going to is is wasted on a speaker not touching air, and it is very unlikely that the speakers can convert much more power than you are feeding them into sound. Bigger cab is needed. All the plans for increasing watts are bit meaningless, because at most you can double watts and that is 3db difference, which in the scheme of things, you can just about notice as an increase in volume. The advantage of two speaker cabs is that you've just double the amount of air being moved by speakers, as well as dropping impedance, so you double up the benefits, and get an additional bonus from coupling in the lows, and an additional bonus of elevation for better mid/high audibility.

Bass is going to push it harder than guitar. Probably more in a distorted mess way than a death way. But if there is an issue with it, that will show it up.

Putting it in a higher place will tell you if you like one of the advantages of a second cab. Might save buying a second cab to find out.

I shipped a transformer to Aus, basically a solid lump of laminated metal. On the way it was x-rayed (didn't tell them much) and impounded as a possible explosive device (they called for an invoice copy, when I pointed out that there were 4 attached, they told me they were not prepared to go close enough to it to retrieve one) and when it arrived they'd still managed to damage it.

Indeed. See fenders pyramic cab. Not really working with the established cabinet design knowledge of the time. Ports on even fairly current cabs are often undersized, no point is chasing a high excursion quality driver if the port is going into turbulence before it has reached half excursion. EditL: Should probably note I mean the smaller ports might be adequate for the standard speaker loadout, but a premium speaker cab be choked by them.

Got suitable cab? Also investigate if the fx return or power amp in on the amp is affected by the volume, might be best to go in there if it is.

That is a very unsafe assumption. Can't make a recommendation without knowing the tuning, since a suitable tuning means suitable to a driver.

That makes the port tuning important, and thus needing WinISD. If it is sealed, WinISD still applies but the cab volume reccomendation on the speaker spec actually becomes a useful spec without it.

[quote name='CJPJ' timestamp='1333734029' post='1605922'] Whilst I Love the OTB, I haven't always felt the power through the SP210 when turning up the dial and have recently experienced the cab farting at higher volumes with gain. I thought this was a bit strange since the amp is on 500w against the cab's 600w. [/quote] This is to do with the limitation of isobaric loading, that since only one speaker is in contact with the air, you get the maximum spl limitations of one speaker, with the cost and weight of two. A Barefaced compact would utterly dominate it in terms of SPL, even with the difference in impedance, if you like the sound of a Compact, just get one instead, rather than adding, the orange cab won't have much to contribute used together. Big twin is a totally different prospect, the Compact is probably going to be comparable in tone, with less midrange mess, so cleaner overall, the Big Twin is a hifi thing.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1333725467' post='1605790'] they are impregnated with acid. lick them, you'll see [/quote] Standard red ones already turn my fingers red an flakey, think it must be some sort of oil because I'm fine with other steels and nickels. Aware you mean the other acid. They aren't the squashed wining ones.

Sealed cab? Gogo gadget WinISD pro. Edit: Short summary: putting a state of the art driver into a not state of the art cab is a bad plan. Suitable driver for the cab is going to yield better results.

Got a box of them from a clearout of shop stock, appear to have blue wraps. Are they jsut strings or does the blue wrap signify something?

Missing valve is preamp sized, so won't make much odds to power. At £100, if you can get it going cheaply, would probably get your money back on ebay with some patience.

[quote name='REDLAWMAN' timestamp='1333695677' post='1605308'] I think perhaps you misunderstand me and my rationale, Mr Foxen. I would like nothing better, in fact, than a fully-functional and wholly operationally sound 'vintage' amp' (a Bassman or Showman or an early SVT, for example). My fear of doing so is related solely to the fact that I have neither personal experience nor technical knowledge in this area: I wouldn't know a good one from a bad one and in the event that something should go wrong (or, indeed already be wrong), then I wouldn't have a clue where to begin. [/quote] Chose pretty bad example for teh bassman and SVT, neither were well made amps in their day, those are Fords, whilst Hiwatts are Rolls Royce. "I wouldn't know a good one from a bad one and in the event that something should go wrong (or, indeed already be wrong), then I wouldn't have a clue where to begin" applies equally or more so to new amps, and a vintage amp will have a personal history from previous owners, a wealth of review from decades of experience of their use, and will, possibly most importantly, be familiar and understandable to competent technicians. The only inherent unreliability in old amps is if you expect them to continue working for decades without a service or maintenance. A proper full service will get them working as per new, and will come with warranty from the tech, won't be cheap, but nor is a new amp. The recommended amp tech thread is basically all you need.

Cryo is snake oil. Careful with the term 'fixed bias' it is actually a whole way of operating the inside of an amp (as opposed to operating cathode bias, which is self biasing but less efficient), and is misused when applied to 'not having a bias pot', non-adjustable bias is probably better way of saying it. Also, guess paste reply from other forum to same question here for benefit of others reading: You can use 6550 instead of KT88 in most amps, but some might have too high plate voltage for the 6550 to take. Most amps, especially modern ones won't, the gap between the two types has closed up. There is a risk from putting KT88 into an amp designed for 6550 because the KT88 draw more heater current which can cook your transformer, but again, the gap isn't as large as it was so you'll probably get away with it. Basically, compare spec sheets for the valves, which vary between manufacturers, you'll see the heater current draw and safe maximum voltages across various parts on there. The actual sound difference between valves is dependent on the amp, so you can't really generalise, some amps work in entirely different ways and the differences between valves will vary accordingly.

Major components of valve amps currently available are inferior across the board to those available in the heyday of valve amps, so its a pretty silly idea. Especially considering what is better now can cheerfully be added to a vintage amp, an likely more easily that such a modification could be done to a modern one. In fact, certain superior construction techniques used in old amps are illegal to utilise in modern amps. But less money for a superior product might make you look a bit poor I guess.

Inside shots would be nice. The jewel light might be sort of desirable if it works. Probably gonna be better suited to guitar purposes. I'd pick it up if it was cheap, clean it and photo it for my blog. Doubt I'd use it.

[quote name='umcoo' timestamp='1333640620' post='1604691'] What's that all about then?? [/quote] From Matamp facebook: [quote]GT200 mkII amps are beginning to leave the factory, if your waiting the end is near![/quote] [quote]It has a different preamp including a mid control, new chassis and upgraded transformers. More details to follow.[/quote] [quote]We went for a less radical redesign and concentrated on fewer bells and more tone! Current spec is as the old model with a revised preamp with mid, a bit more gain, much less noise, much better transformers (just the mains transformer costs twice as much as both mains and output in the of one) and a bigger chassis. [/quote] It uses at least one C-core transformer, see blog link in sig for some info on them, hoping more knowledgeables will chip in there.

The Ampeg one say 125, so same ballpark. Probably same output module.

Have a mid control is pretty key.