brensabre79

My Hartke A100 started doing this recently. But it will still make sound. My amp tech has had it for 3 weeks and still not discovered what is wrong with it except that it is getting very very hot in use. Sorry I can't be any help but my guy said that since Samson started making these the quality has gone through the floor. He's already told me it would probably be cheaper to get a new amp. I wouldn't recommend buying a S/H amp to fix the problem though because you might find that has faults of its own. My A100 being case in point. At least with this one you know how its been treated/stored etc. Unfortunately Subthumper is right, you need someone who knows what they are doing to tace the circuit and test every single component in the signal path. You can eliminate some of the work for the amp tech by checking if its the Pre amp or Power amp stage. Try bypassing anything you can. And check to see if any controls affect the whistle. In my case the Comp/limiter modified the whistle so we know its coming from before there in the signal path...

[quote name='mikejones1732' post='1296621' date='Jul 7 2011, 11:30 PM']Thanks for the suggestions so far. I must say, I hadnt really considered buying new, but I think I'll visit a few shops to check out the Squiers. Can I just ask (and sorry if this makes me sound like a snob) but how good are Squier basses? As a guitarist, I equate Squier with cheap components and poor workmanship - basic, entry level stuff. They are usually badly let down by their pickups. Is this the case with basses, or are they of a better standard? I suppose another way to ask the question is - I have a budget of £250/£300. Am I still in 'entry level' territory, or should this kind of money get me something a bit better than that. Thanks again to all who have taken the time to reply - much appreciated. Cheers Mike[/quote] These days the Squier stuff is pretty good. The only thing to look out for is quality control. The modern computer aided manufacturing processes used today mean there is little difference between the cheapest basses and some top brand stuff! The real difference comes in the finishing and its all down to the amount of 'human' time spent. A well known brand bass will have a good hour or so spent on snagging (filing down protruding frets, set-up, testing, cleaning up etc.) At the lower end you'll be lucky to get 5 minutes spent on them, but prior to that the production techniques are largely the same. You can pick up a pretty good bass for not much money with the Squiers and Epiphones etc. that are made in the Far east. You might have to spend a bit of time setting it up properly (or get your local luthier to do it) and if you use it a lot you'll probably want to invest in upgrading it. But for home recording a Squier Jaguar will give you a good range of tones and once set-up will be pretty good to play. I bought a Squier Jazz bass a little while ago and after I had it set up by Bernie Goodfellow its now my main bass!

Maplin also sell all you need to make your own. They can be a bit more pricey than online but if you have one nearby its still cheaper than buying pre-made ones from a music shop.

[quote name='Ian Savage' post='1294160' date='Jul 5 2011, 11:48 PM']Since we're on a positive experiences tip, I'd like to flag Eminence (okay, not a retailer, but still) - had bought a couple of their Beta 12" speakers to fit to some monitor cabs and emailed them regarding good tweeters to match, crossover frequencies etc - nothing was too much trouble, and the guy flagged a couple of potential issues with how I was thinking about doing things which actually made me realise that just buying a couple of Eminence's own pre-built crossover boards would be easier, cheaper and more effective. Okay, so they've also sold a couple of extra X-over boards into the bargain, but I suspect I'd still be faffing around with capacitors, inductors and resistors on veroboard if I hadn't asked them [/quote] I'll second that about Eminence, they were legendary. I'd originally tried to buy some Celestions because I had data on their speakers that suggested it was the best replacement for my blown PAS drivers in my GoliathII. Celestion were next to useless, couldn't supply direct, couldn't tell me who in the UK could supply the model i wanted, or even if it was still a current model. Couldn't tell me when they would be making some more... I spoke to Eminence about my problem and after much discussion they worked out the best model to fit my cab, checked the compatibility for me and arranged to send me four new drivers next day, in the snow, over Xmas as I needed to be up and running for a NYE gig. All this despite the fact they have Uk distributors to handle non-trade enquiries. They also followed up ion the new year to check that everything worked out ok for me!

The speakers should be full range in those - i may be wrong, the tweeter just deals with the realy high frequencies. This might be an amp issue. Try running an mp3 or something (full range) through the amp and play with the tone controls - see if the top end has gone from the amp. IF theres a headphone socket in the amp even better, check the signal from the mp3 is OK - can you hear the hi-hats? If you have the treble in the phones but not through the speaker, the problem may still be in the amp though. If the amp is fine, check the fuse on the crossover (usually these are glass slow blow type) inside the speaker with the tweeter.

[quote name='escholl' post='1293414' date='Jul 5 2011, 01:59 PM']I'm not really sure a lesson is cab design is really very helpful right now. Also, loudspeakers are a lot more forgiving than some 'experts' here seem to think -- it is possible to replace a driver without opening WinISD or having a degree in acoustics, you know. Sid, if I were you I would give Ashdown's technical service a call on 01621 856010, they will be able to tell you if indeed it is the drivers, and I'm sure they'd be willing to sell you two exact replacements too, if need be.[/quote] I agree, this is probably the best solution you'll get on here Sid, call the people who made it and you'll get expert advice and a correct replacement part for whatever is at fault - it may also be covered by warranty. I'm not going to get into whats right and wrong with what people have said on here. Speakers/cabinets/amps are a minefield so if you don't know what you're doing - leave it to the experts. No amount of armchair physics are gonna help here!

Hey Ted I got the same model, and I was blown away with it. Arrived pretty much ready to play, action maybe a bit high for me but lowered without any trouble. Like you I swapped to a Gotoh bridge and upgraded to CTS pots. I also stuck a set of Wizard pickups in ('74 custom build) because I found I was playing his one more than my 90s MIA Jazz AND my '79 MM Sabre!! Now its my main axe and I leave the others at home more often than not! (oh the shame) The Duncan designed pickups sound pretty good (a bit like the Marcus Miller sound with that big mid-range honk!) but they were microphonic on mine and the Wizards I have in now take it to another league! The originals might be Duncan Designed, but they are not Duncan Made! My only gripe with it is the neck finish. The satin is lovely and slick to play on but it does look a bit anemic. For a 70s Vintage look they could easily have used a stain to give the warmer colour to the wood. It looks so pale next to my (genuine 70s) MusicMan and even the 90s JB. So my last mod (when I stop playing it every day) will be to refinish the front of the neck to bring out the colour of the wood more - the contrast with the white binding and the black body will look great I reckon! one thing I'll say to anyone looking to buy one of these is the maple neck is pretty soft. if you're the sort of person who leaves the bass leaning against the top of the amp you're going to get a dented neck pretty fast with one of these. I wouldn't take the neck off too many times either - in fact I wouldn't unscrew anything too often - I had to re-fill the control plate holes when I changed the pots over. baking soda and super-glue did the trick though. Also, because of the price they are probably quite inconsistent in terms of QC - Ted and I got lucky I think, I tried one of the natural finish ones in the shop and it was awful, even after a set up. So TRY BEFORE YOU BUY! but hey, its a quality bass for chuff all money - certainly far more than I expected for £250 and it plays like a dream!

500k pots are generally for humbuckers (which the standard JB pickups arent) so you should probably stick with 250k. You may have a particularly nasty pot, so you could try replacing with a better quality 250k log (I did this in my squier jazz and it worked) or you could try a linear pot (250k) and see if it gives you a smoother response - but these are generally better for tone controls.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1293074' date='Jul 5 2011, 09:16 AM']All that is wrong. Watts don't mean anything, and ohms mean not much, the bit that matches drivers to cabs are another set of specifications entirely. Predicting how speakers work in a box without actually trying is quite difficult, but if you throw up the box dimensions (ideally internal, it is the amount of air in the box that is important), and where the box has a port/vent/hole in it and how big that hole is, some people can make some more informed decisions.[/quote] I beg to differ. Its not just about matching cabs to drivers... put a 100w 4 ohm speaker into a 200w 8 ohm amp and you will soon see, the power will be too much for the speaker and the amp will be underloaded. result, blown speaker, blown amp. Having said that, there is more to speaker/cabinet matching than just chucking in any old speaker. If your cab is an ashdown (don't get me started) then the best replacement would be an ashdown speaker - the cabinet is designed for this. Although in a 2x10" most are quite similar in size. Yes you may need to adjust the port length for the particular speaker to get optimum results but the end result of using a mis-matched cab/speaker combo is purely the frequency response which you can compensate for with EQ to some degree. The result of using a mis-matched amp/speaker combo is you could either underload or overload the amp and speakers and lose both!

125W would work fine as long as they are 4ohm speakers. Wire them in series to get 8 ohms to your amp. If you want 4 ohms to your amp get 8 ohm speakers and wire them in parallel. The watts is not such an issue as long as the total power handling is higher than your amp output you can't go wrong. Your old speakers handle a total of 200W, the ones you have found will handle up to 250W from your amp. To be honest though the higher the watts the better - Eminence do a speaker called the Legend which takes about 200W on each speaker so the handling of your 2x10 would be 400W - you'll have trouble blowing those unless you have a stupidly powerful amp!

Just add a switch to wire the two J pickups in series Like the fender s-1 switch (completely reversible mod that will cost a couple of quid for the switch/pot). And play it over the neck pickup (as you would on a precision) Thats about as close as you'll get without routing and putting in a split P pickup. Adding any amount of active electronics will not a Precision make! I've done this to my Jazz and I use this setting for Stranglers/Blondie/Clash etc. covers - sounds pretty convincing to me and I'm a qualified sound engineer!

[quote name='icastle' post='1259585' date='Jun 7 2011, 12:45 PM']It sounds like a defective capacitor. If you've only just bought it then take it back.[/quote] Cheers, I bought it secondhand and the petrol to pick it up cost me nearly the same as the amp, so taking it back might not be the best option. It was a good price even for just the speaker so might just take it to be fixed. Anyone know a good amp tech near Brighton?

I recently bought a Hartke A100 Kickback for practicing. Got it home, practiced for an hour, all fine. Then it started making a squeaking noise - a bit like a signal generator, continuous but falling in pitch very slowly (like a badly tuned radio). When the limiter kicks in the noise stops temporarily but as soon as the light goes off it squeaks again. The first time I turned it off, waited for the thud, and on again all fine. 5 minutes later the squeak is back. Not sure if its temperature related because now i've left it a while the squeak has gone again. Any ideas? Cheers B

I think you'll need to strip it back to the wood with nitromors and layer up with some coats of either nitro or polyurethane. rub down between coats and you should eventually get a smooth finish back. Then you can either paint or leave it natural

What he said Volume Pots are LOG Tone are Linear. I assumed you already had these in the bass to connect up to.

Try DR bootzillas or D'Addario EXP Coated - others are probably available. I used to go through strings really fast like you but the DRs especially last for ages.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1235648' date='May 18 2011, 01:18 PM']I'm not sure you can have "blend" while they are in series.[/quote] It is possible to do, obviously the blend pot does not function when in series. There are a couple of ways to do it, one makes the bass cut out completely when the blend pot is turned all the way to one end. The better way to do it just overrides the blend pot completely but its slightly more complicated. Heres a diagram. For a blend pot just substitute the pickup switch for a pot - same wiring.

I wouldn't get into the habit of tensioning and de-tensioning strings too much. It can interfere with the harmonic properties of the string. Also, you will get flat spots where the frets have been and these will hardly ever line up. Some people take old dull strings off and boil them for a while to make them sound brighter. When I've done this I get almost a chorus effect out of the strings when they are back up to tension, and they don't last that long either. What makes strings go dull is sweat and bits of skin etc getting into the grooves of the string winding. When you take the strings off the dirt in the grooves gets compressed, when you tension again the grooves get slightly larger so the compressed dirt loosens and falls out. Boiling them gives a deeper clean but the changes in temperature also deteriorate the sound properties of the string. You could try cleaning the strings, under tension with isopropyl alchohol (don't use whiskey!). You could also try wiping the strings with a lint free cloth after every time you play the bass to prolong their life. Some people make strings go dull quicker than others, it depends on the acidity of your sweat. When i was touring a set of steel elites would last me two nights before they turned into rubber bands! I use the D'addario EXP coated strings these days, they are not cheap but they last for ages, the only ones I've tried that last longer are the DR Bootzillas but they are super expensive and have quite a harsh sound. B