umph

right i've done a few amp builds now and recently redid two of them with new tone stacks / layouts etc. so first off this was the firts amp i built on a course a while ago now and is based on a bassman 5f6 it puts out around 50watts from 2 6l6s and does a lovely warm vintage sound on low volumes and sounds the absolute dogs cranked with guitar full picture full guts power section pre section Next i got a roost amp a while ago that was in quite a state of disrepair but the transformers where still good (i love partridge) so i rebuilt most of it and recently stuck a new preamp in which needs tidying up after a bit more testing. It has a low gain simple preamp with just gain, bass, treble, bass boost and volume controls and a single input, so it wont do you heavy overdriven front end sounds but it'll do nice power amp overdrive which is very nice with 6Xel34s. I havn't had it on the test gear yet since my dummy load exploded (always remember to turn your fans on) but it should be doing around 150watts! The head box definatly needs doing up and i'm going to be sourcing someone out to rebuild the box / make me a front plate at some point and have it done in racing green hopefully! If anyone knows anyone around the sheffield area whos good at this and isn't going to charge the earth i'd be greatful. front back whole of guts preamp - will be redone on a bigger board and tidied once i'm 100% sure i'm not going to be changing anything. my next project is going to be modding a harley benton GA5 (epiphone valve junior) into a more bass friendly recording amp that'll do big gain sounds! overall i'm quite pleased with my efforts so far in building amps although its turning into a very expensive hobby although i do recomend other people taking it up if you have the time.

[quote name='BassAgent' post='639885' date='Oct 29 2009, 11:32 AM']Nope... I've just tried it out "fa real" and, when actually switched on, it doesn't sound half bad. It's the switching that's crooked. It sounds a bit like a car starting.[/quote] it speeds up when you turn it on? i.e like a leslie motor?

has it been serviced recently? also try boosting hte lower mids as apposed to the highs

very tempted by the 8X10 anyone ever had a go with one before?

aye tis why i said if you intend to hang onto it [url="http://www.schematicheaven.com/effects/mesaboogie_v1-bottlerocket.pdf"]http://www.schematicheaven.com/effects/mes...ottlerocket.pdf[/url] the tone stack is essentially the marshall tonestack without the mid knob if you replace the two 10k resistors with a 25k pot you'd have adjustable mids.

great pedals i'd recomend modding it and adding a mid control if you intend to hang onto it though!

[quote name='Sonic_Groove' post='632204' date='Oct 21 2009, 11:03 AM']I agree with all of the above (and I won't tell you how we used to power up domestic equipment that didn't have a lead!!!) apart from the get it replaced bit. I would decommission the unit (it is not as if it's an old AC30 or Marshall). If it's been standing in a cupboard you don't need it and H&H weren't "cool" even when the Floyd used them at Pompeii ! Bin it save yourself the grief! B[/quote] nowt wrong with H&H amps, very underated in my opinion

[quote name='Leftbass' post='630309' date='Oct 19 2009, 01:08 PM']Is it possible to tell when the pre amp valve is on its way out? What are the signs? Audible or visual[/quote] if it starts to squeel when you tap it or flashes, then thats a sign its on its way out. pre amp valves can last a very long time, i've got some in my beck amp that've been going near on 60 years!

[quote name='tischbein' post='631716' date='Oct 20 2009, 07:41 PM']I bought this damn 12V juicy lucy and thought I could use it on my EBS and Boss pedals...[/quote] definatly don't use it on your boss and ebs pedals, unless you like the smell of smoke ;o there are a few ways of dropping the voltage but as said it'd be alot easier just buying a 9v power adapter!

[quote name='SS73' post='631715' date='Oct 20 2009, 07:41 PM']Thats a shame I have about 20 Mullard ECC82's, I thought you were after the ECC83's ( which are hard to find at decent prices) when you said Mullard pre amp tubes...[/quote] how much are you after for the 82s?

[quote name='Samniner' post='622923' date='Oct 11 2009, 10:27 AM']Here is my current setup. Yup a fan here... [/quote] that bass fuzz looks tasty

[quote name='Anders' post='630496' date='Oct 19 2009, 04:40 PM']Anyone know a good place to buy Mullard preamptubes,or similar,in Europe?[/quote] ey up ebays your best call for NOS if you buying new ones i'd go for JJ's over the new mullards.

[quote name='Jack' post='628868' date='Oct 17 2009, 05:25 PM']Epiphone Valve Junior? The combo isn't great for bass but I've played the head through my GK cab and loved the results so much I'm thinking I want one.[/quote] i've just seen how cheap the thomann clones of these are and it's becoming very hard not to grab one for a modding project!

[quote name='RichardH' post='628122' date='Oct 16 2009, 05:20 PM']That's how it started. The guitarist emailed me with a link to a ZVex, and said "how about one of these as a practice amp", and I fell over backwards when I saw the price. I knew that over on the [url="http://www.ax84.com"]AX84 forum[/url] there was a project for a tiny amp, and a quick look round found a [url="http://web.me.com/calhoun/Site/Firefly_PCB.html"]pcb for it[/url]. Some jiggering around and some swearing later, these chappies were born. They're not clean by any means. [url="http://dustyend.com/audio/firefly/firefly_celestion65_sample.mp3"]Here's a sound sample[/url] with my chum on guitar, with me varying the boost and gain to give an idea of how it sounds at various settings. It also sounds totally superb as a harp amp - really saturated "Mark Feltham" sound. When I get some time I'm going to experiment with changing a few things to get a wider clean range for bass use.[/quote] i've been thinking about making one of these but i've got sidetracked into building a 1.5watt single ended amp into one of my basses! i don't think the firefly design will ever lend itself to bass very well unless you really stiffened up the power supply. That clip sounds the dogs though!

[quote name='velvetkevorkian' post='627629' date='Oct 16 2009, 10:26 AM'][/quote] sorry its the chimaera on the mammothsoundaudio link. i also do a valve clean boost which is designed to run as clean as possible while providing around 18db of boost.

[quote name='TheButler' post='614712' date='Oct 2 2009, 12:45 PM']Well, just as i thought i had pretty much decided what i wanted i thought i'd post on here, and get me some advice from the seasoned, experienced lot that you are! Truth be told, i'm not too clued up and i'm naive to the ways of such things. I kinda know that i'm wanting valve. Call it a psychological thing, or maybe its just the sound being much more pleasing to my ear... or both, but i'm wanting valve. My last rig was a Hughes and Kettner BassBase600 and a 300W H&K 410. The cab didn't release the potential of the amp, which was a shame, but i was young(er) and couldn't afford anything better. Anyway, thats gone now and all that i have t play through is my laptop and headphones! As i've put in many a thread i've been thinking about a Mesa 400+, Matamp GT200 or a Hiwatt 400. I've only ever played a 400+ and a Hiwatt 100... but nonetheless i think they're all quite tasty, i'm just finding it difficult to differentiate between them, or justify getting one over the other. I'll set the scene. I'm 19, and reasonably able - so rig weight ain' no thang. The money side of things will be sorted out in November thanks to slave labour in the local bakery. I reckon i will have near enough £2K to spend on the lot (shh!) The band i'm in right now is perfect for me, and i'm ready to make a big commitment to it. We're gigging extensively, but right now i'm sponging off others, using their rigs I have 2 guitars to compete with; we're talking post-rock instrumentation - think Mogwai, Explosions, 65dos etc - so they're bloody loud. I think she is getting an Orange rig sorted out at the mo' which will be an AD-50 or Rockerverb 50 and at least a 4x12. The other guitar will likely just be through a smaller Orange rig... still loud no doubt. We're talking about UK and maybe Europe next year too, and playing some big venues when we support other bands on the label. Anyway, what do people think? Its not really very easy for me to try out a GT200, or indeed a Hiwatt 400. My mate has the 400+ and i already love it. Oh, and i haven't even thought about cabs Cheers for any help folks, much appreciated.[/quote] those new oranges never really do the wattage and there not really THAT loud, so i'd try and avoid the 400watter heads since your never going to be able to crank them and i figured bass in tpr is either mixed out or over the top distortion so my recomendation would be to go for the gt200 or something with lots of el34s (4 or more)

got a clip up of a feedback looper up on my site if you wanna hear what one does with a distortion in it.

bassmans are great for low volume type stuff, also look into epiphone juniors, should be loud enough to practice with and if you've got some spare cash you could get one modded into a great amp! Which i could do for you if you want

[quote name='Silent Fly' post='621407' date='Oct 9 2009, 10:46 AM']I am not sure I understand why you would like to run the effects in a second amp. Unless the the second amp has a very strong personality, from the sound viewpoint, you should be able to achieve the same thing with a blender.[/quote] head room also if your running big octave down effects in parallel or bass heavy fuzzs it'll eat into the headroom so it's easier on the amps to run them in parallel. Also you can eq them differently!

[quote name='thedonutman' post='620839' date='Oct 8 2009, 06:28 PM']Have I missed the boat on this? (I'm in Sheffield.)[/quote] +1 i should have my 200watter up and ready by then so it'd be good to blast that through one of these!

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='622120' date='Oct 9 2009, 10:54 PM']Do they do them for bass? Too many knobs and channels on that, although no idea why someone would want a 200w guitar head.[/quote] guitarists like to be far to loud

[quote name='Musicman20' post='621470' date='Oct 9 2009, 11:40 AM']I know they are different inside, and the whole PTP argument, but the sound? On that night, very similar.[/quote] new orange amp (sorry can't find a picture of the ad200b guts but it will be very similar) - also check out the cheapo bare minimum spec components these amps aren't built to last at all orange 15 years ago matamp nowadays (not the best since its a little rock but you get the point) in my opinion orange are going to run that company into the ground, i've no idea how they've maintained the reputation for being similar to matamp qualitywise and soundwise nowadays but it frustrates me as you can tell ;p theres no sound difference between PTP and PCB other than its easier to get a noiseless and humfree layout if you do it PTP PTP is alot easier to work on / fix than pcbs to.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='621422' date='Oct 9 2009, 10:57 AM']I am of the view that the Matamp and Orange heads are very very similar.[/quote] you couldn't be further from the truth! they both started as the same company, but thats about the only resemblance they share nowadays! The circuitry and build quality are miles apart. in regards to dirty though, have you ever cranked a hiwatt chris? if i were you i'd keep an eye out for a roost / vintage hiwatt / soundcity 120 or even nab that simm watts head that keeps appearing on ebay and let me do it up for you ;>