JapanAxe

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1382480660' post='2252819'] If you are Bristol way, can come try them in my tester with actual buttons and levers and suchlike. [/quote] Thank you kindly Mr F, I may well take you up on that!

Just tried a Sylvania in V1 and then in V2. Possibly more open sounding, but I actually preferred the more driven sound that I had before! Also [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/220101-12ax7-ecc83-plate-voltages/page__view__findpost__p__2252628"]this[/url].

MDP had better watch out!

[i][color=#0000cd][b][size=8]D'oh![/size][/b][/color][/i] What a doofus! The figures I quoted at the start of the thread were measured against chassis ground, but what [i]really[/i] matters is the potential difference between the plate and the cathode. I actually measured the PD between the cathode and ground when I first took my readings. Subtracting these, I find the plate-to-cathode PDs are all in the range 197V-212V, well within the recommended and design maxima (300V and 330V as far as I can tell). I also got a very prompt email reply from Fender, who kindly sent me the schematics for the pre-amp board and the back panel PSU. The latter is a completely conventional step-down transformer, followed by a full-wave rectifier and a simple LP filter for smoothing. The output of this is marked as 315V DC, but that is with a primary voltage of 230V AC. UK mains voltage is required by law to be 230V (+10%/-6%), i.e. 216V-253V. It is typically 240V, and I measured ours (with the same uncalibrated meter) as 242V. Therefore the nominal 315V DC supply should actually be 315V*242V/230V = 331.4V. I measured it and got a reading of 336V, only 1% difference! Genz-Benz will have been well aware of these tolerances when designing for the various markets. So - I am no longer worried that the amp is frying my tubes. However, I do wonder why the change in performance of the old Peavey tubes. It could well be that (a) they are cheapos, and ( they had an easier life before I put them in the Streamliner. EDIT: It appears that the letter b followed by a closing parenthesis is interpreted as an emoticon! Next step will be to fit a NOS Sylvania in V1, then try JJs in V2 and V3. I will be monitoring their condition closely, and this brings me to my final observation, one I am reluctant to make after dropping £349 to own it - [i]the Orange valve tester might not be all that![/i]

Bought some NOS valves from Gareth - quick to reply to all PMs, quick to dispatch the goods, and a true gentleman to boot. Cheers Gareth!

Wow! Is that a Burlington close-coupled pan? Mint!

Not sure what the problem is with Audacity - that's what I use.

Now states made in Japan 1993/4.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1382300477' post='2250447'] Tsk! They just don't understand, do they? Relic Strat or a brand new kitchen? [/quote] We've already had the kitchen and it cost a lot more than that!

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1382301337' post='2250466'] I like Jazz. Moondance is one of my favourite numbers. [/quote] LMFAO

Most of my musical purchases come from gig money or selling off redundant kit, but even so Mrs Axe was horrified and spent several days in shock when I dropped £2.5k on a relic Strat. EDIT: But no she didn't stop me.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1382294700' post='2250297'] Mention 'jazz' to people and, aside from a few who like it, the reactions seem to be very negative, some even hostile. People don't react like this to 'classical' music do they? So why is jazz the recipient of so much unfair stereotyping and derision? Or is it? Mention 'metal' or 'hip hop' to a lot of people and they might react similarly. [/quote] You should try mentioning country music! [quote name='ambient' timestamp='1382297506' post='2250381'] Why is there a national Jazz FM radio station ? [/quote] Do you mean to say Jazz FM have started to play jazz?

I recently fitted a set of Status flats (40-125) to my G&L 5-string. From my enquiries I found I was at least the third owner to be using the Ernie Ball set (45-130 flats) that was on there, so it was probably about time! People have commented on these forums that the Status flats are good value, and indeed they are cheap as chips, nice and smooth, and sound good, except... I am getting horrible 'wolf tones' on the B string. This manifests itself as audible notes close to the note you are playing, which gets worse as you introduce drive, as they create dissonant harmonics too; sometimes a wavering in pitch; and if you set the intonation correctly at the 12th fret, fretted notes at the 5th and 7th frets sound flat, as though the frets have moved! I played the bass to a musician friend and he confirmed what I was hearing. I have already backed off the pick-up and the B-string pole-pieces as far as they will go, so short of raising the action (and thus compromising playability), I am scratching my head as to what to do next. For the time being I will re-fit the old string or maybe a half-round from another spare set. Has anyone else encountered this, with Status or other strings, and can anyone recommend other strings that are not so prone to this effect? I suppose I can start that list with Ernie Ball flats and D'Addario half-rounds, as neither of them gave this problem!

I have just re-tested the old Peavey valves that I used in V2 and V3 positions. The 'before' test was after a long working life in the front end of a Peavey Duel; the 'after' test was following some home use, a jam, and a gig in the Streamliner. The figures are Orange's 'matching values': V2 before 9/9 GOOD - after 9/15 FAIL V3 before 8/10 GOOD - after 8/15 FAIL The Orange manual states: 'if two matching values are apart by more than 6 values the VT1000 will fail the valve', so that [i]could[/i] be the only reason. Bizarrely, the matching value (basically an indicator of the gain) of triode B in each valve has [i]increased[/i] after use in the Streamliner. So is the Streamliner messing with the valves? And is excessive plate voltage the reason? The valves still work, as did the Ruby Tubes that I took out from those positions. Looking back at their matching values, one triode is definitely below par (score 3) and both pairs are 6 or more apart in value, which the Orange would class as a fail. Now I'm thoroughly confused! Although I carry spare valves, I don't want to have a mid-gig fail for obvious reasons, especially if it's preventable. I'll wait and see what Genz Benz (i.e. Fender) say, but in the meantime any more words of wisdom on this thread will be appreciated!

Harvey Vinson's book 'Rhythm Guitar' (which in all other respects was pretty effective in educating me as an 18-year-old beginner) warned that a hybrid pick-and-fingers technique was a short cut to mediocrity. Someone should have told that to James Burton, Albert Lee, Jerry Donahue etc.

I had one 1-hour singing lesson and it made an enormous difference!

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1382138681' post='2248695'] had a lot of 'working' amps where the valves don't test great. [/quote] Yes the amp was working before I swapped the valves. [quote name='kennyrodg' timestamp='1382173890' post='2248853'] What about PM'ing Aged Horse on TB. You might get a quicker response rather than waiting for Fender to get back to you. I had cause to email them over my recent STM900 purchase and waited nearly a week. Just thinking out loud ........ [/quote] I'm not on Talkbass!

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1382138681' post='2248695'] Those the voltages without any valves in? It drops when you are running some. Cheapy valves sometimes start dying pretty soon, had a lot of 'working' amps where the valves don't test great. The orange tester give you any clue what was wrong? [/quote] Those were the voltages with valves in place (and warmed up), input muted. There appears to be no 'standby' mode in the sense of turning the HT off. The Orange tester gave the following matching values on Orange's proprietary scale: V1 (JJ) GOOD 11 & 13 V2 (Ruby) FAIL 3 & 14 V3 (Ruby) FAIL 8 & 14 It doesn't tell you why they've failed, but there is a list of all the tests it does [url="http://www.orangeamps.com/products/accessories/amplifier-management/vt1000/"]here[/url]. V2 scored a matching value of 3 (on a scale of 1 to 15) which Orange rate as WORN, so I guess V3 must have failed on something else. Although on one hand it wouldn't help to know the failure mode (as obviously you can't fix a broken valve!), on the other it might help to diagnose an amp fault. Genz-Benz's [url="http://www.genzbenz.com/?fa=detail&mid=2663&sid=675&cid=95"]online blurb[/url] describes the pre-amp as '300 volt' but that could just be a round figure to impress potential buyers! Actually I think I'll email them.Watch this space!

Already got a JJ in V1, which has the lower plate voltages. Might try one Sylvania in V1 and the other one in my guitar amp, which has JJs throughout.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/220101-12ax7-ecc83-plate-voltages"]Read me![/url]

I have just bought some NOS Sylvania 12AX7WA valves to use in the preamp of my Streamliner 900 (thanks walbassist!). However, before installing them I just wanted to check that I'm not going to trash them in short order. The reasons for my caution are: (1)I have just measured the plate voltages in the Streamliner with reference to chassis ground, and they are: V1 206V & 209V V2 321V & 323V V3 199V & 320V (2) Max plate voltage in the [url="http://www.mif.pg.gda.pl/homepages/frank/sheets/137/1/12AX7.pdf"]Sylvania spec sheet[/url] is 300V. (3) When I first got the amp (used), V2 and V3 were out of spec according to my Orange valve tester. Does anyone have useful comments on this? Mr Foxen perhaps? EDIT for screwed up MS Word table!

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1382092521' post='2247744'] Bose. No, no, no. Cut your losses and invest in traditional PA. The Bose is exceptionally good for quieter acoustic setups but you'll never get the volume and control you'll need for a pub band. [/quote] I use a Bose L1 setup for my pop and country covers trios and although it is great in those applications, I suspect EBS_freak is right when it comes to the higher volumes and confined spaces of a pub gig. In fact thinking about it, I have actually used the Bose on 2 gigs in pubs and found we were limited on volume in the smaller rooms, whereas village halls and social clubs never give us a problem. EDIT: I have found the best placement for the Bose is to the side of the stage, pointing at the diagonally opposite corner of the room.