JapanAxe

For several months, two items have been sitting on my work station, taunting me every day: 1. Bag of UF5408 diodes 2. 10H 90mA choke Until today! 1. For some reason this amp didn't like my earlier attempt to ease the strain on its rectifier valve by adding SS diodes. Today I routed the incoming AC through UF5408s mounted across to the unused pins on the socket, and all is well. No change in sonic performance, just the likelihood of increased longevity for the rectifier valve. 2. That background buzz. I thought it might be power supply related, which is why, months ago, I bought a suitable choke, with the intention of trying it between the first and second power supply nodes. The buzz was unaffected by the volume control until it was up nearly full, where there was a null point. The volume control comes just before the PI, so I pulled V2 - no buzz. I re-routed the screened cable carrying signal to the first control grid of V2, and tried moving around (with a chopstick) the wires running to V2 - no change. Then I got out my cap-shorting device, a probe with a 330R resistor inside and a croc clip on the other end that I connect to ground. When I touched it to the first V2 grid the noise disappeared. That means the only place it could be coming from was the 470k grid stopper. Eh? Examining the schematic, I saw that these 470k resistors are not in fact there as grid stoppers, but to provide resistive mixing for the two channels as they feed into the PI. Going through the schematics I saw that all except the Heritage version used 270k resistors in this position. Given that I'd built a single channel amp, I arguably didn't need a resistor there at all. Then again, I'm aware that grid stoppers can prevent oscillation, so I thought it would be a good idea to have something there. I looked at 6SL7 circuits online but many didn't use any grid stoppers. In the end I tried an arbitrary 1k, and hey presto, the buzz is gone, at least until you get the amp wound up close to Patent Pending. I'm not entirely sure why the 470k resistor would cause buzz, maybe someone can chip in with an explanation. I didn't need the choke in the end, but no matter, it will find a cosy home in one of my boxes of Useful Bits.

It sounded less good than plugging in direct. I should mention that I have modded mine to take out some of the baked-in mid-scoop, which made it slightly less bad (to my ears). I know a lot of people love the BDI21 but I don't.

I had one of these and I can confirm they are utter Barry White.

This all day. Also it's particularly distressing to see a nice 60s or 70s P that has been butchered by the addition of a J pickup about a millimetre from the bridge. Anyhow, as others have mentioned, to the OP - find the bass that feels and sounds good to you.

Cheers, any thoughts on keyed or keyless? Edit: also ‘ouch’.

Cheers, any thoughts on keyed or keyless?

Cheers Paul

I’ve been listening to Bowie’s song The London Boys recently, and the clarinet intro got me thinking about playing it on recorder. I have a couple of chewed-up (literally!) descants that I rarely touch but a lower compass would be better. I started looking at stuff on YouTube about tenor recorders and I’m quite taken with the idea of getting one. I read music and I already know the notes in the first octave so I would have a bit of a start. Recommendations picked up so far are for Yamaha or Aulos with baroque fingering. I have long fingers so could probably manage keyless. Any BCers admit to playing one of these, or maybe have a significant other who does? Top tips?

There are worse sins e.g. a dotted crotchet across the middle of a 4/4 bar, a minim starting on the second quaver of a beat - very difficult to process on the fly!

Any good for metal?

All being well, having a party at home with our family: our son and his wife (who we haven’t seen in 2 years as they live in Madrid) and our daughter, her husband, and our 2 grandkids. We’ll probably risk asphyxiation by following the Spanish tradition of trying to eat a grape on each stroke of midnight.

My question related to the thread, not you mate!

Is this an offshoot of the Den of Iniquity thread?

Just scroll through the BC Marketplace ads until you see something that piques your interest. If it turns out not to be for you, you’ll drop little or no money in return for the experience of playing with it for a bit.

This has been an ongoing quest for me too. What has worked for me: - DI into my interface - has to have plenty of headroom, otherwise transients cause clipping; - Cali76 compressor; - Two Notes Torpedo CAB with IRs based on 6L6 power amp, speaker to taste; - Line out from Demeter head. What hasn’t worked for me: - Behringer BDI21; - Korg PX4B.

I maintain all my gigging kit myself and get it PAT tested annually. I keep the certificate with said kit. PLI comes from my MU membership. I wouldn’t want to be without either of these protections. As regards PRS, yes that’s down to the venue. A few weeks ago on a rock’n’roll covers gig a PRS rep came up and introduced himself and confirmed that very point. I let him take a photo of the set list and he sat at the front chowing down a pub meal whilst looking up songs on his laptop. This kept him busy because there were a lot of quite short songs! So don’t worry about that but if you play originals, make sure to register and you can claim a few extra bob per gig.

¡Vale! Tocaste esa canción muy bien.

I have a One 10 and a Super Twin and I do end up EQing them differently with the same head - for me the Super Twin needs more mids but less bass.

I have the same problem with a Les Paul Junior guitar (not bass) and I find it helps to have my right foot resting on a small stool about 10-15cm high off the floor.

Very sharp!

Tuner pedal for silent tuning (and changing over basses if necessary). Put a fork in me, I’m done.

This may help: https://www.electrosmash.com/mxr-phase90 I would be looking to increase the gain of the input buffer, or if that causes distortion, the output buffer.