basstone

I know what you mean about black screws, but get yourself a medium tip black permanent marker and silver screws become black (at least the bits you can see anyway). It sometimes takes a bit of working into the posi head but overall gives a good effect. It's also handy for touching up black screws that are slightly damaged by the screwdriver, I touch up black screws after repairing / modifying all types of gear and it greatly enhances the overall appearance!

I might be tempting fate, but at one band rehearsal a power surge caused my GK MB500 amp to go completely dead but fortunately I could use a spare channel on the keyboard amp for the rest of the evening. Next day I opened up my amp, fearing the worst, found and replaced the blown main power fuse and all was well again and has been fine ever since on many gigs and rehearsals. Nothing is 100% reliable and best practice is to have a fallback solution of either a spare amp or DI into the PA or whatever works for you in a particular situation. Although a failure, particularly early on in ownership, can knock confidence in a bit of kit, I have repaired dozens of amps that have gone on to subsequently provide reliable service for many years. Unless a design is known to be weak or flawed, I'd personally always give give it another go.

Most of that spray will go over the outside of the LEDs. You really need to take the volume control board out. Ensure that the mains power is off and completely disconnected, remove the top cover, remove the volume control knob ( just pull outwards) and undo the nut holding the pot and its board in place. There is no need to disconnect the cable just don't pull on it. Spray the rectangular pot body nd rotate the volume shaft over its whole range. In my experience this does the trick. If in any doubt take it to a tech to do.

Yes that’s it. The volume knob pulls off then undo the nut on the pot which holds the board in place. There is no obvious opening to spray the cleaner into but a general spray all around cleaned mine up nicely.

Could be worth giving it a second chance, perhaps not on a gig! just to try to localise the problem? Mine had a slightly noisy volume control when it arrived, mainly up near maximum volume. I opened it up (I wanted to see inside anyway),took the volume board out for better access and gave it a quick spray with servisol and it was perfect from there on. Not what should be needed with a new bit of kit but effective. We don't know how long these amps have been on the shelf and we all know that pots tend to get noisy if not used, regardless of the make / cost etc! and still a bargain at £150!

This bass looks really cool. I love the way the extra tuner has been installed to maintain straight string lines over the nut. Any chance of more details of the extra string anchor and tuning arrangement?

Second that. They have always been more than helpful when I have an Ashdown to repair, unlike a few other well known companies! If you need replacement parts they can usually supply them at a reasonable price.

I should think so! I couldn't resist buying one as a spare amp at that price. Fast delivery especially for this time of year. The Veyron compares very favourably with my GK SM500 class D amp, probably similar power output and more than enough for most situations. The Bugera is bigger and heavier but it does look more the part on top of the cabs whereas the GK does tend to look a bit lost as it's so small! One feature the Bugera has that the GK does not is the compressor and I found it was very usable in small doses. Thanks for the tip Stew

My first commercial amp was a Polytone Minibrute III 15" combo , bought secondhand in the 1990s. It does not look particularly scientifically designed as it's nominally a sealed box as small as the 15" driver would allow with a very modest 50W solid state amp., which would do 100w with the similarly sized 15" extension cab. It was used extensively for jazz gigs with fretted and fretless bass and for pit work. I found it very versatile and ideal for small venues and tight band pits! I preferred the 15" version of the Polytone for the smooth low end, even if lacking the top end and maybe a bit of punch of the 12" versions. I do still have it and used it recently for theatre work. I also have an Ashdown active 15" sub and a GK 1 x 15" both of which get used with 2 X 10S if extra bottom end and volume is needed for bigger gigs. I also have a BC112 Mk3 which I'm tending to use more and more as it is great all round on its own for most situations, and the LFSys Silverstone is an improved version of this! At the end of the day it comes down to what you like to hear that works in your band and gig situation.

Is this one of the first batch of Kits that Stevie had made?

I've replaced quite a few barrel jacks in everything from German Warwicks to electroacoustics. It is also not easy to determine the quality of make of manufacture of replacement parts these days as they all look the same and most are probably made in the same Chinese factory anyway! Part of the problem seems to be that the contacts are fairly small and can loose their spring, which in turn causes intermittent connection. Of course because of the way that they are made it is impossible to to repair them by bending the contacts to improve the connection. I try to replace them with a jack plate and regular old school switchcraft style wherever possible. At least you can see what's going on and adjust contact tension to suit. You just have to watch out for shorts to the control cavity if it is screened as they do take up more width.

#8 @basstone

Another great Bash and great to see so many there. A big thank you to @scrumpymikeand family and all the others who helped make the day a success and so enjoyable.

Thats great news @stevie,I will also be very interested to hear about your 10" cab developments, especially if there is going to be a compact 1 x 10" in the range.