warwickhunt

Thomas Eich went from Tech Sound to Tecamp to Eich! The guy who did the last work said that he was finding it hard to source the part as it was dual core (that might be my recall of what he said) and ended up getting it from Eastern Europe as a special order... for what good it did! Possibly the part wasn't genuinely compatible but without finding a competent repair guy who won't end up charging more than the amp is worth even after the repair, I want to get all the info I can to support the repair.

Mike at Zoot hasn't any info. No reply from Eich re. schematic... I'll give it another week though.

You've all clearly missed the biggest joke. It says Fender on the headstock... and we know Fender only make 4 string basses!

Fired off messages to Eich Amps and Mike... fingers crossed.

You'd think so but whatever the issue is, I'd rather not have to buy and have a 3rd transformer fitted and have it fry on me.

Cheers folks. Yes I tried Tecamp but they basically said it was old/obsolete and they didn't carry spares. I may well try Tecamp again and as @Bill Fitzmaurice has suggested try and get a schematic. Both repair guys said it was a straightforward job as the transformer was only for the 3 valve front end (class D output) but clearly not!

I owned this amp from new, sold it on BC and bought it back but sadly it looks like it is now destined for the bin as the transformer which delivers voltage to the valve front end has died for the 2nd time. The guy who first replaced the original transformer binned the dead unit (despite me asking him to keep it), when it died the 2nd time I used a different repair guy who had to source a unit from Eastern Europe... but this is fried. I hasten to add that the amp is my back up and when it died the 2nd time it had 5 hours use in the house! There is obviously a secondary issue here but neither tech found anything to indicate why they are dying. IF I can get a replacement I'll be sure that some form of diagnosis is followed up to see what, if any, is the issue It is a long shot but does anyone have one of these amps and can give me info from their original transformer or even better, does anyone have an amp that has other issues that they'd sell 'spares/repairs'?

C'mon... it's tongue firmly in cheek!

Lots of helpful information just a few posts up.

Yee gods, I'd not give £900 never mind £9000 even if it does play fantastic.

£200 on FB... makes more sense! Not mine BTW, just saw it in passing and no affiliation with the seller.

Unless the pups are sealed, branded sets (EMG SD Barts etc) you have no way of knowing if they are cheap cack out of a non name £100 bass. My money would be spent on something 'original', a used Squier (just sold a great CV for £250 which would scare those with full blown Fenders) or maybe Sire, Yamaha or similar.

Looked like there weren't any. Other pics show it has but they don't look great!

It's a Squier with a set of replacement pickups... nothing justifys the £400 upgrades. Added to which you'll need to buy new knobs etc!

I've further expanded on my scam baiting! Initial contact for them always starts off 'Is this item available' (stock FB automated message), then you get a question asking about condition and price. That is the big clue it is a scam as the price is in the advert but they aren't ar5ed about the price, just in snaring you into paying the insurance. However, I decided today (because I got one re. a Squier) to be creative. After their message asking about condition and price I replied 'The bass is only good for chopping up for sticks despite me saying it was excellent and the price is £620'... now that price is double what it is advertised for but it'll sort out straight away if it is a scam. Sure enough the reply is 'OK great I will buy.' They then send the usual 'I am at work I will send XYZ courier to collect and pay cash'. I reply 'Yes no problem but the price needs to increase a little to cover my trouble it is now £1240, the address is 10 Downing Street'. Messages continue and I supply the name of our present Prime Minister (who knows?) and the full address of his residence but with each message I'm doubling the price. Before I knew it they had an email address for Rishi and I was getting £9,920 for my Squier... I believe the price achieved may have set a new precedent for a Squier! I shall try and beat this price with my next victim.

I keep a spare/back up amp at home for any amp break down between gigs but I carry a Tech 21 Sansamp in my bag to cover emergencies. We have a pair of full range RCF cabs (725 iirc), no subs and we've tested it and it's fine. As it happens the singer owns the PA and he's just bought one of those new fangled boxes that we plug into and he controls on his ipad (hey I'm a bass player!) and I'm assured I don't even need my Sansamp as the unit has IRs for bass.

TBH a bloke bought a bass off me and he was from NI. He booked the courier and sent me the papers to print off (multiple copies of 3 docs), UPS collected and the courier guy was quite helpful.

I've got a variety of picks kicking about, in fact an estimate of 30 in one pot I keep to try and store them in... never happens though. Some of them are true vintage and I must have had 35-40 years (J Dunlop grey ones), others I've appropriated from goodness knows where. I find myself in a position where I'm going to order some custom logo picks for a tribute band and I decided to go through my picks to reach a decision on type and thickness; well that was an eye opener! I've come to the conclusion that the pick I seem best easy to use and to give me the tone I want is a 'Jazz' style pick (22mm x 25mm x 1.2mm)! The eye opener is, that I only own one of those picks, I've no idea where I got it and I mustn't have used it for a couple of years (bottom of the pot)! Go figure.

Awesome shout out! I really hope Karma pays you back (positively obviously) in spades!

They ask you for your email address etc (I'm assuming to set up a payment) and I've even given them ludicrous email accounts and names. Including that my address was 'Police Headquarters', I've used the name 'Chief Inspector Warwickhunt' and that my department was 'Fraud Department'. They never twigged but just kept sending messages that they'd tried the email address to send a link to the courier. I suggested that maybe it was [email protected] rather than [email protected]... they just kept firing messages asking had I received the link and paid the insurance.

I've played along with this little scenario with an identical 'buyer'. They go through the process and then say that it'll need insurance for the cash side of the transaction; they ask you to pay that upfront but not to worry as they'll reimburse you in full with the cash they send you... can you see what's going to happen? You pay them the insurance and you'll not hear from them again. They aren't after the item, your bank details or a large sum of money but if they can get enough gullible people to pay £20-£30 in insurance to them, it's worth it.

Clever little con. I imagine 'Bob' would have asked for the seller to do that to prove they actually own the bass.

Cheat Trick a tribute to... Cheap Trick Do you have to be a fan of the original artist, or maybe you become one? A fan since about '79. Everyone in the tribute band either has as much passion for them as I do or knows most if not all of the important stuff. How important is it to be visually/musically identical? How much latitude are you allowed? Visually we dress like them (various periods to choose from) and sound as alike as limitations allow (sorry but finding a vocalist who can carry it off perfectly is near impossible). I'm personally struggling with the whole 12 string bass thing but finding 'work around' ways to achieve the sound and look and the guitarist does own 2 or 5 neck guitars. Do you ‘get into character’ or is it just a gig? Character all the way. Does it feel musically limiting, or is it fulfilling your needs? (Maybe you have a side band?) Musically satisfying and stimulating and fulfills a need/desire I've not had from any other band in 45 years... if I could be in any band in the world during my life it would have been Cheap Trick. Do you have any qualms about tributes ‘stifling original music’? No. I can't write material as good as they did (or any other decent band) but why can't I enjoy the next best thing of playing those songs and giving fans the chance to hear the songs played live with as much passion as the original might. I leave writing to those that can. Have you ever met or been seen by a member of the ‘originals’? What did they say? No. What is the overriding thing being in a tribute act has taught you? Discipline to learn the songs in detail. I've also never realised how much Tom Petersson influenced nuances of my own playing style. Oh and playing 12 string bass for 2 hours is a massive achievement. Having done it once, would you do it again? If so, would the musical angle be very different? There's probably no other band who I admire (musically) as much as them and I think I'd get bored playing 90-120 minutes of another band's catalogue. http://www.cheattrick.co.uk/