4-string-thing

Not sure how much its worth, but I am sure it's one of the best amps ever made! For me, anything "Acoustic" is the holy grail. Bear in mind though, it's probably around 40 years old. Having said that, my Acoustic 220 is 30 years old and still looks and sounds as good as new!

One week away bump!

Ever played it? Lol, not with much success..... just about got the first tune nailed though. Peggy is the master! Anyone ever tried "Tokyo" from The "nine" album?

My mates old band once did a gig in Rampton high security hospital, apparently they didn't want to let the drummer out afterwards!

This years Whitwick Music Festival is taking place at The Man Within Compass, Loughborough Rd, Whitwick, Leicestershire on Sun August 29. The gates open at noon and the first band should be on before 1pm. There are 10 bands on this year including my band, Iron Python, The Stiggz, Dayve Dean, and The Spheres. Plus all sorts of craft stalls and stuff to keep the kids happy. It's a fiver to get in and all proceeds go to the air ambulance charity. Any Basschatters who come along, make yourself known to me and I'll buy you a pint. (I'll be the one helping out with the PA in an Iron Python T shirt! Cheers, Mark Kinton. [url="http://www.whitwickmusicfestival.co.uk"]www.whitwickmusicfestival.co.uk[/url]

I might have already posted this, if so, apologies!

I used to have a home studio which I used to rent out, I made quite a few demo's and bits for local bands (and some not so local) I had nowhere near £20k to spend and it showed! First thing you should do is buy a couple of good books on studio design, second is ignore them and get someone in to do the work for you! Third thing is to realise that you will never, ever get that money back! If its primarily for your own use, then I suppose getting the money back isn't an issue.

The school drama studio sometime in 1977, I was 15. The band was called "Toad!" We played four songs, 2 covers, 2 originals. I think we opened with Jumping Jack Flash or maybe Hey Joe, the originals were a Chuck Berry inspired thing called Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller and a ballad called Celestial Girl. I played my Top Twenty precison/telecaster bass copy through a borrowed amp, which may have been a Selmer. We blew the other band off the stage, which was pleasing as they were in the sixth form!

Never mind the bass, what about that wallpaper?

[quote name='RichardH' post='891196' date='Jul 10 2010, 11:38 AM']Plenty of sources for grill cloth US [url="http://www.torresamps.com/grill_cloth.htm"]http://www.torresamps.com/grill_cloth.htm[/url] [url="http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Grillcloth"]http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Grillcloth[/url] Europe [url="http://www.tubeampdoctor.com/index.php?cPath=25"]http://www.tubeampdoctor.com/index.php?cPath=25[/url] [url="http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/index.php/cat/c120_Grillcloth.html"]http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/index.php...Grillcloth.html[/url][/quote] I bought some on ebay described as" Carlsbro type" and ended up using it over the front of a plain black cloth to give a unique look for my 2x10. Wish I had known about these though, would have been cheaper and probably looked better!

classic reggae set up? Fender Jazz through an old Acoustic head with one of their 18" cabs!

[quote name='spinynorman' post='890468' date='Jul 9 2010, 02:47 PM']Are these MAG cabs? I had a MAG300 head with MAG210T and MAG115 cabs. I used that rig in a couple of outdoor gigs, but always with proper outdoor PA support. But I never had any trouble hearing myself on stage. When the head packed up I continued using the MAG cabs with a Hartke HA3500 and that rig was good too. Both actually got quite a lot of compliments, for budget gear. I've only just sold the cabs on eBay and they fetched £87 and £67 respectively (+shipping), so they're not exactly expensive and come up fairly often. And they're light (or were, I think the new ones are heavier), the 115 particularly is an easy 1 person lift. I'd get the cabs as, if you change the amp, you could easily end up no better off (on the basis the PA speakers are the most likely source of the problem). Also, unless you desperately need to sell them on, could you use the PA cabs to improve the bass on the PA?[/quote] They were MAG cabs and they went for £82 each I think. Shipping wouldn't be a problem as they were only a few miles away. I've come up with another solution now anyway. Use all my gear at once! Well, not quite, the band have a decent PA and the drummer is also a DJ, he also has a pair of decent active speakers, so my PA gear is pretty much redundant. I am thinking, use my Ashdown head, or my beloved Acoustic head to feed my 2x15 cab and use my 400w Power amp to feed my 1x15 and 2x10. Not exactly small and light, which was the whole idea in the first place, but I do believe that if you want a big sound, you need a big rig!

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='886888' date='Jul 5 2010, 11:58 PM']Does it have an FX loop? FX loops are between the pre and power stage so if you take the FX loop out and plug it to the return on another amp, it should be fine. I assume it'd work going straight in to the input too, but someone more qualified than me should tell you for certain.[/quote] There is a pre-amp out and a power amp in, so yes an fx loop. I think if you use the power amp input, it disconnects the pre-amp, but not vice-versa.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='886056' date='Jul 5 2010, 09:10 AM']If your cabs are 4 ohms then you can only use one cab connected to a MAG head. Dont connect both to the MAG.[/quote] Ah, I should have said 300w 8ohms each....

Right, I have an old Acoustic 120 bass head that has a blown power resistor in the power amp pcb. Rather than try to get this fixed, I was wondering if its possible to just use the pre-amp section (which is on a seperate pcb) to feed another power amp or powered cab? How difficult would it be to disconnect the power supply to the faulty board and to use the pre-amp output to feed a couple of jack sockets on the rear panel? This would give me my preferred Acoustic sound but with a much higher output (I already own a 200w per side power amp) Any thoughts? Mark.

Here is another one of some selected bits from my Amp collection...

There could be a solution at hand, a guy a few miles away is selling his Ashdown Mag rig... a 15" cab, a 2x10 cab and a 600 evo11 head. He's selling them seperately so I'm guessing either the cabs or the head would probably help? My question now is, which? (buying both cabs and the head is not an option) Are the Mag cabs very efficient and well suited to the head? or should I buy the head and use it with my speakers (rated 600w, 4ohms) Or does anyone know of any other cheap, efficient s/h cabs going anywhere?

Thanks for the comments chaps, keep 'em coming! The cabs I used were 8ohms each, so I was getting the full 300w, but I suspect the cheap speakers and small cabs are just not very efficient. This combined with 2 loud guitarists, a powerful drummer and no reflected sounds, meant that out front, I was just a little too quiet. To be honest, I could probably have got away with it, and a little feed to the PA did the trick. To be fair, I only bought the Ashdown as a back-up and used the cabs because they are small and easy to transport. I guess the best (cost free) solution would be to try the Ashdown into my Acoustic 2x15 and see if it's any better. I also have a 200w stereo power amp, and might consider using this in the future combined with the Acoustic 220 pre-amp and both my Acoustic cabs. I suppose, with outdoor gigs, you need big gear! As Carroll Shelby once said "There's no substitute for cubic inches"

Ah, I should mention that I only used the Ashdown rig, not the Acoustic stuff, as the point is I am trying to downsize a bit (so, Mr Foxen, your doom rig is not the answer) The PA speakers were up to the job, but as the guitarists and drums didn't need it, neither should I! I was loud enough when onstage in front of my rig, but when I went out front with my wireless kit, I could hear the bass, but not as much as I wanted!

Ok, I have 2 rigs plus a few bits and pieces, one is my vintage Acoustic Control Corporation stuff and the other is my smaller Ashdown Mag 300 head with a couple of 15" cabs (cheap nasty 600w PA bass bins) My problem is, I had a gig in a marquee last night with my new band, and I was struggling to be heard. I decided to use the Ashdown rig, as I'd never used it before. The band has 2 loud guitarists (mesa 100w combo and a Blackstar 200w head/4x12) and a pretty loud drummer. Luckily, I was able to use the Ashdowns line out to the PA and give myself a bit more oomph, but Ideally I wouldn't want to do this. I've never had a problem with my Acoustic stuff, despite only being 125w (4ohms) or 175w (2ohms) so I'm guessing its a combination of things. 1: Ashdown is not as loud as 300w suggests. 2: Cheap speakers are not very efficient. 3: Guitarists with large valve amps need to be educated! (Same applies to drummer) 4: It was because it was an open-sided marquee, and in an indoor gig situation things would be different. Right, so my question is this: What would you good folks suggest I do to get more volume? More powerful amp, with the same speakers? Same amp with better speakers? Go back to the Acoustic rig and get a roadie to lug it about? Or just ask the guitarists to turn down and the drummer to not hit things quite so hard? Any thoughts appreciated Mark.

Well done on your purchase young man! You have joined an elite band, ie, you are now an owner of some of the worlds best bass gear! If you go on the unofficial Acoustic website, there is a guy on there called George Grexa (?) he can supply most of the parts to restore ACC gear to its former glory. Its not cheap though, but most parts are original or as close as possibe. If you email him, be sure to put the word Acoustic in the title header, or he will just delete your email without reading it! Good luck with the restoration, it will be worth it. Oh yeah, just had a quick look and Georges email is [email protected]