wateroftyne

I can’t imagine the repair bill if you buy a grey import and it goes pop...

A couple of rehearsals and one gig in, and so far it's exactly what I hoped it would be. I've run it flat, apart from dialling in a smidge of contour in at the gig. It's VERY quick, dynamic and responsive. There's a two-speed fan which works pretty hard when it's needed, but it's not intrusive, and switches off when it's done its job. I haven't tried it full-pelt yet, and I haven't tested the DI - that's still to come over the next couple of weeks, but I reckon it's going to be spot-on. Here's a photo from the gig...

I believe it's mentioned above that the they're switchable voltage.

FWIW I've just mentioned this to him - he's been having ongoing problems with his email. He says if you do Facebook, that's the best way to get hold of him at the moment (via the Hand Box page).

To anyone communicating with Leszek - bear in mind he’s not a fluent speaker of English. Much can get lost in translation. but I understand the importance of having confidence in who you’re dealing with. i also wish there was a UK dealer for these - it’s a crime that they’re so overlooked.

They are, and I've owned all three of 'em (and a Warwick Tubepath 10.1, as it happens). By default the R-400 is a lot tighter and present than the WA, but if you hit the input harder it'll go into WA territory. I liked the 600, but didn't love it. It was just too wide with a hole in the middle that I struggled to recover.

If you can find a used Handbox R-400, you're in business.

That's the original bridge. It's worth bearing in mind the 5's came first. The 4's followed a while afterwards, with some of the bugs that the 5 had (tricky intonation being one of them) all ironed out.

IME, a pair of 1x12's performs the same as a single 2x12, so choose which one is more practical for you. I've got a 2x12 and a matching 1x12 for smaller stuff. I've just checked, and I'm shocked to see that I got my cabs four years ago. FOUR YEARS. So, after being a cab whore for about 6 years, trying and buying any number of cabs in the pursuit of 'that' sound, I haven't looked at another cab since I got my TKS. That tells me something.

Lush.

Hey gang! Here's a rare bird... I've been on the lookout for another backup head as I've got a fair bit coming up... some of you might have heard me mention previously(!) that I'm not a fan of Class D's, but I am a fan of the Hand Box R-400. By fortunate stoke of serendipity, a Maruszczyk Bass Tank popped up on the pages of BC for a very reasonable price. As it's a Hand Box Fortec 400 in disguise, I pushed the buy button. The power section of these heads are similar to the R-400, i,e, 400w solid-state but without the tube front end. They're dual channel, so very hand for doublers (which I'm not). The EQ section is a bit more tweakable than the R-400 - TBH this is largely lost on my as I usually run everything flat, but it's there for when I need it. And on top of that, I reckon it looks pretty darn funky. It sounds great in the house - as ever, the proof is in the pudding, but I've got lots of rehearsals and gigs coming up to put it to the test. I'll report back.

Another +1 for Transferwise.

I remember shelling out the cost of a small used car to buy a brand new M-Pulse 600 back in the day, 'cos there weren't any on the used market. I must have lost the best part of 800 quid as soon as I took it out of the shop.

Mesa were always silly money, even when the exchange rate was reasonable.

Just bought an amp off Kev - super-smooth transaction, all good. Cheers, Kev!

You're very welcome!

Would you buy one blind on those grounds..?

The Handbox is available. Drop Leszek a line at [email protected] 🙂

Clarity? Punch? Chocolate-y richness? Authority? Class A/B? May I humbly suggest... N'other thread here:

I've also just read the damping explanation in the manual. and I can see that they've pitched it as a way to get that 'furry' WA tone. Interestingly, they say: 'With higher damping, the amp will feel a little tighter and more controlled on the bottom end, and to some players it may feel more “immediate”.' ...which is a characteristic I feel the WA has in spades, up until it starts to break up - more so than the Class D's I've tried, which I why I preferred it (and latterly the R-400).

I do.. '71 and '73.

I agree, but this only really works if you're gigging in one or two bands with a fixed set-up. My gigging life is pretty mixed, so I have to be prepared for whatever the band / gig throws at me. Given that, an amp and a cab (albeit lightweight, even if it's not a class-D setup) works best for me, both logistically and tonally.

So I've heard - this is encouraging. Mind, I've also heard some people say 'it's not quite there yet', so I might wait until the next generation. Until then, I'll carry on down the Handbox / WA path, where - to echo Eude's comments above - there's an authority to these amps which doesn't rely on volume. Hey, I typed that without using the word 'heft'! 😄