ikay

I was expecting you to shield the whole lower half of the pickguard! The minimum you'd get away with would be to add the areas marked in red below. The whole area above the control cavity needs to be shielded and continuity established with the pickup cavity.

As time goes by I find myself feeling more and more Elfish!

Thanks for all the replies. Having listened to various demos I think I prefer the sound of the Elf, but not the price! I've also read that it has a very noisy fan. The Gnome and BAM sound a bit clinical in comparison but the difference in price is hard to ignore. Cash wise it probably comes down to the Gnome or BAM. I may put feelers out for a used Elf first. I also like the look of the now discontinued GK MB200 micro amp but they're hard to find. I have an old-tech GK200MB combo (1980s) which, thinking about it, might do the job as an emergency backup anyway. It's not what I had in mind when I started this thread (I've used it mainly for acoustic level gigs) but I'll take it to rehearsal this week and see how well it stands up.

I'm looking for a small amp to use as a backup. I've read lots of good things about the Elf but not seen many comments on the Gnome. They both seem to do pretty much the same thing, same power rating, same features etc but the Elf is more expensive at £250 compared to around £165 for the Gnome (basic model). One of the comments I've read about the Elf is that it adds grit and compression as you turn the gain up, but the compression also restricts the final volume you can squeeze out of it (ie. the more you crank the gain the more it gets squished). Having watched the video demo below, the Gnome does appear to have much more headroom than the Elf. In the demo, the Gnome gain and master are both set to around 9 o'clock while the Elf gain and master are set closer to 12 o'clock to achieve the same volume. Would be interested in any comments on either of these amps or suggestions/recommendations for something similar or better. For context, my gigging rig is an LMIII and Bergantino 112. Band plays 70s rock, small venues, not overly loud. The Gnome/Elf/other would only be used as an emergency backup. Something I needed a few weeks ago and didn't have 😵. Hence this post!

Yes you're right, shielding the cavities is the important bit. And, as franzbassist says, making sure you get good contact around the lip to create a continuous cage surrounding all the wiring and electronics. Shielding the upper part of the pickguard beyond the cavities has no shielding effect so it doesn't matter whether you do or don't.

The 3.5" strap (ref the OP) only seems to come in one size (115-140cm) but there's a 3" wide version on Amazon which comes in 3 sizes, small being 97-120cm. Here's the link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEKATO-Adjustable-Acoustic-Electric-Included/dp/B088613TDF/

Thanks, I hadn't considered that but it's an interesting thought...

Good call! Just checked and they only do one size in the 3.5" strap as far as I can see but they do a 3" wide version which is shorter (down to 96cm).

Damn, thanks for checking!

Like the look of this but min length is specified as 115cm and I need 100cm. @fleabag would you mind double checking the min length for me in case it does adjust down to 100? Thanks, Ian

👍 thanks for the links. I have an old school Berg as well (HT112ER), a fabulous cab.

Neat solution. What are you using for the wedge under the Berg cab?

Here's the blurb from the TH manual which explains the interaction between the gain and drive controls: The Drive control changes the gain structure and EQ interactively with the Gain control position. By modifying the circuit structure, Drive gives a “vintage voiced” EQ and gain structure that adapts to how you set the Gain control. The lower the Gain control setting, the “flatter” the EQ applied. The higher you set the Gain control, the more saturated the gain structure becomes, and the more the bass is tightened and the treble smoothed. The Drive circuitry surrounds the midrange controls, enabling you to get a huge variety of tonal characteristics by simply adjusting the Gain, Mid Level, and Mid Freq controls. I'm a little confused by the above. If you turn the gain right down to get a flatter response, doesn't this also drastically reduce the level of the input signal and the resulting volume you can get out of the amp?

In this post from 21 April the OP (not me) says that he will shortly be selling an AG500 if that's of any interest.

No probs at rehearsal last night so the LMIII rides again. Ay caramba!

👍 I'll do that. Will give it a good workout at rehearsal tonight and see if it behaves itself.

@BassmanPaul I just tried that and IT WORKED!! There's a mod for the LMIII that changes the effects loop to serial which I did years ago (involves moving a jumper on the circuit board). It's been working fine up until now so I'm a little baffled as to why it should suddenly pack in. But that seems to be the problem and connecting send to return fixes it. Obv something still adrift inside which is a bit of a concern, but I'm back in business. Thanks for suggesting that and I owe you one! 👏🏆

@yorks5stringer that's a good way of looking at it. The RM500 is definitely a contender but it has quite few features I wouldn't use and costs £150 more than the LMIV. One slightly odd thing with the LMIII is that the effects loop is wired in parallel rather than series. I wonder if that's the same with the IV? The technical blurb doesn't say.

Thanks for that. I've used an ABM 600 before (in our rehearsal room) but not tried one of these. Looks like a good option...

My trusty LMIII, which has served me well for the last 13 years, has stopped working. Fine one day, dead the next. It seems that most amp techs in the UK won't touch Markbass as MB Italy deal exclusively with Real Electronics for repair and support. I've read some less than encouraging comments about the service from RE (and the cost) so a bit dubious about sending it there. I spoke with Surrey Amps but they won't touch it due to lack of technical materials from MB. Which leaves me looking at options to replace the amp. The LMIII has worked well for me. It's been a solid workhorse amp, simple but effective EQ (which rarely strays much from 12 o-clock), just plug in and go. Always sounds good. I like amps that are easy to use and 'just work' without too much fiddling around. My first thought was to get another LMIII. But the 'exclusive' arrangement with RE is a put-off in the event that support is needed at any time. Would appreciate any suggestions for other amps of around 500w that might do the job. Anything that stands above the rest as sounding good out of the box. Ideally with a decent support network. Also, anything to avoid or be wary of. Thanks for any input!

If the basic construction of the Thunderblade and Supertron are essentially the same, a difference in inductance that small would be barely noticeable tonewise.

As itu says, there are many factors involved in the strength of the magnetic field in any given magnet. However, I think the simple answer to the original post is probably yes. If the poles are of the same material and charged in the same way for the same length of time, the longer magnet contains more magnetic material (domains) that can be aligned and therefore the potential to produce a slightly stronger field. In practice the difference is probably negligible. The proximity of the magnet to the vibrating string will have a much greater effect on the strength of the signal being produced. The purpose of the longer D and A poles is to do exactly that, by compensating for the curvature of the fretboard and therefore the D and A strings being higher above the pickup. https://sciencing.com/causes-different-strengths-magnets-5981925.html Does the size of a magnet affect its strength? The short answer is yes, but only because the size of a magnet means that there are proportionally more domains that can align and produce a stronger magnetic field than a smaller piece of the same material.

Excellent news!