Most useless feature on an amp

[Subthumper]

Hi all I just serviced a Fender rumble 100 combo and its useless feature is... Led's that get brighter as you play harder which are located in the vent at the bottom of the cabinet. Really useless.
I'm hooked, anyone got anything more useless than that?
Cheers Just

[tino]

[quote name='Subthumper' post='1000203' date='Oct 25 2010, 04:55 PM']Hi all I just serviced a Fender rumble 100 combo and its useless feature is... Led's that get brighter as you play harder which are located in the vent at the bottom of the cabinet. Really useless.
I'm hooked, anyone got anything more useless than that?
Cheers Just[/quote]
Standby switches....................whats them all about?????

[LawrenceH]

The Ashdown octaver thing, especially if we're talking about the small combos like my old Electric Blue 12".

[bassically_speaking]

Any feature from a stagg amp

[rOB]

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1000258' date='Oct 25 2010, 05:57 PM']The Ashdown octaver thing, especially if we're talking about the small combos like my old Electric Blue 12".[/quote]

+1 on that. useless.

[thinman]

The Ashdown VU Meter. And the Octaver.

[lemmywinks]

The "ON" switch on an Ashdown......

Edited October 25, 2010 by lemmywinks

[thinman]

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1000422' date='Oct 25 2010, 08:09 PM']The "ON" switch on an Ashdown......[/quote]

LOL In my experience using it makes the mains transformer melt...

[Mr. Foxen]

The 'active' input on amps with an input volume control.

[cameltoe]

Usually any of those onboard effects on SS amps are crap.

[fretmeister]

Valves.

[steve-soar]

Graphic equalizers, why should us bassists have to tailor our sounds to everybody else?

[thodrik]

The VU meter on an Ashdown. Input pads when there is a gain/input volume knob (like the Ampeg SVT 450). Graphic Eq sections on an amp that already has bass. middle and treble knobs (Ampeg SVT 450). Built in octavers (or any built in effects) in amps that rarely come with a footswitch (Ashdown). Side-mounted fans in rack-mounted heads, so you have to buy oversized rack cases so said amp can 'breathe' (EBS Fafner). Any attempt to excite us by trying to jazz up mid controls as something really exciting (the 'ultra mid' controls on an SVT 450). 1000 watt amps that are actually two 500 watt amps that can't be used in mono(Ashdown/Trace Elliot). Mute switches, they only lead to people telling you that your amp is broken if people try it.(Trace Elliot/Ashdown).

Being designed to look like a valve amp, but containing no valves, making the amp twice as large and heavy as it could be, with the only benefit being some space to store a cable or two (Ampeg SVT 450). Really loud fans (Mesa Walkabout). Having a 'special' input jack which means that you could run an active bass on no batteries, impressive but not really that much use (EBS Fafner and probably the other ones I dunno). Pointless LEDs or lights that are only there for visual purposes (The glowing red bulb on EBS Fafners). Having tube overdrive capabilities with no footswitch, so if you play quiet or have a clean part to play, you either have to magically turn down the 'drive' knob and then up again, or use a pedal to get the 'dirty' sound, making the overdrive potential of your amp pretty pointless (Ashdown/EBS Fafner mark I). Room balance knobs (Fender Pro series). Master volumes that go from 0(silence), 1(quiet), 2 (loud), 3 (full power), when the numbers go to 10 or 11. (Like Marshall guitar amps). Ashdown Little Giants.

Still love my Fafner though!

[Cat Burrito]

Handles placed on the top of amps!

[Clarky]

In my case, the twerp thats plugged into it



Also, separate gain and volume knobs on a non-valve/hybrid amp - can't hear the difference me'self (with a valve it makes a big difference but solid state? nah)

[warwickhunt]

Any EQ other than; bass mid and treble... if an amps designed correctly that's all you need (says than man with 4 bands of semi-parametric EQ on his amp that NEVER get used)!

[fretmeister]

Any more than 1 mid control.

I love my F1 but having 2 mids annoys me. I use all the EQ flat anyway and tweek the magic controls instead.

ah - anything that weighs over 20lb It's just not necessary anymore.

single knob compressors. The attack and release are just as important to ratio. Do it properly or don't bother at all.


Drive circuits that (as above) can't be footswitched - orcan't be blended with the clean sound.

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='1000562' date='Oct 25 2010, 10:10 PM']Handles placed on the top of amps![/quote]

+1

[LukeFRC]

peavey Eq's that still wont let you make it sound like anything else but a peavey, that annoying top end.


ashdown genrally but especially the octaver that doesn't seem to work, the VU meter that is several stages backwards from traces leds that lit up when the signal was right, and the stupid mute that doesn't actually mute anything, just drops the volume.

[BassPimp66]

SWR Aural Enhancer .... pffff, that's totally useless

[AttitudeCastle]

The VU meter on the Ashdown amps is the best feautre on them IMHO!

[BassPimp66]

SWR Aural Enhancer .... pffff, that's totally useless

[Alfie]

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' post='1000603' date='Oct 25 2010, 10:48 PM']The VU meter on the Ashdown amps is the best feautre on them IMHO![/quote]

+1

1/4" jack outputs (especially when I only pack the speakon cable).

[Dood]

'SVT' - You know the thread guys ;o)

[LukeFRC]

there are a few amps i looked at recently that devoted half the front panel to two different effects send and returns and levels, I've never used one effects loop, let alone two and dont quite get why you'ld use them. much less let them dominate your amp.