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Gear that shouldn't have sounded good, but...


robbiano
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So, had the opportunity for a practice/jam last night. Usual rush getting out of the house, bolting down dinner, grabbing a guitar (Stagg EUB was convenient), can't find shoes and talking to son about school that day - mild congratulations incidentally as for once as nothing was destroyed.

Arrive still feeling rushed when guitarist/singer says try plugging into newly aquired Behringer monitor. Set dials to stun and not kill, turned up bass volume and that sub-bass thingy and what greeted me was just lovely. Warm rich bass, clear high notes and approval from everyone. Even wizened old Dumbledore on drums commented on how nice the sound was.

Couldn't believe just a simple PA monitor could do this. Ashdown will sit in the hallway for a little longer methinks... (at approx. 400 tonnes it only comes out for certain gigs anyway)

Anyone else ever been surprised by the most unlikely of sources???

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ive got a Behringer BX4500H that i brought as my first gigging amp head played through a cheap cab, always thought it was ok. I sold it off when i bought my ampeg, but brought it back recently and when my ampeg went down i was forced to practice with it and was impressed with it when i cranked it through my ampeg cab. a lot noisier than my ampeg, but wouldn't be worried if i had to use it in an emergency.

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[quote name='LiamPodmore' timestamp='1359036000' post='1948774']
I like it when stuff shouldn't sound good and does, but you missed out a huge pun in that you should've said Wise Old Drumbledore :D

Liam
[/quote]

With your kind permission I'll be using that shortly... :lol:

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[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1359036327' post='1948778']
ive got a Behringer BX4500H that i brought as my first gigging amp head played through a cheap cab, always thought it was ok. I sold it off when i bought my ampeg, but brought it back recently and when my ampeg went down i was forced to practice with it and was impressed with it when i cranked it through my ampeg cab. a lot noisier than my ampeg, but wouldn't be worried if i had to use it in an emergency.
[/quote]

Sounds like a decent plan B?? I'm thinking that for quiet acoustic stuff in a pub these could be just great...

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[quote name='danthevan' timestamp='1359042474' post='1948907']
Yep, an old torque head i bought years ago as my first head, and an old green 4 x 10 cab. Dragged it out of storage yesterday and still sounds as sweet as ever. Would have been 6 years ago i last used it!
Will be a behringer blx3000 going up for sale soon by the looks of it :-)
[/quote]

lol... :lol:

I used to have an old Laney (PL-100??? or something like that) with some bits missing and spiders etc living in it. Lived in a garage for years but when i fired it up it was just perfect. I'm a complete clot for selling it.

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I also used to have a BX4500H that I had permanently set up in the band's rehearsal space plugged into my trace 4x10. I retired the cab from gigging and had a Trace amp that never seemed to go wrong so stopped taking the Behringer to gigs. I eventually sold the Behringer to someone I knew who was desperate for a bass amp on the cheap. I occasionally still bump into him and the Behringer is still being gigged and doing the business 7 years after I first had it. I thought it was great value.

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I had a similar experience at a small festival once, where it turned out the backline was an old Peavey head (never seen one before or since, but it had a knob on it marked 'Fuzz'!) and a home-made 15" cab that had never even got a coat of paint, no grille and as you might imagine a dinged dust cover on the speaker.

I expected a flappy, farty, awful noise to come out of it but actually it sounded really nice!

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[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1359067186' post='1949533']
I once put my bass through a really old Line 6 Spider guitar combo.. Not only did i not blow it up, but I got an incredible distorted tone :lol:
[/quote]

I once put my bass through one channel of a 2-channel H&H head, which actually DID blow up. The mains socket on the back wasn't screwed to the chassis, or came loose, or something, and it basically fell out while I was playing and I suppose the bare wires touched the chassis. Anyway, massive flash and a pop loud enough to deafen me temporarily, and some magic smoke and that was the end of the H&H.

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[quote name='Raymondo' timestamp='1359093323' post='1949722']
Now you see I can understand a HH being described as "very old" but Line 6 ? ........I must be getting old........ ;)
[/quote]

It was about 8 years old, which by the standards of the earlier Line 6 stuff is basically antique :lol:

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[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1359093570' post='1949723']
It was about 8 years old, which by the standards of the earlier Line 6 stuff is basically antique :lol:
[/quote]


:lol: Fair enough!

I see you are a Stokie...well live there at any rate!..

I am playing at The crown in Red Street on Saturday...not that well known as a music pub but it's my old Local. :blush:
Have you played at The Museum in the last 4 years? ...chances are I would have seen you play,I love the bands that play in there!

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[quote name='Raymondo' timestamp='1359094286' post='1949725']
I see you are a Stokie...well live there at any rate!..

I am playing at The crown in Red Street on Saturday...not that well known as a music pub but it's my old Local. :blush:
Have you played at The Museum in the last 4 years? ...chances are I would have seen you play,I love the bands that play in there!
[/quote]

Yup lived here for nearly 5 years now! It's not the most exciting place in the world but the cost of living is pretty low ;)

I've never played the museum actually! In my covers band we mostly do rock pubs anywhere in Staffordshire, sometimes a bit further afield :)

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[quote name='robbiano' timestamp='1359035904' post='1948771']
So, had the opportunity for a practice/jam last night. Usual rush getting out of the house, bolting down dinner, grabbing a guitar (Stagg EUB was convenient), can't find shoes and talking to son about school that day - mild congratulations incidentally as for once as nothing was destroyed.

Arrive still feeling rushed when guitarist/singer says try plugging into newly aquired Behringer monitor. Set dials to stun and not kill, turned up bass volume and that sub-bass thingy and what greeted me was just lovely. Warm rich bass, clear high notes and approval from everyone. Even wizened old Dumbledore on drums commented on how nice the sound was.[/quote]

Behringer will do that to you.
I was at a friend's studio once whilst he was recording a hardcore band. The bass player had an Ampeg SVT-CL and had blown the two Ampeg 4x10s that he had with it. Not being made of money he went and bough two cheap-as-hell Behringer 4x10s and they sounded incredible!
I've played a few Behringer pedals that are decent too. The tube overdrive isn't bad.

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[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1359045190' post='1948965']
I had a similar experience at a small festival once, where it turned out the backline was an old Peavey head (never seen one before or since, but it had a knob on it marked 'Fuzz'!) and a home-made 15" cab that had never even got a coat of paint, no grille and as you might imagine a dinged dust cover on the speaker.

I expected a flappy, farty, awful noise to come out of it but actually it sounded really nice!
[/quote]

Did it have parametric EQ rather than sliders? If so it will have been one of the old Peavey Century heads which I thought sounded nice.

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More love for Behringer - I have a BD121 DI box thing (basically a Tech 21 Bass driver copy) which was I think around
£25. Sounds great & daft for the money ( although not the most durable buld quality.)
Peavey old school stuff - just great. Mark 111/1V heads still around, they just keep on going and you can get them fixed
should anything go wrong (unlikely). Shame they weigh a ton etc......

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[quote name='Adrenochrome' timestamp='1359107006' post='1949866']
Did it have parametric EQ rather than sliders? If so it will have been one of the old Peavey Century heads which I thought sounded nice.
[/quote]

Definitely no sliders on it. I can't remember much about it really, I laughed at the 'Fuzz' knob, plugged in and it sounded good as it was so I didn't look at it any more than that really.

Had a quick google and it was probably one of these:



TBH I was more surprised that the cab sounded good - I've never really had any complaints about Peavey gear, everything of theirs I've used has been well designed and reliable.

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