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The HandBox Amplification thread


wateroftyne

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11 minutes ago, Clarky said:

Yep, it is indeed a Barefaced Super Twin underneath the WB-100. Hoping to spend some quality time together over the weekend!

 

Really is a great combination. Deep and full, articulate and tight. So easy to sit nicely with it live and have great tone. Usually one or the other, but not with this. Best rig I've ever had by a country mile. 

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3 hours ago, zitherman said:

Do none of you handbox afficianados fancy some handbox cabs to go with your new amps

20180830_192919.jpg

If i hadn't just bought my Mesa Subway rig recently i might have gone for them as they do look nice .....different but very nice. Never heard them tho but if his cabs are anything like his amps they will be first class gear.

Dave

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Aye .........me.

Still waiting

 

Even Leszek has been asking today. Usual parcelforce lack of information delivery service. At least the other companies give you a morning or  afternoon delivery and some have live tracking on where the van is and how many deliveries before yours.

Not Parcelforce tho.

Is it any wonder the bosses want upgrades and modern technology brought into the company.

Dave 

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Well it was returned to the depot 30 miles away. No reason.

I called customer services and gave them an ear full that its been missing for 2 weeks and has been sitting in their depot since 5am Fri and tomorrow is another strike day.

They contacted the depot who agreed to let me collect. 

I now have the WB-100 and it sounds wonderful except for when the drive button is selected and it sounds like a deep crackle rather than a distortion.

I've sent Leszek a message with a vid to let him hear the noise. Gain was set at 1 o'clock when i first noticed it but at 3 it was very worrying and at full gain it was like a damaged circuit board or a dodgy lead. With the drive button out it sounded fine.

I have no idea what could cause that and am waiting to see what Leszek comes back with.

I'll get a better pic tomorrow when flash wont be needed.

Dave

image.png.ce96574fa03ef4b2cc9c7adafa333ef1.png

Edited by dmccombe7
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Here's what i'm hearing from the amp. Gain was at circa 2 o'clockish and bass at 1 all else flat.

Initially starts with drive selected and then without.

Sandberg Marlowe passive bass with volume full.

I cant get a normal valve distortion from the amp really no matter what i try. Nothing like @Clarky gets on the soundclip he sent me.

 

Any thoughts on what might be the cause. ?

 

 

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If Leszek is ok with it i'll open it up and check the valves are all seated and secure.

I have some spare pre-amp valves from my Ampeg days and can swap them out if needed.

I can do basic checks if he wants but anything more will require test kit.

Dave

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11 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

Out of curiosity, does the buzz subside when you roll the input back? Just wonder if the pre is being hit too hard..

I brought the gain back to 12 o'clock and a little bit lower and i could still hear it when i played hard.

 

UPDATE :- Leszek got back to me today and with the settings i have on the amp he said the pre is being overloaded. You cant run these amps at low master volumes when at home.

He suggested running the master at 100% and adjust Gain to suit. I did that and it works perfectly altho very very loud even with gain just off the bottom.

I then dropped master to 50% and brought Gain up to the "crunch" marked point on the gain and still sounded ok. I then hit the drive button on and i could hear the valves working harder. 

I tried playing quite hard even at those high volumes of 50% and no farting distortion now.

Leszek suggested i always run with master at full and adjust Gain for my working volume.

So it looks like the pre-amp was overloaded because the master was so low. 

 

I've not had an all valve amp for about 40 yrs when i had Marshalls. I've had valve pre-amp ones where i addjusted the gain to get that slight distortion and adjusted my master for working volume.

All valve amps appear to be a different way of working.

 

Leszek said these amps are not really for home use.

 

I have a punk gig on Sat night and will really put it thru its paces.

One thing i would say is that the tone is almost like a modern sounding amp with the depth of an all valve amp. I've never come across that kind of tone before in an all valve amp. So so nice.

I'm now back to being happy again. :laugh1:

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I just tried the above approach (I have been playing at neighbour friendly volumes and keeping Master low to date) and it not only sounds lovely but also the amp seems to work much more nicely with my Sansamp to get a footswitchable creamy overdrive. Result!

Edited by Clarky
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I don't wanna sound harsh or rude but... If you have big amp don't be surprise that it doesn't sound good when you just set your volume and especially gain on very low levels. Those amps must be cranked up to show what they can. "Neighbour friendly" volumes are good for small amps like some 50w combo, cause... you must cranked them up anyway to hear any sound from the speaker lol but not with stage animals like R400 and especially WB100. :)

Edited by jb90
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