The HandBox Amplification thread

[Woody1957]

  On 30/05/2023 at 19:31, wateroftyne said:

Honestly, don’t worry about it unless you can hear a problem. ‘Cos if you can’t hear a problem, there ain’t one 🙂

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😁👍 thanks.

[Woody1957]

  On 30/05/2023 at 19:25, dmccombe7 said:

pre-amp valves "should" last quite a few yrs. Unless you do have a faulty one which i'm sure would have surfaced before now. 

Have heard that the MM basses can be a very hot signal.

What are your settings on bass and amp ?

Dave 

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These are the settings l used last weekend Dave...

[wateroftyne]

  On 30/05/2023 at 19:36, Woody1957 said:

These are the settings l used last weekend Dave...

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Unless your bass is incredibly hot, crank the input and lower the output. Around 1pm works for me for a standard passive  P.

[dmccombe7]

Assuming the Drive and Bright buttons aren't in use i have to admit i wouldn't expect to see a clip light on at that kind of Gain setting.

At those low Gain settings your valves wont be doing much i reckon. ie they wont be overdriven which reduces valve life but even at that they should last up to 10 yrs i've been told by the Mesa design guy.

What are your settings on the MM bass. ? Could be you have everything ramped full on your bass and maybe that could cause a clip.

If it sounds fine and not distorting then i'd go with what @wateroftyne says. He has a lot of HB experience.

Dave 

Edited May 30, 2023 by dmccombe7

[wateroftyne]

  On 30/05/2023 at 19:39, wateroftyne said:

Unless your bass is incredibly hot, crank the input and lower the output. Around 1pm works for me for a standard passive  P.

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…for the input, I mean.

[Woody1957]

  On 30/05/2023 at 19:47, dmccombe7 said:

Assuming the Drive and Bright buttons aren't in use i have to admit i wouldn't expect to see a clip light on at that kind of Gain setting.

At those low Gain settings your valves wont be doing much i reckon. ie they wont be overdriven which reduces valve life but even at that they should last up to 10 yrs i've been told by the Mesa design guy.

What are your settings on the MM bass. ? Could be you have everything ramped full on your bass and maybe that could cause a clip.

If it sounds fine and not distorting then i'd go with what @wateroftyne says. He has a lot of HB experience.

Dave 

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[Woody1957]

The MM bass controls are always flat. But l will definitely use the gain control at 1 ish. The sound isn't distorted so it will probably be fine.

And get back to you all. Thank you all for your imput👍👍

[wateroftyne]

I've dug out the chat I had with Leszek about the light years ago, not long after I got my first R-400:

 

Lamp isn't clip, it is an incredibly complicated analogical optical limiter, which perfectly keeps balance in the power amplifier. You are free to play as loud as you want. It's not possible to overload!

 

[dmccombe7]

  On 31/05/2023 at 08:37, wateroftyne said:

I've dug out the chat I had with Leszek about the light years ago, not long after I got my first R-400:

 

Lamp isn't clip, it is an incredibly complicated analogical optical limiter, which perfectly keeps balance in the power amplifier. You are free to play as loud as you want. It's not possible to overload!

 

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That's quite a description. I'm curious to know more now. NAH !!!! just play it and enjoy it.

Dave

[Woody1957]

  On 31/05/2023 at 08:37, wateroftyne said:

I've dug out the chat I had with Leszek about the light years ago, not long after I got my first R-400:

 

Lamp isn't clip, it is an incredibly complicated analogical optical limiter, which perfectly keeps balance in the power amplifier. You are free to play as loud as you want. It's not possible to overload!

 

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Thats great mate, thanks for digging that out from the archives! It begs the question though....why put the light on the front panel in the first place if only to confuse us bass playing mortals😄 

[ricksterphil]

Anyone use an EQ pedal in front of their R400.

 

I had issues with booming notes on my last gig so just wondering if anyone else has and if an EQ pedal solved and if so, which one

 

Soooo many questions 🙂

 

 

[MrDinsdale]

i used to really struggle with boomy tones with my old GK Fusion S and I found the Thumpinator HPF helped a lot along with easing back a little on the bass a tad.

 

Can't speak for the R400 but same work's pretty well for the WB100 although it wasn't particularly boomy without. 

[ricksterphil]

  On 11/06/2023 at 11:15, MrDinsdale said:

i used to really struggle with boomy tones with my old GK Fusion S and I found the Thumpinator HPF helped a lot along with easing back a little on the bass a tad.

 

Can't speak for the R400 but same work's pretty well for the WB100 although it wasn't particularly boomy without. 

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Thanks. I probably had the bass tone a bit high on reflection 

[wateroftyne]

  On 11/06/2023 at 10:25, ricksterphil said:

Anyone use an EQ pedal in front of their R400.

 

I had issues with booming notes on my last gig so just wondering if anyone else has and if an EQ pedal solved and if so, which one

 

Soooo many questions 🙂

 

 

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Hmmm… the R400 is anything but boomy. What settings did you have?

[ricksterphil]

  On 11/06/2023 at 13:18, wateroftyne said:

Hmmm… the R400 is anything but boomy. What settings did you have?

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Bass at 2 o'clock, treble 10 o'clock, drive 11 o'clock 

[wateroftyne]

  On 11/06/2023 at 13:59, ricksterphil said:

Bass at 2 o'clock, treble 10 o'clock, drive 11 o'clock 

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No need to boost bass. Just stick B&T at noon, and contour off. See how that goes.

[MrDinsdale]

The WB100 flat is a pretty perfect all round bass tone, I tend to crank the mids for some extra clank on aggressive stuff but otherwise flat. 

[ricksterphil]

  On 11/06/2023 at 14:53, wateroftyne said:

No need to boost bass. Just stick B&T at noon, and contour off. See how that goes.

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I'll try that, thanks 

[MrDinsdale]

Finally got a cab I can use to play my WB100 at home.

 

Originally planned on a BF Supercompact or BB2 but then came across this Baer ML112. Sounds incredible so far at lower volumes but should be able to try it out next week at practice properly. 

 

I'll possibly need a 2nd for gigs and stuff but gonna give it a go and see how it holds its ground against 2 Marshall 4x12s 😬

 

Will report back once I've had more time to play.

 

[Woodinblack]

Looking good - it has already almost killed the plant in front of it!

[MrDinsdale]

  On 27/06/2023 at 11:38, Woodinblack said:

Looking good - it has already almost killed the plant in front of it!

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This plant is a miracle, it's almost as old as me. I once forgot to water it for a whole year and it still just looked the same as when I actually made an effort to look after it 😂 It's a zombie plant!

[Jack]

Quick question. You know the metal of the amp box inside the wooden sleeve? Is that a complete box all the way around the amp or are some of the walls missing so that the innards are exposed to the wooden box?

Edited June 27, 2023 by Jack

[wateroftyne]

  On 27/06/2023 at 14:36, Jack said:

Quick question. You know the metal of the amp box inside the wooden sleeve? Is that a complete box all the way around the amp or are some of the walls missing so that the innards are exposed to the wooden box?

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Sides and top are exposed.

[Jack]

  On 27/06/2023 at 14:54, wateroftyne said:

Sides and top are exposed.

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Thanks

Edited June 27, 2023 by Jack

[wateroftyne]

  On 27/06/2023 at 14:58, Jack said:

Thanks

 

Last question, does anyone have any opinions on the 100 euro upcharge for the tubes and the special transformer?

 

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Presumably we’re talking WB?

 

The ‘upgraded’ version is incredibly clean. I preferred the earlier glow of the standard, but that’s not to detract from its astonishing volume. The fun just started to happen a little earlier.

 

Had I been in a metal band or something, I’d probably upgrade.