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The HandBox Amplification thread


wateroftyne

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Here's a random video shot at our gig a couple of weeks ago by the owner of the Quantock Brewery on her mobile phone - you'll have to scroll down a bit btw.  Just the R-400 through a pair of Barefaced SC G3 cabs, nothing else added.  Gain was at 12-o'clock for maximum clean input with bass at 1 o'clock and a touch of contour dialled in.  For what it's worth (which may be nothing 🙂) I've never had my bass come through so well - or even at all - on a mobile-phone recording.  OK, so probably says more about how much the phone technology has come on recently.  I'll get my coat....

 

Silverback at Quantock Brewery

Edited by scrumpymike
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  • 2 months later...

Switched my R-400 on for sound check before Saturday night's gig and it didn't power up.  Blue light came on for a split second and went out - then nothing.  Switched off and on again but no blue light at all this time, so had to use my back-up amp.  Any ideas?  Thought I'd ask on here first before trying it again.  Btw, we did have the feeling that the pub's mains supply wasn't delivering the full 240v as our lead guitarist wasn't getting the expected volume from his amp at the normal settings.

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9 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Just the normal, check a different power lead, make sure it is in right, check the fuses etc. Sounds like something was loose until i ttried to get power. Did it click at all?

Same lead worked fine with backup amp.  Yes, I think I did hear a click.

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OK, so just had another look at the R-400 before tonight's gig.  When I switched on this time, one of the red warning lights flashed for a split second but again no power-up - couldn't tell whether it was the CLIP or PROT light as they are next to each other and it happened so fast but this suggests it's not a blown fuse.  Had another try and got nothing at all.  Anybody know if HandBox have UK tech support?  I've got other amps but this was fast becoming my favourite.

Edited by scrumpymike
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10 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

Will do.

 

If you are talking to Leszek, remember that English is not his first language and he can sometimes come across as a bit abrupt (which he will later apologise for after he has shown the email to his son). 

 

Good luck. 

 

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22 hours ago, peteb said:

 

If you are talking to Leszek, remember that English is not his first language and he can sometimes come across as a bit abrupt (which he will later apologise for after he has shown the email to his son). 

 

Good luck. 

 

Thanks Pete.  No worries, I'm used to dealing with Adrian Maruszczyk! 😐

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Thanks to all who responded to my request for help.  Pinged an e-mail across to Leszek over the weekend and got one back first thing this morning saying he's pretty sure what the problem is and offering me two alternatives: either he'll liaise with my amp tech if I have one (which I do), or I return the amp to HandBox at my cost and he fixes it FOC.  I've put Leszek in touch with my trusty amp guy and am confident that all will be sorted locally before too long.  When you consider I didn't buy the amp new, must say I'm delighted with Leszek's response.

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  • 2 months later...
On 22/11/2021 at 16:56, scrumpymike said:

Thanks to all who responded to my request for help.  Pinged an e-mail across to Leszek over the weekend and got one back first thing this morning saying he's pretty sure what the problem is and offering me two alternatives: either he'll liaise with my amp tech if I have one (which I do), or I return the amp to HandBox at my cost and he fixes it FOC.  I've put Leszek in touch with my trusty amp guy and am confident that all will be sorted locally before too long.  When you consider I didn't buy the amp new, must say I'm delighted with Leszek's response.

Any updates Mr Scrumpy? Did you get it sorted?

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I've been using a WB100 for about a year now. Into a Barefaced Super 12.  It sounds pretty, pretty good... :)

 

A couple of months ago I got a Vong Filterung (HP+LP filter with a level boost) and have been using that through the effects loop. 

 

I have to say, this has really opened the amp up. Before now, I've always been just on the edge of distortion and having to play hard to keep up with my (loud) band. Especially with low notes. I do play a p bass with heavy flats and the tone completely rolled off, so it does take some oompf to get the pitch audible, especially playing with 2 guitarists who are playing with lots of mids in their sounds. 

 

Feels like the amp I always wanted now. Much more dynamically responsive. Very loud, but not aggressive when I want it to be, solid and musical when I play soft and consistent up and down the neck. 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 30/01/2022 at 21:00, Piers_Williamson said:

Do let the the R400 owners club here know what the problem was. 

Sorry guys, just realised I forgot about this!  Amp is fine now after amp tech Pete did the mod advised by Leszek.  I don't know what that was because Leszek didn't copy me in to the email he sent Pete.  I did ask Pete to let me have a written explanation I could share with you guys (he explained it when I collected the amp but it just went over my head). Not received anything yet so I'll remind him. He charged me £50 for the repair, which I think was reasonable considering he had to ping a few emails across to our Polish friend and had already started to try and locate the fault himself by the time Leszek finally sent the info.

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8 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

I gave my Handbox / Maruszczyk BassTank a run out tonight for the first time in - my God - a few years at tonight's gig. Tell you what, it's a blummin' lovely amp. I should use it more often.

 

APC_0911.thumb.jpg.02751f8f4c83ed197bed40a71c850e66.jpg

 

 

Lovely bass by the looks of things...is it vintage? What year?

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 31/01/2022 at 13:08, bigjohn said:

I've been using a WB100 for about a year now. Into a Barefaced Super 12.  It sounds pretty, pretty good... :)

 

A couple of months ago I got a Vong Filterung (HP+LP filter with a level boost) and have been using that through the effects loop. 

 

I have to say, this has really opened the amp up. Before now, I've always been just on the edge of distortion and having to play hard to keep up with my (loud) band. Especially with low notes. I do play a p bass with heavy flats and the tone completely rolled off, so it does take some oompf to get the pitch audible, especially playing with 2 guitarists who are playing with lots of mids in their sounds. 

 

Feels like the amp I always wanted now. Much more dynamically responsive. Very loud, but not aggressive when I want it to be, solid and musical when I play soft and consistent up and down the neck. 

 


I’ve been thinking about the WB100 - but …. is there any way of getting a 4 ohm load on it without daisy chaining the cabs?

 

I’m running (gen 2 I think) a Barefaced Compact and a Midget T which have only one Speakon in each - so daisy chain is not an option.

Edited by Nickthebass
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On 08/03/2022 at 16:33, Nickthebass said:


I’ve been thinking about the WB100 - but …. is there any way of getting a 4 ohm load on it without daisy chaining the cabs?

 

I’m running (gen 2 I think) a Barefaced Compact and a Midget T which have only one Speakon in each - so daisy chain is not an option.

Would imagine it would be fairly easy to fit another speakon connection in the compact cab. I'm sure Alex would help you out with this if you emailed him.

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On 13/03/2022 at 10:48, Woodinblack said:


you can get a dual speak on splitter from most places that sell speak on leads

@Woody1957 - thanks for the suggestion but I think the splitter is probably solution for me. If I change cabs again in the future it'll likely be to another 2 cab set up - making the splitter box a simple permanent fix. 

 

Thanks @Woodinblack - I hadn't even twigged that these were a thing!

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