The HandBox Amplification thread

[Jack]

3 minutes ago, RikiB said:

Probably a bit too much for me. I’ll keep an eye out for a used one.

I was surprised actually. I mean, that is unquestionably a LOT of money, but it's less than a lot of big brand heads (at least their top level stuff) and it's way way less than almost every other small manufacturer. And that's just SS, I can't remember the last tube head I saw for anywhere near that. Good value for sure.

[wateroftyne]

£900 for an incredible hand-made amp is pretty good going.

[RikiB]

Oh no doubt it’s a great price for what you get.

[scrumpymike]

23 hours ago, RikiB said:

My R400 has started to turn on without the red HB logo that goes green and instead the Protect light is on and then HB logo goes green. Anything I should worry about?

 

Also once it did this and no sound came out so I had to turn it off and restart and it worked again.

Bit concerned something isn’t right, any ideas?

 

Hi Riki, just picked up on this, and really sorry to hear that you're having problems with the R-400 you bought from me. I had an intermittent start-up problem with this amp shortly after I bought it a couple of years back. I took it to my trusted amp tech Pete, who contacted Leszek and got a mod back from him. Pete did the mod and the amp worked perfectly for me during the rest of my ownership. The symptoms of my fault were different from yours but I mention this a) in case it may be helpful to other R-400 owners and b) so you know that I can put you in touch with an amp tech, who now has some prior product knowledge. I hold HandBox and Leszek in the highest regard and was seriously considering a W-100 as my next step.

 

I'll do whatever I can to help you sort this out and am just going to ping you a PM.

[dmccombe7]

Not sure whether i should say this but sometimes a loose circuit board connector can cause this type of issue, even a loose preamp valve, perhaps happening during transit.

I have an electrical / electronic background and appreciate the hazards involved in this but i would remove the cover and using a plastic rod or even the round end of a plastic pen just push down on any circuit board connectors to make sure they are fully seated.

Even try removing and replacing the pre-amp valve but only if you are confident and capable. There is a risk of shock from stored energy in capacitors and valves even tho an amp is unplugged from the mains.

 

Dave

[scrumpymike]

6 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Not sure whether i should say this but sometimes a loose circuit board connector can cause this type of issue, even a loose preamp valve, perhaps happening during transit.

I have an electrical / electronic background and appreciate the hazards involved in this but i would remove the cover and using a plastic rod or even the round end of a plastic pen just push down on any circuit board connectors to make sure they are fully seated.

Even try removing and replacing the pre-amp valve but only if you are confident and capable. There is a risk of shock from stored energy in capacitors and valves even tho an amp is unplugged from the mains.

 

Dave

 

They say misfortunes come in threes. Riki's first was a rattling on his initial try-out that turned out to be case screws apparently loosened in transit; his second is this start-up problem. Riki, please don't let the third (and final?) one be an electric shock.

 

Only kidding, thanks for your helpful comments Dave.

[dmccombe7]

23 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

 

They say misfortunes come in threes. Riki's first was a rattling on his initial try-out that turned out to be case screws apparently loosened in transit; his second is this start-up problem. Riki, please don't let the third (and final?) one be an electric shock.

 

Only kidding, thanks for your helpful comments Dave.

To be honest i was a bit wary of posting that as there is always a risk of death involved with anything electrical especially if you don't know what you're doing.

Dave

Edited July 17, 2023 by dmccombe7

[RikiB]

5 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

 

Hi Riki, just picked up on this, and really sorry to hear that you're having problems with the R-400 you bought from me. I had an intermittent start-up problem with this amp shortly after I bought it a couple of years back. I took it to my trusted amp tech Pete, who contacted Leszek and got a mod back from him. Pete did the mod and the amp worked perfectly for me during the rest of my ownership. The symptoms of my fault were different from yours but I mention this a) in case it may be helpful to other R-400 owners and b) so you know that I can put you in touch with an amp tech, who now has some prior product knowledge. I hold HandBox and Leszek in the highest regard and was seriously considering a W-100 as my next step.

 

I'll do whatever I can to help you sort this out and am just going to ping you a PM.

Thanks Scrumpy. It’s working at the moment but it just starts up with the protect light instead of the red HB logo which is off.

I could open it up and see if anything has come disconnected but I doubt it as it’s just been sitting on my cab.

It was just the 1 time it started up but no audio came out which has got me worried about relying on it at a gig now.

[RikiB]

3 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

To be honest i was a bit wary of posting that as there is always a risk of death involved with anything electrical especially if you don't know what you're doing.

Dave

Yeah I have a bit of knowledge about amp safety but this being just preamp tubes I think it’s a lot safer

[dmccombe7]

55 minutes ago, RikiB said:

Yeah I have a bit of knowledge about amp safety but this being just preamp tubes I think it’s a lot safer

Pre-amp tubes can give you a sore one if not careful. Safer in a way than power amp tubes but still care is required at all times.

Dave

[Downunderwonder]

2 hours ago, RikiB said:

sitting on my cab.

Yep. That'll do it.

[scrumpymike]

25 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said:

Yep. That'll do it.

Wonder if this could be Riki's problem. I never sit a valve amp in direct contact with the top of my cab just to be on the safe side.

[RikiB]

6 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

Wonder if this could be Riki's problem. I never sit a valve amp in direct contact with the top of my cab just to be on the safe side.

Putting a bass head on a bass cab is pretty normal and would expect it to not cause any problems. Maybe vibrating over time could cause some problems but this is house volume not gig volume so far so if it is that then the head isn’t fit for purpose.

[agedhorse]

2 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Pre-amp tubes can give you a sore one if not careful. Safer in a way than power amp tubes but still care is required at all times.

Dave

Not much safer given the plate voltages are fairly close.

[RikiB]

Still haven’t heard back from Hand box when I asked if this is a problem or not and what could it be. So far touch wood it’s working fine other than the startup procedure.

 

[agedhorse]

1 minute ago, RikiB said:

Putting a bass head on a bass cab is pretty normal and would expect it to not cause any problems. Maybe vibrating over time could cause some problems but this is house volume not gig volume so far so if it is that then the head isn’t fit for purpose.

Correct, it’s the most common configuration, and a player would have a reasonable expectation that the head can be operated on top of a cabinet.

[Woody1957]

26 minutes ago, agedhorse said:

Correct, it’s the most common configuration, and a player would have a reasonable expectation that the head can be operated on top of a cabinet.

Back in the day I had an old Elgen bass amp that was extremely temperamental and always had to sit on a very thick piece of foam on top of the cab.

I have a R400 and it goes on top of my 2 super compacts without any problems at all.

[wateroftyne]

Hi all

FWIW the 'correct' startup sequence (at least on mine) is:

 

1. Red HB light & 'Protect' light for about 30 seconds

2. A gently audible mechanical 'click' then a switch to green HB light and 'Ready' light.

 

I wonder if the LED has failed on @RikiB's?

 

I don't think having the amp on a cab will be a contributing factor to any problems..!

 

Also, I am fairly sure Lezsek is way on holiday at the moment, so if you're getting zero / brief responses, that might be why.

Edited July 21, 2023 by wateroftyne

[RikiB]

Thanks for this,maybe it is just the red LED light then:

 

leszek replies to me and just clarifying what mod/fix was done on it by previous owner and if need to get it looked at by an amp tech.

 

Also a bit worried about headroom as last night I just took a Barefaced 2x10 instead of the Six10 with a not so loud band and by the end of it I I was at about 90% volume and gain was at about 1pm and the clip light kept flashing so wondering if this amp is loud enough for bigger rooms. But maybe it just need the Six10 but I found my GK legacy 800 goes a lot louder and cleaner than the HB unfortunately.  
yet to gig with it so I’ll report back but just want to find out if anything is up with the amp as it goes on ok and clicks like you say to Green light.

[wateroftyne]

24 minutes ago, RikiB said:

Thanks for this,maybe it is just the red LED light then:

 

leszek replies to me and just clarifying what mod/fix was done on it by previous owner and if need to get it looked at by an amp tech.

 

Also a bit worried about headroom as last night I just took a Barefaced 2x10 instead of the Six10 with a not so loud band and by the end of it I I was at about 90% volume and gain was at about 1pm and the clip light kept flashing so wondering if this amp is loud enough for bigger rooms. But maybe it just need the Six10 but I found my GK legacy 800 goes a lot louder and cleaner than the HB unfortunately.  
yet to gig with it so I’ll report back but just want to find out if anything is up with the amp as it goes on ok and clicks like you say to Green light.

 

I don't know how loud your band is, but IME it's should easily loud enough for a bigger room, within the confines of what the cab is capable of, of course. I wouldn't worry about the clip light, but 90% volume? That's insane.

 

Is the BF2x10 4ohm?

[RikiB]

1 hour ago, wateroftyne said:

 

I don't know how loud your band is, but IME it's should easily loud enough for a bigger room, within the confines of what the cab is capable of, of course. I wouldn't worry about the clip light, but 90% volume? That's insane.

 

Is the BF2x10 4ohm?

Yeah 4ohm

Was a medium sized practice room and wasn’t louder than the rest of the band (sax,2 trumpets,drums,guitar) 

[RikiB]

I worry about the clean headroom on any outside gigs we do so I’ll probably have to use my GK for those but I like the sound of the HB head

[wateroftyne]

6 minutes ago, RikiB said:

Yeah 4ohm

Was a medium sized practice room and wasn’t louder than the rest of the band (sax,2 trumpets,drums,guitar) 

And there definitely isn’t an issue re: the signal the amp is receiving being too low? Where were your input and output gains and EQ etc. set?

 

 

[RikiB]

Bass was at about 1 o’clock,treble 11 o’clock ,contour off. Gain around 1 o’clock and Colume from 2 o’clock to 3 o’clock 

[wateroftyne]

7 minutes ago, RikiB said:

Bass was at about 1 o’clock,treble 11 o’clock ,contour off. Gain around 1 o’clock and Colume from 2 o’clock to 3 o’clock 

 

Yeah, there's something, somewhere, not right.