Bass amp standing vertically

[jimbartlett]

Maybe a stupid question but, does it hurt my bass amp head having it standing vertically rather than horizontally? It's a solid state Trace AH250. It's too big for my Barefaced cabs so thought it would be an idea to stack it on it's side next to them.

[BigRedX]

The electrons will have to work much harder to flow vertically rather than horizontally as they would in the amp's normal orientation. You may loose some of the "heft" in the sound.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

The possibility exists that it could reduce the effectiveness of the amp's cooling mechanism, especially if it's passive and not fan driven.

[jimbartlett]

Thanks guys. It has a fan with switchable low/high. So not a good idea by the sound of it then?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

A fan would make the amp position irrelevant, whereas convection cooling can require specific orientation of the amp to function.

Edited September 12, 2017 by Bill Fitzmaurice

[jimbartlett]

So it will be ok then? I'll give it a try tomorrow at our rehearsal. Thank you for the advice 👍🏼

[Jack]

Bad idea, the sound will be 90 degrees out of phase.



*Not a serious post.

[naxos10]

You may get some latency as the sounds got to go up hill, turn it the other way up and you'll be hearing the notes before you play them - difficult choice

[warwickhunt]

I use a pair of TC RS210 cabs stacked vertically which makes a tall/skinny tower and my Thunderfunk mounted on top horizontally would be unstable (amp/case overhang). As a result I stand it on the edge with both amp and cabs mounted on a Gramma Pad, possibly isolating unwanted vibrations that might transfer through the floor... no evidence that this might shorten life expectancy but belt and braces approach. My amp is fan loaded btw.

[radiophonic]

I do this pretty often with my Hartke LH500 due to the awkward size/shape of the head. I'm a [i]bit [/i]concerned about the cooling issue, since I figure that even with a fan, there are assumptions about passive cooling that affect how the active cooling is implemented and it does have a valve pre-amp. It's never overheated though or even got noticeably warm.

[Phil Starr]

What Bill is saying makes a lot of sense but I'd add one caveat. The fan should be enough to keep the temperature within acceptable levels but it is possible that inside the amp there are cooling fins that need to be vertical to dissipate the heat into the air prior to the fan removing the hot air. Without having the amp on the bench I wouldn't be able to say if this is the case or not.

This is only a problem if the amp is stressed and most amps would be fine. If you are operating the amp at high levels and it's in a hot room already then I'd be cautious, otherwise nothing to worry about.

Won't an amp on it's side look more odd than a bit of overhang though?

[xgsjx]

I used to do this with my MarkBass, mainly because it was in a 2x10 combo & it was built sideways. Always sounded good & had no trouble with it.

[jimbartlett]

Thank you for all your replies. It sounds like it is ok to do but to watch the cooling issue. I will have to see how it goes and keep an eye on it. Alternatively suck it up and have the huge overhang!

[jimbartlett]

I know it's a different amp but I asked Ashdown and the reply was that as long as the vents aren't impeded, it will be fine.

[Ghost_Bass]

Just cope with the overhang, place it under the cabs or on their side in a stand that keeps it horizontal. Can't remeber how my old Trace was on the inside but they have heavy components in there and having them on their side may (or may not) cause some stress on the weldings and PCBs, not to mention the heating problems that were explained earlier.

[jimbartlett]

It's not the overhang I'm worried about. It'll be on top of two Barefaced One 10's and I have visions of it being knocked over by and over enthusiastic guitarist 😄

[xgsjx]

Stand it vertically against the side of the cab. Problem solved.

[jimbartlett]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1505285747' post='3370675']
Stand it vertically against the side of the cab. Problem solved.
[/quote]

That was my original idea, hence this thread and me asking if it was ok to do it.

[chris_b]

Would it fit on top of the cabs if they were stacked horizontally?

[jimbartlett]

No it would still be dodgy. I'll probably look at getting a stand to put over them I think.

[No. 8 Wire]

These barefaced cabs are light as a feather aren't they? And the trace is a brick... so stack the cabs on top of the amp....

[jimbartlett]

I've not tried it yet but I was worried it would be too heavy. Rehearsal tonight so I'll do just that

[No. 8 Wire]

More seriously though so many amps are stacked in weird ways and are fine.

My Mesa walkabout for instance is usually found stacked knobs up in its back pack on the combo, and that thing needs a lot of (fan) air. I can't see how orientation would hinder cooling in a fan driven amp, unless the vents were blocked.

[naxos10]

+1 but just double check your amp has no loose bits floating around inside just in case a short occurs. (Not casting any assertions on the state of your amp - just a precaution.)

[yorks5stringer]

I had real issues with my MB RJ 800 Head overhanging a Traveller 210. So much so I then went and bought the matching RJ cab, so problem solved. Just harking back to the Traveller cab, I even moved the badge through 90 degrees as I could not abide it being sideways when I used it with a LMII/III.....

Edited September 14, 2017 by yorks5stringer