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No more Procrastination! (An interesting small valve head story)

Bridgehouse

By Bridgehouse,
in Amps and Cabs

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Woodinblack Grand Master

Woodinblack

Posted
Posted (edited)

Almost all guitarists I have played with had a valve amp, and pretty well all of them had a problem with it at some point in a gig. Some are definitely worth it, but some really aren't. Im always a bit happier when our guitarist hasn't brought his orange amp to a gig.

- edit - 

in all fairness I do have 2 valve guitar amps, and haven't had any problems with them!

Edited by Woodinblack
Beer of the Bass Mentor

Beer of the Bass

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, pbasspecial said:

I ordered an Ampeg PF50t from Kenny's on Saturday. Polar sent me an email that it's being delivered tomorrow. Fingers crossed everything's ok. Can't wait. :)

I hope you have better luck than me! I'm just hoping I have mine by the weekend, when I wanted to gig it...

  • Like 1
Quilly Experienced

Quilly

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

Almost all guitarists I have played with had a valve amp, and pretty well all of them had a problem with it at some point in a gig. Some are definitely worth it, but some really aren't. Im always a bit happier when our guitarist hasn't brought his orange amp to a gig.

- edit - 

in all fairness I do have 2 valve guitar amps, and haven't had any problems with them!

I’ve had no issues ...that said I always have my trusty 1996 trace Elliot ah500 in the boot of my car...just in case 

Woodinblack Grand Master

Woodinblack

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Quilly said:

I’ve had no issues ...that said I always have my trusty 1996 trace Elliot ah500 in the boot of my car...just in case 

I take two basses to every gig in case, but  I must admit I have never thought of having a spare amp. 

Quilly Experienced

Quilly

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

I take two basses to every gig in case, but  I must admit I have never thought of having a spare amp. 

I once had an Orange Terror bass that gave up the ghost on me on 2 separate occasions at gigs. Ever since I always carry a backup. I got rid of the Orange BTW.

Woodinblack Grand Master

Woodinblack

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Quilly said:

I once had an Orange Terror bass that gave up the ghost on me on 2 separate occasions at gigs. Ever since I always carry a backup. I got rid of the Orange BTW.

Oh yes, I would take a spare if it was a valve, but mine is completely bottle free so I don't. Worst comes to the worst I can plug in the PA.

pbasspecial Mentor

pbasspecial

Posted
Posted

I went to a gig where the bass players combo started coughing and spluttering and then died.  The look of 'oh flip' on his face and the bands.  I calmly walked to my car and got my amp and cab from the boot and handed it to him.  

I am now loved by that band forever.  I even got a dep gig from another band he plays in.  I'm seen as a good player, nice guy, well prepared and reliable.

Quilly Experienced

Quilly

Posted
Posted
47 minutes ago, Beer of the Bass said:

I've just emailed Kenny's again as I've still had no response to let me know what's going on.  This is getting silly...

Thats so annoying...happened me before with gear4music. Eventually...I got a refund.

Beer of the Bass Mentor

Beer of the Bass

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, krispn said:

Phone them- much better than awaiting an email. 

I did phone them yesterday, the response was that they'd chase it up and get back to me before the end of the day (which they didn't manage to do).

I've just had an email back saying a replacement has been dispatched that should be with me by Thursday at the latest, but I wish they'd kept up communication rather than promising an advance replacement then going silent.  I think if this one has any minor valve-related issues I'll just sort it myself!

pbasspecial Mentor

pbasspecial

Posted
Posted

Hopefully Beer of the Bass was just a one-off.  They seemed great when I spoke to them on the phone on Friday just to put my mind at rest as the deal seemed too good to be true.  Spoke with Connor.  Nice guy.

Here she is:

image.jpeg

image.jpeg

  • Like 1
Beer of the Bass Mentor

Beer of the Bass

Posted
Posted

Seems I'm not having good luck with this one.  It arrived back today, and Polar have replaced the power valves on the original amp rather than sending a replacement amp as the shop thought they would.  The bias indicator is no longer going red when it's been on for a while, at least.  But now something is microphonic - I can hear it ringing through the speaker if I gently tap the chassis.  I'll have a think about what to do, if I can track it down to one valve I might be inclined to sort it myself rather than going back through the returns hassle again. 

Beer of the Bass Mentor

Beer of the Bass

Posted
Posted

Tapping the valves through the cage using a cocktail stick revealed that it's the phase inverter 12au7/ecc82 that's microphonic.  I popped in a very old Telefunken ECC82 I had in my parts box, and it's much less microphonic, but still very slightly so.  So I reckon that with a fresh new valve I should be good to go.  It's a pain in the bum, but then so is going through another returns process...

 

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