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Seems to be. I've been tracking the prices like a hawk 😅

The amp makes the noise even without a bass or cable plugged into the preamp. It also does it when muted too. So I don't think the problem is with the bass, but for the record I have 3 basses, all passive and all well shielded and no more noisy in use with other amps than any other basses I've played over the years.

Funnily enough, we discussed this at the time we were investigating the noise at Ainsleys' house. I'd always set the gain level and controlled the output with the master volume, always have as at some point in the depths of time I'd been led to believe it gives you the best signal to noise ratio. But I've heard of others doing the opposite. And it's what originally highlighted this issue.

George (Martin)

Correct this is what I learned in school and also in Germany and Austria

I think this would be it, unless I've done something stupid!

Just to confirm before I pull the trigger, £900 from Andertons or Gear 4 Music is the best deal in the UK for the Anagram, right? Want to make sure I'm not missing a trick before I spunk my money away.

Ermm... it's a long time since I thought about and did these mods, so it's possible that I might spout absolute nonsense here, but I think I've got it right... - In the pedal's original form: Without an exp jack plugged in, the normalising contacts on the socket feed the control signal from the envelope trigger to the filter's control input (TRS = control voltage/5v/0v) So: when a plug is inserted into the exp socket, the signal from the envelope trigger is disconnected, and the filter gets its control signal from whatever appears on the TRS plug that's plugged into the socket. ie: the switching between envelope control of the filter and external expression control of the filter is handled by the normalising contacts of the exp socket. What I wanted was to be able to footswitch between envelope control of the filter, and external expression control of the filter, without needing to unplug/replug the external expression pedal from the socket. So, what I needed to do was: 1) Remove the exp socket from the main pcb. I removed the socket whole, and re-used it. This was a bit tricky, but manageable if your desoldering skills are ok. The alternative would be to carefully dismantle/destroy the socket in place until just the legs are left, remove them one by one, and use a similar replacement socket. So, the six pads on the PCB that are now free of the exp socket represent the output of the pedal's envelope trigger circuit, and the input to the filter control circuit (3 contacts for each) 2) my new footswitch needs to be able to connect the 3 contacts of the filter control circuit (ie the PCB pads where the exp socket's Non-Breaking contacts previously were) to either: a) the 3 contacts of the envelope generator (ie the PCB pads where the exp socket's Breaking contacts previously were), or: b) the 3 contacts of the exp socket (using the Non-Breaking contacts) which will bring in the control signal from the external expression pedal 3) So i) the 3 'common' poles of the 3PDT switch should go to the CV/5v/0v of the filter control circuit pads on the PCB ii) one set of 3 switched poles of the footswitch should go to the CV/5v/0v of the envelope generator signal pads on the PCB iii) the other set of 3 switched poles of the footswitch should go to the CV/5v/0v of the external expression pedal (via the Non-Breaking TRS contacts of the exp socket) When replacing the exp socket in the pedal enclosure, I put it in upside-down relative to its previous orientation, to keep its contacts away from the newly-rewired PCB pads. Reading this back, it sounds like a kinda complicated thing, but it's really not. I think this is just a bad way of explaining it! Hope it may make some sense to you - ask me again if not! I'll see if I can conjure up a diagram or two that might make it simpler to follow.

Thanks so much for responding so quickly. I hadn't noticed the LED. I guess another (last?) question is why three sets of wires from the TRS jack? I would think you just need to be able to close the switch/connection for each of the three poles (T,R,S) on the jack (to mimic the behavior when there is no TRS inserted)? It looks like you have three sets of wires connected to only two contacts per pole? The reason I ask is I think you could implement this (absent the LED) by soldering directly to the exposed/top of the jacks as they are and not have to take the board out (lazy me

Teenage Bottlepocket

Im very excited to follow your build !

I was in a covers band, bit of a vanity project for the singer/guitarist. He liked a lot of the same music as myself and the drummer though...blues, early ZZ Top, Little Feat, Zappa, sometimes punk, reggae and country...a real mixed bag, gigs were few and far between. We'd usually rehearse in his shack/shed home in his parents meadow (they had a garden and beyond that was where he 'lived') Most rehearsal nights were accompanied by a spliff going round the 3 of us, our rehearsals were great! Everything sounded wonderful, we were tight...our actual gigs were proper ramshackle though, I guess we missed the spliff when performing 😄 I can't believe we played Salisbury Arts Centre and a similar size venue in Stroud with that band but probably the least organised band I've played with due to the smoke, I remember getting stuck in a loop playing American Idiot cos he couldn't remember the song structure (damn that Green Day for writing complex songs 😄) .. I think I miss a bit of that haziness sometimes Stay off drugs, kidz!

I generally don't subscribe to the idea that substances do anything for creativity or the like, but it's a fact that The Faces in live recordings – with a line of liquor bottles set up on the organ and the band giggling and jeering – were an absolute racous powerhouse, while The Faces in the studio were always a bit underwhelming.

Little Seat Sly & Sobbie My Broody Valentine

In a related vein, it's definitely worth having a listen to Storm Corrosion - a 2012 collaboration between SW and Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth. And counterintuitively - it's very much not a metal recommendation!

Sorry bud couldn't resist. Harley Benton teased some new models on their Instagram story. Most brands wait til the first big run of guitar shows these days instead of doing it Jan 1st. If there are certain brands you are interested in id recommended following their socials or checking sites like Andertons, cme etc for launch info 👍

Thanks for all the lovely comments.

Those preamps (Touring, Spyder, probably any Dual Tube ones) are muted bevor Master Volume, that is the grid of its first triode is connected to the ground (muted), but the rest isn’t. This valve, especially when not very good one, could be the “receiver”. You might like to replace this valve with another one labeled as V1 (low noise, less microphonic, etc.). If you are going to do so, you need to check whether it’s a 12AX7/ECC83 or something else.

I had a Violin bass and many years ago learnt on a borrowed Senator bass. The spacing at the bridge is about 14mm which I found too close for finger style playing, my other basses are 18/19 mm. I think they lend themselves to plectrum playing. Almost all their basses are short scale which I suspect also lead to there lack of popularity back when everyone else was using long scale.

If you hadn't, I would have. . . . As it is, I am entirely satisfied with @ash's old E-MU Classic Keys.