obbm

What no-one has mentioned is the amplifier's damping factor, i.e. the amps ability to control the loudspeaker motion and produce cleaner and clearer tone at all frequencies. There is a good explanation at [url="http://www.crownaudio.com/pdf/amps/damping_factor.pdf"]http://www.crownaudio.com/pdf/amps/damping_factor.pdf[/url] Cable resistance has a significant effect on this. Typically 1.5-sq.mm. cable has 3 times the resistance of 4-sq.mm., 2.5-sqmm. is almost double.

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1335286980' post='1628701'] I wondered about bigger the better and I can see that bell wire would be inadequate but is there actually a benefit from 2.5 (or 4 for that matter) over 1.5mm2? For house wiring 1.5mm is used for lighting circuits with a 5A fuse (= 5 x 240 = 1200W) so perhaps for peaky current and accurate transmitting of a signal this is too near the mark for a 900W amp. [/quote] You are dealing with multi-frequency audio not a pure 50Hz sine wave. It's not only volts and current that have to be considered. As for 4-sq.mm. cable, canvas the opinion of those who are using it.

4-sq.mm. is optimum.

I started playing when I was 16 in 1962 and have been at it on and off ever since.

If written info is not forthcoming then use a multimeter to identify the wires for each coil. This should sort out 4 of the 5 wires therefore the fifth is probably an earth. Confirm with the meter. Next step is to connect one pair to a cable and plug it into an amp. Tap the pole pieces with a screwdriver to ascertain which row of pole pieces that coil is under. Logically the other pair is the other row. If you don't have meter then I recommmend getting one.

After 12 years of playing 5s I've gone back to 4s. Somehow they just look and feel right, especially with small hands. There are only about 3 songs that I regularly play that need to go below E and they can be done with a Hipshot

Instrument cables are designed to carry signals of millivolts and milliamps. Because the signal is so small the cable is co-axial i.e.a central conductor with a surrounding grounded sceen around the outside to prevent unwanted intrusion of inerference. The conductor sizes are small. Speaker cables are designed to carry signals of volts and amps. The conductor sizes are large to handle the hefty signals but there is minimal chance of interference so the cable can be simple twin-core. Connect a guitar to to an amp with speaker cable and you will get a load of microphony and feedback due to the lack of screening. Connect a speaker to a bass amp with instrument cable and you run the risk of cable melt-down and the resultant decimation of the amp output stage.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' timestamp='1333531408' post='1602849'] What you don't want to do is to use a stereo-to-mono cable because they will just short the outputs together. [/quote] A proper stereo to mono cable should have mixing resistors. 22K is a good value, one in series with each of the stereo ouputs.

Definitely the pedal board. All I can suggest is to disconnect all the pedals and then reconnect them one at a time into the chain until the problem occurs. Then you have the culprit.

Watford Valves

Excellent. Might see you at Swanfest.

Although you're in my area I'm a bit too old for punk and anyway I'm already gigging in Aldershot on the 14th Aopril. It might be worth your while popping along to the Jams at the Unicorn in Aldershot on a Monday or the Lion Brewery in Ash on a Thursday to see who's available.