ahpook

phew...now i don't feel like i have too many ! nice vi btw

ampeg svp-pro preamp soundtech ps802 power amp swr 2x12 400W cab peavey 4x10 350W cab. frankly...it rocks !!

ok, just to close the story i received a [i]brand new[/i] micro q-tron and steel leather this week, along with instructions from ehx not to daisy chain the steel leather. so good on the creative tools for sorting everything out as it's new, the q-tron's about to go up for sale on the forum, and i might be letting the steel leather go...i'm using a different sound now tbh. can't say it hasn't been interesting though !!!

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='200696' date='May 16 2008, 08:19 PM']yeah i started a thread about my SVT-CL fan...I've not got round to replacing it yet[/quote] i should replace the ones in the soundtech i guess...but thsat would mean pulling it out of the rack, taking it apart....

yeah - whatever happpened about this ?

i'm tired of hearing cooling fans !! my soundtech power amp has noisy fans, i admit it...but they're not noticeable when you're playing live, but at home they drive me mad after about 30 mins. so at the moment i'm running my pre-amp into the effects return of my trace elliot head, as it's quieter... [b]but it's still driving me mad[/b] i'm actually thinking of getting a cheap low-wattage power amp that uses passive cooling at home just for some peace and quiet. anyone else feel like this ? sorry for ranting !

camera phone ? it's what i do

[quote name='thinman' post='200297' date='May 16 2008, 11:41 AM']In basic terms I keep coming back to thinking that there's no need to have anything louder than an unamplified drum kit. Maybe not the case?[/quote] plus the one...couldn't agree more.

[quote name='endorka' post='200256' date='May 16 2008, 10:50 AM']Yes, but sooner or later - preferably sooner - you begin to realise that there is a certain madness in pumping hundreds of watts into massive stacks of speaker cabs, only to "turn it down" again by putting ear plugs in.[/quote] plus the one. for years i used my trace elliot 150W head for every gig i played...never had any problems being heard, and if i did i made everyone turn down. imho anything over 400W is excessive....for a venue needing that on-stage volume to fill it, you're going to be going through a PA anyway, so hefting all those watts around seems like a waste of time. my current rig is a 400W...[i]more[/i] than enough in my experience.

ok...here's some pics... first of all the view into the chassis from the back to the front at the back left is the power supply and power amp circuitboard...the large silver blocks are the heatsinks for the power transistors, and to the right of the heatsinks are the smoothing capacitors that i'm going to replace. finally the round thing on the far right is a toroidal transformer. next, the view from the back to the front here you can see the backs of the heatsinks and the preamp board at the front of the unit. and finally...the dust, crud and spiderwebs that accumulate next to a cooling fan ! and also the name of the design of the power amp...'the bipolar bear' ! lol !

cheers guys...i've looked at the psu caps and got the ratings so i can try some replacements first - it turns out (top marks thinman !) that they're glued to the board, so i'll have to resecure them properly once the work is done. when the board's out i'll have a look at the underside, see how the tracks look. i may pull the preamp board too...just check it looks ok. i'm just gonna hoover it out and give it a good old dose of servisol for the time being, and then get the caps tomoz. do we want pics ? kind of work in progress/see how filthy the carpet is thing ?

[quote name='thinman' post='199598' date='May 15 2008, 02:23 PM']IIRC the distortion or overtones are caused by the psu smoothing caps not smoothing fully so there's a bit of 50Hz ripple on the power supply which can get imposed on the output signal. I'd try these first. They're also the ones likely to fail most catastrophically. The other smaller electrolytics may also degrade. I think inter-stage couplers degrading means their capacitance falls so the bass response may be reduced.[/quote] thanks for the advice ! i'll open it up this arvo and see what the psu caps are. i love half-days from work !!

[quote name='thinman' post='199576' date='May 15 2008, 01:48 PM']I've read quite a bit that states it's a good idea to replace the electrolytics after 10 years as a matter of course. I've done it one of my heads. Apparently a symptom of power supply smoothing caps not working as well as they used to is a strange harmonic/overtone on dying notes.[/quote] hmm...interesting. i may have to open mine up and see if there's anything obvious. when you say 'the electrolytics' do you mean all of them, or just the psu smoothing caps ?

well, i guess it's at least 15 years old, so a bit of tlc is prolly in order !

i usually use my trace elliot head for practise at home as the cooling fans on the bigger rig tend to annoy after a while. so now that it's driving my new cab that's on top of my old 4x10 i can hear the sound coming out of it a lot clearer as it's right by my ears... ..and i can hear a very slight distorted sound 'behind' the sound of my bass when i'm playing. it's not loud, but it is there. this doesn't happen with my other amp(s) and i've tried different bases and cables and it's still there. it's quite an old head - could it be time to replace the caps ? any advice before i bung it in for service would be good.

[quote name='R,5,R,5...' post='198905' date='May 14 2008, 05:24 PM']I CAN'T believe someone else is a fan...[/quote] plus the one. the guy's an amazing bass player. so glad he's appreciated !! is the 3mp stuff good ? i've been meaning to track some down...

[quote name='Sarah5string' post='198885' date='May 14 2008, 04:57 PM']Anything involving slap and pop... I'm hopeless at it![/quote] see when it comes to slap and pop...i'm quite happy not being able to play it !!

[quote name='Jobiebass' post='198708' date='May 14 2008, 01:30 PM']But what songs out there have you looked at and thought... Never in a million years..[/quote] most of them.

just a thought - we're seeing boss pedals that claim to mimic certain amps and now these sansamp ones. kindof reminds me of a plug-ins in cubase or nuendo... um..that's it, just a wee bit o' musing.

[quote name='BassInMyFace' post='198578' date='May 14 2008, 10:58 AM']what i really need is post eq input like on the cube 30. is there any way this can be achieved? can the headphone out jack be converted as mentioned above?[/quote] as other have said...i'd imagine it is possible, but you'd need to take it to an engineer.