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That 8x10 might give you your 'trademark' sound, but you've got to move the damn thing. That 2x10 might be nice and compact, but has it got the guts you're looking for? There's always going to be a trade off between what sounds 'right' and the practicalities of transportation, it's just a case of finding the compromise you can live with.

You're not going to be able to fit a second standby battery in there without some serious wood hacking. I'm using a derivative of your bass (an SR505) as a main instrument (so pretty substantial use!) and I get through two batteries a year (I change them before they go). I just scrawl last battery change dates on the packaging of the spare that I bought to replace the last spare that stays in the appropriate guitar case so I know roughly where I am with battery life.

[quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1323247984' post='1460903'] Valve heads & basses ALWAYS come in though [/quote] +1 Not only are they the most succeptible to dampness they're expensive items in an easily 'transportable' package and ripe for opportunistic theft...

Well if the amp works fine just by using the return socket and your EBS then that provides another indication that the preamp on the Hartke is unhappy. Depends on the sort of values involved here, but if your company has bought a knackered amp then they're stuck with it. Make them an offer in the 'scrap value' sort of range, sort out the duff joints and you've got a really reliable standby for a few quid. I've got an old HA3000 I keep for exactly that reason that had the same problems you describe - took me a couple of hours to desolder and resolder the cr*p joints.

Why not ask if you can buy a cheap second hand combo and leave it permanantly onsite - if it's not travelling in and out of the prison then it removes the need to search it?

Not impossible to do but it would involve cutting the front PCB into two pieces and then extensive soldering to join the two pieces back together and move sockets into your preferred locations. I'd say the time spent trying to get the thing to work afterwards would far outweigh the benefits of actually doing it.

Mine regularly get left in the back of my car after a gig as I have to carry them upstairs to my music room - the last thing I fancy doing at silly o'clock in the morning after a gig. I've never had a problem.

Don't think it's something you'll fix with switch cleaner. Sounds more like a bad joint somewhere around the jack socket to me. Hartke were notorious for poor quality PCB manufacture a while back. They're easy enough to fix but it takes a little time, patience and a few soldering skills.

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1323100410' post='1459258'] If I swapped out the 3 contact socket for a 6 contact then I could get what I need? Is that what you mean? [/quote] No it'd take a little more than that. I'd need to scribble it down on paper to make sure, but in my 'imaginary circuit', if you used a standard three contact socket then the unit would always have to have a footswitch attached or else it wouldn't work. I'll have a scribble later and see what I can come up with... EDIT: Here you go - not sanity checked and was scrawled on the back of an envelope, but it looks about right [attachment=94579:Bypass.jpg]

I've been playing for just over 30 years now and practice most days - so a lot of time and effort. My definition of a good practice session is where I can get little glimmer of inspiration to ignite into something more tangible. Good practices don't happen every day, week or even month though. IMHO, learning how to be patient and not getting disheartened when just 'freewheeling' are every bit as important as learning new tricks.

It really depends on what adaptions have already been made to the unit - those old Melos units were modded by CB users in al sorts of ways. If the mod involved removing the footswitch jack then you're either going to have to undo the mod or find/make a suitable hole for a replacement one. Essentially, you need to break the signal path away from the input of the board and feed it directly to the output jack using a DPDT footswitch. Using a 6 contact jack socket will allow the unit to function 'correctly' when the footswitch is unplugged. Don't know if that's helped at all, shout if it hasn't and I'll have a bash at scribbling something down and scanning it for you.

+1 for roughing up the outside of the pot case where you are going to solder - they're either laquer coated or oxidised and the solder just won't flow nicely and you'll just end up with a blob of solder sat on a layer of rosin - not a very reliable connection... Superheating a pot can indeed damage it, the wiper assembly generally contains parts made from nylon and overheating it can make it deform - then the wiper doesn't make contact with the track adequately.

I can remember my dad making a bracket for one of his old cameras. Felt covered base that fixed to the base of the camera using the tripod screw, then two 'arms' that came up the front and then bent outwards at 90 degrees with a couple of small holes drilled through it to add a strap. All made from a single piece of mild steel...

Four bands and occasional dep and recording work. It's just a case of staying organised, I keep an online diary and I point everyone at that. Been using it for about 5 years now and there's never been any confusion, disagreement or upset.

[quote name='gadget' timestamp='1322515024' post='1452043'] you seem to get lots of Plastic Surgeons pooping up! [/quote] Ewwwww

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1322405125' post='1450396'] You now have two pieces of kit rather than one, and the need to interconnect the two and connect both to the mains AC. [/quote] Did you [b]really[/b] just write that? Anyone who's incapable of plugging something into the mains is certainly working in the wrong industry and the 'interconnect' is no harder than it is running a DI out from an amp back to a mixing desk. [quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1322405125' post='1450396'] And you have to buy the auxiliary mixer, so it's not like this happens with no cost. I'd put the money towards a better mixer instead, especially considering how much better the 212s is, with better channel EQ, two graphic EQs and effects, and how little the 212s costs. [/quote] Yes that's always going to be the best bet, but in the real world compromises have to be made in order to get things working now when just going out and buying an entire new desk 'right now' isn't always a financial possibility.

[quote name='Tom Mov Lee' timestamp='1322423662' post='1450734'] [size=4][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Ok so if i were to buy 2x [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/celestion_bl10_100_16_ohms.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...100_16_ohms.htm[/url] this would make 1 8ohm cab? Then If i made another 2x10 cab with the same speakers, and linked them together to a Gallien Kruegar 400RB-IV[/font][/size][size=4][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif] (which I am thinking of buying as an entry level head) it would maybe work okay in theory?[/font][/size] [/quote] Yes - two 16Ω speakers wired in parallel will give you an 8Ω load.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1322402204' post='1450338'] All the added complexity of a sub-mixer isn't worth the trouble, Sell the mixer and get a Yammy EMX212s, which is a far better mixer as well. [/quote] What complexity? All we do is feed the drum mics into the little mixer, balance everything on that and set up EQ - we then feed that signal into the main desk on a single channel that we just leave set flat.

Sounds more like a duff connection if playing harder cleared the problem. Either way round, you need to get to the bottom of it if the owner is due to collect and you don't want it coming back to you.

Well the tone caps don't do much work, but if these are the originals then they're 47 years old - probably far older than the manufacturer expected them to last. I'd be tempted to unsolder one leg of the cap and stick another one in temporarily and see if that resolves the situation.

Excellent news I'm sat here with the theme tune from Captain Scarlet running through my head...

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1322320013' post='1449353'] Alright me duck Not quit. They have straight posts and holes on the side (ala guitar posts) instead of slots and centre holes. They do look the same other wise but I would double check that any replacements are the same height because they face each other. (Hope that makes sense without pics!) [/quote] Yep that makes sense duck I was only going by a photo of one, I don't have one to compare it against. If it's just the 'clover leaf' bit that's busted, is the rest of the machine head dismantleable enough to just replace that part - I bet the gearing is the same even if the string end is slightly different..?

Aren't they just bog standard PB type machine heads?

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1322214880' post='1447941'] Good to have another lefty in the pack. Pretty soon we'll have enough to mount a takeover... [b]provided it's somewhere small[/b]! [/quote] Fixed

I have plain markers on all of my basses. Funny thing is that I never feel the urge to look at them unless it's too dark on stage to see them. So, for me at least, that makes them nothing more than a psychological safety net...