JapanAxe

I think the OP may refer to the idea that valve elements are more fragile when at their working temperatures. I simply don't know whether or not that is the case.

My amp (valve or otherwise) tends to be one of the last things that I pack away, mainly because I like to get my instruments out of harm's way first, then clear the floor of trip hazards!

Once you know you have finished playing, I'm not aware of any benefit to putting a valve amp into standby before switching it off. Switching off the mains while in playing mode (i.e. not in standby) does the amp no harm, it just means that the filter caps discharge through the valves as they continue to conduct for a few seconds.

Dep job on lead guitar with a rock’n’roll band I’ve played with quite a bit. 40 mile drive to BL’s house, transferred my kit to his van, and another hour and a quarter to the venue. Except there’s a carnival and the street is closed. Carnival marshalls’ local knowledge plus satnav got us into the back gate, whence it was a 100yds carry and 2 flights of steps down to the ‘stage area’. Knackered already!

The gig itself went fine until I started Crazy Little Thing Called Love, which the BL’s missus normally sings - but she’s home sick and there is a dep rhythm guitarist. He’s very good, playing intelligently so that we stay out of each other’s way. BL managed the song and we all had a laugh.

Usual challenge of loading out through a crowd of p!ssed-up punters, although this time a shorter carry to the front door. Tried to snooze in the van on the way back, which was a mistake as this morning I feel like I’ve been beaten up.

Rehearsal tonight (different band) for an unpaid party gig for the birthday party of a member’s missus. Rehearsal room is up three flights of stairs and along some corridors, but all the kit goes up in a goods lift. Could do without it tbh.

The new rotary switch has arrived but in the meantime I have ordered some more capacitors, mylar ones with long flexible legs. I chose alternating values from the E12 series which turned out to be those not in the E6 series. Consequently there are a few values I don’t have in my stash, and some that I do are PCB types that would be awkward to fit to the switch.

My next bass gig is a week tomorrow and I have a fair amount of material to be working on for 3 (yes three) bands, so I’ll likely do that gig with the current traditional tone pot.

11 hours ago, Richard R said:

I will now finaly admit it took me months to realise that this

\m/(>.<)\m/

in the title wasn't the result of @Hamster dancing on the keyboard.

 

 

FTFY

Well the 2M2 resistors didn't do anything so I've ordered a make-before-break rotary. It's another 12-way but I may not use all 12 positions, I can always set the stop lower if I want.

Ryan Adams

I tried this out this morning. The two smallest capacitors (150pF and 390pF) made no discernible difference to my ear, and the largest (82nF) was maybe too dark to be useful. The other values all gave good usable sounds, and I didn’t think any were too ‘peaky’ at their resonant frequency, so no resistors required. For the next iteration I’ll probably try more closely spaced values from 47nF down to 1nF.

Also there is quite a loud click through the amp when changing settings. I think my rotary switch is break-before-make so it might be worth trying a make-before-break if I can find one. Alternatively I could try some high value resistors (2M2?) between the poles of the switch.

I've just set up a 'breadboard' to test values in the DIY tone selector. Here's the plan: The current tone pot is modded for no-load at full up. I'll keep volume and tone on the bass maxed and interpose this gubbins between bass and amp. I'll listen to how each setting sounds, and if any are too 'peaky' I can add a resistor in series with the cap to tame the resonant peak. It's gone midnight now so not a good time to be testing bass, I'll get some sleep first.

Postponed to 26 November.

On 30/08/2022 at 21:46, JapanAxe said:

Not exactly tonight, in fact a fortnight Saturday (17th September), but it's a ticketed event so it's only fair you all get fair warning!

I'm back at the Old Court in Windsor (aka Windsor Arts Centre) with Rebel Heroes Bowie Tribute, hopefully back on guitar now that our bass player's wrist is on the mend. Expect 2 hours of classic Bowie, from sing-along anthems to fan-pleasing deep cuts.

Tickets available here. Some pics of recent shows to whet your appetite:

Backstage with Woody Woodmansey:

Windsor Fringe Festival has been postponed, and that includes this gig. New date TBA.

9 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

A little progress. I have installed  a perforated aluminium platform under the amps and have worked out where to put the junction board, I have also installed two 60mm fans, aimed directly at the heatsinks but also pushing some air under the PCBs. The idea for that is to add cooling to the IRS2092 controller chip mounted underneath.  
 

The fans mean I will have to re route the output cables to the speakons. 
 

 

The fans are attached to the perforated aluminium using two cable ties at the bottom and it seems quite secure at the moment. The fans are slightly angled. This is so that the air goes towards the front and the top vent. 
 

The junction board is designed to tidy up the wiring so expect to see a member of sockets and maybe a few other components there soon-ish. I am still thinking about how to control the fans. 

What’s the perf board for?

And it all sounds great!

Today I removed the Tone Fusion control. I had thought of leaving the bass like that so that I could try various cap/resistor combinations on an external tone control ‘bread board’ but then I had a better idea. I got a 250k log pot and 47nF pot out of my parts stash but I modified the pot for ‘no load’ when turned up full. I had to widen the hole to 3/8in as the Tone Fusion pot is a little 16mm Alpha with a narrow bushing. While I was in there I noticed the string earth connection was hanging on by a single strand so I fixed that. The tone control now works in the traditional way, with the benefit of unadulterated bright tone when fully clockwise.

I still plan to try out the bread board thing though.

Not exactly tonight, in fact a fortnight Saturday (17th September), but it's a ticketed event so it's only fair you all get fair warning!

I'm back at the Old Court in Windsor (aka Windsor Arts Centre) with Rebel Heroes Bowie Tribute, hopefully back on guitar now that our bass player's wrist is on the mend. Expect 2 hours of classic Bowie, from sing-along anthems to fan-pleasing deep cuts.

Tickets available here. Some pics of recent shows to whet your appetite:

Backstage with Woody Woodmansey:

13 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

As long as VAT is being collected in advance, there shouldn't be any additional charges as you're below the £135 limit.

 

Source: https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

Thanks, that's brilliant, I'll go ahead and order it then

I'm looking to buy a particular kind of guitar stand but it's not available in the UK (or EC for that matter). There are several available from Chinese sellers on eBay but none are in eBay's Global Shipping Programme. The stand costs £54 and I'm concerned I'll get hit for import duties - would that be likely to happen?

Have you had the tech spec and parking details etc yet? Those are the things that tend to worry me, rather than playing the material.

These are monster pickups!

GLWTS

I can sight read quite well on bass but not so well on guitar - for guitar I can work out what the dots mean, but not in real time as it were. It’s something that needs regular practice to maintain at a working level.

Got to grips with this today:

(1) Fettled the input jack so that it shunts to earth when no jack is inserted.

(2) Replaced the master volume pot. The sudden loud buzz at full volume is gone - let's hope it stays that way!

(3) Replaced the tone stack with an enhanced version of a James tone stack (see pic below). The enhancement takes the form of a pot replacing the fixed resistor between the treble and bass pot wipers. At its centre setting it is equal to the Ampeg value, and adjusting the pot either way shifts the frequency centres of the controls. I may never use this, but the alternative would be a blanking plug!

The amp seems to be working great now. I will have a living room session with it through my Super Twin tomorrow. For now, time to print some panel labels...

That Ampeg/BF combination is a winner. You’ll struggle to match that sound with anything more compact.

I would be wary of fitting a 12AU7 in place of a 12AX7 as the former ñ draw a lot more current, which can fry your anode resistor.

I prioritise the quality gigs and fill some of the remaining slots with, er, not-so-quality gigs. At a recent pub gig in one of the less desirable areas of Bristol, a rat appeared stage left and ran the length of the bar before disappearing into a cupboard.

Will I play there again? Of course I will!

Well done! It would be terrible if a band’s efforts to fix up their banner resulted in accidental damage to the venue’s wallpaper, fixtures or fittings. Of course no band I’ve been in has ever done this. Much.