Dan Dare

Agreed. It isn't just the amp, but the way it and the speaker interact that gives the "tube sound". A speaker is a reactive load. It's impedance varies according to frequency. Speaker level DIs incorporate a dummy load to protect the output transformer of the amp. Unlike a speaker, it will have a fixed impedance and the amp will not respond to it in the same way as it would to a speaker..

As Gordon mentioned that the singer was going to import the drummer and bassist from the other band, it appears they may come as a unit and be used to working together. I agree it's disappointing, but it happens (it's happened to me a few times). The only thing to do is chalk it up to experience and move on.

Difficult situation for everyone concerned when someone isn't cutting it, especially if there are friendships involved. As you acknowledge, the drummer isn't up to it. If the replacement drummer and bass player come as a unit, the BL probably figures it's simpler to use both as they are a known quantity and he won't have to worry about whether you and the new drummer will gel/bond. Not great for you, but you can appreciate where he's coming from. Rather than b/sing you, he may have been trying to spare your feelings. As the saying goes, one door closes, another slams shut in your face. Something like that anyway. At least you have other avenues to pursue. Good luck.

The 7040 is the obvious choice to go with your 8010s. It's been designed to work with them. You're not looking for high volumes, but to extend low frequency response and in a small room, so it should serve very well. Sound on Sound gave it a very positive review and I find their reviews reliable. I don't subscribe to the "mix it so it sounds good on terrible speakers" (which your 8010s aren't) philosophy referred to above. Yes, such a mix might sound reasonable on similarly terrible speakers, but on anything decent, it won't.

As a PJB owner/user, I can confirm that they put out pretty much what you put in. So in that sense, they could be called "hi-fi", in that they have quite a high degree of fidelity/faithfulness to what you feed them with. You need a lot of them if you want any volume, however. It isn't the size of the drivers that's responsible. The big Barefaced cabs - with 12s and horns - also do a very good job of producing an uncoloured sound if driven with suitable amplification. Ditto FRFR/PA cabs. A true hi-fi sound would probably be what you get when you play your bass through the desk in a studio with serious monitors (not little desktop/PC jobbies). It's super clean and, truth be told, a little sterile. Sounds quite nice in isolation, but mix it into a track and you have to start tweaking it to prevent it from being lost. If you want that in your live rig, a quality pre' driving a beefy PA power amp with plenty of headroom and enough cabs to enable you to run high volumes and have them work well within their capabilities is probably the best way to go. Not cheap. As Bill says above, best not to worry about how any amp or speaker might be classified and just use what sounds good to you.

Just returned from Stewart's. Had a very interesting and enjoyable morning chatting over a cuppa and talking gear and the old days (he works mainly from home at present). Had a play on his '63 Tele' through one of his current combos. The amp was really excellent. All solid state and sounds just like a 50s/60s valve amp. Instant Ventures guitar sound when clean and breaks up gently and smoothly at higher volume. I would defy anyone to play it sight unseen and not think it was valved. Compact and light and very pokey for its 22 W rating. He explained the idea behind it. He's developed a circuit that replicates the effect of an output transformer (which S/S amps traditionally don't have). It senses speaker impedance and ensures, as does an output transformer, that the signal sent to the speaker takes account of variations in impedance. Speaker impedance varies, sometimes quite dramatically, according to frequency. In general, impedance rises as frequency gets higher, meaning a S/S amp is working harder to deliver the same output as frequency rises and causing it to sound duller and lacking in sparkle. He considers the reason valve amps sound louder than S/S amps of the same output rating is due to the fact that the speaker in a valve amp is always being sent an optimised signal. So maybe the belief about "valve watts" isn't a myth, after all. Made sense to me as a layman and I can confirm that it works extremely well.

Not far down the road from me. It's staying there, too.

It's a slot port. They tend to be used mainly in subwoofers (typically for in-car and home cinema systems). If designed properly, they can work quite well. I heard someone using one of those slotted Trace combos a while back and it sounded quite decent.

Why must it be Ampeg? They may have been the only show in town a while ago, but things have moved on since then. A lot. Beware thinking all Ampeg gear works like a SVT plus an 8x10. Their stuff is generally decent, but it's far from the only option. Certainly not the cheapest, either.

This. It doesn't sound as if the other players at the jam were much cop, to put it bluntly. If it was really too loud to hear the drums when you were standing next to them, that's ridiculous. If the people you are playing with are terrible, you have no chance of getting anything right. It will just drag you down to their level (lie down with the dog, get up with fleas). Jams are notorious for being like that. I've seen really good players drowned out and dragged down by ham-fisted idiots at jams. You can't play correctly if everyone else is blundering along and blasting the windows out. Regardless of whether or not they're "encouraging", I'd be looking for somewhere else. Sure you made mistakes, but it doesn't sound as if you were the only one. You were just more honest about your shortcomings than they were. Forget it and move on to pastures new.

I'm always the slowest to pack up. I own/run the PA. I like to do so at my own pace, make sure everything goes in the right box/case, cables wound neatly, etc (OCD, dontcha know). I tell the others not to worry about helping me and to head off. I actually prefer it that way. I mean it and appreciate that, unlike me, some of them have to get up for work or family duties next day. So if he tells you it's OK, take him at his word and go.

If you like the instrument and intend to keep it, by all means put some money into upgrades. Be aware that you will never get the money you spend on improvements back. A HB is still a HB, Seymour Duncans or no. Do you particularly dislike the pickups it has in it? If not, replacements will not magically transform it. HBs and similar are budget instruments, built down to a price. The woodwork and finish is generally quite reasonable (it has to be or people wouldn't buy them), but economies are made on fittings, metalwork, electronics etc. By the time you've replaced pickups, tuners, pots and the like, you could have bought something better with the money that will have a higher resale value. I appreciate it's difficult to sell on an instrument that was a gift. In your shoes, I'd use it as is and save for something better.

Good point.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126319429390?hash=item1d6939870e:g:1kUAAOSw3tVlwlLW&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4MIUiy4i87kVy6U6tvWUu96fXRujgsbPruu5674P1qMkZ5%2BiFZuv%2BB%2By1JCzl6HlFGDAFI9zT0pvIxi744BfYJapKEeHeLhtUe6zII0YCPTpm7QgbRSKX3%2F4qHQolxhKQ61NbkklvdAzAHtTd4ty0Eb7boVG9K3%2BSmDWkkcNPOIgzODkPSqcqaBwW9mSclpS8FIT%2BF7oRI4XgRAv2J1kUZUdlJXDC0%2FF9VW0pnjMFJ0zYh7Jc5EVBxuNy3D91e3vHUK1kIKdzt0UTJ6sEdlfxhTiP%2FL9RHkDWzLxaxdUiNGi|tkp%3ABk9SR4ir3ICyYw Another chancer who has scrubbed the Squier decal and serial from the headstock and stuck a Fender one on.

It's a good idea to use cable that is fat enough for the cable grip in the Speakon connector to hold it securely.

SS amps don't usually have output trannies. A very few hi-fi brands, such as McIntosh, do, but you shouldn't harm your Peavey by switching it on/powering it down without a speaker connected.

Good advice. The input gain on your mixer is your friend. There's usually a switchable pad, too, as stated above. Line level is often marked on the input gain pot to give you a starting point when running line level signals in. If you use a DI box or DI out on an amp, the signal will be stepped down to mic level. DI box transformers are usually around 12:1 and many have switchable pads to attenuate the input signal further. You normally only need those for keyboards, unless you have an active instrument that gives a very hot signal. On the mixer, you should start with the input gain at minimum, set the channel fader to unity/0db and switch in PFL for the channel. Bring up the input gain slowly and you can monitor the level on the meters. If the signal is too hot with the input gain at minimum, switch in the pad.

Value is always subjective. If someone likes/wants something, they will pay more. Generally, around half new retail appears to be the average when selling used gear. If mint, you may get a little more and desirable brands can go for higher prices, too (Barefaced cabs seem to command decent used prices, for example). Ditto vintage/rare. A few people may jump on me for saying this, but many tend to over-estimate the value of what they own in the used market. It's often better to sell a rig as separate items, rather than complete. Time of year has an effect, too. This is traditionally not a good time to sell as everyone is recovering from paying off the massive Christmas credit card bills that landed at the end of last month. Maybe put it on the 'Bay with a reserve and see if you get any interest as a starter for 10?

I put one in my '72 J bass. It certainly made it a little more versatile in terms of tones. However, I found I couldn't quite get that classic J sound (where you run the neck pickup on full and back off the bridge slightly) using it. It was close, but not quite there. The quality of construction was excellent and the solderless connections made it simple to fit (although the battery was a tight fit in the cavity with the preamp installed). In the end, I removed and sold it. If you have just one instrument and want it to do everything, it could be useful.

Not after you've factored in the cost of a Transit van to get it about with.

That's AI generated blurb. You can recognise if from the trite phrases - "whether you're a beginner, performer, etc", "sure to impress", "perfect for right handed players", "taking your talent to the next level" and so on. All the sort of tripe that non-musicians (the wallies who developed the AI spiel generator) believe musicians will be persuaded by.

Thanks for posting this. I've used a Sessionette 1x12 for many years for my electric fiddle. It doesn't have that baked in mid peak that so many guitar combos have, which clash horribly on a fiddle. It's nice for jazz guitar as well, probably for the same reason. It's been in need of a refurb for a while - pots getting crackly, etc - so you prompted me to get in touch with them. I emailed this morning and Stewart replied to me within the hour. Have booked it in for some TLC. He told me they are to stop making new amps shortly, but will continue to service/repair existing ones until 2029.

I agree with you in principle, Bill, but £750 for a complete PA is a tall order here in the UK. Used is the only option. Any reasonable 12 ch mixer with decent eq (no point in buying something really basic, with just low and high eq - as you say, the mids are very much where the action is) is going to account for getting on for half the budget.

That additional air chamber created by the shim must have an effect, too 😁

J bass pickup locations have changed over the years, which also affects the sound.