Passinwind

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1493222213' post='3286684'] That's not fair, you didn't tell us that bit. If you're lending it to other bass players it can't be big enough. [/quote] True that, but this thread isn't about Nancy's Johnson's needs and wants, it's about how the rest of us make it work with one small cab. Or at least the part I answered is.

There's an old Talkbass thread on a couple of my 6SL7/6SN7 builds: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/a-diy-tube-preamp-line-driver-by-passinwind.345415/#post-4388452 Some of the pics have gone missing in the thread due to the TB software changeover after I posted them but I can probably scare them up if anyone is interested. JGR is a good friend of mine and it's well worth gleaning what you can from his posts over there too. I opted for an active bass and mid format, closer to the Jule Monique's approach than the Ampeg thing.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1493128608' post='3285856'] FWIW I thought NJ's original post was a perfectly sensible start to a discussion we've had a hundred times before. [/quote] Agreed, and my answer was absolutely given in that spirit.

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1492964710' post='3284448'] I always seem to break a little smile when I see posts showing 'my gig rig tonight', where there's a little class-D head stop of a tiny Barefaced Compact (or similar). I suppose after years of doing this, I just feel more comfortable with something big behind me. All you guys who just use tiny cabinets (1x10 or 1x12), yes, you know who you are, how the hell do you manage? [/quote] By never playing excessively loud rock music, for starters. Next question?

Is she hot?

[b] 2017; a good year for gear?[/b] Yes indeed. I've been methodically ridding myself of anything more than a decade or so old and fully expect to continue that trend. I'm soon going to be down to one fretless, one mostly expendable EUB just in case I get a few sub calls for jazz stuff, and one recently acquired 5 string fretted bass just as a test case. Then one cab, and a few different homemade amps. Nothing from the past that I'd ever want to revisit, and I've finally worked out a way to offload my older DIY builds so I can make some new and better ones. My main bloat control mechanism is that if I want it I pretty much have to build it from here on out. Edit: should also mention that I went to NAMM this year and the only GAS I developed at all was for a hypothetical bass from the luthier I went with. And lo and behold, a couple of months later I happened to see something in his shop that was up for grabs and that he was happy to trade for some of my DIY amp gear.

Yep, and although neither one of us may like it that much, "just depends" just may start to look like the most reasonable answer. BTW, another reason that Andy and I might come off as sounding similar at times these days is because we both have to work under non-disclosure agreements, and giving away too many specifics is just bad business. When I was "just" a DIY'er I was probably a lot more informative, but so it goes.

I think it's extremely unlikely that a designer would build a bass amp with three tubes in it (like the SL) and use starved plate mode. Nothing I've heard when playing those amps makes me think they did either. I have very little experience with Markbass stuff, and have never looked inside one or seen a schematic for any of the hybrid ones. The best example I can think of offhand for a "trophy/marketing" tube implementation is the Carvin BX500, where the single tube comes after many solid state stages and doesn't even make any gain.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1492076764' post='3277674'] [font=Helvetica] I enjoy rehearsing, but surely rehearsals are for piecing the songs together, and I’m now at the point of making a big decision on whether I stay and probably carry on rehearsing songs I already know well for another six months or so, or do I look for a ready made band in need of a bass player who already know their set?[/font][font=Helvetica] [/font] [/quote] IMHO and IME it's not a binary choice. If I liked the current people enough I'd probably just do both.

I'll go out on a limb and guess that at least 90% of current production ones do not used starved plate mode.

Don't feel alone, I'm still waiting for a simple answer naming any mainstream hybrid amps that use starved plate mode.

Nobody's going to die here and I am just a technician, not an engineer. But I'm certainly willing to point you at some good study material. Do you understand how to derive a tube load line? I'd suggest that we start there, since it's the most basic level of designing a tube preamp.

I believe the engineer in question is Andy Field, who is a "real life" friend of mine. With all due respect, I think some of you missed his point. I'm quite sure he was referring to using a tube with a curve set that works at the desired voltage in a way that gives the engineer's desired result. Plenty of tubes will work fine with a 12-24 volt plate voltage and sound nothing like a 12AX7 run that way. And then there are also many guitarists who actually love how a 12AX7 sounds in starved plate mode. I know it's very tempting to repeat Interweb folklore, but as someone who has worked on literally thousands of tube amps, the closest thing to wisdom that I can manage is "just depends."

Cool, In many ways I envy those who actually like their amp rigs. Meanwhile, I'll keep plugging away at my own designs, which are just barely ticking the "adequate" box for my wants and needs. I recently acquired my first fretted bass in over 30 years, which is also my first fiver string one ever. I love to change things up substantially every five years or so, never know which way things might swing this time!

Plate voltage is just one of dozens of potential design choices that could have a negative or positive effect on some or all of us. I just personally feel that it often gets relegated to being an ad-speak sound bite, but I have plenty of other windmills beckoning...

I'm not under that impression at all, but am also eager to learn. So then let's start by defining "full voltage", please. That changes quite drastically by tube type, hence my request for specifics. I've seen very few genuine starved plate designs, but I have access to hundreds of schematics and a willingness to do some research on at least a few pieces if you can suggest some.

Then please ask him to elaborate here, and name names. I can think of dozens of tube bass preamp sections that use what I consider a perfectly adequate tuning for clean and clear, FWIW.

Just curious: what is your tuning threshold (voltage and bias current) for considering a design to be "starved plate?"

[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1491339689' post='3272320'] We're a bit nerdy on here, but I don't think we're *that* nerdy. [/quote] Pity.

[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1491322428' post='3272117'] You could well be right about this. It's difficult to judge from a photo. [/quote] It is difficult to judge that way, for sure. But there's also no accounting for taste, and to me a huge benefit of DIY'ing is that we get at least potentially to make things look the way we like them to. BTW, I'd like to see some more discussion on DIY coil winding, and even more so on properly potting or otherwise binding the finished coils.

[quote name='Chienmortbb' timestamp='1491168216' post='3271026'] Well after burning the Midnight Oil and getting up early I just about managed to get the Cab to the Big Fat South West Bass Bash. I had about 5 mins to check the cab at home before setting off so it was a leap of faith to think that I had connected everything correctly in the crossover. I just knew I had noise of sorts coming out of both drivers. The handle was not on , there were no cabinet corners and Heath Robinson would have been ashamed of the crossover construction but it worked.[/quote] Well done. I've seen wet paint and partially cured glue at too many GTGs and trade shows to even count all the times any more. More than a few have been my own builds too. Personally, I really like the all dark look a lot, and never really liked plastic piping or trim of any kind except for corners, same as on basses for that matter.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1490903285' post='3268991'] If you really need to deal with all that stuff in the US then I will happily concede that shipping outside of the country for you is simply too much hassle and stop trying to buy musical instruments from you. Having said that though I've successfully bought basses from private sellers in the US through eBay...[/quote] Thankfully lots of us just get lucky and everything goes fine, of course. If a first time eBay seller did all of that due diligence with no problems all on their own I salute them. Once you've done it a few times it becomes much easier though, and for me the extra hour or two it takes (or far less if you're good at it) isn't really that big of a deal. But in any case, I'm wrestling with a CITES permitting deal right now, and while it's a huge PITA for me, if I were the buyer I would just fly over here and pick up the bass if I wanted it as badly as he does. Seriously ! And my case is relatively simple and clear cut, since it falls under the pre-convention exemption guidelines. But I still need a re-export permit and the buyer will need an import one. And the consequences for failing to get the permits can be permanent and irrevocable confiscation of the instrument. Ugly, no?

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1490892694' post='3268902'] However, can you explain for us here in the UK exactly what the problems were for someone in the US were with sending a bass abroad before CITES messed everything up, because from the opposite side (sending from the UK to the US) then only issue was the increased postage. [/quote] For starters: Did you need a Shipper's Export Declaration? What Harmonized Code number did you use for the customs declaration, and which customs form did you need? Did you confirm that you had sufficient third party insurance for a vintage instrument, since US couriers are notorious for not actually providing that in the event of a claim? If there was a dispute who paid for return shipping and customs brokerage fees, if any? For experienced sellers all this stuff is a known quantity, and part of the landscape of doing business, but many first time sellers tend to just say no thanks. My wife and I both worked as FedEx couriers, and frankly, so many people get international shipping wrong over here, and as usual, even one bad experience balloons into an Interweb meme at the drop of a hat these days.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1490880924' post='3268750'] I also know from the basses I've sold to people in other countries that here in the UK at least, sending a bass abroad is no more difficult than sending it to the next town in the same country, it just cost a bit more. [/quote] Unfortunately, if the instrument has rosewood of any type in it that is emphatically no longer the case for those of us in the US. It never really was the case though, actually.

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1490828576' post='3268439'] Whenever I have contacted anyone about a bass on Talkbass, I have always got pretty rudely dismissed as a non-US resident and as such impossible to deal with..... Not quite as global friendly a place as here [/quote] As usual, I think just depends on your perspective. After 14 years on TB I just posted my first bass for sale ad. The only taker lives in The Netherlands. I had to explain how CITES permitting works, and that it would take a minimum of 2-3 months before I would be able to ship to any international address. On top of that shipping will be at least threefold what it would be domestically, and all insurance fees will be on the buyer. If I'm a crybaby for not relishing all of that, so be it... In this case the prospective buyer is perfectly willing to jump through all the hoops. As long as he pays now (which he actually suggested), all good!