Subthumper

Hi folks. I have a situation on my pedal board where I split the signal and run through two different chains of fx. This is not a problem as I have two inputs on my amp which mixes the two sounds back together. However it becomes a problem when I have to do a gig using a shared'/house bass amp and the sound guy just wants to use one DI and I have only one input on the amp and only hear half my sound. Ive tried a passive mixer but that just sucked the life out of the signal and sounded crap. So I just bought a mini 4 channel line mixer that is powered but found that it is distorted no matter what settings I use. Does anyone make a dedicated pedal mixer that would do the job? The idea is that I run my two effects chains into it and then into my sansamp so I DI all my sound in one simple go.

Hi, the P bass has EMGs so it's not possible to adjust the level.

Hi folks. I mostly use an active P bass for most of my playing but now in a band where I'm using my tokai jazz a fair bit too. The problem is that the jazz is passive, and whilst it sounds great (fitted with Japanese fender pickups) it's tone and volume always suffers in comparison to the active p bass. I don't really want to put actives in it so can anyone recommend an on board signal booster that will fit the cavity without any routing?

Haha yes indeed. Thanks for the heads up. I might get a friend of mine to do me a guide jig, he has access to a laser cutter, very handy. I won't take dimensions until I get the pickup back from the re winding place, although it's a semour so should be accurate to a fender.

In some way or other yes I expect it will be me.

Hi folks. I thought I'd let you all have a nose at this. I've always wanted an 8 string octave bass but couldn't justify the cost against something that might only get used on a few songs. So I took the steps of converting a regular P bass copy. Didn't take too long, the big question was whether the neck would take the extra tension . All is good, it's staying in tune and the neck is still straight. I got photos of most of the state's of build so most of it is self explanatory. Only last bit is to install a humbucking jazz pickup in the bridge position. So far it sounds huge, especially through a big valve head.

Hi. If the solder joints are good then I'd suspect it's dirty contacts on the active socket. If I remember right the input circuit uses the switching on the jacks to select the appropriate input impedance. A blast of switch cleaner should put it right. Use servicol, get it from Maplins. Spray it down the Jack socket using the straw and push a Jack plug in and out several times. Cheers Just

A few of their amps were prone to cooking the transformer. They should be able to sell you a replacement. Fitting it is a very straightforward job foe a tech or if you can solder yourself. Most of the replacements I've fitted were bigger than the original. Ashdown have always had good customer service in my experience.

Swap the screws for posidrives, you'll be much less likely to slip with the screwdriver.

Are you sure the psu is isolated from the amp chassis?

Wow that's thrown up bit more than I anticipated. The rehearsal situation isn't the only reason I'm leaving the band. I wasn't expecting week in week out practices, just a couple of proper run through the set ones. The drummer is very very different to the last guy I played with, who played everything like it was his last leg over. So it's taken several gigs just to get his measure which I could have got sorted at practice and hit the ground running at gigs. I respect all the opinions posted it up and I'm sure it's very much a case of what suits you. Anyhow I'm calling it a day for pub covers, at least for a while. I have limited time to play at the moment so want to spend that time on writing/recording original stuff.

Hi all, I was just wondering if anyone else is in a band that pretty much doesn't practice. I recently joined but am now leaving a cover band. It's classic rock stuff, some of it slightly tricky some of it difficult. They gave a list of about 45 songs to learn and we had one run through quietly at someone's house with electronic kit etc, and then straight into gigs. I've felt like I'm constantly depping at short notice, always playing catch up. I'm used to bands that rehearse their arses off so they can perform not just play. It seems to suck the passion out of playing. I've played very well in some great bands over the years and done hundreds of gigs, both cover and original but I'm genuinely struggling here. I've been through and through the songs but find having no full rehearsals makes it very difficult to get a feel for how the band play it. Has anyone else had this experience? Thanks for reading. Cheers

You can't beat a great big valve amp and a great big speaker.

Have a measure and post up some pics. I'm pretty sure you have reversed connections to the dc output socket. Swapping the ac input won't make any difference, it's ac. Cheers Just

Hi, strange problem you have there. I'd say something has changed regarding the zoom power supply and its output in relation to ground. See if you can get hold of another power supply and try that. Then ,if you can, see if you can see or measure any difference between them. Have you grounded the negative of the supply to the amp chassis? If so you should get +9v between chassis and psu centre pin. If you have grounded the positive by mistake it would explain why the fx unit works until you plug it into the amp as the output of the psu is floating and plugging in to the amp will short the supply to ground. I'm still thinking this out, will post again if I think of anything else. Good luck cheers Just Ps maybe some pics would be good.

Thanks folks, looks like my suspicions have been confirmed. Not to worry I have other things to try. Cheers

Hi folks, I've picked up a 410 cab that's missing a couple of drivers. The two remaining ones are eminence , have a cast chassis, are 16 ohm and have the following numbers on the manufacturers sticker. EWCP99010 10649 67-0403C 0195. 16ohm If anyone can identify so I can order another pair to complete the cab that would be great. Cheers Just

Bit far from Bristol.

Where are you?

Literally hundreds of schematics here. Some rarities too. www.bmamp.com/tech_sch.html

Sounds like you have a faulty power valve. There is a monitor system connected to each output valve, if even one is faulty it cuts the relay that switches the ht circuit on and prevents damage to the amp. There are a set of resistors ,one for each power valve across which the bias current in monitored which can end up blown if the valve goes short circuit. Suggest you get the amp to a tech who can test the valves and check out the cathode resistors and replace if necessary. Ive done a few of these on svt 2s which use the same circuit. It's not the end of the world but does need to be done by someone who knows what their doing due to the very high voltages within these amps. If you're in the Bristol area drop me a line.

Don't open it up if it's still under warranty.

I can't advise you on the pedal but what I will say is if you do something your not happy with fix it straight away or you'll end up with a box of snags. Good luck, building stuff is very rewarding. It can get expensive, especially if you get into valve amps, but don't worry about that just keep building.

How did you do the aged/crazed effect? I've got a slabb66 in yellow that has the same thing but it's because the paint reacted to the undercoat. It's not exactly a subtle looking bass, or sounding. I'll pop up some pics.

Personally I'd get a second hand svt and then have it thoroughly serviced by an svt specialist. Even though svts can be a pain to fix at least they can be and all the spares and technical data and schematics are available. My experience of (trying) to repair behringer and bugera gear is lack of technical support ie they won't give out schematics and the damn things are made using lead free solder which is a total pain. So now I don't work on any of their stuff. If you want a Ferrari buy a Ferrari, not a Toyota.