SuperSeagull

Am I the only person not to love a RM head? I had one for a while, seemed underpowered and lacking in character compared to my MB, TE Elf and old Ashdown ABM combo. Moved it on quickly. Each to his own I guess and there is clearly a lot of love for them here - maybe it’s my old ears 👂

Last weekend we did an afternoon set at The Bull in Horley for their annual bands and bbq event. Was disappointed to realise that we started at the same time as the FA Cup final kicked off but it went well including easing our new, soon to be, lead vocalist in with half a dozen numbers. Plus a photographer snapped a nice pic of my bass (and me!)

Very experienced, most styles. Currently playing in a gigging rock / blues band but ready for a change. Mid Sussex, Brighton, Crawley area.

An update. Back in the country and been exchanging emails with the ever helpful Rob at Status. After about 18 hours of playing the new Duracells were at 8.8v He hasn’t yet commented on the mA reading but asked me to check there were no volts registering without a cable in which there wasn’t. Also asked to look for any stray cables, twisted Jack socket connections - none that I could see. He has also asked for photos of the control cavity.

Nice venue. I do like that part of the world, we keep looking at whether to move New Milton / Barton way.

Pub gig last Friday. MB combo and 1x12 cab. Always take the Elf as backup. Status plus a Fender Flea J.

No! Been playing 45 years - still good to learn stuff! And appreciate people taking the time to share their knowledge.

Again, thanks. Every day a school day!

Update - there isn't one. Family life has got in the way of sorting anything over the last week and I know Rob was away from the office at Status. Gigged last night, voltage on both batteries was 9.27v pre and 9.02v this morning after a 2.5 hour set. Next week we fly to SE Asia for a few weeks so I'll get back to it when home again. Thanks again for all the advice.

I will although sometimes they are tricky to get hold of. A call on Monday I think.

I’ll give the control cavity a good check before I take it in. If those readings are broadly within tolerance then perhaps it is the Jack socket gone rogue. Thanks all for your help and advice - much appreciated.

Just spoken to the guys at Badlands in Brighton. He said it’s the third Status they have had with similar issues in the last few months, one just last week. One needed a new Jack socket, the other a new preamp board. I’m hoping for the former! Will pop it down next week.

After a quick visit to my Dads who has a much better meter than I do, I was getting a reading of 1.3mA but after I pulled and then reinserted the batteries dropped to 0.8mA, then another check had it at 1.5mA. I also checked the voltage on brand new Duracells put in pre gig last night and both have already dropped 0.5v. Your instructions were superb, thank you. I’ll speak with Status next week to get their view on those readings. Intermittent fault maybe?

That’s really clear and helpful, thanks. I need to think about how to deal with step 1 as there are two batteries for the pre amp and they each sit in a flip up compartment rather than using the simpler clip on connector.

Thanks all. I've a multimeter but little competence beyond that - how do I measure the current preamp drain 😬. My thought was to do that and then give Dawn at Status a call to check with them.if it sounds right.

Yup!

Thanks - I've paid attention to the description of the batteries on the box for the first time. They are Procell Constant Power for low drain devices - perhaps the wrong choice?

Thanks. Procells with a best before of 3/27. Going to try some duracells and see how they compare I think. If still not right then it's to a tech.

You might recall I had a nightmare with the batteries on my Status giving up halfway through a gig recently. Consequently I'm a bit obsessed with checking them pre gig. Today I've put both on a meter - one reads 8.7v, the other 8.5v versus 9.6v on a brand new one. These were replaced at the end of Jan, since then I estimate the bass has been used / plugged in for between 24 and 28 hours. Does that sound like a reasonable drain - appreciate it's variable but I was surprised at those readings. And at what level does a battery become unusable? I've played active for years and never worried about this, just had a regular regime of replacing batteries. I'm curious!

A big investment in the FOH system, an excellent tech team and a lot of self discipline by those with amps mean it is manageable - once they move into their new building suspect the whole learning process will start again.

Terl said hi. Lovely to play with him this morning.

I'll ask him tomorrow! And yes, he is a lovely chap and every time I work with him I learn a little more about how to play with a really good drummer.

Looking forward to tomorrow morning. I’m back at a church we moved from a couple of years ago to play at one of their last services before they merge with another local church and finally get a building to call their own - no more building everything from scratch every Sunday. I get to play with their worship pastor and great friend Stu Barbour and Terl Bryant who is just back from touring with Kendrick, Martin Barre and Barbara Dickson (not all at once!) I’ll try to hang onto their musical coattails….