Beer of the Bass

I got the Vong up and running this morning. It's a straightforward build, not noisy and everything functions as expected. Hard to say more than that before I have the chance to use it in a gig situation really. My main use for it will be with double bass to control the low end and maybe use the switchable LPF to take the harsh edge off my amplified bow sound. Though it could also be useful to tame my DI fuzz sound with electric bass with the LPF, and maximise headroom on my little Ampeg pf-50t with the HPF. I've also got to try splitting a heavily highpassed signal into a dirty guitar combo some time, for a pseudo Ric-O-Sound setup - might be interesting to record with...

I did one freehand with a craft knife, and it's pretty scruffy looking up close. So the jig looks like a good idea!

Not sure if this has come up already in the 12 pages, but the quoted power consumption of 880 watts is the same as the GK MB800 Fusion. Since both amps have similar topology (Class D power amp, SMPS, preamp using 3 x 12AX7) and the power consumption has to be rated consistently for regulatory reasons, it would seem a reasonable guees that the output might be roughly in line with other manufacturers compact 800W bass heads.

I'd agree, the Ruby valves on mine had a higher mortality rate than I'd hope for, with the power tubes first refusing to bias properly and being replaced under warranty, and the phase inverter valve going microphonic (which I sorted myself). However, the amp sounds good and now that the valves in there have survived a good few hours use at band volume I'm happy enough to stick with the ones that are in there now. And I presumed the Kenny's deal might be related to the change of ownership - perhaps Polar were sitting on a bigger stock of them than they intended to, given that Yamaha likely have their own distribution arrangements.

I owned and played a Bassix EUB for a number of years, and I can see where Neil is coming from, TBH.

Finger funk and Thumb BO sound like natural companions, somehow!

It does look like the Kenny's deal was a one-off, unfortunately. They were really good value at that price.

It's probably best to think of them as modern small valve heads, with elements of various older Ampegs informing the design. The midrange EQ circuit is closer to some of their larger amps, and the power amps are designed quite differently to the B15n. So while they sound recognisably "Ampeg", they're not recreating any specific vintage model.

I have recently bought the kit for the Vong, though haven't got around to assembling it yet. It looks well thought out though.

I was going to say that I had you down as a bit of a Viz fan, but then I realised you were using the word and not talking about the magazine!

Tubetown in Germany have a good choice of grille cloths, and the cost of postage wasn't too bad last time I used them.

That's not so far from where I set the EQ on mine, though my mid frequency is generally on setting 4. Boosting mids does something cool when the preamp is running just a little gritty!

With a Marshall type circuit, the channel volumes will affect the tone of one channel when plugged into the other, but not the volume so much.

Interesting, I wonder if that little perfboard by the inputs with the two transistors is a mod?

I mean, I'm not attributing the failures I've had to velcro, but simple FET circuits do seem to be sort of sensitive. Come to think of it, I've seen FET circuits that use zener diodes as protection at the input stage. I wonder if that might be worth looking into.

Looks nice, but I'm mostly enjoying the word "microtubules".

I've also had home built FET preamps do this. I guess there must be some way to protect against it, though I'm not sure what.

Aww, that's a shame! Though I'm toying with going without pedals in my current band - the convenience is nice...

I just read it as saying that having dabbled in cab design, he knows from experience that getting it down to that sort of weight is an impressive feat.

I can imagine the TKS S112 or S212 would be good with these amps too. I used the same driver in my DIY cabs, and the sensitivity and voicing work well with the Pf-50t.

I'm using one or two of my DIY 1x12 cabs with my Pf-50t though I did take it to a rehearsal yesterday and tried it with the house Ampeg 810-AV cab. That was sort of fun - with that much speaker area it really doesn't give the impression of being a low powered amp!

I played an older model Bassix EUB for a few years, and always struggled with posture. While he did well to offer the only EUB available for less than a grand in the early 2000s, I felt like a few details of mine weren't well thought out. One was the lack of a waist/bout extension, and there's no obvious way to fit one since the body is a thin fibreglass shell. The fingerboard on mine was oddly shaped too, and couldn't be planed as it's a moulded resin material. So while it was basically a functional instrument, I found I developed much less useful double bass technique on it than I'd hoped. Hopefully he'd have refined things a little more with later models though.

Why are almost all the youtube demos of these done with active basses with the onboard EQ cranked, and so focussed on slap? I don't really have anything against that sound, but it doesn't feel like the most obvious role for these amps...

The HiGain or Toaster style pickups here might suit the vibe of the bass quite well. https://retrovibe.co.uk/product-category/parts/pickups/

I wonder how long they'll have that for!