godathunder

admittedly this has absolutely no pertinence to the thread whatsoever should any of you find your 200w bass head lacking in power, I've just come across this beast Admark AD80 https://forum.speakerplans.com/uploads/1989/AD_80_OM_2026-02-16_17-24-53.pdf quoting 2x14,000w rms at 4ohms admittedly, hungarian brand, pkn, offer even more powerful (and more compact) amplifiers https://pknaudio.com/3phase_eng.html quoting 2x20,000w at 4ohms or 4x10,000w at 2.6ohms although I dont know of anyone who has ever seen one in the flesh some of the larger amplifiers are designed with mri rather than audio as the intended primary market

I have more faith in both than I do in your average piece of audio marketing fluff

it's not just the thd that differs although thats a biggie. how long did it sustain this output power before limiting kicks in? at what frequency (was it 20-20k or just 1k)? what is the crest factor of the signal used? was the amp degraded or damaged to produce this figure? are the quoted watts rms, peak, music power or aes (among others)? (aes should be the modern standard but Im still skeptical that it's evenly applied) what was the ambient temperature when tested? was the test carried out using a passive or reactive load (can the amp absorb the back emf generated by a speaker and still retain control of the coil) that's just off the top of my head. there is just too much wiggle room to skew results, making the figures pretty easy to inflate and ultimately pointless similarly, I have some led lighting that's marketed as c700w. actual power consumption is nearer 100w so this bullshit isnt just inflicted on the audio sector

Quick question. Do you think that all manufacturers measure their amps' power output the same way? Is there an audible difference in maximum output between different different models quoting identical specs? In my sound system days I found huge differences between well regarded, name brand (not chinese no name) power amps claiming similar performance, particularly in terms of burst vs sustained output. Theres an entirely reasonable school of thought that music is made almost entirely of transients and the ability to cleanly reproduce high levels momentarily is more important than the ability to sustain signals at full pelt indefinitely. It is very common for amps to drop their output by 6db or so after a few milliseconds Theres also the question of the frequency response of the power amp section. Most power amps quote their output at 1khz (and at significant thd). Lower frequencies have a more intense duty cycle and are more demanding of the power supply and cooling system. Consequently the output at 40hz may be a good few db down from the output at 1khz. Unfortunately, we play an instrument that is often quite demanding in both these regards. The ancient Crest 8001 lurking in my gear pile is rated at around 2400w bridged into 8ohms - at the point where most similarly rated amps run out of steam this one still has plenty of headroom left. Predictably this comes at a price - in this case, having to lug around a 3u 36kg lump of metal. There are newer amps that will keep up with it at a fraction of the weight and cost but they quote power ratings that are substantially higher - somewhere in the 5-10kw range. In terms of output (if not practicality) it will absolutely eat a modern 2.5kw amp for breakfast. I guess that the point I'm skirting around is that the power figures quoted by the manufacturers are largely a work of optimistic marketing fiction, bodged to produce the most impressive number - often at the point of destruction, rather than actual measured engineering reports, referencing testing methodology. I find myself very skeptical/cynical and think that comparison via ad blurb is fairly pointless compared to empirical comparison. So, do you have a 200w amp that seems more powerful than someone else's 800w? It's quite possible

I read a piece recently about refretting a parker fly, which has frets glued to a carbon fibre fingerboard. The luthier (tony thompson) glued a thin ebony veneer to the existing fingerboard and cut the frets into that. If the extra couple of mm of neck thickness isnt a problem for you, that could be a solution

Jazz Sabbath at Dublin's Sugar Club a couple of weeks back. Was a surprisingly potent gig - went mainly for the novelty factor but was surprised by just how good they were. Rick Wakeman's son. Adam (Ozzy and Sabbath's longtime keys player) tinkling the ivories and, more importantly, Jack Tustin (I think) on upright - oh, and a drummer. Theyve got a whole, somewhat unnecessary, schtick about being a 60s jazz band that were ripped off by sabbath and are now reclaiming their legacy. In fairness, the introductions and back stories were generally very funny and they had a good rapport with the audience. Anyway, as expected, they used the riffs and melodies of songs from the first couple of sabbath albums as heads and wandered off from there - musicianship and interplay were excellent. Much as I went more for amusements sake, it was really enjoyable musically and a couple of hours flew by. The audience were, unsurprisingly, more denim and leather than zoot suit but seemed as taken with them as I was. Had a quick chat with them after and they were an affable bunch too.

Shit, what a loss. Much as I already loved the roses it was his filth on vanishing point that completely sold me on him. That said, the only time I saw him with primal scream was a bit of a tepid affair I saw him with the roses in dublin a few years back though and it was an absolute belter. It was really cool to hear the crowd singing all his bass lines back at him. As an added bonus, the bass and guitar seemed to be panned in the mix and we were on the bass side so mostly got mani and reni

I remember around 25 years ago part of the midas rep's sales pitch for the easy tilt console stand mentioned the presence of discrete compartments - Im not sure the keys he had in mind were the household kind though..............

Then Sklar had best stop bullshitting.............. “It was put together by John Carruthers in 1973 with a Charvel alder P-Bass body I handpicked for resonance, a maple ’62 P-Bass neck I had that John reshaped to Jazz Bass dimensions, first-generation EMG-P pickups mounted in Jazz Bass position and flipped upside-down—which provided a more even sound—one of the first Hip- Shot D-Tuners, and a Badass bridge. In shaping the neck, John had to remove the frets. I saw some mandolin fret wire hanging in his shop and convinced him to try it, and we were thrilled with the results. It seemed to fit my style of using glissandos, and I had gotten tired of listening to railroad tracks clicking away; with a lightened touch it enables me to get an almost fretless sound.” But yeah, youre quite right - as ever, it's mostly in the fingers

well, just to wander further off the point (whatever it was), have a different take on the fretted/fretless combo bass. I've always admired the sensitivity and taste of cronos' fretless playing If memory serves, Lee Sklar had mandolin frets fitted to one of his basses so he could emulate fretless style sounds

I couldn't be in a band with anyone with views that were that offensive to me. First of all, because the company that someone keeps is often a good indicator of their character and I would not wish to be presumed to be a right cnut because of someone else's opinion (besides which, there are plenty of other perfectly valid reasons to presume that about me anyway) Secondly, because I find it just about impossible to keep my big mouth shut and the frequency of arguments that would result would impact badly on the productivity of this band Having spent some time working in the trades (following years of work in the liberal arts), this was a frequent problem. Building sites have always featured a higher than average proportion of racists, homophobes etc that seem to feel emboldened to pass frequent comment by that setting

I am a qualified sparky (if somewhat out of practice now). You're both quite right. If there is no earth bond to the chassis/common ground of a piece of equipment then the transformer output is floating, with no reference to the 0v ground/neutral of the supply. Generally, due to an effect called capacitive coupling, it will sit at around half the mains voltage. If you touch this floating "live" chassis you become the reference point to ground. The good news is that, after a small discharge once the reference is made, the capacitive coupling now has a reference to ground and no further current flows. So following an initial unpleasant tingle it is now at 0v. At least, until you remove the reference (ie you let go or remove your lips from the mic etc). Then the capacitance will recharge and another tingle will occur next time you complete this circuit. Roughly translated this means that the effect is a bit like a nearly dead battery that can measure a decent voltage until you connect something to it and then instantly drops to 0v under load While at mains voltages this SHOULDNT prove more than an annoyance, you certainly don't want to be subjected to constant small shocks so the fault, while very unlikely to prove injurious, needs to be repaired. At distribution/transmission voltages (ie National Grid stuff with pylons etc) where you're talking 10s and 100s of thousands of volts, this capacitive coupling carries enough energy to fry you instantly. This vid (at c1min) shows them discharging the line prior to working on it. Note that the line is still live at a very high voltage and the helicopter has no reference to ground but due to the capacitive effect there is still considerably energy discharged. Once it's been discharged, despite the line being live, it is now safe to work on There is no harm in cutting the shield cable of a balanced mic/line cable. It's pretty common practice in install work to have all shields only connected to the output side of equipment and disconnected at the inputs. It helps to reduce the number of earth paths and lessens the likelihood of hum caused by earth loops. In fact, you will sometimes find equipment interconnects made with unshielded twisted pair cable such as cat5 or cat 6 with no ill effect (the balancing circuit effectively recombines any interference in reverse polarity which cancels it out) And yes, while I have opinions about PAT, your equipment and mains cables should be inspected/tested, labelled and logged frequently for your own safety and liability - not to mention that some venues will not let you plug in anything not displaying a valid label There's a whole other rant to be made about cheap switch mode power supplies or shoddily manufactured Class II devices but I haven't taken my blood pressure medication yet today so it's probably wise to stay off it for my own safety

I'd say that a significant factor is how much cash you'd have to invest to tool up for the job. If you already have premises and tools then I'd say go for it, you've little to lose. If you have to buy substantial tooling and rent a workshop then you'd have to be pretty sure you've got a customer base. If you have to borrow for the above you need to be absolutely sure it makes business sense. Just prior to covid striking I was in the process of setting up a reclaimed furniture business. I'd managed to make and sell a few small pieces but, in my case, covid did me a favour and gave me breathing space before I'd invested significant money into the venture . It became apparent that I wouldnt be competitive making pieces on spec to attempt to sell. Etsy etc showed that as a cottage industry I couldnt manufacture at a low enough cost to compete with factory line production and I struggled to make contacts for bespoke pieces so, in my case, it was a non starter. That said, if you think theres a market for a unique style and you can be competitive go for it

Yes, and cars arent allowed to run you over on a zebra crossing but it's still wise to look left and right before you cross.............. (less snarkily, yes, theyve been required for over 20 years but you'll still encounter the odd legacy system out there so its a good idea to carry your own. Be prepared and all that dib dib dib) Yes, 13a plug in rcds exist - they cost about the same as a couple of pints https://www.screwfix.com/p/masterplug-13a-fused-plug-in-active-rcd-plug/44855

and while Im being a preachy know it all / ersatz screwfix salesman - an rcd socket adaptor is a good idea too. Really theres no excuse for the venue not to have rcd protection at the board but back here in the real world............. https://www.screwfix.com/p/masterplug-13a-fused-plug-in-active-rcd-plug/44855 and yes, if your gear/cabling is suspect there is a chance of it activating and embarassing silence following but thats temporary and preferable to the permanent silence that may follow if a fault occurs without one