Oxblood

If you can find one, the Ashdown RPM-1 pre-amp has the power button on the front, but of course you'd have to find a rackmount power amp to go with it.

Yeah, eBay's full of the damn things too. I don't know why they don't just list them under "suicide aids".

[quote name='BigRedX' post='23007' date='Jun 25 2007, 02:41 PM']Does anyone do a replcement IEC socket that fits exactly into the cutout of a Bulgin socket?[/quote] I'd love to know that, too! I don't think anyone does, alas. You have to get creative.

[quote name='nick' post='22946' date='Jun 25 2007, 12:59 PM']Thanks again Oxblood. Not too worried now about the hum, adds to the 'Mojo'. My old man's a radio ham/electronics boffin from the days of valve, so he's going to give it once over before I gig it, when I next see him. He couldn't understand what I was worried about! Hopefully, through some of his contacts he may also be able to source Mullards for me too. Had a one hour anorakesque phone call yesterday extolling the virtues of Mullards, Brimars, Svetlanas.....etc! Going to think about cab. Quite fancied an "18, but due to the size will probably go for 2x12 or 1x15 -has to fit in boot of a car. Like a quite a lot of bottom end, would I still get that with 12" speakers(?) Do you think it's a good idea to replace attached speaker lead & mains cable, or should I keep it original? Not doing any harm as it is I suppose(?) I would be grateful to hear your learned opinion. Cheers[/quote] So your dad's a Radio Ham of some vintage, eh? Well blow me down! What's his call-sign? Next time you see him, ask if he ever got any QSL cards back in the 50s and 60s from a fellow ham called Ron Cumberlidge (call-sign G3CK): That was my dad. This picture was taken when he was in the Signals Corps during WW2. If your dad is still active on the air today, he might also have come across my brother Steve (call-sign G7BBF). [b][i]RADIO AMATEURS - THE ORIGINAL WORLD-WIDE WEB ![/i][/b] Anyhow.. back to the amp: If the speaker lead looks fit for its purpose, I'd leave it alone. After all, it only has to transfer 17 Watts. Only replace it if it looks in any way perished, or appears to have been bodged by someone who didn't know what they were doing, Your dad will know when he looks at it. Same goes for the mains cable. If it just enters the chassis directly through a rubber grommet and has adequate strain relief inside the chassis, you've no problems. If it plugs into the amp via one of those old round 3-pin Bulgin plugs, you should replace it with a modern IEC ("kettle plug") mains connector. Don't worry: this will not be regarded as vandalism of a classic! Bulgin plugs/sockets are not legal any more, on account of being fundamentally unsafe. All the best to you, Nick - and 73s to your dad.

By jingo, sir, that does look like it's in fine condition. Well done you! Yes, as OBBM says (and he should know), those are definitely EL84s and this is definitely a Dominator Mk 1. This amp should be brought to the next bash and demonstrated as an object lesson in the law of diminishing return when it comes to piling on the Watts. It's the famous inverse square law - y'know, the one that says that in order to produce twice as much SPL you need four times as much power. As you've heard for yourself, 17 Watts can make a whole lot of of noise - and if you wanted to make twice as much noise, you'd need 68 Watts. Four times louder would require 272 Watts ...and so on. Anyhow, the easiest way to make this amp really shake the floor will be to hook it up to a seriously efficient speaker+cab combination (hence my earlier suggestion of the Omni 10). That WEM bass cab I PM'd you about will probably be a pretty efficient creature too. If you want those lovely old Mullards tested, you know where to send them. I bet you they've still got plenty of life left in them yet. Re. the hum problem: you say it goes away when you touch the metalwork of the bass? That sounds pretty normal to me. The bass is picking up hum from the world around it - especially your body, which is acting like a big moist hum antenna. When you touch the metal of the bass, your body is commoned up to the chassis of the amp, so it can't act as an antenna any more. The hum pickup was there with your previous amp too, but that amp was less sensitive to it. It's more noticable with this amp because valves have a higher input impedance than solid state circuitry, and high impedance inputs are more sensitive to hum and cable noise. If it worries you, though, there's no harm in having the amp's earth continuity checked. Better safe than sorry.

[b][i]Bass[/i][/b]tonbury, eh? A logistical nightmare I'm sure, but a lovely idea. Imagine a massive audience of bassheads greeting every g**tar solo with chants of "Turn it down, turn it down, turn it down...."

[quote name='Hamster' post='18916' date='Jun 16 2007, 08:28 PM']I just use my full rig, turned down a bit, or if the neighbours are out, turned up a bit! Hamster[/quote] Likewise. Nice, innit.

I'd definitely like to be there. As to exactly what I bring, that will be totally dependent on what mode of transport I can get. If I'm coming by train, it'll be just what I'm able to lug on my little wheelie trolley (possibly one solitary item ). HOWEVER, if a fellow Londoner with a big enough vehicle feels like calling by my place and sharing the petrol costs (hint...hint ), the list could consist of: Dean Stylist Archtop Bass Trace Elliot VA350 power amp In rack case: MindPrint enVoice, Peavey TB Raxx and Korg DTR-2 ...and [i]if it's built by then[/i], a BFM Omni 10 If anyone can help transport-wise, let me know!

Now that's what I call a review! Excellent pictures and a very clear assessment of the pros and cons. Nice one, mate. I agree about the blue logo. I had experience of it with Thumper's Nemesis head. Blinding. They could do with making the controls light up instead.

Just heard the sound clip of the Rumblekat. See what you mean. The playing technique in that clip is interesting, too: there are moments when I could have sworn he was playing a fretless! Nice looking bass, too.

[quote name='paul, the' post='20795' date='Jun 20 2007, 02:52 PM']Yours is much much better looking. Great review btw and great tone! paul.[/quote] Oh stop it! I've gone all shy now...

[quote name='Waldo' post='20640' date='Jun 20 2007, 10:50 AM']I think if the powers that be are trying to stop this site being flagged by website filters, maybe they should change the name of the 'Bass PORN' forum to something else? Just an idea.[/quote] I was just thinking the very same thing....

[quote name='Freuds_Cat' post='20559' date='Jun 20 2007, 04:48 AM']Do you know where the Dean Stylist was manufactured?[/quote] Made in Korea, apparently. [color="#FF0000"][b]Late breaking news[/b]:[/color] Anyone after a mega-bargain should check out this from Thomann's own brand range: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbb1960bl_semiakustikbass.htm"]Harley Benton HBB 1960[/url] I swear it's the same bass, re-badged at a fraction of the price. £165 ? Now I'm as sick as a whole rain forest full of parrots! ADDED LATER: Actually, there is one visible difference: it's got a wooden floating bridge. The Dean has a bolted on tune-o-matic type.

[quote name='paul, the' post='20545' date='Jun 20 2007, 01:29 AM']It [i]was[/i] on ebay - but has now been taken off. Although I have no idea what it's worth and I doubt I'd have the money spare to fix it. I hate not knowing if it would be a £20 job or a £200 job - besides the fact I haven't heard it yet The hum was almost silent on stand by, but when it was switched on it was very loud - and increasingly so as the Master was turned up. It's a real shame, it was nice looking and the grill hadn't gone brown. But after some bad experiences in the past, I tend to run a mile from anything that isn't working right. Here's a picture of a Bassman (this isn't it, this is a 50 and a dif' cab): Although after seeing the blonde blackfaced ones, I'd be left GASsing and feeling second place: fwar.[/quote] I guess the seller withdrew it on account of the fact that it's now obviously got a fault. Can't blame the guy. We all know what happens if you list an amp on eBay as 'faulty': no bids until the last 2 minutes, then sold for a tenner to some leary geezer with a glint in his eye and the whiff of soldering iron smoke about him (no names, no pack drill - you en't seen me, right?) As for that blackface... Fwar indeed!

[quote name='paul, the' post='20406' date='Jun 19 2007, 08:35 PM']Cheers Oxblood! I read that over many times on the way up to the guy's house. Unfortunately, the amp didn't work. It was very faint at full volume and the hum was really quite loud. The valves looked good and the plates weren't red. He even had some spare German valves. I didn't think to try a different lead to the cab until I got home though - I'm really hoping that that wouldn't have solved the problem. He said he'd tried it the previous night and it worked fine, although he hadn't played it regularly for 3 years. It was a Fender Bassman 100 with its 4x12 cab, circa 1976. ...A bit of a shame - although he prefers the sound of his ABM500, 115+210.[/quote] Sorry, mate. One thing: you can rest assured that a different speaker lead wouldn't have helped. Wish I could have been there with you. I always see a faulty valve amp as a glorious opportunity to nab a bargain - but obviously that's easy for me to say, 'cos I can usually fix 'em! How much was he asking, BTW? Oh yes: was the hum there all the time, regardless of what you did with the controls, or was it affected by them?

Which amp is it? Geez the make and model, and I'll have a delve in my drawers (if you'll pardon the expression) for relevant info. Here's a bit of general rat-sniffing procedure: 1) Make sure the amp is plugged into the cab and get the seller to assure you that the output impedance is set correctly for that cab. 2) DON'T plug in an instrument yet. 3) Switch on the amp and let it warm up for a few minutes on standby before switching it on fully (assuming it has a standby/ON switch anyway - some don't). Then just stand and listen to it while it's sitting there. If the seller is rabbiting on, politely ask him/her to be quiet while you listen. Obviously, if it starts making any scary loud buzzing, squealing or 'motorboating' noises, switch it off at once and either walk away from the deal or start negotiating a total bargain-basement price, 'cos it clearly needs some major attention. If it's pretty quiet, keep listening while you approach the amp and peer inside. If the output valves are visible, check to see if they look normal. What's normal? A few points of bright orange light are OK: that's just the heaters (also, with some valves you can see right inside and see the heater filament itself glowing -that's OK too), but if the anodes themselves (the large grey plates) are glowing red like a cooker hotplate on a low setting, switch off the amp. Red anodes mean that the valves are passing far too much current, which will shorten their life and can even cause damage to the output transformer. It could be occurring simply because they're not properly biased, but it can also indicate a more serious underlying fault that will need repair. Assuming all is well so far, let's move on. RUSHING/CRUMBLING SOUNDS: it's likely that the coupling capacitors need replacing (no big deal - easy and cheap to fix). HUM: In a totally healthy amp, there shouldn't be any noticable hum coming from the speakers. 50Hz hum (sounds like you get from a single-coil pickup) may suggest that there's a bit of a screening problem in the signal path (not a big worry). If there is a constant 100Hz hum that doesn't really change regardless of what you do with the controls, it suggests that one or more of the big power supply smoothing capacitors needs replacing (easy to fix, though new caps will cost £3 - 5 pounds each, so the price should be reduced to reflect this). CRACKLY CONTROLS: No big deal. Might just need a squirt of contact cleaner, or a replacement pot. Pot crackle can also be caused by DC leaking into the signal line (those pesky coupling caps again!) Finally, if it hasn't already blown a fuse or started to fill the room with smoke, plug in your bass and play! ADDED LATER: [quote name='paul, the' post='20025' date='Jun 19 2007, 08:04 AM']I was told over the phone that the amp had some hum - which would be fixed by a re-valve.[/quote] It's [i]very[/i] unlikely that replacing valves would get rid of hum, unless that hum is being caused by poor inter-electrode insulation between the heater and cathode of one or more valves - but unless the seller has access to a valve tester, he wouldn't know that. He's giving you a bit of the old BS there. You can bet he hasn't a clue why it's humming. Armed with the checklist above, though, you might! I'd love to see his face when you give a sharp intake of breath and say [i]"No, mate, that's your smoothing caps gone west. Fixable, of course, but it'll cost....."[/i]

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='19737' date='Jun 18 2007, 05:14 PM']looking at those saddles. I'd be frightened to use a pick for fear of the strings coming off...[/quote] Quite. I haven't yet worked out how one is supposed to adjust them with the strings still on. As for the bass as a whole, it's a bit ridiculous, but each to his/her own. I'd certainly like to hear what it sounds like. Probably pretty industrial, with very little sustain is my guess.

[quote name='nick' post='19816' date='Jun 18 2007, 07:00 PM']Apologies, it only has [b]two[/b] EL34's. Guess in all my excitement......[/quote] Still 50 Watts is not to be sniffed at. With efficient speakers you can deafen people with 50 Watts. Time to build a BFM Omni 10 ! [quote name='nick' post='19816' date='Jun 18 2007, 07:00 PM']...feel a bit of a dick now![/quote] OK, if you insist... Oh, I see what you meant. Ooops.

[quote name='nick' post='19677' date='Jun 18 2007, 03:31 PM']According to description it had (I think) 4 x EL34's, & 3 x ECC83's - or that could be the other way round! Should get it before end of the week, will let you know. Can't wait, make a nice change from my Trace. Just hope it's going to be loud enough for rehearsal. Thanks again for the info Oxblood, much appreciated Nick[/quote] [i][b]FOUR[/b][/i] EL34s? That's 100 Watts, mate. Doesn't sound like it's a Dominator (I'm pretty sure they never did a 100Watt valve one), but you never know. You could be on a winner, here.

If they're anything like their Orange label roundwounds, you'll be onto a bargain. In the days of BassTalk, one of our members couldn't stop raving about how great they sound or how long-lasting they are. Now who was it....?

[quote name='Hamster' post='19589' date='Jun 18 2007, 01:11 PM']I bet you half a mars bar it's a fried output transformer - a weak spot on Ashdown amps. Hamster[/quote] That would be a miracle, Mr H. Being solid state amps, they don't have output transformers. Or wuz it 'transistors' you meant? Either way, half mars bar to the following address, please.... BJ, that's appalling. Ashdown seems to have really lost its way of late. I wonder if this is one of the new Made In C**na ABMs?

This is exciting! If it's got a couple of EL34s in it, then it's the 50 Watt version and will kick a reasonable bit of ass. Otherwise, you may have just bagged yourself the world's nicest practice amp. Deep retro cred, though, whatever it is.

Big respect to the MuTron! I used to have an original 70s one: amazing device. Turns any instrument into an instant funk machine. Wanna hear one? Go listen to the opening of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground". That iconic opening riff is not a Moog synth: it's a plain old clavinet that's been MuTron'd. If you're using it for a bass, I'd suggest getting/making a low-pass/high-pass filter to split the signal into two frequency bands, and using the MuTron on the high-frequency end only. Otherwise it can squish out your bottom end - and nobody like a squished out bottom end!

Watkins/WEM gear is indeed legendary, and deservedly so. Charlie Watkins was a very forward thinking designer, who came up with ideas that were years ahead of the game. He was especially instrumental in developing the concept of using PA to amplify the [i]whole band[/i] and balance the overall sound. In 1963 he designed the [b][i]FR-30[/i][/b]: A portable mixer/amp for PA use. His fellows in the company thought it was a ridiculous idea. Back then, nobody could see why a pop group would want to feed several sound sources to a master mixing desk and a Public Address system. PA, such as it was, consisted of small speakers of limited frequency range and was only used for vocals! So the FR-30 was shelved until 1966, when it re-emerged as the [b][i]Audiomaster[/i][/b]. Very soon after, pretty much every amp manufacturer was producing multi-channel mixer-amps. WEM is still with us! These days they concentrate on amplifiers and MIDI controllers for Accordion players, and the company is still run by Charlie Watkins. For more information, go to [url="http://www.wemwatkins.co.uk"]www.wemwatkins.co.uk[/url], visit the history page and try not to bruise your jaw as it hits the floor.

[quote name='mhuk' post='19383' date='Jun 17 2007, 11:21 PM']Is it like a hifi valve amp, in that 1 watt from a valve is worth 3 from a solid state amp?[/quote] The best way I can answer that one is to refer you back to an answer I gave when we wuz called BassTalk. Many thanks to [b]paul,the[/b] for rescuing this from the mists of time and including it in one of his own posts: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=294&view=findpost&p=2957"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...post&p=2957[/url]