ikay

👍 thanks for the links. I have an old school Berg as well (HT112ER), a fabulous cab.

Neat solution. What are you using for the wedge under the Berg cab?

Here's the blurb from the TH manual which explains the interaction between the gain and drive controls: The Drive control changes the gain structure and EQ interactively with the Gain control position. By modifying the circuit structure, Drive gives a “vintage voiced” EQ and gain structure that adapts to how you set the Gain control. The lower the Gain control setting, the “flatter” the EQ applied. The higher you set the Gain control, the more saturated the gain structure becomes, and the more the bass is tightened and the treble smoothed. The Drive circuitry surrounds the midrange controls, enabling you to get a huge variety of tonal characteristics by simply adjusting the Gain, Mid Level, and Mid Freq controls. I'm a little confused by the above. If you turn the gain right down to get a flatter response, doesn't this also drastically reduce the level of the input signal and the resulting volume you can get out of the amp?

In this post from 21 April the OP (not me) says that he will shortly be selling an AG500 if that's of any interest.

No probs at rehearsal last night so the LMIII rides again. Ay caramba!

👍 I'll do that. Will give it a good workout at rehearsal tonight and see if it behaves itself.

@BassmanPaul I just tried that and IT WORKED!! There's a mod for the LMIII that changes the effects loop to serial which I did years ago (involves moving a jumper on the circuit board). It's been working fine up until now so I'm a little baffled as to why it should suddenly pack in. But that seems to be the problem and connecting send to return fixes it. Obv something still adrift inside which is a bit of a concern, but I'm back in business. Thanks for suggesting that and I owe you one! 👏🏆

@yorks5stringer that's a good way of looking at it. The RM500 is definitely a contender but it has quite few features I wouldn't use and costs £150 more than the LMIV. One slightly odd thing with the LMIII is that the effects loop is wired in parallel rather than series. I wonder if that's the same with the IV? The technical blurb doesn't say.

Thanks for that. I've used an ABM 600 before (in our rehearsal room) but not tried one of these. Looks like a good option...

My trusty LMIII, which has served me well for the last 13 years, has stopped working. Fine one day, dead the next. It seems that most amp techs in the UK won't touch Markbass as MB Italy deal exclusively with Real Electronics for repair and support. I've read some less than encouraging comments about the service from RE (and the cost) so a bit dubious about sending it there. I spoke with Surrey Amps but they won't touch it due to lack of technical materials from MB. Which leaves me looking at options to replace the amp. The LMIII has worked well for me. It's been a solid workhorse amp, simple but effective EQ (which rarely strays much from 12 o-clock), just plug in and go. Always sounds good. I like amps that are easy to use and 'just work' without too much fiddling around. My first thought was to get another LMIII. But the 'exclusive' arrangement with RE is a put-off in the event that support is needed at any time. Would appreciate any suggestions for other amps of around 500w that might do the job. Anything that stands above the rest as sounding good out of the box. Ideally with a decent support network. Also, anything to avoid or be wary of. Thanks for any input!

If the basic construction of the Thunderblade and Supertron are essentially the same, a difference in inductance that small would be barely noticeable tonewise.

As itu says, there are many factors involved in the strength of the magnetic field in any given magnet. However, I think the simple answer to the original post is probably yes. If the poles are of the same material and charged in the same way for the same length of time, the longer magnet contains more magnetic material (domains) that can be aligned and therefore the potential to produce a slightly stronger field. In practice the difference is probably negligible. The proximity of the magnet to the vibrating string will have a much greater effect on the strength of the signal being produced. The purpose of the longer D and A poles is to do exactly that, by compensating for the curvature of the fretboard and therefore the D and A strings being higher above the pickup. https://sciencing.com/causes-different-strengths-magnets-5981925.html Does the size of a magnet affect its strength? The short answer is yes, but only because the size of a magnet means that there are proportionally more domains that can align and produce a stronger magnetic field than a smaller piece of the same material.

Excellent news!

Shame, it's been a few months now so maybe it's fallen by the wayside.

Has there been any further progress on the Stoneham 100W valve amp project?

Aha! I know about the hum adjustor but somehow failed to put two and two together, even though the adjustor hole is exactly underneath this component duh! Thanks for clearing that up. I love the Benedetti pickups on this.

I'm curious about the big black cylindrical component on the preamp board of my Excess series 1. Can anyone tell me what it is and what part it plays in the preamp circuit? It looks like a coil with a metal core so I'm guessing an inductor of some sort but I've not come across one of these in a preamp before. It's positioned between the volume and blend controls. The same component appears on the preamp of some later Excess 2 models but not others.

You can add Fender MIJ JB62M to the 'no longer in production' list. A perfectly scaled down Jazz with all the correct body and neck proportions. Much like the MIJ P (model PB331 btw). Great basses, I have one of each.

There's a wiring diagram for the Electra VS4 on this thread (6th post down)