3below

Start looking for adjustable bias circuits - e.g. [url="http://hiwatt.org/DIY/bias.gif"]http://hiwatt.org/DIY/bias.gif[/url] Thank you MR Huss, or other amp circuits. It will soon be obvious how to design such a circuit. Next implement it (and the dropper resistors and test points) and make diy biasing easy. It is not that difficult. The pcb on the Peavey of that era should have nice big wide copper tracks and large components. These amps are great for repair / mods for those reasons alone.

Bassman 100 somewhere in late 70s / early 80s. Great amp, another one I should have kept. Princeton II valve combo, all point to point wiring, absolute bargain. Developed a rattle / buzz that I could never sort. Another I should have kept. Current is red knob super 60. Nice but weights a ton, MDF box

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1387199192' post='2309197'] I'd try another string first. Some strings are just dodgy and never intonate properly. [/quote] I have been caught out (once) with new G string that would not intonate correctly. It was the last thing that I checked for after much faffing - I was amazed a brand new string could be that duff.

Early 1970s Kay (Woolworths brand). Plywood neck (not bad in fairness), plywood body 1" thick. Naff microphonic pickups, cheap bar bridge. The whole thing was crude beyond belief. Replaced by EB2 when EB2s were cheap and unfashionable.

Firebass has lots of features, pre/post DI, effects loops etc. Having owned one, I found two disadvantages. Firstly - heavy (but traditional amp @700W needs big transformer. Secondly - you will lack power with 8 Ohm cabinet, need to have 4 Ohm or even better 2 Ohm. For the money they are very good,, I found the bass 'tighter' and better defined than the VBA 400 I had at the same time.

Does the chain lube come out of the tube? Will the lid remain on? These are serious quality control issues. I confess I have a BF Dubster and previously a Big One so I am clearly deranged and devoid of judgement.

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1386800201' post='2304867'] Great quote - think I may nick that (if you'll tolerate such behaviour)! [/quote] Of course, my agent will deal with the royalties. I am quite tolerant to those who have tolerance.

Surely the decimal place is in the wrong place on the price? £649 is a bit eyewatering.

Maybe I was lucky [size=4] I started at a young age (14 or so) with the carelesness (lack of sensitivity ?) of youth and grew up with people over the years. I would (do) not have much time for the 'purists' / 'fundamentalists' who find electric bass inadmissable. I also get less tolerant of intolerance as I get older....[/size]

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1386789307' post='2304624'] Electric Bass and Folk? I hope you have thick skin! [/quote] Opposite experience here - Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Mid Wales. Folk bass playing for over 40 years on and off, double bass is appreciated, acoustic bass and electric bass no problems. Those I play with appreciate the issue of transporting db etc.

The recommended speakers seem to be Eminence Kappalites (amongst others). These are great speakers - in my Barefaced Dubster, previous Big One, and my Shermann 15/6/horn cab. They are also a phenomenal price now - 3015 both variants about £190. Cost it all up, every last little bit. Next start looking for a good s/h Barefaced or fEARful cab and think long and hard. Cab building can be very marginal. (I have built BFM bass cab, it was/is a nice thing. No longer used, it was big, the 3015LF is in another smaller cab). Cab building can be fun as well.

As mentioned earlier - Peavey Firebass, also Tour 700s can be picked up cheaply. Prefer my Tour 700s to the VBA 400 I owned.

EB2 was great, what an improvement modern amp makes compared to my EB2 and amp in youth. The Stagg was surprisingly good. Would love to see this played with a really cheap bass - Yamaha or Peavey budget bass.

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1386371090' post='2299535'] Its works because your used to hearing other people do it in the same context - its a defining idiom of blues music. Music is actually just as much about what your accustomed to hearing people do in a given situation than it is about abstract theory. [/quote] As above. It works because it sounds right to our ears. At this point we get into the debate - did we make music theory to fit what we hear or was the theory in place and we found it. That is not my take by the way, it is the debate of Popper, Kuhn, Dewey et al in Science.

Regular PVA or even glue gun stick. Advantage of these is that heat (via soldering iron) will allow removal at later date if needed. Roughen the underside of nut with coarse file or similar. I have used basses with the nut just held in by string tension and no problems - strange as it might seem.

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1385168325' post='2285363'] Could, instead of spending £100 or £150 on pickups, spend the money on a guitar with buckers. The Yamaha Pacifica 120H is seriously good bang for the buck - £200 to £220. [/quote] This is good advice, particularly with the low price of kit at the moment. I have a cheapie Yamaha with h/b pickups, it is just as playable than my USA strats. I put Kinman pickups in my USA strat - the improvement was light and day, however they are not cheap. It would have been better value to trade guitar in for another. It has a baseball bat neck and an ash body to die for which is why I did the upgrade.

Not for me then, I play in the gaps, seem to need the depth below strings. Everyone is different [size=4] [/size]

One key part to this is the Peavey circuit diagram. Armed with this (and an internet / books) you can work out what the circuit will do. Many (but not all) Peavey valve (tube) amps of the 1970s / 80s can 'auto' bias for different valves (I can not say about later - have not studied circuits). Circuit diagrams will also indicate B+ (HT) voltage that transformers can deliver - many Peavey designs deliver a lot - great for KT88s, can be too much for EL34s - I have considered using Peavey Deuce / VT for donor amp in HIWATT clone build - plenty of HT available. If Peavy can not supply the diagram (unlikely, they are very helpful above and beyond diagrams, will provide detailed info e.g. power ratings of transformer low voltage supplies circa 1980) then similar diagrams will probably help. The 6 x 6L6 configuration was pretty common with Peavey - Mace etc. The circuit diags I have show 4 x 6L6 and 6x6L6 variants if my memory serves me right. How much power do you want? 6 x 6L6 will deliver quite a lot of volume providing your bass cab can deliver [size=4] KT88s are not cheap, so the gain (pun intended) per £ may not be that significant.[/size]

I have also fancied an EB3 / SG bass for many years. Like you I am zillions of miles away from 'big' music shops. In my youth I had a John Birch EB3 type bass. Neck dive has been one of the first things I check out on a bass since that one.

Simple repair like yours should not be expensive - my father (bless him) snapped the neck on my DB. Excellent repair was only £90 or so. Bass was also set up, sound post sorted and bridge for this amount.

As above, see medics. When you do, insist on tests etc, do not be fobbed off if it gets worse. I have other half who now has a'destroyed' knee joint beyond replacement because medics just kept prescribing pain killers rather than listen to her. The pity is her first knee replacement aged 45 has been brilliant, now we are just looking at very bleak situation - still I guess the NHS has saved money. Aged 55 I feel it is not a health service at the moment, feel rather let down.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1385411847' post='2288035'] Another pot-head pixie here, since Camembert Electrique. How's yer father and mind how you go... [/quote] Ditto, stuff of my youth (aged 14 or so ) and a CD that I still listen to. A great British / French / European / whatever institution. Long may it play on.