Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

bremen

Member
  • Posts

    2,862
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    3

Posts posted by bremen

  1. I think it'd be well worth it, only a few quid and you can reuse them if the varislope is unfixable (which it won't be unless someone's let the air into the valves).

    I'd put the switchers, with a little extra filtering, into a plastic box and tape that onto the inside of the lid, put a connector for a wall wart where the redundant power switch connector is now.

     

    Happy to share circuits here or by pm.

  2. 37 minutes ago, Bone Idol said:

    Another weird thing that I'd love to try and use is this valve pre-amp made by Leak, it's called a Varislope III ... It came out of the same 1950's radiogram as the Celestion speaker that I put in the Danson 540.

     

    I know it's a 1950's Hi-Fi pre amp but I've always wondered what it would sound like when used with an electric musical instrument... Anyone ever heard or tried one of these?

     

    This photo is from the 'net as mine is in the shed!... Unfortunately I didn't think to keep the umbilical lead when I took it from the radiogram, so I have no idea how to wire it up :(

    Leak Varislope 3.jpg

    I had the later version and yes, it made a beautiful fat sound with bass.

     

    I have the umbilical and service manual somewhere. It takes 6.3V and 200ishV from the power amplifier, is that something you could provide if I come up with a diagram?

     

    If not, it'll get a good price on ebay. Just use the word Mullard and you're away 😄

    • Thanks 1
  3. 17 minutes ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

    It's getting worse. ChatGPT is really bad, because what it posts comes from searching sources on line. When the search turns up bad information it passes it on without peer review. 😒

    This. It's an idiot amplifier. Even more reliable source of misinformation than Quora.

  4. I have Entwistle neodymium pickups in my Precision and just done my first rehearsal with them. They are monstrous. Love them. Dirtier than the quarter pounders they replace.

     

    Wasn't all easy though. As others have noted, they are physically very deep- the pole pieces protrude a long way out the back, and some routing was called for. And the ears are bigger than any other P pickup I've met so the pickguard needed modded. Why they chose to depart from a well established standard I have no idea. Must have put a few people off buying a great sounding and very affordable item.

     

    The other niggle was: the pole pieces weren't grounded so there was hum pickup, and a LOT of noise if you touch them. Easily fixed by wrapping tinned copper wire round the back, but again this surely must have disappointed some customers.

     

    But they do sound fantastic.

    • Like 1
  5. Got that, yes.

     

    But you could also see an amp with saggy rails as an expander with a slow attack; it lets the transient through, but as the small caps discharge it's unable to maintain the rail voltage, so the power drops. Or maybe what happens is the transient gets through unscathed, but the following note is clipped by the falling rail, and the consequent distortion is pleasing to the ear - maybe perceived as louder. Bob Gallien designed this into the GK400.

    • Like 1
  6. It might be really nice but unless I see a review from a Basschat comrade I'm not going for it. Next bass I buy will be either a second hand bargain from someone trustworthy here, a cheapo homemade bitsa with pro setup or -and this is favourite- a visit to Jon Shuker. Two or three times the price of a Vintage but I'll be 100% confident it'll be the dog's bollocks.

  7. I'm enjoying this bs-free thread and I'm wary of digressing into subjectivity. But.

     

    Conventional wisdom has it that you need a power supply with little sag (eg overrated transformer and caps or regulated smps) for a "solid" (subjectivity alarm) bass. Ask any audiophile/phool. But the renowned GK 400 has tiny reservoir caps and transformer and is much loved for its weighty heft, and for being much louder than it should be for its power. Bob Gallien stated that the sag was deliberate, and a means to this end.

     

    Valve amps have saggier supplies and are also generally thought to be "loud". Their clipping behavior is part of this but maybe the sag is important?

     

    I wish I still had my V4.

     

    Sorry, a bit OT.

×
×
  • Create New...