Amazoman

Hi my knowledgeable friends. I was looking at a YouTube lesson regarding the Dorian scale. It seemed to suggest that this mode could be played over any chord progression and it made reference to countless tracks that had used it. So say you were playing a 1,4,6 progression in A major the Dorian mode would be a B Dorian. Now Bm is not in the progression and the only chord that is minor is F# m. So could you or should you not play B Dorian. I know there are better options to pick but it was simply this notion that Dorian could be played over any changes.

Once again thanks all for the suggestions. I think its a trip to demo a 'Terror bass'.

Thanks for the responses all. I will definitely go and demo some amps but with so many options and manufacturers I am trying to narrow the field. I have never heard an Orange bass terror, the name 'Terror' brings aggresive rock sound to mind so I've never considered that!! I'm probably wrong. I have heard a few Mark Bass amps so they are a possibility. There seems to be a lot of love for Tonehammer on the forum would that emulate a clean, warm, creamy, bluesy sound.

Hi all, currently playing my mm stingray through the above amp and 2x10 Genz Benz Focus cab. Plenty loud enough for what I do and the tone is to die for IMHO. I have a Laney 1X15 that I add if I ever need to go loud!!! I descibe the tone as warm and creamy. I do not overdrive it to get a dirty sound, not really required for church music! The valves I have in the power stage at the moment are KT100 which also do not break up too early. The simple matter is it is getting a pain to carry the amp up and down stairs to the car and back etc. Has anyone any suggestions of a much lighter solid state amp that is in the same ball park tone wise as the AD200. Anything that sounds Hi Fi or glassy would be out of the question. What should I go and demo? Thanks

Bought a musicman tort scratchplate from him. Great to deal with, responds swiftly to pm's, The scratchplate exceeded my expectations in terms of quality. It doesn't look like its been on a guitar and for a great price. Thanks mate Dave

Hi, I am going down the 2x10 route also. I can't understand why no one on the forum mentions or recommends the Genz Benz Focus range. Other forums are very complimentary if you are looking for value for money at the lower end. I rang and spoke to the chap at bass direct. He was very positive and said that while you can tell the difference between Vanderkley, Bergantino and the focus cabs the price difference more than made up for this. So when they get some more in, mid Jan, according to their web site I will be going down that route unless someone here tells me I'm making a big mistake!

Thanks all for your input. To respond to your comments. It was your thread I was reading with interest Ultima and all the best with your purchase. Mr. Foxen I don't need very loud for Church use but I do occasionally get asked to do weddings, charity events etc where a bit more umph is needed but these are few and far between. I wasn't sure if a 2x10 would suffice on these occasions. Sorry for my ignorance but I'm not sure what you mean when you ask 'Do you want any drive from the power section?' chris b- No the cab would not stay at church it would need to be portable, brought home and taken back upstairs so I assume a 4x 10 is out of the question then Lozz. I have seen the one you are advertising. As for price, the fact that the Genz Benz Focus are being advertised at about £255 for the 2x10 and £365 for the 4x10 was about my maximum. I would love a Barefaced and have actually had a couple of emails with Alex but the price is a little out of reach at the moment. Thanks also Hamfist for your comments. I am currently using a Laney Richter 1x 15. Cheap and cheerful which I dont think is showing the amp up to its best!!

Hi, I need a different cab but here starts the dilemma. The reviews on the Genz Benz Focus series suggest they are good sounding, relatively light and they are certainly in the right price bracket. I think I would like the 2x10-T ,for its portability, but can only find a you tube clip with Ed, the bass whisperer demoing a 4 x10. I do not really need a 4x10 for the venue I play ie Church but would I regret not getting one in the future. By the way my amp head is an Orange AD200B Mk3. This is obviously rated at 200watts, it measures at slightly under actually! How would this match up with the cabs mentioned above? Another spanner in the works is a thread where lots of people are raving about the GK 212 MBE. Which is also priced right at the moment,How does this compare with the focus series? OR would I be better saving a bit more and getting a second hand Markbass which seem to come up quite often in the for sale section. I say Markbass because weight is an issue at 57 years old I can't carry like I used to. Your thoughts appreciated

Great info and help. Thanks for the photo Mr Foxen I can see what you mean!!! Looks like I will be saving for the Super 15

Thanks for your input folks. I do not really want another cab with a 15 inch speaker although I am sure the OBC115 is great. I like bottom end but want something with punch hence either 2x10 or 2x12. Would the AD200 really look silly on a Super 12? Width wise there is a 7cm difference I'm not sure that 3.5cm overhang each side would be too bad. The rubber feet on the AD200 would sit OK. Depth there are no problems.

Hi all, I am currently playing my MM Stingray through an Orange AD200B Mk3 and a Laney Richter 1X15 cab. This is fine at the moment for bedroom practice as I am not gigging. But I have plans for bigger things!!! don't we all. I think I need a lightweight, 2X10 or 2X12. I am not sure what to do, either match the amp with something from Orange,although these do not seem particularly lightweight, have a look at the Barefaced which we have all read great things about or look at something completely different. My thinking is that if I went with Barefaced it would be a keeper and if I swapped out the AD200 at some point, lots of amps would go with the Barefaced. This would not be true with Orange cabs. If so which Barefaced would best match with the AD200 and bass for smallish Community Centres, Church etc Would you hang onto the Laney cab, which actually isn't too bad to my ears! so that it could be paired up with whatever I get just in case I need extra umph! Oh the dilemma. What would you do? Thanks

The tech is a top man, highly recommended. It was John Chambers from Champ Electronics in Nottingham. I did have a problem originally with the power tubes which was caused by a cracked tube and air getting inside. This had the effect of taking a second tube out as apparently they work in pairs. When those tubes were replaced and biased John found a small black line of (I can't remember what he called it!!) material that was linking two of the power tube bases together on the board and causing one tube to discharge all of its volts into another. This he cleaned off and everything power wise was fine. All of this was checked using an oscilloscope and meters. There was no need to look at the preamp stage for any of this repair. He said it looked like the amp had been worked on before and this material should have been cleaned away and was the root cause of my original problem. He did this work as I waited and watched, absolutely fascinating. He kept inviting me to look through his workbench magnifier to see exactly what he was talking about. With regard to 'was this hum there before he worked on it' I expect so but I don't actually know because the amp developed the problem with the power tubes within half an hour of me taking ownership of the amp. (See previous post).

I am an absolute novice with regard to valve amps and the characteristics of the different valves. The stock valves that come with the AD200 are 6550's. From what I have read they do start to break up and give that gritty driven sound quite early on when driving the gain when compared to KT88's. When I spoke to the amp tech about this and that I was after a smoother tone, and as I was having it revalved anyway, he suggested KT100's. His reasoning was that they are very similar to a KT88 but in his terms a little beefier I assume he meant more robust, The tone that I am getting from them is just what I was looking for but I'm not driving them hard as I said in a previous post I am only using the amp in the bedroom currently so I certainly don't want any masonary falling down. Just a final question in the pre amp stage the amp takes two ECC83 and one ECC81. I can get the ECC83's locally and save on posting but not the 81. Could I put 3 ECC 83's in as their characteristics look to be the same when I've searched the internet. The 83 are high gain the 81 medium gain thats the only difference I can find.

Hi All, Thanks for responding. First - I like a creamy, bluesy tone rather than a gritty sound so the tech suggested a KT 100 ,which is a beefier version of the KT88, which is a recommnded change from the stock 6550 valves to get this sound. But like you, Dad 3353 ,I have to take advice from those with more experience and the KT100's were recommended to me by the tech to try and get the tone I wanted. The gain control does have an effect on the hum BB but not as much as the master knob. What does this signify? Mr Foxen- I will try swapping the valves about and will report on the effect to the pre amp stage. I understand that it may be a 'tad overkill' for bedroom use but I simply wanted one!!!!!!!!! I have three solid state amps which are all OK but I needed to try a valve amp. I will probaby move it on as I now fancy a TC 750 but who knows!

Hi, My Orange AD200 Mk 3, which is relatively new to me, has what I would describe as an annoying but not unbearable electrical hum. I am sure that at stage gigging volumes it wouldn't be a problem but for home practice it is! I have tried all the usual, leads, ground problems etc and I am convinced that it is the actual amp. Never had problems with previous amps in the same place. Can anyone explain why the electrical hum is more noticable/ louder when the master control is set half way round ie: between 10'oclock-2' oclock if it were a clockface but if I turn master all the way round to the loudest setting the humming dies down. ? Similarly if I back the treble knob right to zero it quietens it? I am consequently using the amp with master right round to max, no treble, and the gain at about 1 ( ie 7'oclock )position. What do people think is acceptable noise from a valve amp? I have had the power valves renewed and biased, thanks to all who commented in my previous post. I went for KT100's but didn't do the preamp valves, it was a financial bridge too far!. Could renewing these pre amp valves sort the electrical noise issue?

Thanks for the comments so far. The amp was not new as stated in the OP so swapping it is not an option. As you will probably have already gathered my experience and knowledge of valves is nil. If I were to go for the Watford electronics set(thanks for the link Blademan) which are advertised as a matched set. Is it simply a case of swapping all the valves over or do they still need biasing by someone who knows how to do this? The duff valve doesn't appear to have blown. It still glows and flashes blue. It is only the fuses that blew. I have taken it out ,cleaned the contacts and put it back but this didn't achieve anything. Thanks for the Stockport contact I may venture up there if I can't find anyone around the Nottingham area.

I have just bought an Orange AD200, used. When it was demoed it sounded great and I know that I am going to be really pleased with it. After putting it in place I got set up for a session. It was great to start with but after about half an hour it started to make a sound like a raging thunderstorm. One of the valves was flashing like lightning and after about 20 seconds a safety fuse and a HT fuse blew. So two questions: Is it possible to simply remove the offending tube until I can get a replacement or will that render the amp unusable. I am only talking about bedroom practice at low volumes. Does anyone know where I can get the amp serviced around the Nottingham, Derby, Chesterfield Mansfield areas. I know that Champ Electronics is highly recommended on the net but his website says that he is not taking any calls or emails at the moment and I can't find anywhere else. Before anyone says 'Take it back' which is exactly what the wife said I know for definite that the person I bought it from would have no idea about this and he will have sold it in good faith. I am putting it down to a bit of bad luck!.

Thanks for the replies. I think I will give it a punt. My understanding is that it is an amp that will have good resale value without losing money. I don't need 'loud' just medium size venues. When you say 'valve swapping' what would be good valves to swap to for the cleaner creamy sound?

Hi folks, I have the opportunity to buy an Orange Ad200 Mk 3. at the right price. My only real concern is that I have very little knowledge of the Orange sound. I look at players who use Orange and it seems to be a 'rock' style with a gritty overdrive tone. I've scoured you tube but there is very little on there that shows sound samples. Is it possible to get a creamy, bluesy tone out of this amp? or is that not what it was designed for!

Great thread! My ten penneth. I would never have played in any band Christian or secular if it hadn't been for the encouragement of my local church members. I had dabbled with 6 string ever since being a young lad but only doing my own thing. When I joined the local church I was encouraged to join in with practices, after a few of those I played acoustic guitar in the meetings but not miked up(just in case of making mistakes).To cut a long journey short I have since played and led meetings on guitar, have played drums which led to me drumming in bands outside of church and for the past few years have played bass, when some of the younger lads wanted to take the drum throne. Remember! people don't go to church to listen to the band. I've learned that no one comments on the odd mistake, most don't even notice, and its a great way of learning how to play with other people as well as developing your confidence to get out and play at other venues. Like lots of others on here we do the Hillsong type thing, Chris Tomlin features heavily as does Tim Hughes.

Back to the OP question! My neighbour asked me for old strings to use when he does wood turning! Apparently he uses them on his lathe to 'burn' patterns into the wood. I suspect they can really heat up when the wood spins against them at several thousand RPM.

What fantastic service 'Strings and Things' near Brighton give. Turned my EB Musicman 'Stingray' over to change the battery and noticed a crack across the neck plate. Not sure how it happened or how long it had been there!! I don't look at the back that often. Phoned Strings and Things, the Uk distributer. Advised me to send an email with a photo of the problem. A couple of days later a new neckplate arrived in the post 'No charge'. Thanks Nick. Great service

Thanks for getting back. I am sure that my poor technique has a lot to do with it. I really have tried every combination of striking the stringsyou can think of. I would have thought that even by chance I would have got the sound that you hear on the 'you tube slap lessons' a few times. I'm not talking about playing a piece well, just a couple of notes. What I actually hear is the string hitting the fretboard or the frets rather than the funky slap sound Maybe it is the set up of the bass. I will have to take it for a check. For now I'll just keep practicing

I would appreciate your thoughts. I play/practice 95% of my time at home, I'm not in a band. The other 5% is in church when I plug straight into the mixing desk and come through the hall speakers along with all the other instruments. My amp I use at home is a small practice amp, Laney Hardcore HCM60B. When playing finger style and for most of the time this is fine. I am trying to learn 'slap', following the lessons on this site but simply cannot get the 'sound' that is on the videos neither the thumb or the left hand slap across the strings sound any good. Mine is simply a rattly thud. I have tried different techniques different striking positions, thumps with rapid recall so as not to dampen the string I know your first thoughts will be poor technique and this will be mostly true. I am convinced however that my amp is partly to blame. My guitar by the way is a Musicman Stingray. If I invested in a more powerful amp would it make a difference? Would I be able to play say a 300w amp at a low enough volume in the house so as not to disturb everyone else for it to be any good (I know that you need to drive certain speakers hard to get a decent sound from them). Are my thoughts way off the mark and the amp does not make any difference to the sound. Regards