BanditSid

I bought a Gallien Krueger MB800 amp from Harry in mint condition. It all went smoothly, he shipped it quickly and he replied promptly to all my messages. Highly recommended and a perfect seller. Thanks Harry..........

I've played loads of gigs on a BTB400 and it always sounded good, maybe there's a problem with your preamp.

I've not heard of Park in a long time, I had one of their cabinets in the early 80's, a single 18" speaker in a sealed cab with no venting and 16 ohm impedance, it wasn't that useful and when it died I didn't really miss it......it weighed a ton too.

I got a Sony DWZ-B30GB from Thomann recently and after a few gigs it's worked perfectly - no loss of signal, sounds just like a good quality cable and I'm getting around 5 hours from a set of rechargeable batteries........I wish I had done this years ago.

I just got one and it looks to be perfect for moving the amp and cabs around, well made and light weight.

Over 35 years of playing I have only DI'd into a PA a handful of times, all in the last 4 years for the same annual gig. I find my combo with the extra cab (when required) is more than enough for any club or pub we play in now, although playing twice a week it would be nice to plug into the PA and not carry so much gear.

When you say you checked string height was that the string height to the pickups? It can make a big difference to the output level as I found on my Ibanez bass.

I've played a BTB 400 for the last couple of years and it has a nice neck and good tone, they are available for around £200.

I recommend Kim, I bought an Ibanez bass from him and it all went really smoothly, delivery from Germany in just 3 days and well packaged. The bass was exactly as described and in perfect condition.

I had the same problem on my Ibanez bass, I replaced the it with a stainless spring washer, it was the same thickness and has been fine since.

It might be worth checking the height of your pickups, if they are too close to the string the magnetic influence may affect the string resonance.

Have you tried raising them a bit, it can make a huge difference to the output level.

Does the gain only fluctuate on the bright input, is it stable on the normal input ? If so I would say there is either a problem with input socket or a dry joint around the socket or the parallel capacitor/resistor network.....it is unlikely that they are faulty and need to be replaced.

[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][size=5][sup]If it is the lower fuse (fuse 2) then it has no effect on the amp operation when you are configured for 230 volt operation, it is there to power the lower primary coil on the transformer when the amp is in 115 volt mode. [/sup][/size][/font]

[size=5][sup]The thump you are hearing is the pre-amp circuit powering up, in particular the capacitors on board reaching operating voltage. Adding a capacitor across a switch is a common fix for switch induced noise, but since that isn't the problem it will only add to the thump noise. There's not a simple fix for your problem, the only way to really fix it is to short the output for a fraction of a second, something a lot of power amplifiers do for the same reason.[/sup][/size]

I just bought a Trace Elliot combo from Kev and he was great through it all - fair price, accurate description, parcelled it up for the carrier and even stayed in 2 days when the courier didn't turn up first time. A top bloke and very trustworthy.......

I forgot to include that I always use these Neutrik plugs :- [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Neutrik-Black-Gold-contacts-NP2X-B-1-4-6-35mm-mono-Jack-plug-/251059976636?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Cables_Leads_Connectors&hash=item3a745739bc"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3a745739bc[/url], the quality is great and the clamping works properly. There are a lot of variations including straight, right angled and the silent guitar end plugs that short the cable when unplugged to stop humming from the amp.

I've been an electronics engineer for 35 years and solder all my own leads with an 18w Antex like this one :- [url="http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/soldering-irons/0542920/"]http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/soldering-irons/0542920/[/url] They are available with silicone mains leads which are more flexible and don't melt through when you catch them with the iron. As an old pro I've been through all kinds of stands, but usually end up laying the iron in an old mug - done me well for years now. As for sponges and the like you can use them but I always have an old scalpel handy that I use to clean the tip off between soldering, gets all the burnt crud off really quickly. The most important things about soldering are to make sure the iron tip is clean and tinned, get it securely in contact with as much of the wire you want to solder as possible and get the solder on as soon as the joint is hot enough to melt it quickly - once it's "blobbed" on don't move it for a couple of seconds till it cools down (blowing helps) - then you will have good joints that will outlive you.

I have an Ibanez BTB400 which had a low output when I got it, I raised the pickups slightly and it made a big difference to the output level.

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1377252793' post='2185276'] OK, impedance output. Interesting .... gets me thinking. The westone bass I did the initial test on has a particularly high output pickup, so therefore high impedance, I guess. Maybe, for passive basses, the higher the impedance output of the pickup, the more they lose signal, and tone, with longer cables ? It's a theory anyway . Anyone with decent electricals knowledge like to comment on that ? [/quote] The problem with passive basses and long cables isn't losing signal due to resistance of the cable but the loss of high frequency signals due to the cable capacitance. The guitar output impedance (typically 250 k) means that when the cable capacitance gets near to 1nF (typical of a lot of 5 metre cables) the RC combination forms a low pass filter with the 3dB roll off at 630 Hz - this is the main cause of the audible difference in sound quality.....in extreme cases the tone control on say a Fender Jazz bass will seem to have no effect. OBBM use Klotz AC110 cable with a capacitance of less than 75pF per metre, this is about as good as I have seen and would mean that a 5 metre cable is still useable on a passive bass. The alternative is to go for an active bass with a low output impedance, but the preamp does add a bit to the sound.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1376852112' post='2179992'] I have one of these on a Hartke XL-4 Bass. Terrible design IMO and I can't see what advantages it offers over the 3D other than the opportunity to spend much longer setting up the string spacing and intonation. [/quote] I agree about it being difficult to setup, especially the intonation adjustment, but I got it at a good price so it's worth the hassle over a new bridge at a much higher price. Once it is setup it can be left alone for the most part.

I bought a Schaller 2000 bridge from a member here a few years back and just transferred it to my MIM jazz bass this afternoon. It is really well made, solid and fully adjustable. The difference in the sound is noticeable - as it was on the bass it was fitted to previously.......I've not seen many of them around but they are definitely worth looking at.