Most useless feature on an amp

[Count Bassie]

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' post='1016446' date='Nov 8 2010, 10:07 AM']I think is better not to have more cables than you need fighting to wrap themselves around your legs... back pannel wiring is the way for me!
When you plug your cables you're not playing and you don't need to have your amp all the way against the back wall! just pull it a bit to front, plug all your cables with the greatest of ease and push it back to it's place!
If you're flightcasing then ask for a back door on the case when building with the necessary size and location to alow you to get to every socket without effort![/quote]

Sure, ruin a perfectly good gripe session...

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='icastle' post='1016383' date='Nov 8 2010, 02:19 PM']My amp is flightcased along with a couple of rack mounted sound processors.
By the time you have all the internal cabling for those, plus a bundle of mains leads plus a pair of speakons coming out of the back, getting to the DI socket is a royal pain.
It's also about 7" from the back of the flightcase to the back of the amp as well.
I have an old Hartke HA3000 which actually has the XLR on the front of the unit and I found that sooooo much easier to use.[/quote]


I see what you mean now. I have 3 DIs on the back of my amp confusing? You bet.

Edited November 8, 2010 by waynepunkdude

[LiamPodmore]

[quote name='icastle' post='1016383' date='Nov 8 2010, 02:19 PM']My amp is flightcased along with a couple of rack mounted sound processors.
By the time you have all the internal cabling for those, plus a bundle of mains leads plus a pair of speakons coming out of the back, getting to the DI socket is a royal pain.
It's also about 7" from the back of the flightcase to the back of the amp as well.
I have an old Hartke HA3000 which actually has the XLR on the front of the unit and I found that sooooo much easier to use.[/quote]

I've seen some people get around this by getting a short (1ft) XLR Extension and leaving it permanently plugged in, and taping the other end to the case, so its easier to access it to plug into. Might be an idea for you to try.

Liam

[icastle]

[quote name='LiamPodmore' post='1016724' date='Nov 8 2010, 06:54 PM']I've seen some people get around this by getting a short (1ft) XLR Extension and leaving it permanently plugged in, and taping the other end to the case, so its easier to access it to plug into. Might be an idea for you to try.

Liam[/quote]

LMAO - get out of my damn head Liam!
I'm sat here halfway through making one now!

[Count Bassie]

[quote name='icastle' post='1016739' date='Nov 8 2010, 02:01 PM']LMAO - get out of my damn head Liam!
I'm sat here halfway through making one now! [/quote]

Hey, you know what you could do is...

[dave_bass5]

I guess the rear sockets are useful if your using rack gear that also has rear sockets. It keeps it all neat on the front.
Personally i would prefer it all around the back so the leads dont block quick access to the knobs on the fornt.

Hmmm...That all sounds a bit pervy.

[icastle]

[quote name='Count Bassie' post='1016742' date='Nov 8 2010, 07:02 PM']Hey, you know what you could do is... [/quote]

Aaaargh!
That's it - I'm gonna go wrap my head in aluminium foil...

[icastle]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1016753' date='Nov 8 2010, 07:07 PM']I guess the rear sockets are useful if your using rack gear that also has rear sockets. It keeps it all neat on the front.
Personally i would prefer it all around the back so the leads dont block quick access to the knobs on the fornt.

Hmmm...That all sounds a bit pervy.[/quote]

'Course it sounds pervy - you're a bass player

Don't get me wrong - sockets round the back are just fine for stuff that rarely gets used, it's just that my DI socket gets used all the while and would be easier if it was on the front.
I guess the nearest analogy would be having the input sockets round the back - it would work but be bl**dy inconvenient...

[LiamPodmore]

[quote name='icastle' post='1016739' date='Nov 8 2010, 07:01 PM']LMAO - get out of my damn head Liam!
I'm sat here halfway through making one now! [/quote]

Hey, this'l save you alot of time and effort in the future. Just make sure you use plenty of the musicians best friend. Good 'Ole Duct Tape.

Liam

[3below]

[quote]I have to agree - I like my Tour 450 head but the sub octave on it is never used. It also does not seem to be particularly loud for a 450, when I hear these threads about people playing in loud rock bands and never needing to turn their 300W amps up beyond half, I'm normally well up to 75% on the tour 450 with a hartke 4 x 10 and a 1 x 15 cab attached.[/quote]

Yes it was my Tour 700 I was alluding to - great tone with Barefaced Big One, I love it (Firebass 700 also delivers this). It is just insufficiently loud. I use the Tour 700 at full master and 50 ~ 75% preamp. I am up against a Peavey 20W valve combo and a Fender 40W valve combo! (The drummer can be a little powerful). My Marshall VBA400 and Soundcity 120 just leave Tour 700 trailing in the wake. However the Tour 700 tone is the business with my G&L. I want that tone but louder and then some.

Useless amp features -

Knobs that you can not see where they are quickly or on a dim / dark stage - chickenheads are the way to go.

Knobs that project outside the cab / case edges - just looking for something to impact with and cause expensive damage.

Numbers that have no relation to power - the Terminator 4500 which is a 45W peak power amp i.e. 22 W rms or so.

[4 Strings]

[quote name='tino' post='1000222' date='Oct 25 2010, 04:22 PM']Standby switches....................whats them all about????? [/quote]

As you probably know, these are on valve amps. I always thought to keep the valve heater on without the rest of it operating to prolong its life. I had a look to find out really why and found this:

[i][/i]"The standby switch usually allows the HT to be turned off while the heater and bias supplies are always on."[i][/i]

Ok so far...

[i][/i]"If you're wondering why all those old amps use a standby switch, its because Fender was designing complicated amps on the cheap. In the bigger versions of the Bassman, money was saved by using power supply caps that were rated only for the working voltage, not the peak voltage which occurred before that valves start drawing current. As everyone knows, Marshall simply copied the Bassman without a second thought, complete with standby switch, so now we have the two biggest names in the industry using standby switches, and the rest is history. The other big players, Vox and Gibson, never used standby switches since they didn't need them. Only very recently have they started adding them, purely because too many guitarists want their amp to look just like a Fender/Marshall, even though nowadays no designer (who values his reputation) uses underrated capacitors. But the average amp tech doesn't know this." [i][/i]

How about that (assuming its true) So, maybe you're right but for reasons way beyond my previous knowledge

(Found it here: [url="http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard1/standby.html)"]http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard1/standby.html)[/url]

Edited November 9, 2010 by 4 Strings

[bumnote]

[quote name='4 Strings' post='1017186' date='Nov 9 2010, 09:13 AM']As you probably know, these are on valve amps. I always thought to keep the valve heater on without the rest of it operating to prolong its life. I had a look to find out really why and found this:

[i][/i]"The standby switch usually allows the HT to be turned off while the heater and bias supplies are always on."[i][/i]

Ok so far...

[i][/i]"If you're wondering why all those old amps use a standby switch, its because Fender was designing complicated amps on the cheap. In the bigger versions of the Bassman, money was saved by using power supply caps that were rated only for the working voltage, not the peak voltage which occurred before that valves start drawing current. As everyone knows, Marshall simply copied the Bassman without a second thought, complete with standby switch, so now we have the two biggest names in the industry using standby switches, and the rest is history. The other big players, Vox and Gibson, never used standby switches since they didn't need them. Only very recently have they started adding them, purely because too many guitarists want their amp to look just like a Fender/Marshall, even though nowadays no designer (who values his reputation) uses underrated capacitors. But the average amp tech doesn't know this." [i][/i]

How about that (assuming its true) So, maybe you're right but for reasons way beyond my previous knowledge

(Found it here: [url="http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard1/standby.html)"]http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard1/standby.html)[/url][/quote]


Well Im blowed

[Alec]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1016753' date='Nov 8 2010, 08:07 PM']I guess the rear sockets are useful if your using rack gear that also has rear sockets. It keeps it all neat on the front.
Personally i would prefer it all around the back so the leads dont block quick access to the knobs on the fornt.[/quote]

There are arguments for front (easy to get to when racked), and for rear (tidiness, especially when racked).

In my view the ideal solution is to replicate these sockets front and rear. On my old Trace AH-1210 I added a second input socket to the rear of the amp. A pretty easy mod as there was already a blanked off hole for a jack socket on the rear panel, so it was simply a matter of soldering in some shielded cable and a socket. That way there's the immediacy of just plugging into the front. Or, if using the wireless kit, connecting it to the rear, much more neatly.

[dincz]

[quote name='4 Strings' post='1017186' date='Nov 9 2010, 10:13 AM']"If you're wondering why all those old amps use a standby switch, its because Fender was designing complicated amps on the cheap.[/quote]

No. It's standard practice in medium and high power valve equipment (audio amps, radio transmitters etc) to allow valves to heat up before switching on the high tension. If they aren't given time to warm up, the valves' cathodes can be damaged, severely shortening their life.

[Mr. Foxen]

Had a long dscussion with a vintage TV/transmitter enthusiast and amp designer (modernhifi stuff) guy today. With valve rectifiers, the rectifiers took longer to warm up than the other valves, so the HT didn't start until they were ready. Solid state rectification made it sort of necessary, as the simplest way of achieving the effect. Some amps need no standby because the HT is delayed inside, by a relay or something. My big Matamp slave from the 70s has no standby, would guess it is switched like that, because not really their style, not doing things as well as they can be. Current Matamps and Ashdown (both Dave Green designed) have a mute in place of an actual standby, I think because you only get anode (or cathode?) stripping from wanging signal through a cold valve (amps own hiss might count), plus it is a useful feature to have a warm but silent valve amp.

[umph]

[quote name='dincz' post='1017921' date='Nov 9 2010, 06:24 PM']No. It's standard practice in medium and high power valve equipment (audio amps, radio transmitters etc) to allow valves to heat up before switching on the high tension. If they aren't given time to warm up, the valves' cathodes can be damaged, severely shortening their life.[/quote]

that just doesn't happen in the kind've valves you using in guitar amps. It's a must must for the big transmitter valves where the cathode is directly coupled to the heater etc.