munkonthehill Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 in built Sound gates with no control on parameters (myB5R). I thought my bleadin amp was broke as it kept cuttin out on the O/D channel!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 I think the most useless thing I've had on an amp is a 1 band parametric EQ on a carlsberg cobra 90. What the heck's that all about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 [quote name='Alfie' post='1000613' date='Oct 25 2010, 10:56 PM']+1 1/4" jack outputs (especially when I only pack the speakon cable).[/quote] +1 although i do like those speakons with th jack socket in the middle, handy if you forget your leads and have to borrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceH Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 (edited) Love Thodrik's list, those features add up to pretty much my 'dream' amp of uselessness. Quite like a parametric mid though, but then I prefer passive basses! Oh yes, add in clip lights that come on either too early or too late. Edited October 25, 2010 by LawrenceH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 [quote name='fretmeister' post='1000487' date='Oct 25 2010, 09:04 PM']Valves.[/quote] ooer, trolling are we! Don't get why people bang on about weight so much if your so bothered just spend your money on a nice DI instead of an amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 [quote name='umph' post='1000692' date='Oct 26 2010, 12:26 AM']ooer, trolling are we! Don't get why people bang on about weight so much if your so bothered just spend your money on a nice DI instead of an amp.[/quote] Not in the slightest - efficient, reliable SS circuits can sound however you want them to sound now. Without the maintenance or fragility of valves. You can't wind an SVT4 up to proper valve drive levels in a pub gig, and if you are recording in a modern studio the engineer will (at minimum) be taking a clean DI feed to run it through his favourite software later on. If every venue and rehearsal place in the country had a PA up to the job then I'd be happy with a good DI box and a pedal or 2, and keep a Bass Cube 30 in the house for practice. People moan about software and SS not being able to get anywhere near valve dynamics etc, but as Fractal have proven with the AX-FX Ultra it can be done. If they get round to doing a bass unit then I'm having one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil-osopher10 Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Me?.... Someone must have said it by now? Erm when I first started playing I was given a BB blaster thing, it in itself was useless but it had the 'magic ZAP!!!' button. I've recently hooked it up for the living room so I can be warm whilst practising.... the effect has little to no effect, rendering it useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 As previously mentioned, any sound changing feature (particularly drive and / or EQ stages) that can't be footswitched Ampeg's SVP Pro is guilty as charged on the Drive part! Not a great fan of the Trace Elliot Pre-Shapes either. Hybrid Valve/SS Pre amp stages where the valve isn't run hard enough to make it sound like more than a muffled version of the SS part of the stage (Trace again!) And from a design stand point- [b]4x10 combos[/b].. Why? More weight, less flexibility, often compromised cabinet performance (to keep the weight down) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Hmm, not so sure abt bass amps, but on guitar amps, the volume control. I mean, they all play on full, so why bother with a control that is never used Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 (edited) I'll be using my own amp to ansewer the question: [attachment=62213:front.jpg] The signal path is aranged as shown in the front board from left to right. There is no need for the two inputs, the gain knob must be kept and the leds indicating the optimal gain level are a nice touch but a single one showing peak would sufice. Everything up to the valve drive (just a 12AX7 warmth actualy, no real overdrive) is pointless, the pre of my TRB is all i need for EQ. The valve pre/drive should stay but with an on/off switch. The compressor and noise reduction are out - very bad! - and the fx loop should be kept as it is, it has a switch on the back to select series/paralel fx and a blend knob to control the mix of fx with clean signal when in paralel mode. The back panel shows this better: [attachment=62211:back.jpg] The footswitch should be kept with valve on/off switch, fx on/off, fx series/parallel and mute switches. The signal out and DI are great as they are and the speaker outs should be speakon. That's it! In short, my dream amp should be: Input -> Gain Stage -> Valve Pre -> Fx Loop -> D.I. -> Power Amp/Master Volume -> Output edit: It must have a transparent sound and should be a class-D amp! Cheers edit 2: The valve should be in a acessible place so you can replace it easily for another without taking the hole thing appart! Probably just a smal lid with one or two screws on the chassis to reach it without taking the entire chassis pannel. I'll keep editing as i remenber more Edited October 26, 2010 by Ghost_Bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markstuk Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 I can bridge my APM-1000 (although only into 8 Ohms) But the whole point is that it is two completely seperate power amps (see pic) and meant for bi-amping (although having two power switches is a little unneccesary) [quote name='thodrik' post='1000550' date='Oct 25 2010, 09:57 PM']1000 watt amps that are actually two 500 watt amps that can't be used in mono(Ashdown/Trace Elliot). Still love my Fafner though![/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 [quote name='markstuk' post='1000951' date='Oct 26 2010, 11:36 AM']I can bridge my APM-1000 (although only into 8 Ohms) But the whole point is that it is two completely seperate power amps (see pic) and meant for bi-amping (although having two power switches is a little unneccesary)[/quote] Not quite unecessary! If you're only using one power amp there's no need to waste energy just to keep the other one nice and warm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geddys nose Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Mosfets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 [quote name='fretmeister' post='1000704' date='Oct 26 2010, 01:01 AM']Not in the slightest - efficient, reliable SS circuits can sound however you want them to sound now. Without the maintenance or fragility of valves. You can't wind an SVT4 up to proper valve drive levels in a pub gig, and if you are recording in a modern studio the engineer will (at minimum) be taking a clean DI feed to run it through his favourite software later on. If every venue and rehearsal place in the country had a PA up to the job then I'd be happy with a good DI box and a pedal or 2, and keep a Bass Cube 30 in the house for practice. People moan about software and SS not being able to get anywhere near valve dynamics etc, but as Fractal have proven with the AX-FX Ultra it can be done. If they get round to doing a bass unit then I'm having one.[/quote] valves aren't fragile and don't require any more maintenance than solid state stuff. You couldn't crank a solid state amp to proper power distortion levels either. Valves are a different sound to solid state devices. You can't dismiss them as useless because you personally don't like the sound of them. My most useless feature also has to be one knob compressors, and the octave feature on ashdown amps that didn't track very well at all unless you had dub tones going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solo4652 Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 "Special hidden" amp modulator that you can only get by pressing 2 existing amp modulator buttons (Line 6 Studio 110). Why not just have an extra button?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 PJB D200 - the speaker outputs are too close together to get two of the recommended PJB speaker cables in there side by side... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Any and all amp mounted compressors (or any other fx - didnt SWR go mad for this on one of theirs?) Graphic eqs - they're plop, deal with it! Tone stacks - utterly befuddling illogical eq. SOunds nice, pants to use! More than one input! 1/4" speaker outputs Noisey fans Pointless graphics - just keep it simple and clear, I include dumb fonts in this too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 [b][size=4][quote]Most useless feature on an amp, Add your own favorites and we could design the most useless amp[/quote][/size][/b] I'm still stuck on this... Do you realy want to design an amp everybody will hate??? Or did you confuse [u]useless[/u] with [u]usefull[/u]? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Genz Benz Shuttle shape buttons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomBassmonkey Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 The one issue I've had with GK amps, why are the FX loop and tuner ins and outs on the front? For the artist range, apart from the 2001RB-II. The VU meter on Ashdowns, it doesn't actually do anything useful. In fact anything to do with Ashdowns, never heard one I like. Parametric EQ. I'm a firm believer in that if you don't like the sound of the amp flat, you should find a new amp. EQ can be useful for minor tweaks, but parametric is just an excuse for every bassist that's clueless to make a smiley face and pretend they know what they're doing. Excess lights, it just makes it harder to see at a glance what your settings are in a dark environment. I sometimes use my DTR-100 on "strobe" mode for the flashyness if I'm messing about, but I can still see my amp clearly. Amp modelling. I can see the point or guitar (kinda, I still don't like it and don't think it's justifyable unless you're playing lots of different styles of music) but on bass, a good amp should be able to do everything from bassy dub sounds to tinny korn-a-like. On-board FX that don't have the full range of peramiters or a footswitch. As people have said in this thread already, a compression is no use if you can only set the ratio. Same goes for other FX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipperydick Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 [quote name='bassically_speaking' post='1000371' date='Oct 25 2010, 07:41 PM']Any feature from a stagg amp[/quote] Have to agree, used one in a rehearsal room last weekend. Is it actually possible to get useable sound from one ?? Dunno what any of the knobs were meant to do as the transfer had rubbed of all of em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Protium Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Any thing wot [s]Toys R Us[/s] MarkBass make Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 [quote name='Protium' post='1001162' date='Oct 26 2010, 02:36 PM']Any thing wot [s]Toys R Us[/s] MarkBass make[/quote] Is this because you don't like the yellow, don't like the brand, just having a dig back at those whom dissed Ashdown & the VU meter or is there something in particular that you find useless about their amps? So far the only thing I've found useless on it is the XLR in. I've found use for every other function on it. Oh, another thing I found useless on the cobra 90 was the "compressor" button. It did sod all! I tried my hardest to hear any difference & got other folk to see if they could, but nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Octaver on Peavey Tour. Power ratings that just don't seem to translate to loudness / headroom - I know it is about cabinets as well - but some amps do the business better irrespective of the alleged numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolverinebass Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 [quote name='51m0n' post='1001013' date='Oct 26 2010, 12:35 PM']Any and all amp mounted compressors (or any other fx - didnt SWR go mad for this on one of theirs?) Graphic eqs - they're plop, deal with it! Tone stacks - utterly befuddling illogical eq. SOunds nice, pants to use! More than one input! 1/4" speaker outputs Noisey fans Pointless graphics - just keep it simple and clear, I include dumb fonts in this too![/quote] Oh No!! That's every single feature of my Hartke!! Nightmare!! On a serious level, I'd go for the useless feature of sub octave in Ashdowns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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