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The HandBox Amplification thread


wateroftyne

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40 minutes ago, RichValentine said:

Mine has also arrived and it is outstanding! 

Surprised how versatile the EQ is with so few knobs (apart from one operating it!). 

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To be honest, the one thing I struggled with my R400 was the EQ section. I eventually managed to find a sound that worked for me after reading something posted in this thread, but I find the three knob option a bit counter-intuitive (especially after using an amp with a semi-parametric Q for many years).  

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18 minutes ago, peteb said:

To be honest, the one thing I struggled with my R400 was the EQ section. I eventually managed to find a sound that worked for me after reading something posted in this thread, but I find the three knob option a bit counter-intuitive (especially after using an amp with a semi-parametric Q for many years).  

Thats fair enough. I'm not much of an EQ tweaker at the best of times so between the bright switch, contour knob and the tone knob on my basses there aren't really many other sounds I need. 

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This amp is so flat sounding that actually you don't need tweak nothing at all. I have the same amp and just set everything flat and turn off every switches and contour off and it sounds great. I use only my onboard eq on bass sometimes. I think that those switches and contour are not necessary at all. Or it would be better to make some contour but with choosing frequency to cut. That would be even more usefull than just cut @1k only by contour knob. But you can always give a feedback to Leszek and maybe he improve his amp to suits better for us? 

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8 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

I love it ‘cos it’s flat. My bass sounds like my bass.

 

7 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

I love it ‘cos it’s flat. My bass sounds like my bass.

Yes indeed! I always don't like to tweak any knobs, eq's, compressors and all that stuff and now I can leave it aloneeverything in the middle and sounds great. Need some bass? I boost bass or cut some highs. Need some highs? just cut some bass or add treble. If you still don't have enough mids in your sound then it's probably is sth with your bass. But you can just cut some bass and treble and have more mids. But it happens so rarely that I can't remember when I must tweak sth in my R400 during gig or rehearsal! 

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2 hours ago, jb90 said:

This amp is so flat sounding that actually you don't need tweak nothing at all. I have the same amp and just set everything flat and turn off every switches and contour off and it sounds great. I use only my onboard eq on bass sometimes. I think that those switches and contour are not necessary at all. Or it would be better to make some contour but with choosing frequency to cut. That would be even more usefull than just cut @1k only by contour knob. But you can always give a feedback to Leszek and maybe he improve his amp to suits better for us? 

This all depends if you like the sound of the amp completely flat! I got the R400 to replace a Mesa Subway D800, which had a really nice sound but lacked something (heft or whatever you want to call it). The Handbox has that in spades, but I struggled to use the EQ to find a usable tone at first. Now, the beauty of Leszek’s design is that (for me) 1k is just about the right frequency to cut on the contour, but the three knob EQ section isn’t necessarily that intuitive to use.

I think that you have to look at the reasons why people are buying Handbox amps. I didn’t need an amp to be ridiculously light like the Subway, which used to bounce off the cab mid-gig, but I wanted an amp that was an easy one hand lift that had a lot more ‘heft’ / transient response than a Class D amp. For me, the compromise is that the EQ section is relatively limited in order to keep it in such a compact package. 

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1 hour ago, wateroftyne said:

Leszek is doing a bit of market research at the moment, asking people on a Polish forum which of these designs they prefer for the WB-100. It's pretty clear-cut for me...

 

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I like the all black, the flight case is too generic for me. 

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All black.  I love the case. Getting the front section back on can be a little fiddly sometimes, but I like the surface coating and styling.

Things I would change on the WB-100? Not much tbh. I would love an aux input to join in at the power stage for home practice, but I have a class D that I use for that. Perhaps a tuner out, but I personally always have my pedal board with me.

And I would consider making the pre more standard.  I am used to it now, and rarely change it, but it is so very different to the pres on my other three amps.

Oh, I'd call it the WB-120 to match the power stage, as I think there is going to be a WB-180 later?

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I always think plain all black is better. A flightcase with shiny aluminium edges doesnt camoflaugue itself so well in cars and transport and can signal something expensive to thieving scumbags out there. An all black case just blends in nicely especially in the dark.

I do love the idea of the amp case being permanently on and just having the rear and front panels removable like a rack case. Makes perfect sense and saves time and money.

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I joined the club yesterday with the acquisition of an R-400. I had high expectations prior to it’s arrival and I’m not disappointed. I’ve only messed around at bedroom volume but the tone is fantastic straight out the box, I’m not really a fanatic knob twiddler however this seems to go from ‘clean & fat’ to ‘fat & dirty’ in a seamless way that is very musical and pleasing IMO.

Cant wait to crank this up, hopefully in the next few months.

Thanks to all those who have contributed in this thread as it really helped me decide to take the punt on this. Additionally, great customer service from Leszek and the packaging was bomb-proof.

AB3C617E-59B5-44AC-9FEC-F66614C4A258.jpeg

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6 hours ago, woolf said:

I joined the club yesterday with the acquisition of an R-400. I had high expectations prior to it’s arrival and I’m not disappointed. I’ve only messed around at bedroom volume but the tone is fantastic straight out the box, I’m not really a fanatic knob twiddler however this seems to go from ‘clean & fat’ to ‘fat & dirty’ in a seamless way that is very musical and pleasing IMO.

Cant wait to crank this up, hopefully in the next few months.

Thanks to all those who have contributed in this thread as it really helped me decide to take the punt on this. Additionally, great customer service from Leszek and the packaging was bomb-proof.

AB3C617E-59B5-44AC-9FEC-F66614C4A258.jpeg

That’s HAWT.

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On 02/06/2020 at 16:36, wateroftyne said:

Leszek is doing a bit of market research at the moment, asking people on a Polish forum which of these designs they prefer for the WB-100. It's pretty clear-cut for me...

 

101688348_3382237958453676_4507236764590538752_o.jpg

Bleck, there is only bleck

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So... after researching (thanks @wateroftyne for the very helpful vids), listening and following this thread I feel like the WB 100 is my perfect amp. I’m guessing I’ve got more chance of being struck by lightening than finding a used one? If so I may be sending the email in the not too distant future! 

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Just to confirm what was mentioned earlier in this thread, Sims Guitars are now a UK distributor for Handbox amps. I contacted them back in March and they confirmed this. At that time inc vat prices were as below plus £15 for uk shipping:

R-400 £678.00
WB-100 All Tube Head  £948.00
 
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1 hour ago, joeabass said:

So... after researching (thanks @wateroftyne for the very helpful vids), listening and following this thread I feel like the WB 100 is my perfect amp. I’m guessing I’ve got more chance of being struck by lightening than finding a used one? If so I may be sending the email in the not too distant future! 

I think there’s been one for sale on here, but it didn’t last long...!

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