Janky-A Rigs of Doom

[Astreaux]

Originally Posted by Megas3300

I must say I am now inspired to buy up every cheap amp/cab I come across and piece me together a big ugly wall of sound and thunder.

+1

[Steve Dallman]

I have no pics, but in the 70's, I ran an SVT head, into a huge Carvin 2X15 folded horn cabinet, and a West 2X15 that was made of 1" thick particle board and had two EV SRO coffee can 15's. I sometimes ran a Carvin/EV PA re-entrant horn on top.

In the 80's, I modded a Peavey Mark III to have two extra high end sliders on the graphic EQ. I added a line in with a presence control.

I modded my blackface Bassman and added a mid shift, treble shift, a couple boosts, and a preamp out, power amp in, tube buffered.

I ran my bass into the Bassman preamp. From there I went to the Aux in on the Peavey. I used the crossover and ran the hi out to the Bassman power amp, and the lo out to the 300 watt PV power amp.

For lows, I used a couple PVFV-1 horns. For the highs (crossed around 300-500Hz) I ran two Fender 4X8" PA columns. I also used a bank of piezo tweeters.

I had a glorious tone. Bass players complimented me at every gig. My bass was a headless Explorer bass I built with a Dimarzio P and J pickup, reversed from the "normal" arrangement (why put the louder pickup at the neck position?) and a Shadow piezo bridge. I also had a Dyna Comp compressor built into the bass, along with active, inductor based treble and mid boost and cut.

I often used an old yellow Ibanez Flanger on the high end, to add some more movement. It was subtle.

Tube preamp, SS low end power amp, tube power amp for the mids/highs. I had THE rig. My Bassman had 14 knobs and switches.

I never went into the PA.

[Jazz_bass2664]

Originally Posted by Adam Bomb

Was the combo the preamp? Or was the stack not quite loud enough without that little extra oomph?

Nedd moar tech specs pls!

--Bomb

The 25 watt fender frontman acted as the preamp/overdrive circut. From there the signal went out into the ancient peavy PA console and into the 2 PA cabs, then the monitor outs went into the fender bassman and into the bottom 4x10 cab. I ended up selling everything in this rig and buying a non janky rig, a gk 700rbii and a 1x15 cabinet. This marked the end of the janky era for me. One of my friends does own the 4x10 and has since painted the baffle white and the grill red. He runs that with a B52 tube guitar amp for surprisingly good but janky looking tone!

[Jazz_bass2664]

Oh and just like McSleazy, I to am Scottish even though I live in CA

[chrispunx]

so what is a janky rig? looks like a buch of mix and match amps and cabs...

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Originally Posted by chrispunx

so what is a janky rig? looks like a buch of mix and match amps and cabs...

As defined in Post No. 1 (often a very good place to look for the definition...):

Originally Posted by S.Harrison

... Show me your mis-matched, ugly, inexpensive or oddball rigs, combos etc. ...

Edit: The Urban Dictionary defines Janky as "...held in low social regard; old and delapidated; refers almost exclusively to inanimate material objects, not to people' .

[guymanndude1]

Here's mine, Peavey VB2 and a SVT 810E. The head was a return that Musicians Friend had on a blow out price, and I traded even on the cab for a Japanese made Steve Harris Precision bass.

[bobm2112]

My rig is very simple and easy to fit in a normal car.

[craig.p]

Originally Posted by subbasshz

this horn just crushes.

I believe it. Look at the depth and the flare rate on that thing. Beauteous.

[zachoff]

This was my backup for a few years... Still have the cab. My backup head is now a Micro-VR.

$120 for the head, empty cab was free (Traynor), $100 for the pair of EV Force 15s.

[Downunderwonder]

McSleazy has nothing on this guy post #127, pg 7

Originally Posted by Luv2Pla4U

To everyone that has posted, I have to give credit for your attempts... now hold on tight, 'cause I'm about to take you Jankytown! Aside from the basses I play (Squier, Alvarez, Yamaha) and my SansAmp, I have absolutely NO bass-specific gear. Does that stop me from making my living on the road & in the studio? Abso-freakin'-lutely NOT!

For my larger gigs, I have put 2 15's from an AKAI home stereo ($25.00 from a yard sale) into a ratfur-covered truck speakerbox ($58.00 from eBay). The signal from my SansAmp goes through a Behringer signal processor ($20.00 at a flea market) into a Pyramid power amp, liberally rated at about 200 watts or so ($50.00 at the same flea market). The only *professional* piece of gear in this ensemble is the rack case ($79.00 from the 'Bay).

For my smaller gigs I got even more creative. I went strictly automotive and cannibalized the monoblock power amp & 12" subwoofer from my son's car after a DUI driver blindsided him (thankfully, he came out okay). Inside the speakerbox is a power supply that converts 110 AC to 12V/15Amps DC. I also use this as my monitor when I am at a really large-scale gig and go through the house PA.

Those skeptics out there are allowed to ask "Does this crap really get the job done?"
My answer is that it has served me well for the last 4 years, and I have no intention of upgrading!

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Originally Posted by zachoff

This was my backup for a few years... Still have the cab. My backup head is now a Micro-VR.

$120 for the head, empty cab was free (Traynor), $100 for the pair of EV Force 15s.

That is Janky with a capital J!!! An Earth clone of a Peavey amp...love it!!!

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Originally Posted by guymanndude1

... and I traded even on the cab for a Japanese made Steve Harris Precision bass.

Ouch...

[Geroi Asfalta]

My rig a year ago was the most ghetto piece of music equipment most of my friends had ever seen, I wish I had some pictures of it.

I had the heads ripped out of a Rumble (whichever one comes with squier packs) and out of a Fender Sidekick 10 guitar amp. Hooked each of them into a mid 90's sony Stereo all plugged into two 12 inch Tandy/ Radio Shack speakers form the 70s. It was an ugly piece of crap but it made me audible in a loud punk band.

[kbakerde]

Here is my Janky rig behind my Franken-P.

Janky rig is a total 350w 2 x 15" rig consisting of a TC Electronic BG250, 250W 15" Combo, connected to my Ashdown Five-Fifteen 100W 15" combo. The BG250 XLR out is connected to my cheap passive DI box, and into the input of the Ashdown.

The bass is an Eden body I got on ebay for $50, Mighty Mite neck, and a Fender 62 Original P Bass pickup.

[shaginwagin]

Man, I love me some janky rigs!

Although I do see a couple rigs that are merely mix-and-match, the true janky rigs are what I really enjoy.

More please!

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Originally Posted by shaginwagin

Man, I love me some janky rigs!

Although I do see a couple rigs that are merely mix-and-match, the true janky rigs are what I really enjoy.

More please!

I love 'em too, maybe that's why I love MusicGoRound stores so much!

Anyway, I enjoyed seeing Zachoff's Janky rig so much that I think we deserve to have a larger version of the photo:



Beyond the total Jankiness of an Earth brand Peavey clone, the mismatched domes on the EVs are like icing on the cake!

[zachoff]

haha, I'm honored...

[shaginwagin]

Ahhh subtle janky-ness, good call!

[christw]

Loving the rigs guys. +1 for the Music Go Round love. It's a great place to assemble the jank of legends.

I've got a new jank rig to share when I get a photo. I'm running my VT-22's head through my SVT loaded Marshall 410 in a friends basement for jams. It's not pretty or practical but it has the voice (qnd weight) of an Ampeg stack of olde.