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Janky-A Rigs of Doom

Vox amps look cool but haven't heard a bass amp that would cut it live. Played in a Beatle tribute, Vox and Hofner required. Got used to the 500. Vox cloth and badges on my Sunn cabs and a fake plywood Vox head, a chromed "stand" made from electrician's conduit straddling the bass cabs. Actual bass amp rack hidden with the PA gear. The Vox guitar amps (Thomas built Royal Guardsman) sounded good for the material.

I use my Vox parts amps live often. They work fine for small to mid-sized venues. I am using one at an outdoor gig in my profile pic.
 
Wish I still had a pic: two JBL double PA scoops with 2225s, on their sides with the four 15s in a column, two open back 12s on top, biamped. (500 pounds of gear and yes, had roadies, ramps and Ryder) Twice Billy Sheehan's rig but 1/8 the skill... Playing metal at insane levels, great at the time, now regret it with the tinnitus and hearing loss.
Was this you then...

elp1974caljam (1).jpg


:)
 

I saw the photo and wondered, "Emerson, Lake & Palmer?" Then I right clicked on the image and indeed ELP is in the image name.

I sure hope that they had good monitors. I played a show this summer where I was looking at nearly everyone's backs. With no guitars in the monitors (sound guy's preference and me being too naive to realize what a problem that was going to be), it was a challenge to put it lightly!
 
Wow, there was so much silt and sediment on top of this thread that I had to do an archaeological excavation.

So, you want janky-ass? I got it right here…
IMG_9731.jpeg

The mid horn blew out on this(not a bad PA cab, something of a sleeper in its time), and considering that it has a 15" depth and could withstand a full frequency range assault, I paired it with the most wonky head I've aquired, essentially a four channel Fender Showman with four 6L6 power tubes and a host of 12ax7. The cab more or less a standard 15"+ tweeter configuration now, after plugging up the mid hole with foam(it doesn't get more hillbilly than that). Although the Earth(basically a Plush)is theoretically a PA head, the bass response is there, plus the addition of those crude EQ controls. Works great. It may be only 100 watts, but so what…people have done more with less than that.
 
Wow, there was so much silt and sediment on top of this thread that I had to do an archaeological excavation.

So, you want janky-ass? I got it right here…
View attachment 5469312
The mid horn blew out on this(not a bad PA cab, something of a sleeper in its time), and considering that it has a 15" depth and could withstand a full frequency range assault, I paired it with the most wonky head I've aquired, essentially a four channel Fender Showman with four 6L6 power tubes and a host of 12ax7. The cab more or less a standard 15"+ tweeter configuration now, after plugging up the mid hole with foam(it doesn't get more hillbilly than that). Although the Earth(basically a Plush)is theoretically a PA head, the bass response is there, plus the addition of those crude EQ controls. Works great. It may be only 100 watts, but so what…people have done more with less than that.
Good job! Using a PA as a head, with a mis-matched finish from the cab (which is in a slight state of disrepair) I think you covered jank pretty well! The sparkle covering is the polish on the turd - bravo! :thumbsup:
 
Wow, there was so much silt and sediment on top of this thread that I had to do an archaeological excavation.

So, you want janky-ass? I got it right here…
View attachment 5469312
The mid horn blew out on this(not a bad PA cab, something of a sleeper in its time), and considering that it has a 15" depth and could withstand a full frequency range assault, I paired it with the most wonky head I've aquired, essentially a four channel Fender Showman with four 6L6 power tubes and a host of 12ax7. The cab more or less a standard 15"+ tweeter configuration now, after plugging up the mid hole with foam(it doesn't get more hillbilly than that). Although the Earth(basically a Plush)is theoretically a PA head, the bass response is there, plus the addition of those crude EQ controls. Works great. It may be only 100 watts, but so what…people have done more with less than that.
Quality Jank!

IMG_4210.gif


:)
 
Good job! Using a PA as a head, with a mis-matched finish from the cab (which is in a slight state of disrepair) I think you covered jank pretty well! The sparkle covering is the polish on the turd - bravo! :thumbsup:
Well, you know, those Earth/Plush heads were, if built on a Wednesday and if the parts bins were properly stocked, diamonds in the rough (sometimes very rough, though). They did a respectable job. Yes, the electonic design was purloined from Fender, primarily the Showman, so if you would ever want to glom on to one of those from the late 60's/early 70's, the E/P's would be a cheaper alternative. Plus, you get the Kustom style razzle dazzle, but I've always liked their tuck'n'roll patterns better, a little different.
Earth, which suceeded Plush, also did some wonky cosmetic imitations of Sunn, Peavey, and Fender tweeds before mysteriously disappearing in the middle of the night.
 
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Wow, there was so much silt and sediment on top of this thread that I had to do an archaeological excavation.

So, you want janky-ass? I got it right here…
View attachment 5469312
The mid horn blew out on this(not a bad PA cab, something of a sleeper in its time), and considering that it has a 15" depth and could withstand a full frequency range assault, I paired it with the most wonky head I've aquired, essentially a four channel Fender Showman with four 6L6 power tubes and a host of 12ax7. The cab more or less a standard 15"+ tweeter configuration now, after plugging up the mid hole with foam(it doesn't get more hillbilly than that). Although the Earth(basically a Plush)is theoretically a PA head, the bass response is there, plus the addition of those crude EQ controls. Works great. It may be only 100 watts, but so what…people have done more with less than that.
Would you describe the tone as more fluffy or more poofy?
 
I also have to give props to those TOA's…they took a licking and kept on ticking. I used a pair of those, along with a pair of folded horn 15" subs plus a TOA pair with 12" and smaller horn/tweeter as sidefills, CV wedges, for PA in a 300 capacity room for the likes of L7, Babes In Toyland, Blake Babies(with Julianna Hatfield playing bass), The Cows, The Dwarves, and Thin White Rope.
 
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So, you want janky-ass? I got it right here…
img_9731-jpeg.5469312
Ya got that fancy dark foam. :bored:

Go to Walmart or Home Depot and get one of them foam pads that are kind of a light yellow color and cut it with kids safety scissors to close off that horn hole.
Or hopefully you have some that is already at your house that is thirty plus years old with that nice Patina. :cool:
 
Wow, there was so much silt and sediment on top of this thread that I had to do an archaeological excavation.

So, you want janky-ass? I got it right here…
View attachment 5469312
The mid horn blew out on this(not a bad PA cab, something of a sleeper in its time), and considering that it has a 15" depth and could withstand a full frequency range assault, I paired it with the most wonky head I've aquired, essentially a four channel Fender Showman with four 6L6 power tubes and a host of 12ax7. The cab more or less a standard 15"+ tweeter configuration now, after plugging up the mid hole with foam(it doesn't get more hillbilly than that). Although the Earth(basically a Plush)is theoretically a PA head, the bass response is there, plus the addition of those crude EQ controls. Works great. It may be only 100 watts, but so what…people have done more with less than that.


I had this cab! It sounded great with bass. I used a SS Marshall 200w per side two channel power amp and a Dean Markley preamp and it sounded huge.
 
I have to search! This was back in 1987!
To be fair, I don't think I ever got a shot of my jankiest rig, which I rocked back around the turn of the millennium. Digital photography did exist but I had yet to abandon film.

DOD Meat Box > Acoustic 300 power amp with one giant knob that went to 20 > fairly swanky Ampeg 4x10 > absolutely thrashed Peavey 1x18, with no tolex/bedliner or casters on the bottom, and no badge or aluminum strips on the front, but a lot of art done in puff paint by a stoner bandmate (I have posted shots of the Acoustic here and elsewhere)

When I replaced the Meat Box with a Demeter tube preamp, that rig sounded incredible, but still looked pretty janky as I just set the rack-mount-able pre on top of the acoustic on top of everything else, like jank-inclined people did with generations of televisions in the late twentieth century.