• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Need Advice - Got To Repo My Amp

LevinFan

LevinFan

Aug 4, 2008
255
0
Louisville Ky
#1
Here is my predicament. I'm going to pick up my combo amp tomorrow. The tech has had it long enough to do what I wanted done, and has. But now he's worried about things I'm not worried about.

One of the casters rattles because it's not bearing enough weight. It's old and worn. The springs in the reverb tank rattle. I told him it's not a concern because I'm not going to run the internal speaker anyway. I'm going to remove it, the casters, and run an extension cab straight off the power amp out. That will give me a lighter amp to lug around, and will allow more heat dispensation. Down the road, I'm going to replace the internal speaker and take care of the rattle issue myself. I've made that clear, but he doesn't get it.

So I'm going to get it.(no pun) He's got it healthy, and told me it sounds great. He's a great guy and very friendly, but hard to communicate with. He means well, and wants to give me back a gig ready amp, but it is gig ready now. He seems like a guy who takes pride in servicing vintage amps, and I understand and admire that.

But the amp is road worn, and has been gigged with a lot. What I wanted done is done. It's time to get it back.

So how do I go about this ? Just call him and tell him I need my amp today and I'm on my way ? I don't want to offend him, but I'll have my amp today, either way.
 
#4
rbonner said:
go get it.
Click to expand...

bobTHEbasser said:
I cant see him having an issue with you if you explain it just like that.
Click to expand...

Yea, I'm going to get, no doubt.

I'm not mad at him about it, and actually, I have another amp I'm taking with me to let him fix. I'm going to see what the bill is for the first one though :D I figure he spent 2 hours max on it. He cleaned up some sloppy wiring and solder from a previous job, replaced one resistor, and put a used 6U10 tube in it. A month is a long time to do just that, and he said he only had one amp ahead of mine when I dropped it off.
 
#5
Got it back, and no problem. Worked out better than I thought. It sounds better than when I took it to him, and the best part is he loves pizza :D He knows I run pizzas, and I work a mile from his house. He told me to bring him 35 bucks and a pizza, and we'd be even. (he didn't ask for an up front deposit when I dropped it off)

It's gig ready and it's a Marshall combo killer :bassist: I won't know how it works as a bass amp until I get a more suitable cab. My Avatar 210 neo wants more power I think, So I'm going to haul it to a local shop and hear it through a lower wattage bass cab. If it doesn't work out, I've still got a friggin awesome vintage guitar amp. And with 3 channels to play with !
 
#7
JimmyM said:
This is the Sano? If so, NICE!!! And what did you do for speakers?
Click to expand...

No 8's to put back in it yet. Until I find some, I'm just going to cover the holes inside the cab.

Lot's of options. Not sure yet how it's going to sound through a lower wattage bass cab, but for guitar, I'd love to have one of these w/black grill cloth if I can add white piping. It would match the Sano cab. :bassist:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Even the new Lopo logo looks sweet, and is similar to the Sano logo sort of.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I'd put one of these in it, and may even pull the 15 and fit one in the Sano cab.
http://www.eminence.com/guitar_speaker_detail.asp?model=TONKERLITE16&speaker_size=12&SUB_CAT_ID=4

I'm hauling it down to a shop on the way to work today and try a couple of 115 bass cabs, sans the internal 15.

It's scary how good it sounds with the missing 8's. It's really a screwed up deal. An open back and an open side combination ? Crazy, and probably not the optimal choice for a cab configuration. I may seal the holes where the 8's were tonight. That would make more sense and give me a better idea how it will sound with an extension guitar cab and the internal 15 together. It sounds great now, and by sealing off the side of the Sano cab and running an extesion cab, it can only get better.

I'm going to jam with some guys Sunday, and I'll take it along and record some demo clips in the guitarist's studio.

I've heard some awesome amps down at a local shop, boutique, vintage Fenders, Ampegs, Vox, Marshall, Mesa, etc. Sure, I'd love to have one of them, but this thing friggin smokes and will hang right there with them.

Oh, and the issue I had not getting the tremolo and reverb on the guitar and instrument channels turns out due the the amp designed not to utilize the fx on those channels. I guess they figured the guitarist could just plug into the stereophonic channel if he/she wants them. The tech said he could mod it to do so, but I said no. It may turn out to be a blessing. As soon as I figure out how to use this Barber Launch Pad and get 2 channels running parallel, it may work out anyway. I can have a "wet" channel running with the reverb and trem, and a "dry" one as well. Cool :bassist: Hell, I may be able to run all three :D

We'll see.
 
#9
dmusic148 said:
Sounds cool, glad it worked out OK with your tech. Some guys just can't stand to let something go until it's as perfect as they can get it- I suspect he has this affliction. Too bad more techs don't have it.
Click to expand...

Oh yea, I admire that, but there are a couple of things that raised a red flag.

I called him Monday and asked him if the "death cap" had been removed when the power cord was upgraded to a three prong. He didn't know what I was talking about :eyebrow:

I explained it and told him to look at the schematic. It's right next to the polarity switch. He said it wasn't a concern, but after looking into it, and checking the cap with a meter, he got it out of there lol. Odd that I taught him something I learned by researching vintage tube amps on the internet. Frankly, I know very little. He conceded that cap was bad news after he realized how much juice was there and what can happen if it blows.

Some will argue that with a 3 prong cord and no issues with the power outlet it's plugged into, it probably won't electrocute the player, but why take a chance ? And with a screwy outlet, even with the 3 prong cord, the player is cooked meat if that cap blows and it remains open instead of blowing the fuse.

He also turned the amp on when I got there to pick it up without the amp on standby.:eyebrow: When I mentioned it, he said a standby switch is only for keeping heat from building up when the amp is sitting idle. Said it didn't have anything to do with letting things warm up before taking the amp off standby.

That's contrary to everything I've read or been told.

EDIT : Looks like I owe my tech an apopolgy. Thanks Paul for setting me straight !
 
#10
The original reason for the standby switch was to mute the amp between sets. A heck of a lot of tube amps were built without. Since that time we've discovered that tubes with DC power applied but no heaters can lead to a shortened life span. When the opposite is the case, heaters on and no DC as in under standby, can do the same. Amps that have tube rectifiers can be turned on at any time as the DC power does not get applied until the rectifier warms up. By that time the other tubes have warmed up too.

Your tech is fine and sounds to me a cut above that.

Paul
 
#11
Your other point about the death cap is that the true danger comes when using a two core power cable. The cap can lead to a live chassis condition if it fails. I always remove them when installing a three core power cable. However to put things into perspective, if you connect an amp to a line filter you have a similarly sized cap connecting phase to ground, another between neutral and ground and a third between phase and neutral.

Paul
 
#12
BassmanPaul said:
The original reason for the standby switch was to mute the amp between sets. A heck of a lot of tube amps were built without. Since that time we've discovered that tubes with DC power applied but no heaters can lead to a shortened life span. When the opposite is the case, heaters on and no DC as in under standby, can do the same. Amps that have tube rectifiers can but turned on at any time as the DC power does not get applied until the rectifier warms up. By that time the other tubes have warmed up too.

Your tech is fine and sounds to me a cut above that.

Paul
Click to expand...

Ok, thanks for setting me straight on that Paul. I don't understand the part I bolded though. Are you saying that when powering up, I should leave it off standby ?
 
#13
BassmanPaul said:
Your other point about the death cap is that the true danger comes when using a two core power cable. The cap can lead to a live chassis condition if it fails. I always remove them when installing a three core power cable. However to put things into perspective, if you connect an amp to a line filter you have a similarly sized cap connecting phase to ground, another between neutral and ground and a third between phase and neutral.

Paul
Click to expand...

Ok, as in plugged into a power conditioner ?
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back