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Not enough power? What up?

#41
nirvana1410 said:
On a side note, you reminded me that after purchasing this head, I heard a small rattling sound when I picked it up (no refunds, haha). After I opened it up to see what it was, I found a small transistor. Could this possibly be what is going on?
Click to expand...

Do you still have that part, and can you post the numbers on it? Schematics for your amp are readily available online, and at least you could be aware of what sort of odds you're rolling dice into.
 
#42
nirvana1410 said:
Based on the fact that I don't have a back-up amp, money, or the desire to cancel shows.

I could probably fix it myself, but one of the screws has been cross-threaded on there and won't unscrew by the last jerk-off that owned it . So, I can't see the whole inside of the amp. It was just enough to squeeze my hand in and grab the piece.
Click to expand...

Getting the amp fixed now will be a lot cheaper than getting it fixed if it catches on fire or some other horrible thing happens to it, in which case it would necessitate a very expensive repair or even being replaced.
 
#47
eriky4003 said:
Also, get yourself a set of musician's ear plugs. Hearos are the ones I use but there are others. $15 to save your hearing is not a lot. Don't get the regular 10 for $4 foamy ear plugs at the drug store as they're designed to eliminate bass.
Click to expand...

not completely true...bass is perceived by means of two ways: the first is the same that conduces mids and highs, the tympanic membrane, the ossicular chain, the coclea, the second one is the bone transmission. Bass frequencies are still heard even in some deafness because the lows make the skull bones resonate and vibrate. There is no way to completely stop this phenomenon...:D
by the way, I'm a medical doctor and I can confirm all the words telling you that the EQ is the most important. Try for yourself, keep the master of your amp constant and play with the mids knob. When you increase it a lot you will notice a perceived consistent increment of volume. Try the same thing with the ultra bass, it does not happen so much. the human ear is most sensitive to mids (the human voice...), and so, this is the key for being heard and to achieve a perceived SPL.
Another rule is to judge your tone only when playing with the band, not alone. You will find that a tone that you may dislike in your livingroom, could be wonderful and punchy mixed with the other instruments...a scooped EQ is useful if you want to disappear from a mix (to tame a bold amp, to support kindly without the bass being heard but only felt, etc)
 
#48
Dunno if your amp has the deep and bright switches but, if it does, don't use them... that sucks up a lot of your power - pushing sub frequencies that are barely audible.

As Everyone has said, don't cut your mids, if you hate the tone when everything is set flat, try cutting one band on the graphic at a time until you discover which one it is that you particularly don't like. and then cut only that one
 
#49
Son of Bovril said:
Dunno if your amp has the deep and bright switches but, if it does, don't use them... that sucks up a lot of your power - pushing sub frequencies that are barely audible.

As Everyone has said, don't cut your mids, if you hate the tone when everything is set flat, try cutting one band on the graphic at a time until you discover which one it is that you particularly don't like. and then cut only that one
Click to expand...

And do it at band rehearsal. Make everyone deal and work with you while you get dialed in. Solo sound will not work the same as ensemble sound. What's "good for the bedroom" is not likely to be "good for the party", sound-wise. :smug: Know what I mean?
 
#50
eriky4003 said:
Also, get yourself a set of musician's ear plugs. Hearos are the ones I use but there are others. $15 to save your hearing is not a lot. Don't get the regular 10 for $4 foamy ear plugs at the drug store as they're designed to eliminate bass.
Click to expand...

Ive compared musicians ear plugs to the ones I wear at work. I didnt notice much difference. If anything the musicians ear plugs let more highs come through but the difference at least IME is pretty minimal.
 
#51
1z5qg5c.jpg

So, I finally managed to get past the crossthreaded screw. Opened her up to find the transistor can only be found under the board.

23lxekj.jpg

Imagine that, a stripped screw. The board can't be removed without removing this screw. It's stripped pretty bad. I know a guy that has the tools to drill into the screw and get it out for me. After that, I should have no problem finding the spot for the transistor and soldering it back into place.
 
#52
find a guy with a meter to check if that tranny is still good before you solder it back in!

it may have somehow melted off rather than just falling off.
 
#53
Hopkins said:
There is your problem, you have your mids scooped. That eq sounds great when playing by yourself but it gets lost in a mix.

Try keeping your bass and treble flat, and bumping the mids to about 2 o' clock.

On your parametric, set it to look like a frown face, with the sliders on either end in the center position.
Click to expand...

Very good suggestion. That's kind of how I set my EQ. -Luke
 
#54
What you have in the pic appears to be "Q18", the transistor that runs the variable speed fan. Without it, the fan will only run in slow speed, and cooling will be reduced.

Looks like the unit was kicked around a good bit, and the part just broke off from vibration.... it should have been supported by some silicone "cushioning".

it has NO effect on power output (at least until bad cooling causes a shutdown).
 
#55
Hopkins said:
Ive compared musicians ear plugs to the ones I wear at work. I didnt notice much difference. If anything the musicians ear plugs let more highs come through but the difference at least IME is pretty minimal.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure the references to 'musician's ear plugs' are the same. I spent a little over a hundred bucks to have an audiologist make custom 'musician's ear plugs.' I was disappointed when I put them in, everything was the same. Then I took them out and the audiologist talking to me got louder. It blew me away. When I lost them, I went back and bought another. I love them.
 
#58
Jerrold Tiers said:
What you have in the pic appears to be "Q18", the transistor that runs the variable speed fan. Without it, the fan will only run in slow speed, and cooling will be reduced.

Looks like the unit was kicked around a good bit, and the part just broke off from vibration.... it should have been supported by some silicone "cushioning".

it has NO effect on power output (at least until bad cooling causes a shutdown).
Click to expand...

Props to you sir, for easing my mind quite a bit. I'll probably still get it fixed, though. Thank you!

And I can definitely tell that you USED to work for Ampeg. As Jerrold doesn't sound like a chinese name :D
 

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