The Jam Room Blog Thread.

[everdrone]

do you use high end furmans?   I have seen certain outlets around town frying amps.  I saw like three people plug into a wall outlet at the old emos location and that happened.  power is bad downtown, and gets worse with all the lights on a friday night when the grid is overworked. 

dirty power.

[mutantcolors]

I did this through my old 5 watt Frenzel into my Leslie 120 (1x12). One of the finest bass tones I ever conjured IMO.
http://psychedelicsexorgan.bandcamp.com/track/nicks-space-ride

Sweet little track, dude. Great band name too.

Thanks, everything PSO is my solo stuff with the obvious exception of the collaboration with Obscured by the Sun, for whom I now play drums.

[Danny G]

I use a Furman but not one of the high end ones. Does tell me if the power is squirrelly, and it was not.

Used the SWR again twice next night, one gig was outdoors. No problems and wasn't running as hot, but it was a short 40 set and wasn't nearly as loud.

[AgentofOblivion]

Try a different speaker cable and/or cabinet? 

[everdrone]

Ive been on this forum since 2007... dude Danny you have the worst luck with amps!

sorry to say but I think it is the dirty electricity.

you can't see whether electricity is dirty/squirrelly with a lower end furman. it damages gear over time.  then when you play out on a Friday night in Austin, the electricity grid is already overworked because of the massive overpopulation without the electrical grid expansion, and then with all the lights and sound from all the bars draining at the same time, it constantly wears down your amps.  If you are turning them up pretty high and cranking them, you are making them use that dirty electricity to their full capacity and that really wears them down.   I know you like that 215 cab.  I use both my 410 cabs that weigh 40 pounds cause their neodymium, and I never have to turn up that much.

I invested in this furman:  http://www.zzounds.com/item--FURP1800PF  got it on sale for like $350 during christmas

[Jake]

What is "dirty electricity" exactly? From what you're describing, it sounds like it's a situation where his amps are getting less power because other things nearby are also using power?

Also, I've read that Furmans are just a lot of hype. Like the Monster Cable of power strips.

[Danny G]

Mine is the glorified power strip kind.

But still handy as it's rack mountable and I can plug everything into it and just use 1 wall plug.

So far my luck with gear has improved and stabilized in the past 2-3 years or so hahaha. I just use it so much and so hard (insert joke there) that anything that can't hack just falls apart.

Haven't blown any speakers since selling the Fender TB-600 to a friend. Marshall still has fresh tubes and has been sounding great even as a bass amp (haven't tried firing it up since it cut out on Friday tho). Just got the SVT back from Bill Webb who retubed it, replaced the filter caps and fixed some other issues with it. Sounded great last night. And since the existing filter caps final went after 40-ish years, I shouldn't have to worry about them again til I'm 80.

As for the gear failure Friday night, I'm still leaning towards the Texas heat as the main culprit. We set up around 5:30 and left everything onstage until we played at 10pm, then played loud til midnight.

The Marshall has been performing great in all applications, even powering the 2x15.

The SWR is still the wild card as its new (to me). Have noticed that even tho I tell the exhaust fan to stay on, it doesn't always stay on. It was running cast-iron skillet hot Friday night. Saturday played an short outdoor set with it at a lower volume. Was a little warm but still ran fine. And I don't think the exhaust fan kicked in.

I've been meaning to take it apart anyway to see what kind if preamp tubes are in it. Will check out the fan while I'm at it.

If worst came to worst I could just buy a clip-on fan and install it in my rack case \m/,

[everdrone]

cool brutha \m/

[Lumpy]

If worst came to worst I could just buy a clip-on fan and install it in my rack case \m/,

Not a bad idea if you're playing in the heat, whether the internal fan works or not. Also, you might want extra space around your amp (a bigger rack case with empty slots). And check where the vents are (some amps have them on the sides... why they do that?? ??)

[VOLVO)))]

Stonerrock goodness...

[dogfood]

What is "dirty electricity" exactly? From what you're describing, it sounds like it's a situation where his amps are getting less power because other things nearby are also using power?

Also, I've read that Furmans are just a lot of hype. Like the Monster Cable of power strips.

Resistance loads vs. inductive loads vs. capacitive loads.  Herein lies the answer to the question.  In inductive loads such as air conditioner motor loads the sine waves of power can be up to 90 degrees out of sync where the sine wave of electromotive force, E, or volts leads the current, I, or amps by previously stated 90 degrees.  Capacitive loads are inverse to inductive loads and amps lead volts by 90 degrees.  Resistive loads are unified.  When the utility provides power they are supposed to provide unified power which delivers 100% efficiency and often correct out of sync power and bill entities with a power corrections charge for having crap power loads which affect the utility power.  Typically this is using banks of capacitors to balance motor loads during summer.  However, if you are local to a bunch of wacked out capacitive and inductive loads the efficiency of the power will be constantly changing and you will not get full power from your receptacle.  Thus power conditioners are sold.  There is a boat load of trig to explain this graphically. 

[eyeprod]

played a show tonight with our band and my bandmates kids band, the velcro mullets. they killed for 14, 13, and two 12 year olds. they brought out about 30 people, who all left after their set, but it was fun.

[mutantcolors]

Stonerrock goodness...

Like I said in the latest "bass amp for geetar" thread, that shit works.

[Jake]

More Tele pics please.

[Danny G]

The Velcro Mullets. Awesome!

I've still never run guitar through my SVT and 2x15. That needs to change.

[Corey Y]

Those pics reignite my desire for a burst/black/maple Esquire.

[VOLVO)))]

This also happened.

[mortlock]

anyone ever play through the kirk hammett series randall half stack.?? is it any good?? 

[everdrone]

I thought he was playing thru the axefxII nowzerz

[VOLVO)))]

anyone ever play through the kirk hammett series randall half stack.?? is it any good?? 

depends on what you consider good? It does what it does, really well, if that makes sense.

[everdrone]

What is "dirty electricity" exactly? From what you're describing, it sounds like it's a situation where his amps are getting less power because other things nearby are also using power?

Also, I've read that Furmans are just a lot of hype. Like the Monster Cable of power strips.

I aint no scientist, but when someone plugs in an appliance and I hear it in my amp I dont like that...  imagine how it is with some schlock electrician designed barhole in the wall bar electricity setup, with a front of house speaker and lights blasting

times 50 other bars in Austin all at the same time


here is the review of the rackmount version of my Furman:

http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Close_Up_Furman_P_1800_PF_R_Power_Conditioner_Surge_Suppressor

The studio applications for power conditioning equipment are obvious, but for some reason a lot of players are comfortable rolling the dice and using office-supply-store power strips for gigs, only to scramble for that potentially deadly 99-cent, two-prong adapter when that inevitable buzz rears its ugly head.



Our demo unit handled amp testing in various circuits with aplomb, providing slightly to dramatically cleaner sound (not to mention peace of mind) when A/B'd with a Furman Merit X Series conditioner, a number of strips, and no conditioner at all.




mine has all this technology, IT IS LEGIT:

Power Factor Technology
Power Factor Technology supplies 45+ amps of instantaneous reserve current, on demand, for power starved amplifiers.
Surge Protection
Furman's exclusive SMP technology provides the highest level of surge & spike protection available.
Noise Filtration
LiFT offers AC power filtering to ensure clean power for unequaled audio & video clarity.
Voltage Protection
Advanced EVS circuitry detects dangerous voltage irregularities and safely powers down itself and connected equipment in unsafe conditions.
Diagnostic Lights
LED status indicators warn you when voltage is outside of nominal range or when protection has been compromised.
Isolated Banks
Isolated outlet banks minimize inter-component interference and noise contamination.
Clear Tone Technology
Clear Tone Technology provides tuned filtering circuits engineered for instrument amplifiers to provide a clean and consistent tone.
Voltmeter
Large digital voltmeter with discrete dimmer button displays incoming line voltage.
Wall Wart Spacing
Three widely spaced outlets accommodate bulky AC power transformers.
15 AMP Rating
15 Amp rating featuring a high inrush magnetic circuit breaker for added protection.
Nine Total Outlets
Nine total outlets (8 rear panel outlets and one front panel convenience outlet).
BNC Lamp Connector
Rear panel BNC connector powers any standard gooseneck lamp for rear rack illumination.
USB Charger
Front panel USB convenience outlets allows you to charge most media devices or power a USB lamp.

[Danny G]

"Clear Tone Technology"

I just like the sound of that grouping of words.


Have been able to fire up the SVT a few times since getting it back Monday.

How I have missed her. And the tech wasn't kidding: other than the sound of the exhaust fan, it's quiet as a mouse. Holy shit. Have noticed a few of the controls are responding slightly different, not sure if that was from new preamp tubes or from him fixing some minor wiring issues.

Man I love this amp and glad I got the work done to it. Forgot how much it LOVES my 2x15 as well.  #toneboner

[spookstrickland]

I've found I really like playing guitar through bass amps with 15's  It sounds crazy but my buddy has a behringer 15 combo bass amp that sounds wicked with my guitar!  I'm not sure that it is road worthy but it does sound good in the context that we are playing it in.

[liquidsmoke]

Hey bass players:


Your guitar player is doing a heavy 2 note power chord riff on the lowest strings like this-

5  7  6  8  10  9  11  13
3  5  6  6   8   9   9   11

What do you play over-

6
6

?

You're a note short to go low. To me low string fret 6 doesn't sound right and the next higher string on 6 although correct takes away the heaviness of the guitar. An octave up sounds weird. Not playing sounds like a hole. 6 & 6 chord sounds too muddy on bass in B.

Over the 9 & 9 I go down to 2 which sounds great.

Tracking bass and stumped.

Another low string would be great but it's not happening.

[jibberish]

Hey bass players:


Your guitar player is doing a heavy 2 note power chord riff on the lowest strings like this-

5  7  6  8  10  9  11  13
3  5  6  6   8   9   9   11

What do you play over-

6
6

?

You're a note short to go low. To me low string fret 6 doesn't sound right and the next higher string on 6 although correct takes away the heaviness of the guitar. An octave up sounds weird. Not playing sounds like a hole. 6 & 6 chord sounds too muddy on bass in B.

Over the 9 & 9 I go down to 2 which sounds great.

Tracking bass and stumped.

Another low string would be great but it's not happening.

hmm, what would victor wooten do? heh.
I would throw a trick in there. a slide, a harmonic, a twang. like cop out via something more percussive and not trying to assemble a coherent chord since it sounds like chordal options are pretty tapped out.  idk, something to maybe think about.