Amp Tech Thread / Ask a tech Q

[dunwichamps]

thats why i just build it instead

[Hemisaurus]

Endless tweaking, that's what I fear

You know you're getting on, when you stop building just for sound, and start building for portability too.

[dunwichamps]

Endless tweaking, that's what I fear

You know you're getting on, when you stop building just for sound, and start building for portability too.

endless building, never really satisfied

althought i love coming up with new amps to build

i just made another idea for myself 2, Fog Machine

[Hemisaurus]

Endless tweaking, that's what I fear

You know you're getting on, when you stop building just for sound, and start building for portability too.

endless building, never really satisfied

althought i love coming up with new amps to build

i just made another idea for myself 2, Fog Machine

build one with a decent pump, that's what usually goes, or the heating element burns out.

[dunwichamps]

Endless tweaking, that's what I fear

You know you're getting on, when you stop building just for sound, and start building for portability too.

endless building, never really satisfied

althought i love coming up with new amps to build

i just made another idea for myself 2, Fog Machine

build one with a decent pump, that's what usually goes, or the heating element burns out.

lol thats the name of the amp

[Hemisaurus]

It's a concept though, can you heat the fog juice via the heat from the tubes, have the amp puff smoke at high gain

[justinhedrick]

Endless tweaking, that's what I fear

You know you're getting on, when you stop building just for sound, and start building for portability too.

endless building, never really satisfied

althought i love coming up with new amps to build

i just made another idea for myself 2, Fog Machine

build one with a decent pump, that's what usually goes, or the heating element burns out.

lol thats the name of the amp

going for a midrange-y foggy tone?

[dunwichamps]

It's a concept though, can you heat the fog juice via the heat from the tubes, have the amp puff smoke at high gain

i guess thats true. i was figuring i would have a well done etched plexi piece building on the fog thing, who knows

idea would be a gap between the NMV Wizards and the MV Wizards i built but more traditional phase inverter for Oranges

[Hemisaurus]

Are Wizards something of yours, or are you referring to the amp company with the same name (as used by AC/DC I believe)?

[dunwichamps]

Are Wizards something of yours, or are you referring to the amp company with the same name (as used by AC/DC I believe)?

ppl confuse them on forums but if I use the word Wizard i am referring the amps that i built with those names

Fog Machine would be like a way to go from a cleaner vintage Orange (but not tooo clean) up to a pretty gainy Matamp/EA (but not as gainy as the wizard with a master volume)

[Hemisaurus]

Are Wizards something of yours, or are you referring to the amp company with the same name (as used by AC/DC I believe)?

ppl confuse them on forums but if I use the word Wizard i am referring the amps that i built with those names

Fog Machine would be like a way to go from a cleaner vintage Orange (but not tooo clean) up to a pretty gainy Matamp/EA (but not as gainy as the wizard with a master volume)

I guess they haven't heard about you yet, he says posting to info@wizardamps.com

[dunwichamps]

Are Wizards something of yours, or are you referring to the amp company with the same name (as used by AC/DC I believe)?

ppl confuse them on forums but if I use the word Wizard i am referring the amps that i built with those names

Fog Machine would be like a way to go from a cleaner vintage Orange (but not tooo clean) up to a pretty gainy Matamp/EA (but not as gainy as the wizard with a master volume)

I guess they haven't heard about you yet, he says posting to info@wizardamps.com

someone suggested changing the name but i say i dont give a fuck really. Its just one of the models i offer and technically its the Dunwich Wizard so no biggie

[Hemisaurus]

Are Wizards something of yours, or are you referring to the amp company with the same name (as used by AC/DC I believe)?

ppl confuse them on forums but if I use the word Wizard i am referring the amps that i built with those names

Fog Machine would be like a way to go from a cleaner vintage Orange (but not tooo clean) up to a pretty gainy Matamp/EA (but not as gainy as the wizard with a master volume)

I guess they haven't heard about you yet, he says posting to info@wizardamps.com

someone suggested changing the name but i say i dont give a fuck really. Its just one of the models i offer and technically its the Dunwich Wizard so no biggie

Long as you don't try a Disney. Buddy of mine called his company Buena Vista something or other, lawyers letters came soon after.

[justinhedrick]

Are Wizards something of yours, or are you referring to the amp company with the same name (as used by AC/DC I believe)?

ppl confuse them on forums but if I use the word Wizard i am referring the amps that i built with those names

Fog Machine would be like a way to go from a cleaner vintage Orange (but not tooo clean) up to a pretty gainy Matamp/EA (but not as gainy as the wizard with a master volume)

I guess they haven't heard about you yet, he says posting to info@wizardamps.com

someone suggested changing the name but i say i dont give a fuck really. Its just one of the models i offer and technically its the Dunwich Wizard so no biggie

i could understand the confusion but in reality i don't think Wizard is a big enough company to worry about people confusing the two. but if you get a cease and desist letter, then you'd have to change the name.

[dunwichamps]

Are Wizards something of yours, or are you referring to the amp company with the same name (as used by AC/DC I believe)?

ppl confuse them on forums but if I use the word Wizard i am referring the amps that i built with those names

Fog Machine would be like a way to go from a cleaner vintage Orange (but not tooo clean) up to a pretty gainy Matamp/EA (but not as gainy as the wizard with a master volume)

I guess they haven't heard about you yet, he says posting to info@wizardamps.com

someone suggested changing the name but i say i dont give a fuck really. Its just one of the models i offer and technically its the Dunwich Wizard so no biggie

i could understand the confusion but in reality i don't think Wizard is a big enough company to worry about people confusing the two. but if you get a cease and desist letter, then you'd have to change the name.

they have never troubled me so unless i get bigger than what I am i doubt i would catch much flak.

[Metal and Beer]

I try to remember all this hardware is to facilitate the writing and playing of songs.


It doesn't always work for me   

[liquidsmoke]

Researching gear, is like dancing about architecture, to quote Frank Zappa.

Seriously, all the research in the world isn't going to help until you are in the room with it.

But my friends, Guitar Center and the last indie shop in town don't sell everything. You can learn a lot buy researching gear online- reading reviews, product websites, posting on forums, Youtube videos, etc.

[Hemisaurus]

You live in Madison, you're set for gear.

[Mr. Foxen]

Researching gear, is like dancing about architecture, to quote Frank Zappa.

Seriously, all the research in the world isn't going to help until you are in the room with it.

But my friends, Guitar Center and the last indie shop in town don't sell everything. You can learn a lot buy researching gear online- reading reviews, product websites, posting on forums, Youtube videos, etc.

Research is useful if you know how to tell real info from marketing BS and people wanting to tell everyone how great their stuff is. Problem is for example, to determine how a speaker sounds just below 200hz takes about 15 values, a bunch of maths and the ability to read the resulting chart. Then when you take your results to tell someone why their shit keeps blowing up they'll say something like 'But I read on the internet that Stevie-Ray Vaughn did it'.

[Hemisaurus]

I didn't want to sound condescending saying something like, unless you've got a lot more experience. Even with experience you're still only guessing.

The Youtube videos though are funny, sure you are hearing the gear, but what was used to make that recording, was there any post processing done, was it EQ'd at the time, and what sort of encoding algorithm as Youtube used on the original file? How accurately is your computer going to reproduce all that anyway? Some video's I've seen, they at least try and give you an idea of the recording chain, which is nice.

Then there's the how does it sound with my gear? question. I had this totally awesome sound yesterday using a new preamp, halfway through I changed my bass, and it sounded terrible, no amount of dialling in seemed to get that sound, swapped back, there was the sound again. On my usual amp, there's very little difference in sound between those two basses, I generally just tweak the gain.

[liquidsmoke]

I hear you guys but Harmony Central reviews and forums like this and Youtube even are a great way to find out about gear in the first place and get an idea of what options are available, that's all I really meant. I've played stuff in stores and ordered gear online that didn't work for me for one reason or the other. I do what I can to make good decisions but yes in the end it's got to work out well in your rig at your space or it's worthless.


edit: info on watts, features, price, and overall reliability are other things one can usually find out online.

When I was car shopping I spend hours and hours online before going to any car lots, of course I was researching features, prices, reliability, etc, not the tone of the engines or feel of the driver's seats  

[liquidsmoke]

Can a 600 watt powered floor PA/monitor unit get a lot louder with vocals running into it before it starts feeding back than a similar 200 watt unit?

[Hemisaurus]

Not really, no. Rooms can take a certain amount of volume, and then you have to start repositioning speakers, moving mics, etc. Try them usual sound dampening tricks, like if the speaker is facing you, hang a blanket behind you, so the sound doesn't bounce of that wall, or adjus the mic so the reflections are in it's dead spot. It takes a lot of fucking about, it's often easier to just turn everything else down.

[liquidsmoke]

I'm going to be putting up some foam this week, hopefully that will help. Can't really turn down cymbals much. My amps are only loud enough so that I can hear them over the drums and through my earplugs.
I'm using a borrowed monitor unit so I have to give it back and buy my own at some point.

[Mr. Foxen]

Can a 600 watt powered floor PA/monitor unit get a lot louder with vocals running into it before it starts feeding back than a similar 200 watt unit?

feedback depends on everything else in the chain feeding back. Watts don't mean anything most of the time, so there is not gonna be any difference if that is the only factor changing, but inevitably other stuff will change with it. Bit of general awareness of the mechanics of feedback helps, sound has to be getting from source to mic, so the pickup pattern of the mic is pretty important, and as said, sound bouncing off a wall is a pretty likely factor.