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Comments
For prices etc.
I quite like Blackstar gear, and these may well tempt me into picking up/having-a-go-at-making a 4-stringer..... Hmmmm Ive gotta birthday in May too......
Adam
One thing I have discovered, they have for the first time AFAIK moved from Celestion to Eminence speakers, the Opus range.
Any bassists here have the dope on their relative qualities?
Dave
And anyway, Andy hasnt done a bass amp yet....
I wouldn't buy one of these amps though - they have top-mounted controls. This is such a bad idea for a gigging amp - but for some unaccountable reason it seems to be the fashion now, for both bass and guitar amps. Leo Fender got it right in 1960 - controls at the top of the front, angled back slightly if you like. On the top is just asking for beer to get into the workings, and makes it impossible to stack anything on top of the amp, which is useful on small stages.
This is just one of quite a number of things which seems to be fashionable for some sort of 'retro' reason when it's really a problem, that was solved decades ago...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I replaced the celestions in my Sub with eminence 12s and they were markedly better at the low end stuff
ICBM, Whilst I agree that top mounted controls have disadvantages there are, (as I am always saying!) commercial concerns.
If a valve chassis is mounted horizontally you have two choices*. Upside down is easier since the 'slot' only has to accommodate the height of the chassis. Right way up and you need a lot of height for say EL34s, you also have to consider ventilation. Slots in the top? Beer traps! That extra cab height is extra wood with no acoustic advantage but I agree, in a perfect, non competitive world, right way to do it! I am never happy to see valves upside down but admit it does seem to work!
You can go 'right way up' but with an angled presentation. This gives decent ventilation, upper back panel can be slotted but again, costly to implement and wasteful of wood.
IMHO things are rather different for a bass cab since I doubt stacking things on top is practical? Many, many years ago when I gigged bass you could stand NOTHING on my cab lest it 'walk' off! Ok, a 'King heavy head will sit still but heads avoid the problem anyway!
*The VERY best idea is all the power OP/heavy ***t in a chassis bottom of cab and an umbilical to a light, compact pre amp chassis. Pre valves can be 1/2 in the chassis further reducing its profile but, cost a friggin' fortune!
Oh! And I cannot speak for other mnctrs but B's amps have a foam sealing strip inside top of cab. Beer COULD get in via pot shafts I suppose? Never had it and the only other vulnerable point was the input jack but that will likely have a plug in it?
Dave.
There's also the issue with top-mounted controls that on a guitar amp, you always want it raised up or tilted back - at least if you want to actually hear it properly yourself - and then at the back of the top is about the worst possible place for the controls (apart from at the bottom of the back like some Gibson amps!). OK on a bass amp you usually want it down on the floor so I can just about see on top as less of a pain, but at the back is still not ideal.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Er? Surely mounting the chassis on the back panel has to be the cheapest option? You have to HAVE a back panel anyway.
I do agree, upside down IS very common and "we" do it for the HT range but, as I often say, I am not a dyed-in-the wool 'gitamp' man and just don't like the configuration!
The guitar 'combo' is a huge design compromise anyway (as are passive guitar electrics!) microphonic and sometimes hard to stop rattles. Just a bigger, eff'ed up radio set really!
Dave.
The ventilation thing is a bit weird! We sealed up a 60 Stage and ran the bits off it for 2 hours. The chassis temperature only rose a few dgrs above the 'open' state, never remotely dangerous.The problem is, LITIGATION!
If a sealed up valve amp was involved in a fire (but did not start it) WHAT would the BS lawyers make of that? !
Dave.
Which 'you' (I know it wasn't you ) made needlessly complicated and ugly by copying Matchless/Mesa etc with that 'U'-shaped top panel! They would have looked better if they were like the ID combos with a full-width front panel.
Then the HT-20 wouldn't have needed that annoying one-above-the-other volume and reverb knob arrangement either .
It is, but like a guitar the problems (from a technical point of view) actually contribute to the sound, and it's not quite the same if you eliminate them.
Interestingly that Mesa Trem-o-verb I had did run really hot, even with good ventilation - a typical upside-down chassis with the cabinet open at the back. I left it on for three or four hours once and the temperature inside the chassis got to 80ºC in one place (checked with a thermocouple probe poked through some of the jacks!) - I stopped at that because it's really not good for the caps.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein