Re: thanks brett
duderduderini said:
Hi Brett
Thanks for the advice.
The problem i have is which bass and lead amp(s) sound good or are desired by guitarists? I dont know much about them at all in terms of that. If you could email me with some ides and where you get parts from I would greatly appreciated that.
6550 at reduced V sounds good cause it would add to their longevity
Thanks Again
Nick
Bass:
Bass is easy; almost without exception it's clean or with a small amount of distortion. You need a good DI in it and lots of clean power. For power pick up a good secondhand PA style amp from Yamaha, Jands or the like with the most power you can afford. As they're young, weight is less of an issue so the older main freq designs with a heavy PS are available fairly cheaply and definitely provide the most W/$ and reliabiltiy and value than even a DIY. I don't bother to build my own, and I got a Yamaha P7000S new cheap, for a better price than I could buy all the components. Two channels of a PA amp also allow for biamping and even better results in terms of wideband response and flexibility.
400W, with moderate or better efficiency is the
minimum I would recommend for a gigging bassist in Oz as they will usually not be with FOH support.
Bass preamp: Simple good sounding and cheap can most easily be realised with Albert Kreuzer's pre.
http://www.albertkreuzer.com/preamp.htm
Tweak the values to work at 15V (fine at 9V, but gives more headroom when digging in) , add a DI, a buffered tuner out and a vintage style RC tone control and you'll have a very flexible pre for few $ that sounds great.
I have a couple of tube bass pre's I've been going to publish for a while, but details such as power tx's which are readily available, fit in a rack case and even the cases themselves are issues as I'd like people to built it if interested with minimum hassle. If you're willing to sort out those details, tell me what features size and cost and I'll neaten up a schematic and publish. Some don't use 12AX7's for better sound, but lesser parts availability in music stores.
The Kreuzer could be built into a die cast Al case and clamped to a mic stand.
If interested in bas cab designs, let me know as I have suggestions, but they're not quite conventional, and sound all the beter for it IMO. Were's not in the 60's any more, but most designs still are.
Guitar:
Here it gets murky as many component interactions produce the final tone. The speakers and cab need to be dealt with first.
Take with a huge grain of salt what pro's like EVH, Hammett etc use, except blues players as they'd likely play similar levels and venue sizes. They are sponsored, have roadies and play rigs the average Aussie pub band never will. Also, because they have certain gear on stage, it doesn't man that's what's actually processing the sound as for big players the sponsorship money is huge and easy.
100W sounds impressive, but the breakup and sag that comes from it and gives a goodly amount of the tone, simply won't happen at sensible levels given the EPA noise laws here, so powerbrakes, pulling tubes and other tweaks are often tried to get the desired tone at lower levels, so build a smaller amp in the first place. The 3dB difference betweem 50 and 100W isn't that great in terms of absolute SPL, but can be in terms of the knee where the tone begins to break.
Suggestion: build a clone of a preamp, or better yet, two different ones with a relay to switch between. It'll only add a modest cost and PS requirement for a massive increase in flexibility. For the powerstage, again clone or tweak an existing design. Do not build it like a good hifi design as undersized power and output Tx's are a part of the sound. Breadboard it and get him to practice with it a bit whilst finalising the design. Try a simple 6550 un pentode at 500-530V B+, but cathode biassed. Use individual cathode resistors and the Blumlein garter bias (search Tubecad) for simple reliable design. Works a treat.
Guitar cabs: I hate 4x designs. They're a pain to move, have combing ussues, an unless a full stack, put the drivers below waist level so they player is typically well off axis and increases volume to compensate and be heard (not good for ears or FIH guy trying to match stage and room levels). If you desire 4 drivers, build two 2x boxes. Add tophats into the top and bottom of each, and a 150mm length of 35mm dowel will hold them rock stable on stage. Also means he can take one to rehearsal or small gigs and two when needed. Add a flipout angle brace to the back of one of them so when used alone can be tilted back towards his ears so he can actually hear himself. Use Speakons for connectors and add a 200R 10W resistor in parallel across the 16R secondary to protect the OPT from plugging mishaps whilst powered up. A cabinet stand is also a good idea to raise the cab up maybe 600 off the floor.
End of rant. For more specifics, ask. Lots of details in the building of such that make the difference, ie no carpet on the cabs as it'll stink and looks cheap. Use Rockard or similar paint in Oz.
