Karaoke Forums

Thanks Don.  I was starting to think I had a bad case of psychosomatic "inability to adapt to newer technology", and this was all in my head.  I shouldn't have gotten rid of a Sherwood tube amp I was given, but I donated the thing to the Russian Jewish imigrants that wanted a stereo.... I also included a sheet of paper

"Caution, this thing can double as a heater or stove.  Watchout for fires"


The tubes really glowed brightly as I turned up the volume, but WOW did it sound warm... I think something was wrong with it...  But it sounded good.... The tubes glowed so hot on that thing, I couldn't even put it in an enclosed area.  I had fans on it....but it sounded gorgeous..... I felt that if I shut my eyes,  I could touch the different frequency's....  almost swat at the highs, and the mid's hit me around chest level..... I was able to see the different frequencies.... Someone in an audiophile room said I "liked the mid's rising"... I said  "OK, thanks"  

  I don't know what that meant...

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

That arcing problem may have been because just a couple strand of wire were shorting across the speaker terminals.  The problem of the audio cutting in and out could be something as simple as a bad switch contact.  Maybe try and find a vintage audio repair shop and just get an estimate.

The assorted DSP settings on receivers today just don't sound good on music most of the time.  I still prefer just two channel stereo for music CD's.  But a well recorded
DTS DVD like the Hell Freezes Over concert can sound quite good in DTS or 5.1
I bought a DVD player that had the ability to play SACD's and DVD audio.  That's pretty cool sounding and takes advantage of the five or six speaker setup. But like I said, i've never had a high quality tube receiver, high quality turntable so I have no first hand experience there.

I can't see myself with Martin Logan speakers, but I can see myself with a several thousand dollar tube amp.... I just wouldn't know what's what...  I don't think I want solid state anymore... It sucks..

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Don, I don't have the money for "high quality" anything.   These were just $200 dollar amps in the 1960's I've heard... Maybe $300 Marantz stuff and Sherwood.  But "High ENd" with caps cleaned, and biased amps are nothing I have experience in... My Scott stuff wasn't high end.   But it blows away average grade production setups such as Denon, and Onkyo IMHO...I love the sound of reel to reel tape thru the scott.... I have a decent Akai Reel/Reel....

Naturally I'm greedy.  I check out tag-sales for old tube stuff....around here, some of this stuff might even be the rare dumpster find.  People throw out some REALLY nice things. Not knowing or caring what they have.  THey just don't have the time to bother trying to sell the stuff... Between no-show's, bargaining, and busy work schedules, they just throw out color TV's that work fine, shortwave receivers, etc...

I've heard Hartke, SWR, own Trace stuff, I've heard and like GK heads quite abit although I've heard they are problem prone....  I just don't see the hoopla regarding SWR, and Trace Elliot or Hartke...When the cheaper older Ampeg, Fender, or just about any tube bass amp has more versatility IMHO...  More presence.

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

I've heard good tube systems in audiophile stores and really like them, but that's as far as I got.  There was one four channel passive device I still have that Dynaco and Lafayette put out in the early 70's.  It was a box that you connected to the speaker output of your amp.  It then derived the ambient sound from a two channel recording and placed the natural ambient reverb and echoes into two rear channel
speakers.  It beat any of the DSP "concert hall", "small club", etc. settings on current day solid state stuff. It sounded very natural and realistic.

Did Fender ever put out a tube bass amp that could compete with a loud Marshall guitar amp and a loud drummer? I sure didn't have one.  Ampeg of course could do this.

I have the reverb unit, (even Sansui Quad synth setup) sitting downstairs that get's different hall reverbs...I haven't brought it up.  I wouldn't know what to do with it..

I had a lafayette stereo tuner and amp I traded to a friend for his mod'd 2510 (I think) SSB radio power microphone... Also a Nikko amp (which I never head of)...

I was fool in the early 90's not to buy J&R electronics Dynaco tube amps at blow-out prices when they were closing them out.... Either very late 80's, or early 90's J&R in NYC had their Dynaco stereo stuff reduced up to 80%... I was a fool for passing up on it..  Still like to see if I can find Jolida tube amps around

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

I'm not even sure if Sun tube stuff is high end Don....  Yet in a few magazines they advertise their tube stuff for 10K+   I've never heard true High end audio either. I don't even know what it is.  but my guess is unless you have your room acoustically setup, and have some acoustic designer in surveying speaker placement, in most cases it's useless...  I love these people that buy costly high end production stuff... Like Mirage, Boston Acoustics, Higher end Klipsch speakers, and really nice receivers... They also have their speakers places in bizarre locations like 12 feet up in a cathedral incline facing curtains or something... .. Sort've funny.. Highend audio requires a sound room that's setup properly.... avoiding bounce, dead areas, etc... Matched speaker voicings, etc

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Nah, Not in OUR day at least.  Fender never had anything to match the SVT, or V4B rigs.  They put out a few 300 watt amps but I think they were tranny, they had a PB series with a reflex cabinet, but I think it was tranny...

Today however, they do...
but WE only had the option of up to the bassman 120 I think.... Bassman as I recall came in the 40 head 45 watt bassman 10 (4x10) similar to super reverb (which many bassists used), bassman 60 watt head, and I think either 100 or 120 head.. Yet that couldn't compete with a Marshall stack...Most of us used SVT's

Now Fender has this type thing out, I know NOTHING about these..
http://www.gguitars.com/febm300pro.html

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Today I also found a few Maestro FX, and EH stuff...I have a fuzz-face down there, Vox wahs, loads of old 23 channel CB stuff in wooden chasis.. Remember wood ?  It's that brown substance you don't see anymore... I also saw a little Gorilla bass amp I forgot I had   GB-30..  Little thing was loud as I recall, even had a :funk: switch...hehehehe,  I should sell this stuff.. Yet I can't.... It looks nice sitting in my storage area

If some needy kid just happened to be in the area during my "softer' moments I'd give this stuff to him/her.   I'd rather give it to a kid that wants to learn bass or guitar rather than sell it for a couple bucks... It just seems almost sacrilige to sell this stuff that only has minimal vintage value....When some kid that might enjoy it but can't afford it would be thrilled, and want to join a band....  Sometimes rather than go thru the headaches of selling stuff, and bothering with the BS involved,  It's better to just give it to (hopefully) the right kid.  I guess I can't take it with me... At least affordably !  Lot's of extraneous cabs with weird stuff downstairs, but I'm not the type to be bothered with the Ebay selling BS....


BTW,  Downstairs I also have my Marshall checkerboard cabs, and JCM-800 heads..
SVT stuff...I hope these speakers can last in a dehumidified room...  The cabs are loaded with Celestion greenbacks,  I also have Jenson Gold's, Black Widow and JBL speakers down there, along with Altec VOTT bins, and other stuff....  I always figure there's a chance I'll want it when I grow up  LOL

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Steven ~
How large is that Gorilla Bass Amp?  What do you want for it?  I could always usesomething lighter to carry around than my Trace Elliot.  Electro Harmonix made some really good sounding effects.  Also the Meastro fuzz tone was great also.The fuzz tone sounds from the 60's were and still are the coolest.  Loved the sustain.Eric Braun from Iron Butterfly had a unique sound as did Randy California from Spirit.

Don,  The Gorilla was promised to a friend earlier today.  I'm thinking given the shipping schedule I'm seeing, even small practice amps today are barely worth much of anything.  I think these were under 100 new.  From the UPS shipping schedule I'm seeing on Ebay, I'm not sure I can really charge anybody anything for a small amp of little value since the shipping is no longer cheap. Personally the tone stinks as I recall anyway thru the 1x8 inch speaker.

I've heard great reviews however about the Peavey Microbass for about the same price.  Gorilla amps were pretty cheap.  I picked this up used around 1984 from a kid that wanted 15 bucks for pot ...  While it's in excellent condition, as it turns out it's costing me to get rid of it  LMAO .. I gift & S+H..probably close to 30 bucks, at least from what I'm seeing people are getting for small stuff around this weight on Ebay these days... Maybe 20....dunno.

If it wasn't needed for a synth, I'd have kept it in my bedroom for the same reason. It's small...has an extention jack for a larger speaker which I never even tried hooking up...My own feeling is that there's no way a bass sounds good thru an 8 inch speaker.

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

What kind of synths do you play around with?

Don, Do you have one of those Combo Trace amps.  I have the separate head, and a 2x10 trace bottom...(celestians) and various other cabs. Do you have the combo with the 12 band EQ ?  GPX thing... I think they had a Commando line, and 1215 combo 1210..*without the 15 speaker but instead 2x10's* etc...


What I was referring to above was someone who wanted it for their synth.  The Synths I have setup are Korg X-3, Arp Omni-2, and Yamaha CP-25 electric piano (big 1980's model weighing over 100 lbs, weighted action, nice piano that get's me the Rhodes and Wurly sounds. I have it on the bottom tier of my Ultimate Support Apache (A-frame) rack in a photo someplace.... I have alot of synth stuff too, yet nothing of value unfortuneately..No Arp 2600, or Moog stuff.. I run what's setup behind the piano thru a separate keyboard 6 channel mixer, and into my Soundtech mixer into a cheapo PA I have setup... I wish I had the room for the Altec VOTT bins.... That'd be great for synth and piano... No room.. I play around mostly with the regular piano.... Don't turn on my synths much these days

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

I wonder how the Fender reissue's of the Telecaster, and 50's P bass are ?  They have the Vintage Reissue model's  (American made), and the reissued Vintage (foreign makes)...It get's confusing if you don't follow what Fender is doing.  Do you remember Fender's older Blue and Pink Paisley Telecaster bass guitars ?  I liked the fat kneck on those things,  also that pu sound...  I've never had the oppt to do head-to-heads with the many different level's of Guitars Fender has out these days. Store's just don't carry the full spectrum of Fender.... I'm curious about the difference between some of the import models vs US standard makes these days..  Mine are all American Standard made model Fender's...BUt I'd love to get a replica of a 50's or 60's bass.... Just don't want to pay over 1K anymore... Two of my basses are a 73 Jazz, and I also have (actually this model would've been a foreign import) Heartfield Active bass... Remember when they released their "Heartfield" line during the late 80's ?

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Don,  Do you recall what the dif was between the Rickenbacker 4001, and 4003 Basses ?  Was the 4003 Stereo ?  What the heck is the function of a stereo bass ?  I never figured that one out.  Alembic I think had all those Bells & Whistles on the Distillate basses. Have you seen what the "Exploited" market is getting these days for Travis Bean basses ?   They don't have a monopoly on the Aluminum neck market.  I can't understand why people pay those prices anymore... Kramer has stuff out much nicer and more affordable (I think) dunno.. I liked the TB necks alot, but can't see paying close to 2G for one of those..  Sort've like what Mosrite was to the guitar market.. They are exploited price-wise today too... Another curiosity of mine is today's quality of Schecter guitar.. Remember when Schecter was primarily body replacements ?   The bodies were spectacular sounding.  I wonder how their guitars are, I had a Schecter body with a J bass neck for awhile, Had Bartolini Hi-A's in the thing, nice sounding guitar.... For around 600 bucks they have a few gorgeous looking guitars out, problem is you can't try these guitars out, and there's little way to know what you are getting, just can't do side/side comparison's with all this stuff...unless you order them with intent on returning them to AMS or MF....Peavey Grind, and Millenium basses look really nice too for only a few hundred bucks....I'd love to see the quality on some of these less costly guitars today... Probably really nice (Just out've curiousity)...Imports have come a LONG way since the 70's. All these companies have $200 and high priced lines out....Even ESP has done this, Hamer, ALL the companies  :( ...  I'd love to walk into a showroom with imports vs more costly American makes, and see if the more costly models these days are really commensurate in quality with their prices. We didn't have affordable options when we were young,  Memphis, and Hondo were no match to Gibson, Fender, Guild, etc... Even Guild didn't really compare with their GS bases.. and the Starfire's were as costly as GIbson EB-2D's...

Ever see the OLP cheap model of the MM Stingray bass ?  Curious how that is..SUpposedly active electronics, decent neck,,,,and 1K less costly..   Who knows...

I just don't have the heart to buy with intent of returning... That's why I'm reluctant to get Carvin Guitars...  Many love them, but I like to have an idea as to what I'm getting.... Those just seem to be quite a cat in a bag....No way of knowing what the sound is until you order a CM model. It's conceivable that I can blow every last buck I have on these things ... If I let my curiousity get the best of me..  I'd sample them, and not want to return anything  :(

I look at G. Gruhn's inventory, and Mandolin Bros. vintage stuff..  How do they sell this stuff ?  hehe..

Can you imagine.  Having a store, getting in great vintage pieces, and not being able to part with any of it... That'd be my fear.... THose vintage guitars can be sweet..... I'd never be able to part with the real nice ones.

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Steven ~
Back in the 70's when I had a Ricky 4001 Stereo bass the whole idea was to run the bass pickup (closest to the neck) straight thru and to run the "treble" pickup through some effects (distortion or chorus).  You would have separate amps or at least separate channels.)  I always wanted a Musicman bass because all the 'cool" local bass players had them but I also wanted a G&L bass because I knew Leo Fender was on to something new and good.  Thanks for paying attention to all this stuff!
I've become too jaded over the years.  :(

"Jaded" ?


Anyway,  I forgot the differences between the Rick bass models.  OK,  so that was done for FX.  I didn't understand the purpose of "stereo" bass.  I have an earlier G&L. About 1982,  it's a passive model. It's more like a Precision bass.  I forgot the model (speaking of absent-minded)... I had a photo of it up for awhile..  Might be in the photo gallery. It's the Guitar next to the singing Hamster in my photo album. I think it's an L-1000

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Jaded isn't the right word.  Since I'm not playing nearly as much as I used to, I've stopped paying attention to all the goodies out there.

Steven, have you ever heard of Wild Man Fischer?  He was this rather bizarre but somehow likable street singer in LA that Frank Zappa discovered back in 1969.  He has since become an icon of sorts.  Rhino records made several albums with him and there is even a documentary film on him. He has a rather sad history that includes being a paranoid schizophrenic.  One might think he's been exploited in a way, but the attention is probably what's kept him alive and going.

The name is vaguely familiar,  had you not told me the story I'd NEVER have placed where I heard the name in my remote past.  Sort've like what Howard Stern does.  He find's these folks that would never be known, often underdogs and makes them into celebs.   Sort've a "It's who you know" type situation.  I'm not familiar with that person tho Don.  I've just heard the name..  Btw, most of my attention to some of these musical items now-adays is just looking at catalogs such as AMS,  MF, Ash, etc.  I haven't a glue what's what, or who makes what type quality anymore.  Which is why I'm curious as to quality, cost, etc these days. Needless to say the quality of Korean imported guitars has changed for the better over the past 30 years. How much better, and in what ways ?  I haven't a clue.

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".