The Last Bass Outpost

After a prolonged wait due to an order foul-up, my RS pickups arrived today. I'll probably install them with a better set of strings this weekend. Expect a full report ASAP.

Depending on how you want to split the hair, since Dave Funk is, to my knowledge, the only employee of Thunderfunk, which was around since the 90's making tube amps, that claim could be interpreted as legit. I'm not saying that it is, just that it could be true, and I agree, the amp is overpriced. I have an AMP preamp, the preamp section of the AMP 420 and don't really care for it.

I was asking because I had never heard the part about CSpan, but had heard the rest about the posting online and whatnot. There are a number of things that Obama has done which displease, but do not surprise me. Politics is a dirty business and those who participate in it, even with the best of intentions, have to play by its rules, whether it be Congress or the PTA.  Obama is an idealist in many ways and this country's problems need more practical than ideological addressing.

sorta off topic...

One thing that really chaps my ass is the people who say they are so disgusted with government that they give up. How are things supposed to change if all we as a nation do is tacitly accept the status quo repackaged every now and then? My congressmen and representatives vote almost the polar opposite of me most of the time, but that doesn't mean that they don't hear from me and not just at the polls. I am extremely proud of my congressman, Jimmy Duncan, for his stand on the Iraq war, however symbolic it may have been, and I let him know it.

And lastly, this administration claimed that they would be above reproach.  Everything would be covered realtime on Cspan, every piece of legislation would posted online for five days prior to it be signed into law by the president.  What happened to the enlightend campaign promises?  

I must have missed that. Where'd you get that tidbit?

I don't know why this US party radicalisation is - it defies expectation that as a state system matures everyone moves towards the middle - and why it is so pronounced in America. You've been a democracy for more than 200 years and contrary to some prophecies no Democrat or Republican administation has yet brought about the downfall of your great country. All Americans I meet seem to be neither Michael Moore nor Rush Limbaugh, but somewhere in the middle between the two, which appears to be a sensible political position for an adult with an acceptable IQ and not under the influence of drugs. Yet it seems to be the fringe constituencies that are pampered.

Three words: for-profit media. CSpan, a wholly unbiased and completely documentary account of government in action, is just like most of the governing process: boring. So instead of national media presenting governance issues in a factual light, they are "dressed-up" in an effort to entice viewers/readers and instead of fostering debate towards resolution, there is more money to be made in paranoia and propaganda. Health care reform has been a long time coming, and like any government measure, this one will please no one whose only wish is to complain. "Silent majority" indeed! This country has exactly the government it wants.

An often overlooked, but VERY good US-Pacific themed WWII movie is the The Thin Red Line. It was eclipsed in popularity by Pvt. Ryan, which came out shortly after to more more publicity, but was superior in many ways. In it, just to hear Woody Harrelson say, "I blew my butt off!" without a hint of comedy tells you lots about that movie.

Sorry about the long absense. I've had lots of unexpected complications in starting my new job, most of them good, but complications none the less. Since this thread has had a long time to settle down, it's a good time to make good on some PM good-faith promises I made to Scott which can help to clarify the issue of tube replacement. Before I get started, just so it's plain, Scott and I are good with each other, and this is in no way a further argument, but a good opportunity to help clear up some widespread misconceptions about tubes.

on occassion I have had to use a spare. Once when my guitar player dropped his 100w Marshall one of the 6550s had some loose stuff rattling around in it, replaced with my spare.

Big audio power tubes, especially 6550's and KT88's, have lots of internal mass relative to their support structure, and a large physical shock can move the internal parts around without breaking the glass envelope, rendering an otherwise perfect tube shorted. That's exactly what happened to the KT88 that went in my Trace Elliot VR400 when it fell. What happens is that the large mass of the plate and beam-former are really too heavy for the thin metal rods that support them and due to their higher operating temperatures and the larger amount of space than most other audio power tubes like 6L6's or EL34's means that it is quite possible to knock them around enough to bend the internals to the point that places that shouldn't touch, do touch. It's no so much an issue with old manufactered 6550's as they used stronger support beams, but modern tubes can be knocked into shorts; the flipside is that they can also be knocked again to move apart, but it's not a good idea to use a tube that you know has mobile internals. That's not to say that it is common, but it is possible. NOS US tubes, especially GE 6550A's and 8417's, have their own set of problems.  If you heard rattling, it was probably toast. However, had the amp been running at the time, it would have required some pretty serious repairs. My Trace Elliot has internal relays which kick in case of failure that a Marshall does not, and even with the relays, the fuse-holder melted before the fuse blew.

The few times I have replaced a pre amp tube at a gig is not because of some failure but that the amp had a drop in power or that is was breaking up a little, my technique ? trial and error.

That's more a case of the aforementioned "expectation" effect, because preamp tubes have so little relative emission to their output that their aging process is so slow as to be imperceptible, even with Chinese junk. It is possible for most musicians to identify and change a microphonic preamp tube, but not on a gig. And in that case, the tube was already bad from the factory; it did not "go" bad.

I told Mark it is a good idea to carry spares,

 I was not aware of that when i said what I did, nor did I single out anything you said until you very vehemently argued that my statements as to the facts were simply an optional opinion. If you're hell bent on carrying around spare tubes, by all means, do so, but don't try to equate your gut feelings as valid technical fact.

I stand by that statement.

Obviously; that doesn't make it any more factual; that just makes it your personal opinion.

You are the one who came out with both guns blazing by stating who ever told you that is "full of shit". I do take issue with that.

Get thicker skin.  I didn't mean to insult you personally and if you can't recognize a little hyperbole, I suggest you try to envision most of my more "vitriolic" posts with tounge firmly in cheek and quit looking for personal insults where none exist. We disagree, obviously, but please, cut the victim routine. This is the big boy forum where we sometimes talk like big boys and don't act like teenage girls making everything unnecessarily dramatic. I'm sorry you took offense to the way I phrased my statement, and if it really bothers you that bad, my PM box is wide open.

I may not come from a technical background but I do come from a user background of over 39 years. 8 times out of 10 when I take a amp in for work it is the preamp tubes.

Your "tech" is either being dishonest or isn't actually fixng things and isn't aware of it. There are several circuit faults that changing a preamp tube will temporarily mask, bad coupling caps being the most common. A new tube with a slightly different plate impedance or tonal response can stop or mask decoupling oscillation, which can have symptons of anything ranging from 'weird' tone to ghost notes and feedback.  Changing the tube can make that stuff stop, but it doesn't fix the problem, nor was the "old" tube at fault.

"No, my experience is that it is not neccessary. Anyone can have an opinion; I speak from a position of technical expertise" Still just your opinion.

Really? Then please supply me with the cathode currents, transconductance data and/or shorts/faults of your supposedly "bad" tubes. Let's see how my "opinion" matches up against the tubes' spec sheets.

Ahem -

If I may interrupt, can someone tell me how they determine in the field:

1) That a tube has failed, and;

2) If so, which tube?

It seems to me that unless both of these can be achieved without testing equipment, the issue of carrying tubes into the field is moot.

Yep. I asked the same question earlier: 'Why change them?'

Hey ppl stop fighting, we're not in TB anyway.  

Being the mod, and it's my call, let me explain why I feel this type of communication is important enough to take place here, even as contetious as it may seem: these issues are not matters of opinion. There is verifiable technical data that directly addresses this subject matter, and to 'let it go' for the sake of "not fighting" does a disservice to people who come to this forum expecting facts. Since you mentioned TB, I'm going to use it as a prime counter-example. Unlike that forum, here, the science of electronics is not subject to a popularity contest or advertiser pressure, nor does it take a backseat to political correctness. I feel very strongly that it be presented accurately. There's no need for vitriol, but vigorous healthy debate is a sign of good forum, not a bad one, that's why I've been so insistent on data or some quantifiable aspect that defines exactly how godofthunder's preamp tubes are not living as long as I state they should.

What kind of jobs do you all have that you can sit here in the middle of the day and argue nonsense?  I want to apply!  

...lunchbreak, my friend. I do enjoy this forum.