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A hard to resist problem

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I got a set of the ac30 amphones and they surprisingly sound alright for what they are so I'm tempted to (Once they kick the bucket) take them apart and see how they work and might consider doing something like that to some higher end headphones and seeing how it gose.

Be intrested to see how that turns out. My experience with Hi Fi phones and guitar amps is that they sound too clinical, and some how stressed (of course they are not). I have a pair of £25 UK ear buds, which not only sound good on music and audio books, but also guitar amps. They are called Media Devils.

**broken link removed**

You can see my review; I'm cpes31 on Amazon UK
 
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Yeah I have a AC100 and I love the clean as well as the sound of a fender clean too I just wish I have a set of 4, 12 inch, celestion greenbacks instead of the 5150 4x12 cab I have as it makes the clean a little dark but that will come later I guess. .

Seems like we have similar tastes, but I do like the Marshall sound too.

AC100. Now I am jealous (EL34s). You must do some big gigs. By the way, if you ever need new valves (tubes), Karltone on Ebay are good- reccommended by my mate in the country house- he knows the score. He played a Strat through a Peavy valve combo: nice singing sound and not expensive, but not AC30. He has the Peavy in his workshop for testing guitars and pedals. It was a scrapper but he rebuilt it.

Celestion greenbacks... sweet! Why they cost so much I just dont know. They must be dirt cheap to manufacture: pressed steel chassis, old type magnet, and cardboard cone. It does not make sense.
 
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Seems like we have similar tastes, but I do like the Marshall sound too.

AC100. Now I am jealous (EL34s). You must do some big gigs. By the way, if you ever need new valves (tubes), Karltone on Ebay are good- reccommended by my mate in the country house- he knows the score. He played a Strat through a Peavy valve combo: nice singing sound and not expensive, but not AC30. He has the Peavy in his work shop for testing guitars etc. It was a scrapper but he rebuilt it.

Celestion greenbacks... nice! Why they cost so much I just dont know. They are dirt cheap to manufacture: pressed steel chassis, old type magnet, and cardboard cone. It does not make sense.
I wish I was giging haha but it worked out cheaper for me to get a ac100 and the 5150 4x12 then for me to get an ac30 and but funny thing is it's quieter then my little 15 watt solid state marshall which I'm pretty pleased with the dirt channel on.

That's what I was wanting to know too... I used to like the blues but then I found out that the blues are just "pre-aged" greens and also the greens have a bit more chime too that gives an electric a little bit more of an acoustic bell like sound... If that makes sense to you?
 
Complete sense- unless I am getting confused, the greenbacks are the creme dala creme. I will check to make sure. Jensen (I think that is the correct name) make some speaker chassis that would suit your clean Vox sound, but they are hellish expensive, even compared to greenbacks.

I'm trying to figiure your guitar from your avatar, but can't quite make it out- looks tasty though. The closest I can get is PRS.

The loudness of a system is all down to speaker chassis efficiency. Guitar speakers are much more efficient than hifi types, and distort like hell- that is their appeal. I expect your 15W Marshal has an efficient speaker. If you are playing both through the same speakers, there is something odd going on; the AC100 should be loud, loud, loud.

In general, the less distortion the lower the efficiency with speaker chassis. In the 1970s they moved over from efficient speakers, which matched the low wattage of valve amps, to very low efficiency speakers. That is why the typically 50W to 100W solid state amps started appearing.
 
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Complete sense- unless I am getting confused, the greenbacks are the creme dala creme. I will check to make sure. Jensen (I think that is the correct name) make some speaker chassis that would suit your clean Vox sound, but they are hellish expensive, even compared to greenbacks.

I'm trying to figiure your guitar from your avatar, but can't quite make it out- looks tasty though.

The loudness of a system is all down to speaker chassis efficiency. Guitar speakers are much more efficient than hifi types, and distort like hell- that is their appeal. I expect your 15W Marshal has an efficient speaker. If you are playing both through the same speakers, there is something odd going on; the AC100 should be loud, loud, loud.

In general, the less distortion the lower the efficiency with speaker chassis. In the 1970s they moved over from efficient speakers, which matched the low wattage of valve amps, to very low efficiency speakers. That is why the typically 50W to 100W solid state amps started appearing.
From what I remember the greens are what go in the cheaper VOX ac amps but to me they are the creme dala creme.

It's an ibanez six28fdbg with a few mods installed for good measure. Here's a better photo **broken link removed** and here's her wiring if you're interested in that too **broken link removed**.

I think the 15W Marshall has something wrong with the volume pot and it has a different speaker built into it but the Vox can go extremely loud but it can also be used at bedroom levels fine as well which makes it really nice for those lazy days haha.

So if I want a nice clean sounding speaker I should look for lower the efficiency ones? Interesting I can see why though.
 
From what I remember the greens are what go in the cheaper VOX ac amps but to me they are the creme dala creme.

Yes, thought they might be good

It's an Ibanez six28fdbg with a few mods installed for good measure. Here's a better photo **broken link removed** and here's her wiring if you're interested in that too **broken link removed**.

Ah, Ibanez- my country genious friend speaks highly of Ibanez. He has a bass made by them and I have had a strum on a few. I will have a look at your axe and mods

Going by the type of sounds you like- why no Tele as well?

I think the 15W Marshall has something wrong with the volume pot and it has a different speaker built into it but the Vox can go extremely loud but it can also be used at bedroom levels fine as well which makes it really nice for those lazy days haha.

Volume control probably needs cleaning. AC100- nice

So if I want a nice clean sounding speaker I should look for lower the efficiency ones? Interesting I can see why though.

No, afraid not. In the guitar world 'clean' does not mean low distortion and level frequency response as in hi fi. Instead it means clean sounding distortion (if that makes sense) and peaky, to a degree, frequency response. A guitar amp/speaker contributes to the sound of the instrument. With Hi Fi that would be anathma. I got caught on this one- if you put hifi speakers on a guitar amp they sound boring and, like the hifi phones, clinical, dead, and out of control. What you can do is to fit a high power midrange speaker (squawker) with a simple capacitor xover to sweeten up the high frequencies. You can also fit a hifi tweeter. A good lead guitar speaker coupled with hifi speakers and some amp frequency response tweaking, should make a sweet engaging sound- like the Shadows- my target sound.

Of course, the obvious way to get that sound is to get a 1960s AC30 and same era Stat- plenty bucks though and an AC30 is physically too big for our house at the moment.
 
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Yes, thought they might be good



Ah, Ibanez- my country genious friend speaks highly of Ibanez. He has a bass made by them and I have had a strum on a few. I will have a look at your axe and mod

Going by the type of sounds you like- why no Tele as well?



Volume control probably needs cleaning. AC100- nice



No, afraid not. In the guitar world 'clean' does not mean low distortion and level frequency response as in hi fi. Instead it means clean sounding distortion (if that makes sense) and peaky, to a degree, frequency response. A guitar amp/speaker contributes to the sound of the instrument. With Hi Fi that would be anathma. I got caught on this one- if you put hifi speakers on a guitar amp they sound boring and, like the hifi phones, clinical, dead, and out of control. What you can do is to fit a high power midrange speaker (sqwuaker) with a simple capacitor xover to sweeten up the high frequencies. You can also fit a hifi tweeter. A good guitar lead speaker coupled with high fi speakers and some amp frequency response tweaking, should make a sweet engaging sound- like the Shadows- my target sound.
Mostly because I don't have the money also if I did I would get in trouble with the missus for getting another guitar.. But I do have another guitar that's very similer that can sound a bit like a Tele it's my other moded Ibanez **broken link removed** I don't have a shot of the insides but it's very similar to the other one.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. Do you know if I can use WD40 to clean it?
 
Mostly because I don't have the money also if I did I would get in trouble with the missus for getting another guitar.. But I do have another guitar that's very similer that can sound a bit like a Tele it's my other moded Ibanez **broken link removed** I don't have a shot of the insides but it's very similar to the other one .

I was being a smart arse because I would like a Tele but, as with you, the missus may object, especially as I have recently got some expensive camera equipment past financial control.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Do you know if I can use WD40 to clean it?

You can try WD40, but I would not do so on any valuable amp. Proper switch cleaner is the best option. If you can get the pot out of the amp easily you have two options. Dismantale the pot and clean the wiper and track by hand. You can also see if the track is worn badly. If so the pot is scrap. If you can't get thy pot apart, boil it in a saucepan in water with a touch of washing up liquid. Dry the pot thoroughly afterwards and put the smallest amount of light oil in the pot just to lubricate the track a bit. The proper way is to fit a good quality replacement pot; the amp will probably sound better and the pot will never wear out again. I have got pots on amps that have had a load of use and are still perfect after 35 years or so. Afraid the pots they fit to music amps are junk- why, I dont know!
 
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From an earlier post:
Same here. I can only deal with abstract ideas by making them real in my mind, I still can't handle j (i). The idea of the root of a negative number is beyond me.
With you there, spec.

First got introduced to the idea (40+ years ago) as it related to a rather complex formula for determining some OPA characteristic (don't remember what except it was an oscillator application).

At the front end of the formula "i" (or "j" in electronics) was introduced and then later it was re-introduced such that the result was i squared, thus resulting in the entire formula being multiplied by -1. I asked the professor; "Why the imaginary ruse? How about just put the whole formula in parentheses with a -1 in front?". Turned out to have something to do with phase. There were other ways to get the answer.

The theoretical electronics I leave to the engineers; I'm a technician... :woot:.
 
From an earlier post:

With you there, spec.

First got introduced to the idea (40+ years ago) as it related to a rather complex formula for determining some OPA characteristic (don't remember what except it was an oscillator application).

At the front end of the formula "i" (or "j" in electronics) was introduced and then later it was re-introduced such that the result was i squared, thus resulting in the entire formula being multiplied by -1. I asked the professor; "Why the imaginary ruse? How about just put the whole formula in parentheses with a -1 in front?". Turned out to have something to do with phase. There were other ways to get the answer.

The theoretical electronics I leave to the engineers; I'm a technician... :woot:.

I'm a design engineer, but, like you, I try and avoid maths as much as possible by simplifying and approximating. I have got by by making sure that an expert in every relevant field is handy to do the hard stuff, Ratch and Tony Sewart come to mind on ETO.

When you say 'there were other ways to get the answer' that is the key. Often, by getting the basics sorted, you can cut across a load of maths and get down to the bones of what is going on in a circuit

Some of the boffins where I worked would fill a blackboard with formulae, and then say hmm very interesting and then walk off without reaching a conclusion. We also had many that were not only brilliant but practical too.

The j thing is only a place holder in effect.

One day, while I was idlely pulling the legs of ICs in the lab, one of the boffins came in and asked me if it was possible to generate a clock waveform that maintained its frequency within 0.1% over a fairly wide temperature range, for a low cost application. I said yes, with a bit of sweat, but he could not believe it was possible and did a brilliant analysis of tempcos of xtals, semiconductors etc, so how could it be possible without using extremely complicated and expensive compensation techniques. I said it would cost around £200 UK to do the job. Anybody guess how?
 
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cowboy,

I have been trying to get your Latin, ' Semper ubi sub ubi'.

'always wear underwear' :p:p
 
All I remember from 4 years of it... My USN take on the USMC motto.
 
I guess what I should do then is get a multimeter. Do you think this one would be good ( https://www.jaycar.co.nz/Test-&-Measurement/Multimeters/Digital/Cat-III-Multimeter-with-Temperature/p/QM1323 ) to get me started or is it something that I need to spend a bit of money on?

My advice is, purchase the best DMM you can afford.
A good DMM will not only be accurate and have significant protection, but will measure capacitance, frequency, transistor's Hfe and other parameters.

It will be, by far, the piece of equipment you'll use the most.
 
My advice is, purchase the best DMM you can afford.
A good DMM will not only be accurate and have significant protection, but will measure capacitance, frequency, transistor's Hfe and other parameters.

It will be, by far, the piece of equipment you'll use the most.
I have one now and honestly have a lot of fun with it :D I really like a YouTube channel called the EEVBlog so I did take it a part a bit
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It's a beaut; same as an Extech EX540: http://www.extech.com/instruments/product.asp?catid=48&prodid=530

If that instrument had a Fluke badge on it, it would probably cost around the £400 UK mark

I would like to know who the OEM (Own Equipment Manufacturer) is. I'm not sure that Extech are the OEM. If you come across any clues could you post. I suspect Brymen, who would be the most likely, but your multimeter differs from any of their models. It could be a special though. If you are back at the Jaycar store anytime could you see if they know?

By the way, you can get manuals, software updates, etc from the Extech site.

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I don't get it. Why are there "curves" on this meter? Supposed to be sexy?

==

EEVBLOG https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/u1253b-or-u1252b-or-ex570-or-ex540/ rips the EX%$) apart.

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I think you made a good choice. You lost on accuracy and warranty. No big deal at this point in the game. Just remember when voltages have to be within 5%, in your case, it probably means 6%.
One bright side -- The more buttons means people won't borrow it. At least I found out that to be the case. They don't borrow RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) calculators either. My Fluke 77 (my first digital meter) doesn't have half the functionality that one does. Blew it up once!

One other comment - Don't measure anything stupid: e.g. the output of a spark plug.
 
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