15" Speakers

1bassleft · Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 9:08 pm Post subject:

Here you go, Lee:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10171&item=7321482582&rd=1
It's the EL84, rather than 6V6, version but otherwise ticks all boxes. You do know Camden, don't you Wink

lee_UK · Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 9:39 pm Post subject:

OK bass, give me the full griff on it, how much would you expect to pay? just how good is it? is this the kind of amp Andy plays through? how does he rate it? your guitarist andy? im seriously going to have a punt on it, but i havent heard one and i dont want to end up with a puppy, we are going to east kent in a couple of weeks i could pick it up, but i have no way of hearing it before hand, like you say i dont want any semi-useful junk, and confirm the single 15" speaker theory cos he doesnt mention it.
Sell it to me Bassy, hang on, dont you live in kent? and work in Camden?

1bassleft · Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 11:39 pm Post subject:

Sorry 4 delay. Severe spyware/hijacker probs. Afraid I can't personally tell you the score as I haven't played one. If you have a look at that website link I posted earlier, you'll get some other ops (all positive). I read good things from owners on plexi palace, too. It will have a 15" speaker, the Bassmate combo never had anything other.

Guitarists seem to prefer the 6V6 version, and your guy's inclination would lean to it as well. Trouble is, I've found out that the 6V job was made in '67 for three years at most before they went EL84. The chances of a 6V6 YBA2 having crossed the pond must be remote.

I expect it to sell around £150, anything less is very good, and could easily fetch more. If it does, I have to question whether it might be better to hold out for a WEM Dom Bass MkI. The latter is more available and easier to get closer to the £100 mark. The Traynor has the advantage that the cabinet side is clearly designed for the 15", whereas the WEM just about squeezes in there. Also, Traynors are reknowned for being robust. Not saying the WEMs aren't, but they do seem more prone to 12AX7 microphonics (they're mounted on a board). A bass gives a valve combo a harder time so this may be important.

Those that commented said the 6V6 YBA2 was Fender-Marshall, whereas the EL84 job is Vox-Marshall. If my WEM is anything to go by, I'd say yes; slightly Vox (maybe to 4) to much more Marshall-like above that. Undoubtedly a handy amp for the right money, but it may not be exactly what your man's after. Pity you can't try it.

Slight confusion. My Andy has a Dom Bass MkI and I have a (guitar) Dom MkIII. Also, I was born in Kent but I live in the North West. No chance I can run it past my dodgy playing. Sorry Sad

lee_UK · Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 10:12 am Post subject:

i think Gary (our Bassman) was after a 15" valve combo to use for a 6string guitar, and i think he was going to use it occasionaly for his Bass, he was interested in using valve bass amps for guitar because of the fender bassman and marshall super bass, and didnt VOX make a 60's Bass head that plays quite well? anyway those models seem to have made the transition from bass to guitar very well, and he got to thinking about 15" low wattage combo's. The WEM sounds like a prime candidate, but he also likes to take the back off the cabs, makes the sound less directional, but with the WEM 15" speaker just about fitting in there it may shake itself to death, sounds like the back takes am important part in holding the whole thing together, and of course it would double up as a usuable bass practice amp, at the moment he has a Trace Elliot head i think its an 80's one, with a huge home made cab, it houses 4X10's and a 15" , i think there is a horn in there too, it weighs a ton!! made from plywood the thickness of a big mac, it has built in wheels on the back but you still have to lift the monster in the back of his estate, and the car groans when it lands on the tailgate, a bit like my knackers when i give him a hand with it, you see, bass guitarists and there cabs, give them a custom build and they start thinking Monster trucking.

1bassleft · Posted: Fri May 13, 2005 1:52 pm Post subject:

Delays - this hijacker really naffs up forum-posting. OK, I'm pretty sure that the YBA2 has a closed back. I am absolutely dead certain that the WEM has an open back. Charlie Watkins knows/knew about Thiele-Small parameters as much as anyone. Despite my reservations, it works plenty well for bass and guitar. I think the YBA2 for sub £150 is worth thinking about and a definite snap for sub £100.

Of course, you ****ing g*itarists know all about pinching valve bass amps for your six-stringers. If you didn't, they'd be reasonably priced and I'd be swimming in Bassmans, Superbasses and the like. Even lesser-knowns, like Bill Wyman's Vox V65 (he switched to Ampeg later) and the Fender Musicmaster Bass amp have been priced out by you lot Wink

On the subject of WEM, I have seen a later Dom Bass for sale as not working. Looking at the pic, it's pretty bloody obvious why it isn't and an easy fix. If it's in the NW, it's mine. If it's darn Sarf, it's yours. Gary may just be interested in a 30W Dom on the fleeb: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10171&item=7320945962&rd=1
Personally, I like the 15W for home use but I know most bass players prefer the extra ponies under the bonnet. On all Doms, channel 1 (with the treble boost) suits guitar and channel 2 suits bass.

On a philosophical note, I used to do a Gary and have monster cabs but I've got out of that game. I use a 2x10" (maybe I'll buy/make another cab - a 1x12" or 1x15" at most). I think he'll use either the WEM or Traynor for bass a lot. That's the problem with monster stacks, you don't want to drag the things out and you can barely switch them on in the house. So whaddaya do? You try out ideas through some nasty Microbass or other crappy SS combo.

I used to write for a mag called "Making Music" and I remember an interview Tom Robinson did. He was dead against those solid-aluminium and birch flight cases. Your best guitar gets cooped up in them because you can't be bothered to drag it out, so all those neat ideas you suddenly get are tried out on the lumpy plank lying around in the porch (like a Hondo II f'r'instance Wink

). Same principle with mega-amps. Even my Marshall 100W and 2x10" can't just be yanked out of the cupboard for an idea. That's why I got the Dom.

1bassleft · Posted: Fri May 13, 2005 1:58 pm Post subject:

BTW, and I can feel a cork wafting under my nostrils here...

Take a good look at the pics on that 30W Dom. All four EL84s are Mullards (the later, 70s, small shield logo) and one of the ECC83s (the other two are shielded) is a Brimar. Quality glassware. The Mullard EL84 is the best there is and, as I've mentioned before, my Mull-equipped Dom whips Andy's Sov-ed up one to death. End of cork-sniffing post Smile

lee_UK · Posted: Fri May 13, 2005 4:59 pm Post subject:

You boys and your Mullards, one sighting of them on the horizon and you start getting sweaty palms and start stuttering. Still im glad to see the old radar is well in service, and of course i'll mark this one on my sonar screen for future possible pinging.

lee_UK · Posted: Fri May 13, 2005 5:05 pm Post subject:

Lovely bit of 3amp mains flex connecting the speaker, ive bookmarked it, 9 days seems a long way off, what can we expect this one to reach Bass?

1bassleft · Posted: Fri May 13, 2005 10:20 pm Post subject:

Unfortunately, the last 30W WEM I saw passed £250 very quickly. I prefer the 15Ws, but maybe some see the 30W as pub-gigable. Smart move by the seller; lots of "like an AC30" refs for the saps to overbid on. Could do anything, in other words.

BTW, I know just how nerdy I can appear, promulgating Mullard valves but hey:

Some people think a Fender is worth $$$$ because it's "pre-CBS" or swamp ash or nitrocellulose coated or alnico or has cloth-covered wiring or a single-ply pickguard or a bone nut or truss rod adjustment at the heel instead of the headstock or vice versa or the fingerboard's maple or Brazilian rosewood and it's slab or one-piece or 3-way or 5-way switch or V-shaped neck or C-shaped neck.

I think I've made my point Smile

Mullard valves are just very good, and sound better than Sovteks, Svets, JJs et al. That's all I'll say, wizened old prune that I am.

1bassleft · Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 11:30 pm Post subject:

Under 24hrs on the Traynor now (of course, that's when the bidding hots up). Stupid me, the pic clearly shows the cab section closed-back. It's had more screws than a John Leslie home video. There's something I don't know, though:

The Traynor EL34 heads follow the Bassman practice (as copied by Marshall) of input 1 being more guitary and input 2 being for the bass. Not sure if the Bassmate combo does the same, but I'm looking up the schems now.

Typing as I read it, "Input 1 has higher gain", hmmm. The external speaker out is designed for Traynor's 1x15" or 2x15" cabs. Obviously, any 8ohm cab will work fine plugged into this socket. Hang on, reading from this (a scan of Traynor's own manual):
http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~dace/vb/traynor_bassmate_yba2_all.pdf
it says "25W pre-clipping, 40W full clipping" which is total rubbish. Two EL84s are working hard to make 15W, they'd go nuclear punting 25W. I'd heard that Pete Traynor did exaggerate output in his blurb. Anyhoo, the output impedance is 8ohms, presumably non-switchable. The speaker is an 8ohm 1x15" @75W, and the minimum impedance tolerated is 4ohms. ie, another 8ohm cab can be plugged into the ext jack (parallel, so 4ohm total) and the OPT can handle the mismatch.

I still haven't even got to the schem yet, but this bit's important. The dimensions are 20.5" x 26" x 11", and the weight is 45lbs. AFAIK, this is well within the max for shipping by parcel2go.com, who charge a measly £9 for UK shipping.

Finally, the schem. I've got a cricked neck from looking at it sideways on a lappy TFT, but it looks like a standard input #1 = guitar, input #2 = bass setup, a la Bassman/Marshall.

Remember that 'non-working' WEM bass amp? The seller's in Dundee Sad

. Still, I might ask about using a courier. The seller quotes ouchy £30 (that'll be Royal Maul) for posting.

	GuitarSite.com Guitar Discussion Forum Index -> Guitar	All times are GMT Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3 Next
Page 2 of 3