Tube Amp builds/kits?

[Feral Feline]

What do you real Bass players think of Hartke, I bought one of there 15" kickbacks for the little bit of bass I play, and to have on hand for small jams

Peccary summed it up neatly, and it explains a bit why Fig didn't like a Ricky through it, opting for a Jazz instead — amply demonstrating that what you plug into it has, of course, a huge impact.

I play a real bass, but wouldn't call myself a "real Bass player".
I've never owned Hartke, but I've played through many as they seem to be a favourite here for backline.

Two of the venues that I regularly gigged at leading up to the 2020 Covid clampdown both had Hartke heads and 4x10 cabs loaded with regular-looking speakers*. Much better than my first experience. Forgive me for being brutally honest: The first one I ever played through I hated, it was a head and 2x10. I think most of my distaste was the way the cab sounded — *it had the then-new aluminium speaker cones. That's a long time ago.

However, note that...
A) I'm playing upright, Hartke cabs and heads aren't voiced for that application.
B) At both regular venues, I've heard other players (on slab) who sounded good through the same backline.


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5F1, 5F2, and a 5E3 chassis should be here tomorrow or Friday.

 

[fig]

5F1, 5F2, and a 5E3 chassis should be here tomorrow or Friday.

Nice! My 1974x transformers ship Thurs.

 

[coltonius]

So part of the reason I haven't been building a lot of pedals lately (apart from the double workload due to the pandemic) is that I've become amp crazy. Because what's better than paying $3k for a vintage Fender tweed amp?? Spending 25% of that to build one! So that's what I've been doing over and over, with less and less reliance on the actual "kit" aspect of the builds.

Mojotone, Trinity, and Marsh all have great kits. I've heard Weber has stepped up their game as well; they used to be known for cheap parts.

What I'd really like to know is, Does anybody still offer Supro amp kits? It seems Watts Tube Audio has run afoul of the DIY community and shuttered its digital doors for the forseeable future. Huge bummer!

 

[peccary]

Peccary summed it up neatly, and it explains a bit why Fig didn't like a Ricky through it, opting for a Jazz instead — amply demonstrating that what you plug into it has, of course, a huge impact.

I play a real bass, but wouldn't call myself a "real Bass player".
I've never owned Hartke, but I've played through many as they seem to be a favourite here for backline.

Two of the venues that I regularly gigged at leading up to the 2020 Covid clampdown both had Hartke heads and 4x10 cabs loaded with regular-looking speakers*. Much better than my first experience. Forgive me for being brutally honest: The first one I ever played through I hated, it was a head and 2x10. I think most of my distaste was the way the cab sounded — *it had the then-new aluminium speaker cones. That's a long time ago.

However, note that...
A) I'm playing upright, Hartke cabs and heads aren't voiced for that application.
B) At both regular venues, I've heard other players (on slab) who sounded good through the same backline.


~~~~~~~~~~~~


5F1, 5F2, and a 5E3 chassis should be here tomorrow or Friday.

Playing an upright with aluminum speaker cones... what would the purists have to say about that!?

I remember those aluminum cone cabs and I always thought it was a kind of wacky idea.

 

[Feral Feline]

I really liked the idea, in theory, alas...
Probably why Hartke & Co developed the hybrid cones, take out some of the harshness with traditional cone material while still retaining the fast attack of the alloy — that's my theory.

I bet the alloy cones would sound even more egregious with my AlCoA .


TAKE THAT, PURISTS!


PS: It's been suggested to me that the Ampeg SB-12 is essentially a Fender 5E3, so I know what I'll be doing with my 5E3 chassis now — rather attempting to do... And then maybe load it with an alloy Hartke driver

 

[fig]

amply demonstrating

I see what you did there

 

[peccary]

I really liked the idea, in theory, alas...
Probably why Hartke & Co developed the hybrid cones, take out some of the harshness with traditional cone material while still retaining the fast attack of the alloy — that's my theory.

I bet the alloy cones would sound even more egregious with my AlCoA .


View attachment 11169 TAKE THAT, PURISTS!


PS: It's been suggested to me that the Ampeg SB-12 is essentially a Fender 5E3, so I know what I'll be doing with my 5E3 chassis now — rather attempting to do... And then maybe load it with an alloy Hartke driver

Wow - I'd heard of these but wasn't aware that people are still using them! Do people trip out when you show up to a gig? Did you strip off the fake wood, or was it already like that? What is the sound like in comparison to wood? I have so many questions!

 

[Feral Feline]

I'll hit you up with some sound samples later (not mine, for the moment); but I'll try to keep this amp-build related.

The 5E3, as SB-12... is this for real?

I haven't had time to compare schematics...

 

[Feral Feline]

Started my 5E3 build.


Was going to build up a couple smaller amps first, but they've been relegated to the back of the amp-queue after things went a little sideways.

 

[fig]

Started my 5E3 build.


Was going to build up a couple smaller amps first, but they've been relegated to the back of the amp-queue after things went a little sideways.

Literally!