First gig with the BE100 - help with sorting my tone ?

[Adambomb]

Is the speaker cabinet out of phase??

Exactly what I've thought from the start.

Don't know about this thread though .... Any guitar player I know that invests that kind of money in a serious amp like a BRAND NEW Brown Eye, I would think he would be responding back maybe. I sure would if I experienced what he's talking about but the OP has seemed to gone "poof".

So let's hear atleast 2 details of what all the advice thats alread been givin man? And provide some pics of that speaker wiring with the BE if you can man, I used to build and wire cabs for a living.

 

[KickTheHabit]

Hi all.

Firstly apologies for not responding over last couple of days.. I have been out of the country working and the phone company contract did not work at all where we were.

Thanks for the suggestions and advice.. even the edgy ones

soon as I get chance I'll take a look at the speaker wiring to check it's been done properly never considered them being out of phase but hey every days a school day.

Will also review the valves as valves can be temperamental buggers.

Cheers

KTH

 

[KickTheHabit]

I had the same experience and sold it the next week. I wonder if the issue is volume, seems to me like any marshall inspired amp you need some of the power tube saturation to be part of the equation. For the gigs I do 100W will never get there without us getting fired. In my basement where I actually play louder than in clubs it sounded great.

This is where a speaker/mic simulator and loadbox can work magic, especially if you're not playing on large stages typically. Plus, you don't have to worry about a mic getting bumped and can use a monitoring system that will be consistent. Turn it up as loud as you like.

Volume wise we play pretty loud but weirdly i have been considering something like a palmer or a Two Notes for ease and consistency.. maybe even blend it with the mic'd cab depending on the room etc..

 

[KickTheHabit]

Is the speaker cabinet out of phase??

Exactly what I've thought from the start.

Don't know about this thread though .... Any guitar player I know that invests that kind of money in a serious amp like a BRAND NEW Brown Eye, I would think he would be responding back maybe. I sure would if I experienced what he's talking about but the OP has seemed to gone "poof".

So let's hear atleast 2 details of what all the advice thats alread been givin man? And provide some pics of that speaker wiring with the BE if you can man, I used to build and wire cabs for a living.

Easy tiger....

we're all here cause we need help or want to help but sometimes life gets in the way and we can't review what's been posted as fast or as easy as we'd like?

Happy to take on board all suggestions... I've been doing this guitar thing for some time now but found this forum with a view to getting some shared insight and experience from like minded people who have more time with the amp than I clearly have.

Thanks for your enthusiasm on this amp. I have no doubt that once I get to the bottom of it it will be all I expected it to be!

By the way in the UK "poof" often means something else entirely

 

[Adambomb]

Is the speaker cabinet out of phase??

Exactly what I've thought from the start.

Don't know about this thread though .... Any guitar player I know that invests that kind of money in a serious amp like a BRAND NEW Brown Eye, I would think he would be responding back maybe. I sure would if I experienced what he's talking about but the OP has seemed to gone "poof".

So let's hear atleast 2 details of what all the advice thats alread been givin man? And provide some pics of that speaker wiring with the BE if you can man, I used to build and wire cabs for a living.

Easy tiger....

we're all here cause we need help or want to help but sometimes life gets in the way and we can't review what's been posted as fast or as easy as we'd like?

Happy to take on board all suggestions... I've been doing this guitar thing for some time now but found this forum with a view to getting some shared insight and experience from like minded people who have more time with the amp than I clearly have.

Thanks for your enthusiasm on this amp. I have no doubt that once I get to the bottom of it it will be all I expected it to be!

By the way in the UK "poof" often means something else entirely

Take it with a grain of salt. I'm blunt. And the Rack Systems person that commented is probably David Friedman. Call him or email if nothing we have suggested worked for ya. Poof is just a word meaning "were did ya go" or "disappear", relax, I meant no harm to you. Were giving you lots of suggestions.

 

[KickTheHabit]

Is the speaker cabinet out of phase??

Exactly what I've thought from the start.

Don't know about this thread though .... Any guitar player I know that invests that kind of money in a serious amp like a BRAND NEW Brown Eye, I would think he would be responding back maybe. I sure would if I experienced what he's talking about but the OP has seemed to gone "poof".

So let's hear atleast 2 details of what all the advice thats alread been givin man? And provide some pics of that speaker wiring with the BE if you can man, I used to build and wire cabs for a living.

Easy tiger....

we're all here cause we need help or want to help but sometimes life gets in the way and we can't review what's been posted as fast or as easy as we'd like?

Happy to take on board all suggestions... I've been doing this guitar thing for some time now but found this forum with a view to getting some shared insight and experience from like minded people who have more time with the amp than I clearly have.

Thanks for your enthusiasm on this amp. I have no doubt that once I get to the bottom of it it will be all I expected it to be!

By the way in the UK "poof" often means something else entirely

Take it with a grain of salt. I'm blunt. And the Rack Systems person that commented is probably David Friedman. Call him or email if nothing we have suggested worked for ya. Poof is just a word meaning "were did ya go" or "disappear", relax, I meant no harm to you. Were giving you lots of suggestions.

Cheers mate.

just f*****g with you on the poof thing!

 

[RACKSYSTEMS]

Yes it's me Dave Friedman. Please feel free to contact me at friedmanamps@gmail.com if you need help with it. Sound very wrong from what your saying.

 

[KickTheHabit]

Yes it's me Dave Friedman. Please feel free to contact me at friedmanamps@gmail.com if you need help with it. Sound very wrong from what your saying.

Cheers Dave

Let me check over some of the more obvious things like the speaker wiring, valves and bias etc

If no change I'll be in touch.

 

[KickTheHabit]

Update forumites!

The bloke who sold me the cab sold it as having Creambacks in( reason I bought it as lots of users say the Creambacks work brilliantly with the BE) but cheekily put the V30's back but neglected to tell me. P****d off to say least. Cheeky bugger.

Also on investigation I suspect that the bias may need looking at as well as the 1 or more preamp valves as there is a high noise floor on the dirty channel even at lower gain settings and without boost...

Amp tech to look at it in the next few days.

Dave F if you are reading, what bias measures would you look to have here?

 

[Equ1nox]

Dave already communicated BE-100 bias with correct input voltage (say 120V in on a variac of isolation transformer) is 32mA bias current. Dave can comment if otherwise, but posted previously.

 

[KickTheHabit]

Dave already communicated BE-100 bias with correct input voltage (say 120V in on a variac of isolation transformer) is 32mA bias current. Dave can comment if otherwise, but posted previously.

I'm In the UK... So 240v(230 EU)

 

[iggs]

Any competent tech should be able to easily calculate the appropriate bias current based on plate voltage and target plate dissipation, which for most amps would fall in the 50%-70% of maximum for the given tube type. I believe plate voltage on the BE is around 470V so that 32mA suggestion would put it at approximately 14W which is 56% of maximum 25W for EL34.

 

[Equ1nox]

Regardless of if it's 110v or 240v, US, Europe, or Asian voltages....the secondary taps are to give a certain voltage and across the B+ line. The BE runs at about 485V with ideal input voltage (not 470V) to the plates, so with the recommended 32mA biasing, it's running at 62%. Hope this helps!

 

[iggs]

Regardless of if it's 110v or 240v, US, Europe, or Asian voltages....the secondary taps are to give a certain voltage and across the B+ line. The BE runs at about 485V with ideal input voltage (not 470V) to the plates, so with the recommended 32mA biasing, it's running at 62%. Hope this helps!

Guess the voltage at my place was a bit lower then 120V when I measured ...

 

[KickTheHabit]

On an initial review looks to me like the BE and the G system just don't hit it off...
I have a buffer with the g and have tried it with and without... It seems that the g system likes some loops more than others...
Straight in the tone is much fuller and lots more bottom end.

With the g hooked in it's almost like its a parallel loop and two signals are merging but sterile and no punch.

Decisions decisions.... The g sounds great with my Cornford...

 

[bognerluv]

May be worth reading through this http://www.guitaraffair.com/pdfs/g-syst ... -guide.pdf if you have not already done so.

 

[Tom-Andrew]

Rule number one when not happy with the sound from an amp with effects plugged in: remove the effects and try the amp by itself. If it sounds good then, you have identified that the fault is in the other equipment.

Regarding the G-System, yeah, it can definitely suck tone if not set up correctly!
You would do yourself a favor checking out that white paper on it, unless you already have.

With the 4 cable method, I would start with the post preamp effects (the ones you want in the BE-100 FX loop). Set the front BE-100 master on 5 (this is approximately the recommended FX send level - check BE manual) then control the amp output with the loop return level.
Plugging guitar straight to amp, set the levels within the G-System until you are happy with the result.

Then, add the pre-preamp effects. Again, set the levels of the G-System.

One more thing; make damn sure it's not a dodgy cable causing bad tone!

Good luck!