Stupid "friend"

ICBM

Rocker said:

Why do amp manufacturers persist in using the "standard" 1/4" socket for everything? Even using a Speakon socket for the speaker(s) would eliminate this kind of problem.

Tradition and low cost.

Many bass amps now have Speakons, because they're powerful enough that the current is above the rating of a 1/4" jack… although that didn't stop makers in the past, just this week I changed a 1/4" jack on an old SVT cab - 300W/4-ohm, more than 8A peak current, jack rating is 6A. If it had been my choice I would have bored it out for a Speakon or possibly an XLR (the older standard for high-powered amps).

The only real advantage of 1/4" for guitar amps is that they're usually low-enough powered that you can get away with a guitar cable as a speaker cable if you have to - bad practice, but it will normally work. I've seen one melted when used with a bass amp though!

randomhandclaps

If I were you I'd just be grateful that it was his own amp Bob fucked and not yours.

strtdv

I have a rule when setting up any amps: the head gets connected to the cab and checked before the power lead gets connected to the amp, and the reverse when I'm taking it down. It avoids pretty much any possibility of accidents

hywelg

ICBM said:

 If it had been my choice I would have bored it out for a Speakon or possibly an XLR (the older standard for high-powered amps).

Then sods law says someone would have used a mic cable! X_X

ICBM

hywelg said:

Then sods law says someone would have used a mic cable! X_X

Which for me, would be fine - all my old mic leads made from RS balanced cable will easily handle 10A, probably more! I admit flimsy ones would be pushing it…

The important thing is that XLRs are rated for 15A so a proper XLR speaker cable is not *inherently* under-spec for a 300W bass amp, whereas a 1/4" is no matter what cable it's made from. Essentially no amp over 150W into 4 ohms should be using a 1/4" speaker connection anyway.

Speakons are the best though, exactly because they are not used for any other type of connection.

midlifecrisis

the other week, "Bob" in my band forgot to turn the pa mixer front of house speakers up, we played the first set entirely thru the monitors, mo one noticed or said anything, guess our monitors were loud enough, or we sounded crap enough no one wanted to hear the vocals.

jonnyburgo

ICBM said:

digitalscream said:

Oh wow, I know a Bob too. He recently acquired a very expensive three-channel amp, and twice has plugged it into the "not connected" socket of his cab (when running in mono). Apparently last time he did it, it took him a while to realise and when playing a chord he could actually hear the sound coming from the amp's output transformer...

Silly, silly Bob.

We shouldn't laugh. I'm supposed to know what I'm doing and I've done something like that .

'64 Bassman head, Marshall 4x12". Playing a gig, soundcheck is fine, go off, come back on for the gig and I start the first song… silence. Guitar up full… check. Amp not on standby… check. Amp turned up… check. Still nothing. All the time strumming the guitar to see if I can hear anything. Lean against the front of the amp to look over the back to see if the valves are lit up… they are. And what's more, as I'm strumming the guitar they're flashing blue. Then I move slightly and down at the bottom of the cab I can see - I don't know how, it was dark - that the speaker plug is out halfway! Turns out the drummer has caught the speaker cable and pulled it slightly while he was getting behind the kit. I get him to reach over and push it back in… forgetting that I am now leaning against the front of a 4x12" with the guitar up full and a 50W amp on 7 - instant shrieking, screaming mayhem .

The amp was fine.

Drummers eh? Fucking Bobs the lot of em

gubble

I remember the day Bob was rigging the PA in the rehearsal room & didn't noticce that the PA was already turned on and the speaker cable was connected to the back of the PA.

Bob didn't have any spare hands and stuck the live cable in his mouth.

Bob was not popular when he tripped the power to the whole building plus his face hurt lots