I'm becoming increasingly lazy and hauling about heavy cabs and combos and stuff is becoming a bind.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Sloth or anything, but you know how it is...
Anyway. Exploring the possibilities of a lighter lower wattage head such as an Atma or Pink Taco, to pair up with a nice 1x12 cab.
Issue being the two aforementioned amps will very likely have too little headroom for me. So to keep things light and simple ish, I was thinking about adding a Power Station into the mix to bolster the oomph of a smaller amp.
Anyone used one much?
Seems like a good version of the Bad Cat Unleash?
It also means the potential rig would be pretty portable and light, yet loud enough too. Yes, there's more elements, but you could do the head and cab in one trip. One in each hand due to the reduced weight.
Seems the way forward IMO.
My Diezel Einstein, as much as I like the way it sounds, as it does sound bloody good, is a fairly hefty beast in combo form, and I have to carry it 20-30 meters negotiating gates and doors etc when rehearsing. It's a PITA.
Comments
My only real criticisms would be that
1)they are pretty loud / vicious on the volume knob at home levels (not an issue for you)
2) the speaker cable jacks on the back are not the most robust and I could see them failing with prolonged use.
3) The PCB that the valves sit on is mounted vertically with the valves horizontal and the board is only held in place via two small screws at one end into the chassis - that might not survive the proverbial fall down the stairs
The pics of the v2 show the same jacks, but can't speak for the guts
For my purposes, I've put an ECC82 in the noval slot, to take down the gain a bit - looks like the v2 has a hi/low sensitivity
At the first rehearsal, I was really impressed with the sound. Plenty of power but lots of clarity too. At the first gig however, I was a bit disappointed as the rig didn't sing the way it usually does with the Mesa and seemed a bit bland and sterile. Shortly after the gig, I was using the rig at home and it started making a loud crackling sound. After a bit of testing, lead checking, etc. I narrowed it down to the PS. It seemed that about 5 minutes after switch on, the crackling noise would start. I contacted Guitar Guitar who asked me to make a video of the problem which I did. They asked me to send the PS back but after a week or so I received an email saying they couldn't reproduce the fault and attaching their own video. They sent the PS back me and when I plugged it in and waited 5 minutes, I was greeted with the crackling!!
Clearly the warranty wasn't going to help me so I took the top off, removed the valves, cleaned the contacts and re-seated them. The crackling stopped! Seems I may have solved the problem but I have no idea why the PS didn't crackle when GG had it.
So, I still have the PS, I think it's a really useful bit of kit it doesn't compete with my Mesa tonally but it it a helluva lot lighter. It hasn't started crackling again but I'm not trusting it at a gig yet. Apologies for the lengthy post but thought my story might be of interest.
1. Attenuate down my Bogner Shiva for home use and gigs.
2. Attenuate up my Pink Taco for gigs and down (although it's fine anyway) for home use.
3. Power the Helix.
The thing about it is that it does so much. I am happy to accept some compromise.
When I get the Helix I'm hoping to gig it with the PS and a lightweight 1x12. I'm wondering whether getting the Helix in rack form would be more beneficial as I can take it and the PS in as 'one unit'. Of course I'd then have to separately buy the foot controller and that doesn't come with an expression pedal........
Why can't companies just make things perfectly for our needs? Lol
Or just preamp?
Is it even possible to do that?
I thought about doing that after the gig with the Power Station but then it started playing up so I never got round to it. You're right about the power amp modelling in the AF2 Paul but, I've tried the AF2 through all my power amps and a couple of (valve) amp heads and in every case I preferred the power amp sims switched on.
Not sure about the comments about gig reliability obviously, but lots of guys buy a camera case to protect it in transport, and after that it just sits on your amp like an outboard reverb unit. It looks and feels pretty sturdy to me?
Support at Fryette addressed the jacks in a post on TGP, he said they were specifically chosen to allow some minor movement so they wouldn't get damaged, they're not actually loose or poor quality, they're designed for some movement.
V2 will apparently address a personal pain; I use my V1 cranking an effin loud amp at bedroom volumes and the volume pot on the PS is touchy as all hell like that. Not a problem at gig levels though
Looking forward to my finances improving at some point where I can finally afford a small Fender amp and can enjoy it's many tones at whatever volume I like, bedroom or gig