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Topic: The PROFESSIONALS' opinion re. amps.............. |
Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 25 Sep 2008 5:11 pm |
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In the olden days, we always made it a point with our FENDER tube amps, to NEVER LAY THEM DOWN either on the back side or the front, face side.
More than one of these wonderful amps has struck the stage floor after being tipped forward off the chair by too short a guitar chord or somebody's cowboy boot snagging a g'tar chord......and have gone on to play trouble-free for years thereafter.
BUT, what about the new solid state PEAVEY type amps?
Must they always be set-up verticle while being transported in the car or van?
Some of us are curious to know........... |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 25 Sep 2008 5:31 pm
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No, certainly not. In fact, face-down is the preferred position when mine travels. They are extremely rugged amps, and if you don't tear the speaker loose or break a reverb tank, the cabinet will be destroyed before the amp quits. I've watched them fall off chairs, fall off stands, and even had a friend drive off with one on the tailgate of his truck and have it bounce down the road for 15 feet. Looked like hell afterwards, but still worked fine!
The only weak point in today's amps are the jacks and knobs. The plastic and thin metal affairs that are solder-mounted to the board are junk compared to the old panel-mounted jacks. Some also have exposed knobs that are prone to get broken if you're not careful.
Oh yeah, I forgot. Another real "doofus-inspired" idea are the top vents in some guitar amps. Water in the circuitry, anyone?  |
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Jerry Erickson
From:
Atlanta,IL 61723
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Posted 25 Sep 2008 5:31 pm
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| Sometimes mine travels vertically, sometimes horizontally. Works every time I turn it on. Oh yeah, it's a Nashville 112. |
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Cliff Kane
From:
the late great golden state
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Posted 25 Sep 2008 5:48 pm
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| I think part of not transporting tube amps on their side has to with the stress from bouncing the tubes in a side-to-side motion, as oppposed to up-and-down. I think it's harder on tubes. Probably not the same concern with solid state amps. |
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Kevin Hatton
From:
Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 25 Sep 2008 5:58 pm
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| You can drop a Peavey off the back of a tail gate. Chances are it will work just fine. I've seen it. |
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Les Green
From:
Jefferson City, MO, R.I.P.
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Posted 25 Sep 2008 7:49 pm
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Last year I knocked my NV400 off of about a 3 foot stage onto a concrete floor while it was turned on. After recovering from cardiac arrest I hit a few chords. No problem what so ever. Took a lickin' and kept on tickin!
_________________
Les Green
73 MSA D10 8&4, 74 MSA S10 3&5, Legrande II 8&9, Fender Squier 6 string, Genesis III, Peavey 1000 |
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Jody Sanders
From:
Magnolia,Texas, R.I.P.
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Posted 25 Sep 2008 9:57 pm
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| I was unloading my gear at a recording session and my Peavey Session LTD fell out of the van onto the paved parking lot. Worked great on the recording. Jody. |
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Tim Walker
From:
Marin County, CA (originally U.K)
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Posted 25 Sep 2008 10:16 pm
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| I was told by an amp tech to lay the amp down on it's front when transporting as it's safer for the speaker. Not sure if it's true or not ? |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 25 Sep 2008 10:46 pm
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| Vertical is okay, as long as it is jammed in with other things so it can't flop over. Otherwise face down is best. If a back-loaded amp or speaker cab is transported face up, a big bump can tear the speaker loose from the baffle. I've seen it happen. It's because of the great mass of the magnet and frame. The components of a tube have little mass, so it's hard to imagine that a bouncing van will have any effect on tubes. |
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Stephen Gambrell
From:
Over there
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Posted 26 Sep 2008 12:33 am
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| It's all about the weight of the speaker MAGNET. Traveling upright, if you hit a bump at a good rate of speed, the weight of the magnet can pull the voice coil down, deforming it, or even causing it to short against the frame. Same if the amp is on it's back. But laying face down, the speaker is extended to its full outward travel, and bounces won't hurt a thing. All that being said, I've put amps in the trailer up, flat, down, tied to a bass drum---and they still worked. There's more potential damage onstage, I think. |
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Don Brown, Sr.
From:
New Jersey
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Posted 27 Sep 2008 5:45 pm
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Ray, I've blown through the same "Fender Twin Reverb" I bought new, in either 1965 or early 66, and I'd love to have a buck for every mile she's traveled, never laid her face down, always laid her on her back. That's with a 15" JBL D-130, and never any problems. She came through from the factory with Two 12" JBL D-120's. The old gal is still going strong. One of the better ones. 100 Watts RMS, or 200 watts music power. Also, never had a speaker problem, same speaker still in her today.
I'd imagine that a solid state would hold up every bit as good, (or should) since it would be easy for my Tungsol 6550's to hit one another from too much shock, since they nearly touch as it is.
All myths about how to lay or not lay them, I'd say. If they don't get destroyed during shipping, then they have to be good to go... 
PS: Wish you wouldn't have said: "In the Olden Days." Sorta makes me feel Antigue... |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 27 Sep 2008 7:29 pm
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| Quote: |
| NEVER LAY THEM DOWN either on the back side |
I've NEVER heard of this being a problem, or of anyone worrying about it. Face-down is the only worrisome position due to the chance of grill cloth snags or broken controls (on amps with front control panels - I've replaced many a busted knob or pot for someone who transported an amp face down and didn't notice something in the vehicle sticking up - the amp slid and "snap".).
And for a speaker to bust loose with the amp on its back would either require terrible construction or a sledgehammer. Back-loaded speakers (should) use T-bolts embedded in the front of the baffle, and the likelihood of those breaking is nil. The baffle might break - if you dropped the vehicle 3 or 4 stories. If the speakers are secured properly its not the slightest problem.
However, I HAVE seen (and once been victimized by) shoddy , lazy speaker mounting where someone didn't want to bother with the bolts and simply screwed the speakers to the back of the baffle. The one I received was shipped and (not the shipper's fault) the screws stripped, speakers BOTH broke loose, and took out every uncovered tube, a couple tubes that had the covers over them, tore the cones and punched two holes in the grill cloth. The seller basically told me it wasn't his fault...after a protracted battle I finally just said the heck with it, fixed the amp and still have it. But there's a certain music store in Colorado Springs I highly recommend avoiding...
I'd be more concerned about PCB amps than older hand-wired tube amps. One of Leo's intents in design was to have the amps bounce around in the back of a truck and still work. With many lesser-expensive PCB designs, traces can be very fragile, board connections are sometimes at 90-degree angles, tubes and NOT secured like in the BF/SF and Marshall amps of the 50's/60's/70's and they simply cannot take rough handling.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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