Hey--I looked on the internet without real success. Is is possible for an amp tech to do whatI think would be a simple mod? My footswitch (2 button) changes from clean to overdrive channel and turns onboard effects on/off. I did not want the onboard effects in the first place but I like the amp alot otherwise. On the panel there is a button for the effects obviously but also a boost button for the OD channel. Is is possible without much expense to have the 2nd button on the footswitch enable the boost button instead of the effects? Am I the first to think of this?--doubt it but this would be really useful to me--it would act as good as a third channel. Amp people please help..I know nothing other than how to take the back panel off!
Marshall Haze 40 Mod Possible?
- Thread starter TJD
- Start date
Never mind. 2 days after I posted this my amp blew up. I took it back to Daddy's Junky Music (Northeast chain if you were wondering) and the kids at the store could do nothing for me because I bought it used and did not buy a warranty. It was only 2 Months since I bought it though so I sent it in for repairs. Bigtime props to the Daddy's repair center becuase they gave me full store credit including the up front $35 you pay to have them diagnose it. They didn't HAVE to do this but they saved/gained a customer. Now I have a dilemma. I need to spend this credit on an amp. I loved the Haze 40 and they have a brand new one there (5 yr warranty too) but I'm a little scared of the reliability of it. I originally compared it to a Blackstar and it seems tone quality to be superior but now I'm revisiting Blackstar as they seem to have no issues with reliability..or is that cuz they're newish on the market? I have $440 and I don't mind spending a little more to upgrade but no more than $200 or so...
Justinginn
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The Blackstar looks like a great option and I'd bet that it'll sound even better than the Haze. I was about to suggest the amp I've got (got it for something like $670 new) a Traynor YCV50 but it looks like they don't make 'em anymore. If you happen to find one I recommend it and it might be what your looking for: great Marshally EL34 tone with an almost fendery clean channel and a JCM800-inspired drive channel WITH that footswitchable boost you wanted. I love mine and it's held up great. I've blown it up before but it was a pretty simple tranny replacement and now it's back up and running. There's my plug. Just in case you happen to find one. (shrug)
Cagey
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Not to try talking you into the Haze, but I don't think reliability is a big issue with them, at least not any more than it is with any tube amp. Just because yours failed at a young age doesn't mean they're prone to failure or that it's characteristic of the things. You just happened to be unlucky, and caught your first issue early. You buy a Blackstar, and it might only last 19 minutes instead of two weeks. The next Haze may last 12 years. An AC30 might go 8 hours or 32 years. A Fender may not even power up. It's impossible to say, especially with tube amps. They overwork themselves just sitting there being alive, kinda like fat people.
erogenousjones17
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Cagey said:
You're a quotable fellow, Mr. Cagey.
Cagey said:
Cagey you are a prophet. I tried the floor model and bought a brand new Blackstar HT club 40. In the box..never been played. Great amp and I know I'm going to love it once I bring this one back and get another. The clean channel doesn't work. After this whole mess I expect to have a fully functional amp and a bad back from carrying them around so much! :dontknow:
Cagey
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Hehe! No, no prophesy. That's just tube amps for you. Nature of the beast. There are some physical realities to the things that make them almost whimsically inconsistent. One will sound great while another is pedestrian at best, another doesn't work for long, and yet another doesn't work at all. Beyond subjectivity, that's one of the reasons you see so many different opinions on the various player's forums. Nobody's comparing apples to apples, even when it seems that they are.
Parts have different tolerances, which are exacerbated by the high voltages and currents in a tube amp that you just don't see in solid state designs. Many of the parts are substantially larger than they would be in a solid state unit, so they have a lot of inertia and are easily loosened, displaced, or disconnected with even what would seem to be very minor physical stress like bumps into door jambs, car trunks, floors, etc. You can mitigate some of that by overbuilding, but that's expensive so manufacturers have a tough time competing in an open market. So, they don't do it to the degree they could or should. Enter "boutique" amps, but even those aren't immune to mean ol' Mr. Reality's influence and they're as expensive as sin.
Some of the parts are unusually fragile, tubes being a good example. They're a thin glass envelope under the tension of a hard internal vacuum containing some lightweight parts mounted in close proximity and operating at high temperatures. It's a miracle they work in the first place, and many don't. Bugera, for instance, says they get about 1 out of 8 tubes to pass production test. That's a horrendous yield. Resistors and capacitors range in tolerance from 2% to 20% in value, so you don't know what kind of frequency response you're going to get out of things, how much current flow, how much power dissipation, how much voltage drop. On and on. All those things affect performance and tone.
When it comes to tube amps, you sorta have to treat them like guitars. You wouldn't play a guitar pulled right off the wall, then ask for a new-in-box one from the warehouse. You take that one. It's the only way you know what you're getting.
Parts have different tolerances, which are exacerbated by the high voltages and currents in a tube amp that you just don't see in solid state designs. Many of the parts are substantially larger than they would be in a solid state unit, so they have a lot of inertia and are easily loosened, displaced, or disconnected with even what would seem to be very minor physical stress like bumps into door jambs, car trunks, floors, etc. You can mitigate some of that by overbuilding, but that's expensive so manufacturers have a tough time competing in an open market. So, they don't do it to the degree they could or should. Enter "boutique" amps, but even those aren't immune to mean ol' Mr. Reality's influence and they're as expensive as sin.
Some of the parts are unusually fragile, tubes being a good example. They're a thin glass envelope under the tension of a hard internal vacuum containing some lightweight parts mounted in close proximity and operating at high temperatures. It's a miracle they work in the first place, and many don't. Bugera, for instance, says they get about 1 out of 8 tubes to pass production test. That's a horrendous yield. Resistors and capacitors range in tolerance from 2% to 20% in value, so you don't know what kind of frequency response you're going to get out of things, how much current flow, how much power dissipation, how much voltage drop. On and on. All those things affect performance and tone.
When it comes to tube amps, you sorta have to treat them like guitars. You wouldn't play a guitar pulled right off the wall, then ask for a new-in-box one from the warehouse. You take that one. It's the only way you know what you're getting.
