The things we find in amps

[nickb]

I have a Mesa F50 in the shop. I opened it up to find these curious two things:



[ATTACH=CONFIG]44578[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]44579[/ATTACH]

I appreciate someone's sense of humor even if I don't get the good bait joke. The second one is 3.5" screw threaded thru a nut in the chassis and was jammed up into the top pf the cab, with an inch or so sticking out of the bottom of the chassis. It was most difficult to get the chassis out this way. And, get this, it was glued or stuck with wax or something. WTF?

This seems to be a Mesa thing. I have an F30 heer that says "Take Thee Coltain" a warping of "Take The, by Al Contrane".

Thw screw is a Mes thing too. It's not enirely clear what purpose it serves. Ani-vibation suppose.

Mackie service handbooks are often a hoot.

I had a cab full of rat poo once. No speaker cones left, surpirse!
A wide assortment of picks, naturally.

[Justin Thomas]

Worst I ever found in back of an amp was a Black Widow (<NOT> the Peavey kind, either!)... No roaches of any variety. Lots of dust... piece of pajamas for a speaker dust cap... people's cars, on the other hand: couple bags of cocaine under the hood, sometimes stuff in the spare tire well. Found an 18" long screwdriver inside a tire once.

Justin

[g1]

Rane service manuals are also very funny.
And there is some brand of pedal I can't recall that printed lots of funny stuff on the boards.

[Randall]

I had a Trace Elliot in a couple of years ago that had, "Ah, Mr Bond, I've been expecting you" printed under the board.

[rjb]

Free-Associating

I found a 'personal stimulator' stuffed in the reverb bag of an amp....

I swear that Carol Kaye's website once mentioned that she had used a tampon as a bass mute during session dates.
That information must have been expunged, as I can only find this bowlderized story. Felt? Foam rubber? Yea, right.

Yes, Fender had that in their tailpieces but it wasn't adequate. The mute thing is so tricky, too much and you have that "plunk" sound that you don't want, you want the strings to ring. And they couldn't ever get it so that every string was muted about the same -- just wasn't that useful. I loved that tailpiece tho', it held the piece of doubled-up felt just great if you stuck a pick or two in between the tailpiece and the body, using them as shims to it kept the tailpiece up to let the strings ring but the felt sat on top of the strings just right. I just use some masking tape and tape the felt on top of the strings right next to the bridges, and that works just fine (altho' it might not look that great, sure gets a lot of questions and others have followed suit who use a pick). It has to be *on top* of the strings when using a pick. For finger players, it has to be *underneath* the strings and NOT felt, has to be foam rubber. The foam doesn't work that well for the pick sounds, just a nice piece of doubled-up felt (buy it cheap at any sewing center, even at Target, etc.). This is so critical to get a good clarified sound that will project through from either a combo or a big band. Works every time, and is a critical necessity also for recording. I believe that bassists have over-bought all kinds of gear trying to define their sounds when all it takes is a mute (the accessory gear manufacturers will hate me).
Carol Kaye

[cjenrick]

our git tech was shaking an acoustic guitar to get the rattle out and a syringe popped out, luckily it did not jab him in the eyeball,

Johnny Cash got busted for speed he had inside his guitar,

[Justin Thomas]

I think we can all learn a lesson here... hold acoustics below eye legelnwhen removing foreign objects.

On another note, one time I reclaimed my D-12-28 from my brother, and when I picked it up it sounded like it was full of packing peanuts. That would have been nice - try Cheez Doodlez.

Justin

[drewl]

Yeah the Mesa dampening screw made removing a chassis a nightmare the first time I saw one.
"why wont this %&%-Ing chassis come out"

Aside from spare change or mysterious petrified liquids I always get Ampegs that look like they were in a barn for forty years with all kinds of rodent crap in them.
You guys at least found some good stuff!

I still get crap for wrapping a fuse with tin foil on my buddy's Bassman 135 when we were kids. Hey, it got us through the gig!

In his book, Keef tells of a syringe falling out of Bobby Keys' sax going through customs.

[drewl]

I've actually found cooler things in stuff I fix at work, like a bullet shot into one, a live brown recluse(!) deadly spider, burned up lizard skeletons and one piece that was in a fire that came with a note: " this survived but the owner didn't"

[Justin Thomas]

Aside from spare change or mysterious petrified liquids I always get Ampegs that look like they were in a barn for forty years with all kinds of rodent crap in them.
You guys at least found some good stuff!.

Guy walked innmy music shop with an early 60s B-15N, covered in spider webs, clay dust, and straw. Literally that morning pulled it out of his grandpa's barn. Brought it to the music shop, owner offered him $400 cash, dirty, unplayed, in-barn-uncovered-with-animals-for-40-years, as-is. Guy took it, owner wiped it down, plugged it in, started playing it. As he was, guy walks in, "whoa, when did that come in?" "Twenty minutes ago." "I'll give you $800 for it, as-is." Sold.

Not bad for the price of one rag... just thought it funny you mention Ampegs in Barns in contrast with "good stuff..."

Justin

[olddawg]

The classic cludge would be wrapping the fuse with aluminum foil (from the bar) or a gum wrapper. Back in the old days you could "borrow" an AGC fuse from your car. But I can remember playing a gig as a poor kid taking the output tubes out of an amp on the break, wrapping them in a bar towel, throwing them (gently) on the floor a couple of times, and reinstalling them with the blown main fuse wrapped with foil. I got me through the night. It didn't kill the amp. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. A month ago we tripped a breaker at a club. After the reset I saw my amp was dead. Luckily it has a circuit breaker. I wonder why more amps don't have them?

[drewl]

Ha!
It was gum wrapper foil!

Shop owners brother gave me an SVT to check out he got for free today.
Looks like it was in the trash!

Besides tubes it will probably be something easy to fix.

[bob p]

I wonder why more amps don't have them?

Fuse holders are cheap.

[dmartn149]

And there is some brand of pedal I can't recall that printed lots of funny stuff on the boards.

I had a Proco Rat that had something about being built by hot chicks printed on the circuit board

[drewl]

Nice!
I name patches on my foot controller funny or risque names that crack up the sax player next to me.
Like Hot Blonde is a blonde bassman etc.

Other names are R-rated!