Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: WezV on August 21, 2007, 01:46:32 PM

Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 21, 2007, 01:46:32 PM
.... a day under 8 weeks since i ordered but its well worth the wait:

(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/amp1.jpg)

some of you may have been wondering why i re-covered a cab in red tolex after ordering my little rock - hopefully that makes sense now :wink:

this things awsome.  I am not much of a player anymore, i mainly ordered it because i needed a good amp for people that were coming round to try stuff out.  I wanted a minimat II but dave suggested the little rock would be better for its versatility.  'But i want a red and white  one' say i and here we are!!  I cant really say they will do this for anyone - they wouldnt have done it for me if it wasnt for that fact its mainly gonna be a demo model for my guitars, and therefore their amp so dont go saying 'but you did wez one in red :cry: ;

Been playing (badly) for the last couple of hours and its great, i was just randomly turning knobs to see what happened and it all sounds excellent -so far i am favouring the thickest clean voice with volume and master on full.

Some people have said the voice switch doesnt make much difference, i think it does but i generally prefer a thicker sound anyway - definately worthwhile though.

I was gonna convert my kit champ amp into a head and cover it red to have both of them on the cab but it really doesnt seem worthwhile. The little rock can get quite close to that anyway and do a hell of a lot more!!
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: ToneMonkey on August 21, 2007, 01:52:15 PM
The cats seem impressed
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 21, 2007, 01:55:09 PM
Nancy likes it, Syd still isnt sure
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: Orkestra on August 21, 2007, 02:31:30 PM
watch out for cats... my two little shite heads destroyed my ENGL cab's toltex... w**kers
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 21, 2007, 02:35:49 PM
i just turn it up full if they start doing that - keeps them nervous around it!!
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: TwilightOdyssey on August 21, 2007, 02:45:25 PM
That looks killer!

I'm not into the whole animal thing, but those look like very clean, happy cats!
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: noodleplugerine on August 21, 2007, 02:55:57 PM
That looks awesome!!!!

What speakers are in the cab?
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 21, 2007, 02:56:27 PM
yeah - they would make a nice pair of gloves!!
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 21, 2007, 02:59:53 PM
the speakers are mcKensies which were standard on carlsboro cabs at the time.  they look just like greenbacks construction wise - i havnt checked the codes yet

here was the discussion from when i re-tolexed the cab

http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9095&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: ToneMonkey on August 21, 2007, 03:39:06 PM
I got up early to have a shower this morning and ended up chasing a rat around my bathroom.  When you see a cat staring at a radiator and a tail sticking out of the bottom of the radiator, you know it's going to be a bad day.  Ended up catching the poor little bugger and got it outside away from Dweezil (the little killing machine).  Went  back in and into the front room and the little git had left a dead one there.  Little git.
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 21, 2007, 03:43:46 PM
i cant beleive you are all more interesting in talking about cats!

i do have a rule about never leaving a guitar case open in my house - why is it cats always seem to think they are a good place to pee :shock:
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: ToneMonkey on August 21, 2007, 03:46:37 PM
Quote from: WezV
i cant beleive you are all more interesting in talking about cats!



Nice amp  :lol:
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: blue on August 21, 2007, 03:51:03 PM
my uncle once found 2 kittens curled up fast asleep inside his sixties guild acoustic.  happily they had resisted excreting anything in it!

oh yeah, nice amp  :wink:
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on August 21, 2007, 05:02:57 PM
Quote from: WezV

i do have a rule about never leaving a guitar case open in my house - why is it cats always seem to think they are a good place to pee :shock:


Cat Logic : If it looks like a litter tray then it must be one

nancy looks likes she's a cheeky character
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 21, 2007, 05:24:33 PM
the cats are only a year old but were completey hand reared from two weeks because ther mum got ran over..  Therefore i have the two most stupid and soft cats i have ever met - more dog like in that respect
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: Ted on August 21, 2007, 05:34:16 PM
Sweet Mat wez. Hope you like it.

Good job on twisting Jeff's arm!

 :? edit : nice cats too!
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 21, 2007, 05:40:41 PM
finally someone got it the right way round!!

cheers Ted

So far i am loving this thing, cant wait to get it round my cousins to muck about with it slaved through his dual rec :twisted:
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: Oli on August 21, 2007, 06:47:57 PM
Wes, can you tell me what the 'upper limit' of gain is with the Little Rock, perhaps comparing it with a band/track?

Cheers! :)
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 21, 2007, 07:02:37 PM
its apparently jcm800 classic rock kind of gain levels on full according to the factory. Its certainly in that territory with the drive and volume up near the top but I havnt been able to check that with the master up full yet, can you believe i just said that about a 4w amp!

The tone controls seem to work really good as well - i didnt even miss the mid control
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: 38thBeatle on August 21, 2007, 07:08:05 PM
OK Wez, the amp looks great and you did a fine job on the cab. The cats are both beauties but no-one has mentioned the flooring..which looks great to me.
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: blue on August 21, 2007, 07:15:50 PM
and noone's mentioned that the cat on the floor seems to have some poor innocent creature trapped in behind the cab!
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: Oli on August 21, 2007, 07:29:36 PM
Quote from: 38thBeatle
OK Wez, the amp looks great and you did a fine job on the cab. The cats are both beauties but no-one has mentioned the flooring..which looks great to me.


I like how they've kept the same colour throughout- the floor, skirting board and window sill are all matching, good stuff! :P
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 21, 2007, 07:51:41 PM
Quote from: Oli
Quote from: 38thBeatle
OK Wez, the amp looks great and you did a fine job on the cab. The cats are both beauties but no-one has mentioned the flooring..which looks great to me.


I like how they've kept the same colour throughout- the floor, skirting board and window sill are all matching, good stuff! :P


not quite matching actually.  skirting and windowsill is cherry varnish and the floor was beech varnish, and god forgive me - the furniture is all antique oak . . . varnish.  that bloody house doctor woman would have a field day with the way i mix wood tones :wink:

Anyway dont look at that stuff - my DIY is surprisingly bad!!  i'm just not interested if its not guitar shaped

Quote from: blue
and noone's mentioned that the cat on the floor seems to have some poor innocent creature trapped in behind the cab!


nope, she is just investigating the dodgy bit of white piping  on the corner of the amp... i told her it would be sorted when i finally added a logo to the amp but she has no patience!!!
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: Twinfan on August 22, 2007, 09:47:39 AM
Nice custom Little Rock Wez - can't believe they made you one like that!

Quote from: Oli
Wes, can you tell me what the 'upper limit' of gain is with the Little Rock, perhaps comparing it with a band/track?


Quote from: WezV
its apparently jcm800 classic rock kind of gain levels on full according to the factory. Its certainly in that territory with the drive and volume up near the top


Interesting you say that Wez as I find that the Little Rock doesn't have much gain at all, and having never played a JCM800 I expected them to be a gain monster!

Oli - if you want lots of gain in a low wattage head, great for home use and recording, then you need a Tiny Terror.  I did, I now have one, and my Little Rock is standing idle...
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 22, 2007, 10:09:04 AM
dont take my word for anything soundwise, i am certainly no amp expert!!  :oops:

It seemed like a lot of gain to me but it never got over the top - i do tend to favour my amps set just past clean and grumbling along so i am happy!
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: dave_mc on August 22, 2007, 01:12:49 PM
very nice!
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: CJ on August 23, 2007, 03:15:21 AM
nice stack there Wez. i like anything out of the traditional black. how easy is it to re-tolex a cab? my tolex is completely torn up on my cab, and i'm thinking of maybe going white...
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 23, 2007, 08:55:22 AM
not the easiest job to do but it really wasnt as bad as i expected.  But if you look at the cab i did you will see that the black bumpers mean there are very few corners to worry about - i could literally do a bit at each end and a bit goin all round... most cabs will not be that easy because of the work you have to do at the corners.

there are a few re-tolexing tutorials on the web that helped a lot
Title: Amp
Post by: Watsonica on August 23, 2007, 10:59:19 AM
Quote from: WezV
i cant beleive you are all more interesting in talking about cats!

i do have a rule about never leaving a guitar case open in my house - why is it cats always seem to think they are a good place to pee :shock:



I found out the hard way in the early 80's, left my case open to my 62' Gibson SG and "Charlie" (my beloved cat) ruined it forever..tried everything to salvage it but had to trash it.. :oops:

Nice looking amp, was just looking at the "Sky" amp that Uli Jon Roth uses and there are a lot of simalarities, the tolex looks great, kinda like a custom Marshall. :)
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 23, 2007, 03:56:59 PM
yeah the cab is marshall red levant tolex - i couldnt source any red basketweave like the head but its close enough, the cab is slightly brighter!

glad its not just my cats that cant be trusted :wink:   I found one squatting in a customers case before but luckily i caught the little bugger just in time - that would have been embarasing to explain!!
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 26, 2007, 04:02:27 PM
finally got this thing round to my cousins house and gave it a good thrashing up full with a few of his guitars and a boogie 4x12 cab with vc30's i think.  He loved it  - commented on how responsive the controls were compared to his mesa/boogie dual rec.  he has a bit more experience with amps than me and he was comparing it to the vintage marshalls he has played.

We also were testing out a triboost pedal i had made from one of the BYOC kits and it sounds awesome with the treble booster turned up full - the pedal was a little noisy though so i will have to see if i can solve that.
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: Watsonica on August 26, 2007, 04:32:03 PM
Quote from: WezV
finally got this thing round to my cousins house and gave it a good thrashing up full with a few of his guitars and a boogie 4x12 cab with vc30's i think.  He loved it  - commented on how responsive the controls were compared to his mesa/boogie dual rec.  he has a bit more experience with amps than me and he was comparing it to the vintage marshalls he has played.

We also were testing out a triboost pedal i had made from one of the BYOC kits and it sounds awesome with the treble booster turned up full - the pedal was a little noisy though so i will have to see if i can solve that.


Wonderful!!..dunno if your guitar is properly shielded or not but this may help: >> http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 26, 2007, 04:53:26 PM
the strat does have some shielding issues that he wants me to sort out  but this was different to that - thats the link i tend to post a lot.

The strats actually bugging me quite a bit because its a lace sensor equipped one - so should be pretty much noise free.  No doubt the answer will become obvious when i open it up
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: Watsonica on August 26, 2007, 05:11:39 PM
Quote from: WezV
the strat does have some shielding issues that he wants me to sort out  but this was different to that - thats the link i tend to post a lot.

The strats actually bugging me quite a bit because its a lace sensor equipped one - so should be pretty much noise free.  No doubt the answer will become obvious when i open it up


oops.. just tryin to help..hope it gets sorted :) sometimes it's an overlooked groundloop or just a "tiny" portion touching where it ought not, but I figure you've sussed that.
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 26, 2007, 05:46:57 PM
ah dont worry - its always good advice!
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: SamR on August 26, 2007, 08:05:02 PM
wow nice, on the site i spotted somewhere something about high gain, is this true? I really like sambos engl but i wouldnt mind getting me a mini stack, i play mostly metal, basically i just want a nice clear high gain tone without the mesa pricetag, would you say the matamp is a good option to go for in terms of high gain?
Title: Its finally arrived!!!!!
Post by: WezV on August 26, 2007, 08:33:27 PM
well this model wouldnt really compete with a more metal flavoured amp without a bit of help from a suitable pedal.

something like the XV might be more suited from matamps range and is fully customisable including voicing it specifically for what you want!

i will let others advise you on other makes because amps are not my speciality