My Valvetech is home/UPS, I hate you!

[Garrett Bagby]

I finally got my 50W 2x12 Valvetech today. Rob did a great job packing it (it was actually kind of hard to get into, but that's a good thing). But UPS worked their magic anyway and managed to break it.

Apparently it took a shot in the back and the plug for the speaker wires is broken. Could've been much, much worse but now I have to wait until tomorrow to get a new plug and solder it up before I can hear this beauty. I heard a rattle in the chassis when I first picked it up and thought maybe Rob had lost a screw in there, but it was the tip of the plug bouncing around in there.

Oh well, it gave me an excuse to drop the chassis and get a look at all the purty wires and stuff on the inside. Rob did an immaculate job with the wiring.

So anway, just had to vent a little since I can't make use of this beauty yet. Nothing else to report except that it's GORGEOUS.

 

[Luke V]

Bummer. Good luck,hope everything else is cool after you replace the jack.

 

[electronpirate]

Never never never with dreaded UPS. I have much better luck with FEDEX.

Not to derail. No more bitching.

We expect clips tomorrow night!

EP

 

[skeeterbuck]

Look on the bright side. At least you are able to fix it yourself.
Imagine having to file a damage claim with UPS and going through all THAT hassle.

 

[bob-i]

Shipping is such a hassle. I recently fixed a guy's vintage Silvertone... .one of the best handwired amps I've ever worked on. When he got it back the footswitch, one that's been stepped on for 40 years, was destroyed.

Good luck with the repair.

 

[69strat]

Ahhh man!!! My hayseed is in transit right now!!!! I too, feel fedex is the only way to go!!!

 

[rawkguitarist]

out of a trillion packages each day, something is bound to go wrong. Fedex doesn't ship as many packages as UPS, so the perception of damaged pachages is better. I agree that Fedex is a great company, they're one of my companies customers. But UPS is 99% like clock work. I've never had any problems.

Walmart
UPS
Microsoft

We just hate succesful people don't we...

 

[69strat]

Dont get me started on Walmart!!!!!! As for the other two, hurray for them!!!!!

 

[fullerplast]

Originally posted by Garrett Bagby
Apparently it took a shot in the back and the plug for the speaker wires is broken. Could've been much, much worse but now I have to wait until tomorrow to get a new plug and solder it up before I can hear this beauty. I heard a rattle in the chassis when I first picked it up and thought maybe Rob had lost a screw in there, but it was the tip of the plug bouncing around in there.

What a very strange type of damage! Was there a puncture in the box? If I am understanding your description, the tip of the 1/4 speaker plug was broken off of the body of the plug? That takes an incredible amount of force. I can't even imagine doing that if you were trying, let alone from box dropping!

 

[Garrett Bagby]

Originally posted by fullerplast
What a very strange type of damage! Was there a puncture in the box? If I am understanding your description, the tip of the 1/4 speaker plug was broken off of the body of the plug? That takes an incredible amount of force. I can't even imagine doing that if you were trying, let alone from box dropping!

Yep, that's exactly it. Rob used a vintage-style plug. One of the really flat ones where you solder in the wires and screw two plates together to seal it. The shaft of the plug is made of 4 seperate pieces. So when it got hit, the outer piece of the shaft popped out of the metal base, pushing the tip off and into the inside of the chassis. Now that outer piece is bent and it can't be reassembled.

No damage to the box and I don't think Rob could've done a better job packing it. I know UPS ships millions of packages with no problems, but I don't like dealing with them. But that's another thread altogether. I'm mainly just irked that I have this beautiful amp that I've wanted for months sitting in my guitar room unplayed because someone along the line was careless and damaged it.

 

[r9player]

I've had A LOT more damaged by FedEx then UPS ...

 

[Garrett Bagby]

Well, I couldn't get a hold of the same style plug Rob used, but a Switchcraft right-angle plug is doing the trick, so that means tone report!

It has EL34's, reverb and two Weber Ceramic Blue Dogs. It's a beauty with wine red tolex and Marshall-style cane grillcloth. It looks as good as it sounds.

First thing I have to say is it is LOUD. It's also extremely versatile. Channel 1 got me beautiful shimmering clean on par with my Super Reverb. With the gain up, it got me into nice blues territory. The 12ax7/12at7 switch is very cool as well, to adjust the character. Plus it has a bright switch. Throw the AC Booster in front and it's going to be the main sound for my band.

Channel 2 is a total high gain beast! With both gain stages all the way up, I was in some serious nu-metal territory. Switching gains stage two in and out is easy with the footswitch, but it can give a big volume boost if the second stage's level is set too high. It seemed a little too harsh to my taste, but this was my first time really digging into a modern hi-gain amp circuit, so I think I'll get used to it.

I'll need some more time to tweak the controls to make it just right, but the amp is knocking me out so far. I don't think I've ever played an amp that is more versatile. And Rob definitely made no compromises in quality. It's a masterpiece as far as the build and Rob should be commited for selling them as cheap as he does.

And a question for the experts... Do speakers have a break-in time? For example, will the tone sweeten after a little while?

 

[69strat]

Got the Hayseed last night! The box was wasted and the head was moving around inside. All is well . The build quality is the best I,ve seen anywhere! The tones are !@#$ing outstanding! I will be ordering one of his Vac,c after I tell my wife about this one! She thinks I borrowed it from an internet buddy!!!

 

[bscepter]

Which amp is this? I thought he only did the 33w Hayseed and the 22w 6V6 one. In any case, it sounds waaay cool. I can't wait for mine!

 

[rawkguitarist]

That sounds like a killer stinking amp!!!

Congrats!!
:RoCkIn

 

[Bix]

I'll have my 22watt 6v6 1x12 Valvetech VAC in the next week. They are very cool amps and I'm really excited about it. I was recently at a studio with Rob where we tracked this amp for Rob's website. It was a fun time and his amp recorded beuaftifully. Again I can't say enough for the VAC, just super versatile and cool.

Bix

 

[Garrett Bagby]

Originally posted by bscepter
Which amp is this? I thought he only did the 33w Hayseed and the 22w 6V6 one. In any case, it sounds waaay cool. I can't wait for mine!

Rob has some unadvertised options.

 

[bscepter]

Originally posted by Garrett Bagby
Rob has some unadvertised options.

He's certainly been very open to my suggestions. Again, a great guy.


Hmmm... What if I wanted a power section with sixteen EL84s...

 

[Hipster Dofus]

My Hayseed has a few tweeks that he was very cool about doing.

I will tell you this, My Hayseed with a PRS CU22 Standard is so freeking loud it is silly. On 2 or 3 it is just killer crunch. Loudest 33 watts I have ever heard.

 

[bscepter]

Originally posted by Hipster Dofus
My Hayseed has a few tweeks that he was very cool about doing.

I will tell you this, My Hayseed with a PRS CU22 Standard is so freeking loud it is silly. On 2 or 3 it is just killer crunch. Loudest 33 watts I have ever heard.

Oooohhhhh!!! I can't freakin' wait! I actually want loud!