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llllllllllllllllllll wrote: Tue Jun 11, 2024 11:20 am My laptop is on the way out too. At this stage, would pretty much any modern laptop be able to hang with Reaper and a live band and such? Everything goes through a mixer and outboard for me, so the computer pretty much only records, edits, and plays back. I only use plugins for test tones and inserts, though it’s possible there could be 16-something 96/24 tracks going at once… usually not just a stereo file going in and out until the very end.

That should be easily done by any modern laptop. I do way more with my M1 Mac Air with only 8 gb ram. I would ask why 96k. 48k is perfect and halves your processing load. 96k is wholly unnecessary and you aren't going to miss anything going to 48k. You will just gain processor and ram headroom. 48k 24bit is the sweet spot.

Thanks, I’ll re evaluate the 96k thing at the end of this album project. There’s a ton of stuff I need to address because I just went with whatever setting to get going when I started on Reaper not so long ago.

Kniferide wrote: Sat Jun 15, 2024 3:46 am 48k is perfect and halves your processing load. 96k is wholly unnecessary and you aren't going to miss anything going to 48k. You will just gain processor and ram headroom. 48k 24bit is the sweet spot.

Seconded. Enthusiastically.

Ampeg SVT-III Pro:

Sean from Almanac Man sent this to me, saying it was cutting out after a few minutes at stage volume. I opened it up and found this:



The variable-speed fan driver circuit in these is weird. It's in series with two of the tube heaters. You need to match the total current draw and rating of the original fan (0.14 A @ 24 V, 3.3 W), otherwise the circuit will not be able to regulate the supply voltage correctly and will burn up the fan. Found that out the hard way.

Fan speed is controlled by a temperature sensor mounted in the middle of the heatsink. I tested that and it worked fine. The TIP31C driver transistor for the fan was acting strangely though, so I replaced it just to be sure.

Cleaned the dust out of it, and rebiased the output stage, as these things tend to drift over time and cause crossover distortion. This one was way out. I only measured 1 mV across the balllast resistors, it should have been about 25 mV.

Traynor YBA-3A:

I found a replacement logo on ebay when I refurbed this thing, but I've never been happy with it. Too thin, too small, with visible texture in the black areas from the laser engraving. The typeface was slightly too bold. The mounting holes didn't quite line up with the original.



Found a dirty and worn original on reverb for cheap, so I snatched it up:



Cleaned it with some detergent and a stiff brush. Scuff sanded the raised areas with 600 grit, then dabbed on silver enamel from my wife's art stash with a tightly folded paper towel. Much better:

Nice painting job. Steady hands!

twelvepoint wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2024 9:56 pm Nice painting job. Steady hands!

yeah. I'm too shaky. I usually just use a silver sharpie for that kinda thing and it looks like a drunk did it because... one did.

I was just thinking the other day that I would never trust a clean Traynor logo, but that looks great. Miles above the repro

You can have shaky hands and still do it the way I did it. I basically followed this technique:
https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/forums ... pictorial/

Nate Dort wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 10:42 am You can have shaky hands and still do it the way I did it. I basically followed this technique:
https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/forums ... pictorial/

Another great option would be using a rubber brayer as used in printmaking, for anyone with an artist in their house. Can probably also be obtained cheaply online for less than the cost of a reissue or replacement badge. But I haven’t priced one in recent years.