Contact
Thanks for trying to contact me. Scroll to the bottom of this page to fill out a contact form.
On my old website where I posted my email address, I often received many emails per day asking for advice or for my opinion on what other people should buy. I don’t actually think it’s a good idea to ask one persons opinion, because guitar tone is so subjective. I believe it’s much better to ask subjective questions on forums for many people to answer.
Also I am getting to the point where I cannot answer all the emails I receive, so I have decided that I will remove my email address from the site, and for any contact, users can fill out a comment form at the bottom of this page.
Here are some general links where you can ask questions about the amps and gear I talk about on this site.
For the Line6 forum: http://www.line6.com/community
The official Atomic Forum: http://www.fractalaudio.com/forum/
For the sewatt forum (Blackheart amps forum): http://www.sewatt.com
Hey Rowbi, just a note to thank you for linking to my Line6 Demo video’s.
Cheers,
Glenn
No worries, you do a good job with your videos. they’re well worth linking to
Cheers
Rowbi
Your How To Bias an Atomic Reactor 112-50 guide, can that also be used for Atomic Amp 112-18w?
I don’t know the bias specs for the 18watter.
Please see the link on this page for the unofficial atomic forum, and ask there. alternatively contact atomic amps at http://www.atomicamps.com and they will tell you the specs you need to know for biasing.
Just wanted to extend much thanks Rowbi for your very informative response concerning some inquiries posted in the thread, “TonePort DI-Bundled w/GuitarPortOnline” subscription – That pretty much cleared things up for me….and was greatly appreciated !
No worries. glad it’s all clear now
Hi,
Did I see somewhere your selling your atomic 50 watter?
Cheers
Gary
hi
yes I am selling it, and as I’ve had no offers yet, I’ll probabky put it on ebay this week.
cheers
Rowbi
Hi Gary
if you’re still interested in the Atomic, you can email me on atomicforsale@rowbinet.co.uk
Cheers
Rowbi
Hi
Is the Atomic amp sold? Not seen it on eBay and I’m interested.
Cheers
Paul
Hi
Yes I am selling the atomic. I will probably put it up for sale tonight if I get a chance.
if anyone is interested in buying it before it goes on ebay, at a good price, please contact me via private message on the line6 community/forum and we can exchange details there.
Rowbi
i’ve actually done a bit more advertising. so you can email me on atomicforsale@rowbinet.co.uk if you want more info or to make me an offer. etc
Rowbi
I was wondering if you had any info for the BH15H like you do the BH5H … specifically shematics, mods, etc.
TIA …
i’ve never owned a BH15H, so I don’t know any mods. Bitmo I think has some mod kits, and their kits are good.
I do have a BH15H schematic though, so I will try to find it and post it soon.
Hi
Please check out the blackheart talk mods page for the BH15 schem: http://www.blackhearttalk.com
Hello ,
I’m looking for PCB file of Blackheart BH5H.
Eagle or Express PCB ….
Best regards.
all I have (shcems and PCB layouts) for the BH5H is on the blackheart page of this site. click the blackheart link on the navi bar right at the top.
Hey Rowbi,
Did you make a MIDI to FBV converter? That would sure be helpful for controlling non-MIDI L6 devices. I saw your forum poll on L6.com, but don’t know if you tried to make one.
Andy
hi
i wish I had. but I didn’t know enough to be able to do it. it is probably possible to do, but I think you’d have to basically know MIDI inside out to do it, and also you’d need to know communications protocols used for MIDI and RS232 to have any chance.
Hey Rowbi.
Thanks for the help this afternoon with my Tone Port UX 2 problem. Your reply on the Line6 site was bang on my friend.
Take it easy.
Gerry.
Hi Rowbi, I have a Handsome Devil, but I want more gain, I just watched the clip with the high gain mod, it got me wondering if the 10k resistor would work with a BitMo modded Handsome Devil? If it does, is R2 still the right place to put it? I had a Champion 600 that I modded and I removed the negative resistance resistor and it also seemed to increase the gain, would it work in a Handsome Devil? If it would, were is it located. I may wind up switching to a Little Giant, so I may just wind up working on that. Anyway, great site and info and any help would be appreciated. Thanks for reading.
hey
they best place to post this is on the blackheart talk forums. http://www.blackhearttalk.com as I don’t actually have a BH15 so I can’t really advise you, but some members of the forum have them so you may get the answer there.
Hey, my site is giving away an online mini bass tuner for websites. Can I interest you with it?
http://www.play-bass.com/online-tuner
I’d prefer to just link to your site, as my site is more about guitar then bass.
Rowbi,
Love your site. Many thanks. I’m a thinking about buying a mint Epi Les Paul Custom 3+ Trans Black same as yours. I CANNOT for the life of me find a retail price on the thing because Ep only made 500 of them!!! Any advice of the price range I should expect to pay??? If you don’t mind, how much did you pick yours up for (no worries if it’s too personal).
Thanks Mate!
Taylor
hi
i’ve no idea what they would sell for. that depends on what anyone is willing to pay for a limited edition.
i got mine REALLY cheap in a xmas clearout because someone had paid a deposit and then left it in the store for a year. so it was a special order and never been out of the box. it was £200 i think, perhaps 2 years ago at Xmas. that said around the same time, in a rather expensive music store in Cambridge, they had one, and that was on sale for £600. so I guess the true cost of a new one in a reasonable store would have been approx £450-£500.
That said, it was 2 years ago, and they were rare then, because they were part of the 2005 limited edition collection.
Hope this helps you.
Rowbi
Hi,
I’m searching for a solution to convert the FBV from Line6 to MIDI.
The only interesting Link from Google was an old threat on the Line6 side, where you and some other guys talked about finding a solution.
I want to ask: Do you know something about the FBV protocol ?
I’m very interested in the protocol, to build a converter, because I have a Pod X3 (without Midi) and old PreAmps which need Midi…. so i have a problem.
I’m looking forward to an answer.
Sorry for my bad english.
I did do some research, but it turned out that it would be too expensive to get a MIDI design company to produce this… and Line 6 do not seem interested at teh moment.
There was a person on the forums who did come up with their own circuit, as I guess they had experience of RS232 or some other serial comms protocol work. I don’t, so I can’t help you with the FBV protocols. you could search on the line6 forums as I think he was on there.
aside from that, you could buy a POD2 and use that to convert between FBV and MIDI, by using Spaceatl’s way os using one FBV pedal to conrtol multiple amps. so use the pedal to control your amp + the POD2, then the POD2′s midi control can control some other midi device if you like.
when will you be selling the amplitude irig for the android market
This blog is an independant blog, featuring news on guitar and recording related articles. I have no affiliation with IK Multimedia at all, so for more information on iRig or the manufacturer of iRig (IK Multimedia) you should really visit their website: http://www.ikmultimedia.com/irig
Hi
I have a little “marshall tone” mod for the Blackheart BH5H. I did these modifications to mine, and it became a “growling” mini-plexi. wow! So… according to your “stock BH5H schematic” here is the mod:
C1: 10uF
C3: mallory 150 22nF
C4: mallory 150 22nF
R5: 47k
R8: 220k
R9: 1M
C7: 47uF
R11: 150
… I measured B+ at 405VDC in my amp. I think it’s way too much for an EL84. It will die really quickly… so I installed a 100ohm 25W resistor between “OT.B+” and C12 (reducing the B+ voltage on the ot. to about 300VDC)
Also one more trick: I have a 16 ohm cabinet, and i like the sound of it when I plug it into the 4 ohms output. This doesnt damage the amp (not like if I plugged a 4 ohm cabinet into the 16 ohm output… that WOULD damage the amp)… So the sound is a bit smoother and more rounded with creamy highs. I love it! I run my BH5H into a 212 with greenbacks.
of course every component must have the correct (stock) ratings (voltage for capacitors and W for resistors)
Hi, I’ve just upgraded to Pod Farm 2, and I am using a Line6 UX1.
I’ve found the plug ins in program files, but I cannot open them.
I would appreciate some advice.
My advice is, if you have problems with a Line 6 product, go to the Line 6 forum, and ask a question. I’m a member there and may see your post, but that way others get the benefit of the answers you get, and also many people can answer you, meaning you’ll get things sorted faster… If the users can’t help, then as it’s Line 6′s support forum, the Line 6 tech’s can also help you out.
hello, I want to bye Podfarm. My question is if it works
with my PODXT Live pedal. I have finded no answer in the normal
supportsite. Hopely you can help me. Best regards, Franky P.S.:
sorry for my English but I speak duth en adressed in
Belgium.
Well it will work, but there are different versions and some aren’t compatible. You should post a question (stating what you want to achieve) on the line 6 support community and you will get the full info about whether you can do what you want.
Hi Andy. Just a brief thank you for your 4 tutorials on the fx infusion for the Line 6 Spider Valve Mkii. This is a great starting point for me having just acquired the 100w HD and 4 x 12, and have yet to dive into this thing to try and create some sounds before touring.
I’ve already edited all the manuals in an attempt to simplify everything, but it’s still daunting. I have found the amp incredibly loud, not necessarily a good thing, would you recommend taking all the channel volumes down a few notches or am I likely to lose some response.
I did get rid of a Fender Cybertwin in an attempt to have a slightly less synthetic sound, but I’m not succeeding just yet.
Main guitar – Godin LGXSA fitted with Kent Armstrong pick/ups.
Thanks for your help
Mark
Hey man, thanks for contacting me.
Welcome to the Spider Valve family. The best place to look for info or to ask questions like this (if you’ve already checked the manuals) is the forum: http://line6.com/community/community/support/amplifiers/spidervalve?view=discussions
but to get to your points for now. master volume is overall loudness. channel volumes are the master volumes for the amp models, so they may affect tone a little. on the master volume, you’ll get used to it being sensitive…. but just a thought… is a stack really for you if you think it’s too loud?? it’s more about the speakers than the watts, as more speakers move more air.
Cheers
Rowbi
Hi Andy. Yep, hindsight is a wonderous thing, and I wish I’d got the 2 x 12, but hey ho, I shall persevere. All the best, Mark
Hi!
I also have Pod HD300. I saw your video ‘POD HD300 Review’. The tone about 1:30 is very cool. Could you send me a patch ?
Take care, Mike
Hey, thanks for your message,
click the Line 6 tone link at the top of my blog and they are there for download under the POD HD300 section.
Have fun.
I heard that you might have a point to point layout for the Blackheart BH5H Little Giant Amplifier…..Is this true?
everything I have is on the Blackheart page on my blog. I don’t have a PTP layout, I have the PCB layouts and schematics.
Hey Rowbi, great site full of info on the BH5H. Do you happen to know a part number for the indicator lamp? Mine burned out and I can’t find a flashlight bulb that works. Thanks!
Hi Mark,
No I don’t know the part number, but what I am certain of from looking at the schematic is that the light runs from the 6.3V AC tap which I think is then rectified to DC, and that then feeds the power and preamp tube heaters.
So I would say you need a 6v bulb. I also know the light fitting on the Blackheart amps is a style of amplifier bulb fitting called a ‘jewel’. Fender use these a lot, as do other amp manufacturers. I also know Watford Valves (google them) stock replacement bulbs for Fender jewels, so its worth getting into contact with Derek from Watford Valves to ask him if that will fit your amp. you could take a measurement of the bulb you have, and check the ones he stocks are teh same physical size as well as it being 6V.
Cheers
Rowbi
Re treble bleeds: one of the most effective for me is this………
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/87/wiringhighpassfalbo1agz0.jpg/
The advantages of it are it’s simplicity; there is only one component.
It works on part volume settings ( 0-9) and if you back off the tone control to
8.5 this cancels it.
I believe it was originally credited to Frank Falbo @ Seymour Duncan
http://www.dominocs.com/Gibson/WiringLibrary/wiringHighPassFalbo.htm
Regards
Andy
Good info there, thanks
Rowbi Hey I have a brand new fvb express MK2 and have never used it its going to a duoverb head, how do I loose the reverb that comes thru mostly on the D channel and how do I equal out the volume between The A B C D channels ?Thanks C. HILL studio city CA.
check out on the Line 6 website for the manual for your amp. the reverb and volume levels in the amps presets are where the issue is, so you need to edit those presets. the pedal is just a dump pedal and is controlling the amp, there’s nothing to edit in the pedal.
Hi,
if I want to put a POD HD direct into a stereo power amp, would a HD 500 be okay or would I need the line level output of the Pro?
cheers
Pete
you have missed the point. The Pro has LIne level ‘Inputs’ which the other POD HD’s don’t have… BUT all POD HD’s have the ability to have line level outputs to seed to a stereo power amp.
So you could use a POD HD500 with no problems into a stereo power amp. there;s a switch on it to set it to line level outputs.
For any other POD questions. Pop over to the Line 6 user community, as myself and a load of other helpful chaps can answer your questions.
Regards
Rowbi
Hi there…
I saw some pix of a Line6 Spider Valve combo that was converted into a head on your page through google.
I plan the same with mine but of course some advice or experience would be greatly appreciated…
Could you tell me where I can find out mor about these spider-combo-to-head conversions?
thx
HI,
Sorry I don’t specifically know much more. Check out the Line 6 User community as I think there’s a couple of posts from someone who did it over there.
Rowbi
I’ve been watching your videos and comments regarding Line 6 products for years (and thank you – btw)
I’m looking for a link to Line 6 replacement parts. Quite specifically I’m asking you if you have worked with a parts supplier that had Line 6 amp schematics that can send me the specific part I’m looking for.
I’ve got a Spider Jam amp with some bad front pots (the pots that control the two effect knobs specifically) I’ve already pulled the circuit boards apart and have measured the pots in question and have determined that they have issues. The problem is I have no idea what they are — LOL. There are no printed specs on them at all.
So if you have a reference that you have used, I’d be much obliged.
Cheers
Tom Zachary from Los Angeles California….
Hi Tom,
Sorry I don’t know any specific L6 parts suppliers that will also supply schematics.
The info I usually give out (which is all I know) is to contact various L6 authorised service centers and see if one of them will sell you parts and perhaps a schematic. BUT what I do know is that L6 try to make as many repairs as cost effective as possible.. So it may be worth calling Line 6 HQ seen as you’re so close to them in California, and they may be able to do you a good deal on the repair… yes it may cost a little more than just the parts cost, if you’re qualified to work on such things… but in the long run they can test everything out and ensure you don’t buy parts and end up wasting your money.
I know it’s a pain sometimes, but I have often found that cutting corners sometimes ends up costing more, and causing more issues… just my personal opinion though
let me know if you do find a parts/schem supplier in the US, would be handy to know
Rowbi
Rowbi
Thanks so much for the reply. I’ve sent emails to all of the service centers in my area and hope to get some information. In the mean time I found a guy in Burbank CA that sells a bunch of parts for Line 6 amps. He has the exact pots that I’m looking for. I’ll pick them up tomorrow, pull the old ones out and solder in the new ones. The Spider Jam amp I’m repairing is used and and not really worth that much, so I don’t have that much to loose if I mess up.
Tom
Here is the web site where you can buy parts for Line 6 amps. they have pots and knobs and a few other parts. A good resource to have
Tom Zachary
http://www.shop.alivesoundcenter.com/Line-6-Potentiometer-for-Spider-112-21-Spider-212-Line-01-48-6103.htm
Hi Rowbi,
I’m going to modify my BH5H….
Have you the BH15H PCB layout?
Thx
Hi,
You mention you have a BH5H, but then ask for a BH15H PCB layout… I assume you didn’t make a mistake so here are links to the BH15H schematic and all PCB layouts
http://rowbinet.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/bh15-schematic.pdf
http://rowbinet.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/bh15.pdf
http://rowbinet.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/bh15h-bottom.pdf
http://rowbinet.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/bh15h-silkscreen.pdf
http://rowbinet.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/bh15h-top.pdf
Rowbi
I have a BH5 and I am working on some modifications for this amp. In getting ready, I noticed that the BH5 uses DC heater supply. This is cool; however, when I measured this voltage it seems to be running the heaters at about 7.4Vdc. According to all the specifications that I have found, this is too high. Does anyone have any experience with this? Is this acceptable? I would assume that because of the RMS affect, the actual percentage of DC voltage variation can be greater than that of AC voltage variation. Comments??
well there’s a couple of things you could do.
to start with, check that the voltage coming from the power transformer is 6.3VAC, as it’s a 6.3VAC supply that’s rectified to DC I think. so the DC I’m not 100% sure what the voltage will show, but it should be I would think around 6.3VDC after rectification.
The 5VDC tap is for a tube rectifer, and isn’t used for the other tubes heater supply.
Remember that there’s a chance with the load of the tubes on the heater supply, it may pull the voltage down, so if you’re measuring the voltage with no tubes in the amp, then this may be the cause of the higher voltage reading.
As always though, if in doubt get a qualified amp tech to look at it, or have Crate (who own Blackheart) service the amp for you.
Cheers
Rowbi
I will check the open circuit AC voltage to make sure that it is 6.3Vac. This may be a meter problem; however, I believe that if the dc heater voltage has very little ripple then the voltage level should be ~(6.3/.707)-1.4. This is obviously a simplified version of the calculations but it will get you very close. If this is correct, then this circuit was designed to produce ~7.5Vdc to the heaters of the tubes. If this is true, then the BH5 will consume tubes faster than if it had true 6.3V heater supply. What do you think?
I think it should certainly be checked with tubes in, and if the voltage is still too high, fit a resistor to pull down the voltage a little. Just make sure you work out how many watts the resistor needs to be so you get a high enough watt rating. Of course this could be due to over voltage on the mains side so that’s something to think about.
disclaimer: you work on your amp at your own risk. If in doubt, get a qualified amp tech to service your amp.
Cheers
Rowbi
I used a series diode between the bridge rectifier and the filter cap. Had to cut the trace to do so but that is easily returned if needed. The diode gives a constant voltage drop. It works great. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to keep there tubes running longer. This voltage is just outside the upper specification for both the 12ax and the 6bq5.
yep that would work too. usually you get 0.7v forward voltage drop from a silicon diode, so if it’s 0.7V you need to drop, and the diode voltage and current specs will fit the purpose then great. but from your previous message, you had 7.5VAC and obviously you need around 6.0-6.3VDC. If the drop with the diode gives you 6.0-6.3VDC then great, if not then a resistor would be better as you can or course get a resistor with just the right resistance to give you a more accurate voltage drop.
It sounds like you know what you’re doing though, but for the benefit of anyone else who wants some more info, here’s some things I just thought about:
The total current draw on that 6.3V heater circuit is just over 1amp, or to be accurate 1.06amps (I’ve looked at the tube specs on JJ Tesla’s website), so you also need to drop 1.2volts. So this should be a simple V/I=R calculation. you want to drop 1.2volts (that’s your V), and the current is 1.06 (that’s your I), and it gives you an R of 1.13 (which is your resistance in ohms).
So I would use at least a 2 watt resistor to be on the safe side (use 3w if you like), so that it stays nice and cool. to get 1.1 ohms will be a little tricky, but I know you can get 2.2ohm 2 watt power resistors from rapidonline in the UK, so you could run two of those in parallel to give you 1.1ohms capable of 4 watts.
If once you fit them the voltage drop still isn’t quite enough, then another alternative is a 1ohm resistor in series with 0.22 or 0.33ohm resistor, just to take the voltage down a little bit.
I am in the process of changing the 6bq5 to 6v6 in this amp for the sake of experimenting with the tone. This is the reason that I have been inspecting the voltage values including the heater voltage.
Question: Have you done any experimenting with adding negative feedback to the BH5 circuit. This has a huge affect on the overall tone of most fender amps and I was thinking about experimenting with this.
Sorry no I haven’t. If you get good results, please let me know as I’d like to try it out, and maybe post something on the blog about it (I’d obviously give you credit etc).
ok . . . I will keep you posted. This is a slow process for me because of my regular job. It gets in the way of my fun stuff, but it keeps the bills paid. I figure that in a week or so I will have some interesting results.
Ok . . . I have had some more time for experimenting and tweaking. The negative feedback thing is still pending; however, I did change the output tube to a 6V6 and the sonic character of the amp is much different. “Much more the way I like it.” Also, I have been tweaking the tone stack a bit. Looking for a smoother tone than the stock parts . . . at least with a strat. I used 250p, .1umd, and .047mfd. This gave it more original fender tone. I’m digging it so far. The only mistake I made was using the same hole that the 6BQ5 was in to mount the 6V6. I would not do this again because the wiring makes removing the board to solder a big pain in the ass. Everything else is great so far. I have been testing the amp with several types of speakers . . . the green back wins again!