Conference napalm::guitar

    
    I have yet to hear one, but the DataBass has some interesting design
    concepts:
    
    1. Effects loop for chorus, etc. only passes high frequencies so that
    low end is unprocessed.
    
    2. Power is digital, 450 watts RMS (!!!)
    
    3. The power amp is electronically controlled to prevent overexcursion
    of the speaker, i.e if you try to drive the speaker cone farther than
    it can physically move, the voice coil can be damaged, plus you will get
    distortion.  A number of large subwoofer setups for big PAs have been
    using electronic driver control for awhile, this is the first time it's
    been attempted in a combo amp.  This feature should allow you to get as
    much volume out of the speaker as is physically possible.
    
    Speaker is a 15" Black Widow.  Prices I've heard quoted (without
    haggling) are in the $650 range, which is less than what the GK 800RB
    head alone goes for.
    
    						Brian
    

      Ya know , when I finally get my dog *ss out of 1103 I find something
    else I can comment. The bass player in my band uses a DataBass on
    the majority of our jobs. He has two SVT heads (yes the good old
    tube 300 watt major air-movers) and three 8 X 10 cabs. Scary? He
    used to have four cabs. With this in mind maybe you can understand
    why he'd go for a amp that one person can move! 
      Dave (that's his name) is really fussy about his bass sound, so
    that right there should say a lot for the Databass. He said he'd
    never really considered a Peavey bass amp before he tried this
    monster killer. BUT - right now his Databass is back at Peavey 
    being repaired. It worked for the first few months, then started
    cutting out. I checked it out and the problem is in the power amp,
    which is essentially a DECA 528. He's been borrowing a TNT150 from
    the store while Peavey figures out what's wrong. To quote the 
    guy at Peavey that authorized the return "Yea that sounds like a
    major problem, shouldn't be doing that. You send that right back
    and we'll fix it right up". Now the wait is on for the return.
    Even I miss the sound of that DataBass!
      						-BoOm-
    

    Our Bass player uses one too.  It's a Mighty Mouse!  Fits anywhere and
    will fill  up all available air with BASS!
    
    Steve D.

I'mn surprised you didn't comment on this latest oddity Steve...

Out at Studio B this weekend, Steve borrowed a Yamaha True Diversity 
wireless (a damn nice lookin' unit I might add)...  Well, during sound 
check he kept getting this AWEFUL interference with every note Jim (the bassist)
hit...  I dunno if it was the Databass or the wireless.  BTW - I've got a 
Sampson wireless, and the DB didn't phase mine rig at all.

FWIW,

jc 

    Coop,
    
    we shoulda tried yer wireless set up right next to the DataBass.  The
    interference that Coop was talking about was a loud crackle coming out
    of my amp when the Bassist hit a note.  My wireless reciever was on top
    of my M3 head about 1 foot to the left of the DataBass amp.
    
    Interesting....
    
    Steve D.

    
    The DataBass has a switching power supply which will generate mucho RFI
    if not properly shielded.
    

How does one properly shield it ??

jc (Who'll pass along the info to Jim the bassist)

    
    It's *supposed* to be properly shielded.  Try moving the wireless
    receiver around and see if the noise stops.  If the noise is indeed
    from the supply, the closer you get to the amp, the worse it should
    get.
    
    I don't kow how the FCC treats guitar amps, but computers, for
    instance, have to have heavier shielding for home use than business use
    (differnet FCC classes) so they won't interfere with your TV and radio,
    not to mention those of your neighbors.  The DataBass may be classified
    industrial which means the shielding requirment to pass FCC is less.
    
    							Brian

    
      Well - Dave has had his Databass back for about four weeks and
    everything seems to be back in order! He's happy unless the amp
    dies again (understandable). Hartley's crew fixed it up alright,
    but it took two months!
    
    						-BoOm-

    
      Well (again) - my bass players DataBass started cutting out again!
    It's back in Mississippi for another check out. Shoot - his amp
    travels more than I do!
    
    						---/boom/---

    	Tell him to go back to his SVT.....
    

    
      re .12 .....and get his OWN road crew to move his SVTs.
    
    							-/b/-

    	Hey! You just have to be in shape!!. We carry the bottom end
    (and sometimes a lot more) anyways!!!!!  8v)

    Hey, BoOm -
    
    What's the final verdict on the DataBass?  Has it returned? Is it
    still in use?  Or still in transit?  (Yick!)
    
    Inquiring bassist want to know!
    
    Eric-who-likes-his-Combo-300-but-is-considering-a-DataBass-if-his-wife-
    will-let-him-.........;^)

      Sorry I didn't update - here it is:
      
      The DataBass came back fairly quick the second time and has been
    running fine ever since. They replaced the whole power amp section
    this time! It still impresses me, how much clean bass sound it puts
    out for its size. One nit that gets to my bass player is that you
    can't add another speaker. Something about the design just doesn't
    allow it. The only time you might need an extension speaker though
    is on outdoor gigs. BTW - yes we D.I. the Databass through the front
    end, the bass amp is just for the stage.
    
    							-BooM-

    I picked up my new DATAbass last Friday from Acton Music (Acton, Mass),
    what a pain that was (write me for more information on that joke
    if you really want to know). Anyway, I got it home (still sealed in the
    box) and plugged the baby in. When I flipped on the power switch I hear 
    this whirling sound...  hmmmm sounds like a muffin fan to cool the power 
    section down. Must be Peavey's attempt to keep the power section cooler, 
    but I can "hear" this fan...  and it's kinda loud when you're playing in 
    your living room at home. I don't like that though (it doesn't
    appear to sound like it's coming from the speaker, but more of a
    "mechanical" inboard fan sound). In a gig situation (I gigged with it 
    this past Saturday) you don't hear it at all and the tone was very 
    cool. Really cool...  I love this amp, clean power (~450 watts) 
    nicely layed out EQ with more bottom end than you'll know what to do with. 
    Alittle heavy in weight (~70 lbs), but small (roughly 20"wide x 14"deep x 
    26" high!) It's ported on the bottom of the cabinet so it gives the 
    impression of having a "sub-woof/2-way" cabinet. Now if I can get that 
    muffin fan to be quieter I'd like it that much more.
    
    I'll call Peavey and find out what the story is on the cooling fan.
    
    I'll letcha know what I find out later.
    
    Rock on,
    	    Fred
                     

      I called Peavey and I spoke to one of the designers of the DATAbass. 
    Cool huh? Anyway, he said that they beefed up the internal fan because 
    they had too many *thermal* failures. It seems that the original fan was 
    cooling the amp slower than the heat being generated, so they went to an 
    internal fan *3X* BIGGER than the original one! Thus as he said... "there 
    will naturally be alittle more woosh" than any others manufactured
    before this upgrade.
    
    I feel better now....    :)

    Rock on,
    	    Fred
    
    
    P.S. You should have seen this amp next to all the other equipment at
         our gig on Saturday...  it looked like a little toy amp!
    
    
    
    
    
    	A 450 watt toy amp!   I like it...   ALOT!  :^)
    

    Our Bass player in RnR used a Data Bass....it moves some serious
    air....ask Coop......
    
    Dawg

    Well I have no problem believing that it has great tone, but its
    difficult to imagine something with a relativley small speaker to have
    a real presence as compared to one with larger speakers. The Databass
    moves some nice air, but it just seems to me that physics preclude it
    from moving a lot of air. In a small club setting that may map to
    moving enough air, but in, lets say an outdoor gig, whaddaya think Fred?
    
    
   "sakman"
    

    I wouldn't call a 15" speaker "relatively small", but outdoors it can
    help to have more *if* you don't have any PA assistance.  Too bad the
    Databass has no extension speaker jack  8^(
    
    My experience with 1-15" cabs outdoors with *enough power* is it is
    adequate as long as you are not trying to play with Ted Nugent  8^)
    The bigger problem is not moving air but placing the cab so bandmates
    can hear (notably those on the opposite side of the drummer than you).
    I like to bring a second cab, not for volume, but so the folks on the
    other side can hear what I'm doing.
    
    Back to our normal program.
    
    					Dan Electro	

    Yo Sakman,
    	Good question...  I dunno? Lack of experience with this amp
    prevents me from being able to answer that "outdoor" question.
    It does have a balanced LOW-Z output on the back panel that I
    *would* use at an outside gig. This DATAbass has a much bigger sound 
    than my PV Combo 300. Not only because of the power, but because of the 
    cabinet/port design. The real test would be an outdoor gig, true...  
    then again, I'd probably run the signal into the PA anyway to help
    widen the sound regardless of the rig being used. That just makes
    sense.
    
    Rock on,
    	    Fred (who loves his new DATAbass)
    

    Fred,
    
    how much does that sucker weigh?
    
    just curious....

    RE: .23
    
    I haven't placed it on a scale, but I'd say somewhere between 50-60
    lbs. Heavy, but alot less "bulky" than my Combo 300. About the same
    weight as my PV-MX combo amp. Aside from the weight issue (yeah, it's
    alittle heavy), you can get two hands around this thing, so it makes
    transporting from house to car to gig to car to house alot easier than
    my 300. I can place this DATAbass amp "next" to my MX guitar amp and
    still have room in the trunk of my sub-compact! This is a MAJOR plus
    for me since I carry two rigs with me to every gig (guitar and bass).
    For my application, I would rather have a smaller more potent amp
    than a much larger (more a mountain of air), because for me...  this
    fits my needs very well (along with the potential to kill small animals
    with ALOT OF POWER!!!!!).   ;^)
    
    Rock on,
    	    Fred

    The weight question wasn't a criticism, just curious.  The bass player
    in my last band used one, and he loved it's ease of use features!  It
    really came in handy when we played in those clubs with micro-stages!
    
    I love combos!
    
    Steev

    Austins DATAbass KICKED butt, but he had some reliability
    problems with it, if you remember.  I think it was discussed
    earlier in this topic...
    
    jc

    
    
      My ex-bass player also had a DATAbass that had reliability problems.
    It had started cutting out when it got warm (read that "pushed").
    Peavey took the amp in for service and corrected it under warranty.
    The next ime he had a problem was almost a year later and this time the
    head went back to Peavey again, but they couldn't find a problem with 
    the DATAbass head. To Peavey's credit they upgraded the amp chassis to
    the latest rev (like a DEC FCO) and sent the chassis back. When put
    back into the cabinet it still didn't work! They decided since Peavey
    had checked out the amp section it was time to check the speaker. 
    That was it! The speaker was cooked! 
      The overall resolution to this was to put a 8 ohm heavy duty Black
    Widow speaker into the DATAbass, and allow one additonal 8 ohm
    extension cabinet to be hooked up to it (parallel). The stock speaker
    was a special 4 ohm unit. Not only did that resolve all the problems,
    but with the additional cabinet, this amp really was pushing some air!
      All's well that ends well. 
    
      BTW - that bass player owns two complete Ampeg SVT rigs (that's right
    thirty-two 10" speakers!). He just doesn't like carrying them around!
    
    								-B{}{}M-

    RE:  1563.7 & .8
    
    Shielding *is* a problem for me *ONLY* when I have another amp side 
    by side/next to my DATABass combo. I could hear noise (like the RF type) 
    when I had both amps on, but they were ~1/2" apart from each other. Move 
    it 1 foot or more and the noise went away. I don't have a problem with 
    moving the amps alittle.
    
    Rock on,
    	    Fred (who likes this amp more and more each time he plays it) :)