Did Changing My Power Strip *Really* Improve My Tone?!

#22
Monterey Bay-ss said:
I had all kinds of effects and amps plugged into this black power strip thing that has different colored plugs on both sides, and it stretched just far enough across my room until I put my Mesa Buster 200 1x15" combo up on top of another 1x15" cab; I could still just plug it in, but the whole thing was dangling and the cord was raised like a trip wire across the room. Buster had sounded pretty good with this set-up, but if I didn't really watch it with my attack or EQ (with which I had done nothing drastic), that 15" would (for lack of a better term) fart out easily. Blah blah I should be using 10s but I'm not exactly rolling in cab money right now so that's not really a solution at the moment. THE POINT: I went and bought a heavy-duty extension cord and a brand new, perfectly ordinary power strip, and the farting out issue is pretty much gone. Did the change in power strip alone do this? Did the fact that I didn't plug in all the amps and effects power supplies I had been using with the previous power strip thing have any effect? Am I nuts?
Click to expand...
are you still using all your amps? just one amp right? Are you still using all your effects? only difference was the new power cord and power strip?
 
#23
Matt Liebenau said:
Yes it did. If you want even better tone you should immediately purchase the $500 bass cable, $1000 power cord for your amp and $5000 deluxe all gold power strip. Make sure you get the bass one. They’re frequency specific. :smug::laugh:
Click to expand...

What OP really needs is an electron filter. Bent, twisted, and squashed wires can cause shape and potential problems with electrons trying to squeeze through them. The electron filter weeds out the odd, misshapen, low-weight, and low-power electrons and only lets the perfectly formed, full-charge electrons through. Don't forget to empty the discharge bin, though; if it gets full and doesn't get emptied promptly, you could have a mess on your hands.
 
  • Like
Reactions: L Anthony, Monterey Bay-ss, OldDog52 and 4 others
#25
I was going to suggest that if you want to make sure you have a good supply of clean power, it's important to wash out your electrical outlets with de-ionized water (hot tip: if you use a neti pot, pouring into the top outlet will let it flow out through the lower outlet), but I'm not 100% sure someone wouldn't take it seriously. This is, after all, the internet age. :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: L Anthony, Monterey Bay-ss and ak56
#26
Ok, based on the description of your previous setup, and the fact that you're using a conventional lead-sled tube amp, it's entirely possible that your previous power strip was indeed a problem. Was the power strip "filtered"? What gauge was the wire from the wall? Most importantly, did it (or the cord) heat up as you used it? I've seen wall jacks with long-term burn marks that got hot when anything drawing more than a few watts is plugged into it. The voltage under load is almost certainly well below the norm in that case, and the difference in voltage (multiplied by the load current) is converted to heat. The jack is basically just a resistor at that point.

Point being, yes, an under-designed or damaged power strip or extension cord could very easily drop enough voltage that your tube amp sags to the point of hearing the effects. Modern amps with switching supplies don't suffer from the same effects unless the input voltage is severely drooping. If you have access to an oscilloscope and you know what you're doing (i.e. how to not kill yourself), you can measure the voltage at the power strip when you hit a loud transient and see if it changes. If you see any change, it's likely that your power strip is damaged.

This is not an argument for a $500 power cable; it's an argument for making sure you're using cables and power strips that aren't damaged or otherwise unsuitable for the task at hand.
 
  • Like
Reactions: IamGroot
#27
Ok, so. It is possible based on the gauge of the wire in the old power strip/extension cord that there was some voltage drop. But from across the room to your amp--it's probably not much unless your room is very large. A change to a much heavier extension cord would reduce the voltage drop, assuming the actual copper cable in the extension cord was a thicker guage than the old one. Was the old one connected to very thin wire, like the kind you'd see coming off a table lamp? How long of a distance are we talking about? All this is assuming that there wasn't anything weird in the old power strip causing voltage drop, which is a possibility.

Assuming the old power strip isn't causing the voltage drop: the distance would have to be fairly long, the old cord thin by comparison, the overall load relatively high, and the new cord relatively thick to make any difference. I'd A/B it.
 
#32
some possibilities

old power strip was not grounded or had bad ground
new power strip is not grounded or has bad ground
all the other equipment was causing an issue, electrically
all the other equipment was causing an issue, signal chain wise
longer, shorter, thicker gage, thinner gage, wire
better or worse quality power strip

I prefer Isobar. Takes a lot of the guesswork out from the above. No power strips. Surge protection only, turn it off and/or unplug it when not in use.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Monterey Bay-ss
#33
It’s hard to say for sure but it is possible. Power strips can do funny things to signals. I had a random plug strip find it’s way into my setup and found I was getting shocked by my bass. Not bad but more violent than static. I figured it was a bass wiring issue so tried another bass. Same thing. Another bass, same thing. So I was about to pack up like 7 basses and take them all to the repair shop hahahahaha!! Until I realized the plug strip was super China. Thank god I never made it to the shop with 7 totally perfectly fine basses.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Monterey Bay-ss
#34
Last edited:
#35
Wow. So as at least a few of you gathered, I posted this mostly because I thought a few people might find it amusing, but I'm not putting you on: after changing something between the amplifier and the outlet (I haven't isolated what, but as enough of you seem interested and I would like to know for sure, I might), the (for lack of a better term—seriously, is there no better term?) farting out issue pretty much vanished.

I won't get into A/B-ing tonight (I've got two young kids at home, so I have limited "loud" time, and I'd rather spend it playing than twiddling knobs or unplugging and replugging things), but I will look into it when I get a good opportunity, and I'll try to address specific comments then. But I think I got what I wanted out of the thread: a few laughs, and general agreement on a vague answer ("it's possible").

A bit more information for those who've responded thoughtfully:
  • the possibly problematic power strip thing doesn't look particularly cheap but I got it second-hand (along with an amp I ended up not liking very much and selling) and the LED in the switch wasn't coming on and staying on reliably (even though it supplied power), so it wouldn't surprise me if it either wasn't high quality to begin with or hasn't held up well. It's a fairly heavy gauge ...
  • ... but not nearly as heavy as the extension cord I got: 12 gauge/15 amp. It's even orange, so you know I'm not screwing around there.
  • I just had to have one of three 12AX7s and ALL SIX 6L6s replaced :banghead: and while it's entirely possible those tubes were just done, I wonder whether the possibly problematic power strip thing might have hastened their demises. The guy who sold me the amp (TB person; we've stayed in touch) didn't sell me a hunk of junk.
  • Good news, and the real bottom line: my rig finally sounds as good as it should :thumbsup:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tom Bomb, redwingxix, charlie monroe and 1 other person
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back