Bought a new amp today and you're all going to hate it.

xrleroyx · Post by **xrleroyx** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 12:58 am

Got me a used Dwarvenaut on the cheap! Gotta say, I really like it. I know it's basically a modded/refaced Jet City, but the mods sound good. And it looks good. I haven't gotten to play it too much tonight but here are some things I've noticed:

There are practically no clean sounds to be had.
It's LOUD. I know it's only 20 watts but even on 0.5 on the master volume it shakes my apartment.
There are a ton of switches that I frankly don't know what to do with. The FAC switch sounds nice though.
Those switches do a lot however. I'm going to enjoy playing around to find my sound.
It has 2 knobs on the back, one for vintage/modern and another for depth. Again, no idea what these do exactly.
Very doomy. Sounds great with both my HB and SC guitars.

Am I banned now?

PeteeBee · Post by **PeteeBee** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 1:14 am

Looks cool! I've been tempted to get the verellen modded jet city for years. I think he quoted something like $75 to do the mod, which I know is a lot for how little the mod is, but worth it to me, since I would be really concerned about messing it up.

Also, I love that peavey that it's sitting on. Had one for years and miss it!

The Eristic · Post by **The Eristic** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 1:22 am

A Depth control is almost always set up like a Presence control for low frequencies. It'll deattenuate (Is that a word?) the low lows as you turn it up, meaning you'll get a bigger, deeper bass response (usually looser, too, so there's a typically a sweet spot with different power sections, speakers, etc). Based on it being grouped with Depth, I'd guess Vintage/Modern is doing something similar with negative feedback or otherwise messing with the phase inverter to change the response of the amp.

spacelordmother · Post by **spacelordmother** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 2:06 pm

Ok but let’s talk about that Peavey tho

JonnyAngle · Post by **JonnyAngle** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 2:30 pm

I have a mark iii and a Mark iv. Are you playing bass or guitar through them? I have played guitar through the kvlt going into a 215 and the sound can only be described as loud AF

WORMDIRT · Post by **WORMDIRT** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 2:37 pm

spacelordmother wrote:Ok but let’s talk about that Peavey tho

Is now a Peavey thread.
MKiv bass is the best toanz around.

I'd be down to get a hovercraft used on the cheaps though. The presentation is great.. maybe take the badge off though. I modded the hell out of a PV Windsor and can attest to how good they sound.

JonnyAngle · Post by **JonnyAngle** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 2:58 pm

WORMDIRT wrote:
spacelordmother wrote:Ok but let’s talk about that Peavey tho
Is now a Peavey thread.
MKiv bass is the best toanz around.

I'd be down to get a hovercraft used on the cheaps though. The presentation is great.. maybe take the badge off though. I modded the hell out of a PV Windsor and can attest to how good they sound.

Mark iii has the defeatable ddt compression, so it’s like 1/2 a notch higher in my book

Y don’t ppl like hovercraft?

WORMDIRT · Post by **WORMDIRT** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 3:00 pm

JonnyAngle wrote:
WORMDIRT wrote:
spacelordmother wrote:Ok but let’s talk about that Peavey tho
Is now a Peavey thread.
MKiv bass is the best toanz around.

I'd be down to get a hovercraft used on the cheaps though. The presentation is great.. maybe take the badge off though. I modded the hell out of a PV Windsor and can attest to how good they sound.
Mark iii has the defeatable ddt compression, so it’s like 1/2 a notch higher in my book

Y don’t ppl like hovercraft?

Gooping mods (I think)
Making it seem like their amps are built from the ground up and not cheap PV and jet city mods

I just walked into my garage to make sure mine was a mk4... It's a mk3 :picard:

still the toanz though

JonnyAngle · Post by **JonnyAngle** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 3:03 pm

WORMDIRT wrote:
JonnyAngle wrote:
WORMDIRT wrote:
spacelordmother wrote:Ok but let’s talk about that Peavey tho
Is now a Peavey thread.
MKiv bass is the best toanz around.

I'd be down to get a hovercraft used on the cheaps though. The presentation is great.. maybe take the badge off though. I modded the hell out of a PV Windsor and can attest to how good they sound.
Mark iii has the defeatable ddt compression, so it’s like 1/2 a notch higher in my book

Y don’t ppl like hovercraft?
Gooping mods (I think)
Making it seem like their amps are built from the ground up and not cheap PV and jet city mods

I just walked into my garage to make sure mine was a mk4... It's a mk3 still the toanz though

Mk3 is better.

I shouldn’t say better, but given the choice, I’d pick the 3 over the 4

gnomethrone · Post by **gnomethrone** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 3:25 pm

I was playing down tuned guitar through my buddy's mark III into an old silver stripe front ported 2x12 a few weeks ago and it was the beef supreme. Morbidly obese tones.

Also I know everybody hates the hovercraft guy but when I saw Ufomammut a few years back the guitar player was using one and it sounded great. He would probably sound great through anything but still the association makes me feel warm and fuzzy about those amps.

BetterOffShred · Post by **BetterOffShred** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 3:42 pm

Is the hovercraft guy a dick or something? I always thought they were decent takes on classic circuits. Sure he didn't reinvent the wheel but they are pretty good sounding amps really.

Nice work on the amp. Does it sound huge ?

D.o.S. · Post by **D.o.S.** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 5:21 pm

Long story short is that because they were/are(?)modded Jet City and Peavey amps, they're very expensive for what's been done to them (the mods and the reshelling).

The long story is here, and it's actually a pretty interesting read:
viewtopic.php?f=149&t=40505

crochambeau · Post by **crochambeau** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 5:31 pm

BetterOffShred wrote:Is the hovercraft guy a dick or something?

My take away is that originally Hovercraft marketed themselves as an upcycler of sorts, making decent amps from what would otherwise have been dumped into a landfill.

At least that's the particular hook that initiated my personally following them on social media.

As the story goes (I have not personally cracked one open to verify) it is just modified new production stuff that originated in a Chinese factory, and I recall hearing that Nial (Hovercraft) took something of an aggressive position to conceal that aspect, but there might be some mists of time at work in my cerebral cortex on that. I remain neutral on it, I certainly wouldn't kick one out of bed.

I agree fully regarding Ufomammut, massive sounding show.

My Peavey head is a MK IV.

jrfox92 · Post by **jrfox92** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 7:48 pm

Like most anything, people have a huge issue with deceit.
Covering up all identification of a Jet City amp and claiming it's an original design (not to mention they're, apparently, built/modded like shit) is frowned upon by other small builders and prospective buyers.