Members ambient Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 Specifically a new VHT special 6 ultra in Japan where most of the outlets look like this: The amp came with a standard US-style IEC lead but they put and adapter on the end like this: I had to run the power from our balcony where the outlet for the washing machine air con and water heater is, but that's not really ideal. Also if I wanna take it anywhere else it's very rare that they have grounded plugs inside. Am I gonna die? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wrongnote85 Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 umm....is that inframan in you avatar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ambient Posted February 6, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 umm....is that inframan in you avatar? Na it's the glico man. It's a famous billboard in Osaka for a snack company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Moustache_Bash Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 by electricity. Really, though, if Japan doesn't usually have its electrical appliances/goodies grounded and you haven't been shocked yet, I don't see why this amp would be an exception. I am not an expert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mhuxtable Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 How could such a tech advanced country have ungrounded outlets??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lolque? Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 How could such a tech advanced country have ungrounded outlets??? This. I'm actually really intrigued Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ILOVEMYFENDER Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 I once played with a man who ran a 66 Princeton Reverb that wasn't grounded. I touched his pedals and was shocked. I touched him, and was shocked and left with a burn. Risky bidness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pewtershmit Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 I once played with a man who ran a 66 Princeton Reverb that wasn't grounded. I touched his pedals and was shocked. I touched him, and was shocked and left with a burn. Risky bidness. Thats your gaydar letting you know touching dudes is gay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ILOVEMYFENDER Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 Thats your gaydar letting you know touching dudes is gay. He was a 55 year old heart surgeon. With four kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pewtershmit Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 He was a 55 year old heart surgeon. With four kids. I've watched enough television and movies to know that that makes it far more likely he's gay. "Not that there's anything wrong with that" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ILOVEMYFENDER Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 His 1955 Strat screamed gay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members skr3ddy Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 Favorite part is singing background vocals into SM58; lips touch mic screen, flash of light, loud buzz, what the {censored} happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ambient Posted February 6, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 by electricity. Really, though, if Japan doesn't usually have its electrical appliances/goodies grounded and you haven't been shocked yet, I don't see why this amp would be an exception. I am not an expert. I'd like to think that but there's tons of horror stories about people being shocked by ungrounded amps. Just the other day at a practice studio, there was a SF fender twin plugged in with a 2-prong cord. When I turned it on I felt a tingling in my fingers when I touched the control panel. I turned it straight off and plugged in to the solid state marshall instead. What I wanna know: is it vintage amps that are the most dangerous due to the possibility of malfunction, or is it something inherent to all tube amps but not solid state? Why are they supposed to be so dangerous? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ambient Posted February 6, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 How could such a tech advanced country have ungrounded outlets??? Yes, this country produces some of the worlds most sophisticated technology but the average person probably knows less about it than most western countries. Many households don't have computers and if they do, barely know how to setup/maintain them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ambient Posted February 6, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 Favorite part is singing background vocals into SM58; lips touch mic screen, flash of light, loud buzz, what the {censored} happened? That's the thing, it's possibly that everything seems ok but touch the wrong thing with the wrong bodypart and you're gone. But I guess that even with 'gounded' outlets you don't know if they've been properly grounded anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Favorite part is singing background vocals into SM58; lips touch mic screen, flash of light, loud buzz, what the {censored} happened? There is actually an 80s era video of exactly that happening to me at a live gig floating around out there somewhere. Lit me up pretty good - you could see the flash as clear as day on the video. No, it's generally considered to be a very bad idea to run a tube amp with the grounding disabled. That green wire on the ground lift adapter is designed to connect to the center screw of the outlet, which should (at least in theory - always check to be sure!) be grounded... but I don't even see a center screw on those outlets. Very strange. I'd have a chat with a local electrician and figure out where / how they do their grounds in Japan. Personally, I would not feel comfortable running my amp without a ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoboPimp Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 its no big deal if you don't mind your bowels emptying in your pants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ambient Posted February 6, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 I think I'm gonna try running a ground wire or a 3 prong extension from the grounded outlet on the balcony. Trytry to get it through the window somehow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members THAT4301 Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 What I wanna know: is it vintage amps that are the most dangerous due to the possibility of malfunction, or is it something inherent to all tube amps but not solid state?Why are they supposed to be so dangerous? Modern valve amps are designed with the ground being connected, whereas vintage ones weren't. Even when working as intended, you hear stories about shocks and things. If something broke inside the amp (maybe your buddy drops it out the back of a van and some cold joint gives way connecting HV to the shell), that's potentially 300+V connected to the STRINGS of your guitar. Solid state amps use much lower voltages. They should still be grounded in the case of a mains fault. You're at far less risk than you are of driving around, and it's important to take these things in context. But I personally would be very uncomfortable with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members theAntihero Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 How could such a tech advanced country have ungrounded outlets??? +1 wtf And why are only the outdoor outlets grounded? For the record the green wire is the ground which you usually are supposed to hook to the screw on the face plate like phil mentioned but i guess you could pop the cover off and screw it into one of the screws that holds the outlet to the box? Im not an electrical expert so you should probably talk to someone over there that is, but in the meantime do you have a wireless unit? It would prevent you from getting shocked no matter what you had to plug into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eti Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 Hmmm... The outlets are polarized, but that plug is not. Odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members imbuedblue Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 Except for the outlets at my workbench, which I installed two years ago, none of the outlets in my house are grounded. I'm not dead yet. It's not an ideal situation, but it's not something I lose sleep over. I'll get around to rewiring the house one of these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members goodhonk Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 go for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members macadood Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 i think you'll be fine good luck and stay safe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tim gueguen Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 Another weirdness about Japanese power is that what frequency it runs on depends on where you live. In the east it runs on 50hz, in the west 60 hz. When electrical power was introduced to Japan in the late 1800s Tokyo Electric Light Co. bought German 50 hz generators, while Osaka Electric Lamp bought 60 hz American equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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