Members wagdog Posted January 29, 2011 Members Share Posted January 29, 2011 It looks like a ground wire and connects to the basket of the speaker. I've never seen a speaker with the basket grounded. Anyone know why that wire is there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted January 29, 2011 Members Share Posted January 29, 2011 Nope I just soldered it to the basket on the replacment. Just don't hook it to the ground on the speaker. Amp go's all buggy. I tried that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted January 29, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2011 Nope I just soldered it to the basket on the replacment. Just don't hook it to the ground on the speaker. Amp go's all buggy. I tried that. When I replaced the speaker, I just removed it. I was just wondering WHY they grounded the basket? Never seen that before... seen quite a few different amps/combo over the years (more then some, less then others?) and never seen the basket grounded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted January 29, 2011 Members Share Posted January 29, 2011 Did you see what that wire comes off of though. Looks like the aluminum heat sink. Odd for a ground I thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mike42 Posted January 29, 2011 Members Share Posted January 29, 2011 Just a guess, since I haven't even looked inside a Mustang. Maybe they were seeing some static buildup and/or discharge from the basket, and the lead is there just to keep it drained off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheFigurehead Posted January 29, 2011 Members Share Posted January 29, 2011 If I recall the gutshots correctly, there is no metal chassis in the Mustang, so perhaps it was the only option? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted January 29, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2011 Did you see what that wire comes off of though. Looks like the aluminum heat sink. Odd for a ground I thought. Was it a heat sink? It just looked like the bottom part of the "chasis" (sort of chasis). I'll have to look again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted January 29, 2011 Members Share Posted January 29, 2011 Not sure what is up with an extra ground. Typically speakers are grounded through the ( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted January 29, 2011 Members Share Posted January 29, 2011 Was it a heat sink? It just looked like the bottom part of the "chasis" (sort of chasis). I'll have to look again. This is the heatsink. But the Ground does not seem to be going to it. The big, shiny piece of aluminum with all the fins on the back of the circuit. It's used to draw heat away from the power amp and transfer it to the passing airflow. The fins increase surface area to allow it to dissipate heat. You'll find them on computer CPU's, solid-state power amps (hi-fi and instrument), and even on the tubes in high heat Bogner designs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted January 29, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2011 Still, Fender doesn't waste money on superfluous extra parts, I guessing their R&D deemed that Ground necessary, and I would leave it intact. What little I could find on it was one person saying it reduces feedback when the speaker is pushed. The problem I had was I replaced the speaker, and it didn't have the extra basket connection on the speaker to connect the ground to. I just opened the amp up and had a look. There is a piece of metal across the top of the amp and this is the ground connection. I toned it out, and the spot that the third wire hooked up to is connected to that. So just to keep things complete, I sanded off some of the paint on the basket around one of the speaker screws and connected the ground wire to it and buttoned things up. Absolutely no sonic difference noted. I don't turn the amp loud anyway (it doesn't really sound good loud). But, it's sticking to the original design, so, I guess it's all good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted January 30, 2011 Members Share Posted January 30, 2011 Ok guess I didn't look close enough. Seems to be hooked to the board.You can't hook it to the - on the speaker. The amp will humm and the amp model lights jump around when I tried that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brianeharmonjr Posted January 30, 2011 Members Share Posted January 30, 2011 Anyone wired up a jack to plug in an external cab? Thought about doing that to my Mustang I, just to get some more low end, but am too lazy to try it or figure it out at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted January 30, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2011 Anyone wired up a jack to plug in an external cab? Thought about doing that to my Mustang I, just to get some more low end, but am too lazy to try it or figure it out at the moment. I temporarily ran it into 2x12 when I switched the speaker in mine. Sounded pretty good actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted January 30, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2011 Ok guess I didn't look close enough. Seems to be hooked to the board.You can't hook it to the - on the speaker. The amp will humm and the amp model lights jump around when I tried that. I'm going to guess then that negative on the speaker is isolated from the amp ground for some reason, and that's probably why they felt the need to ground the basket... (?) Interesting though - because the Mustang V (head) obviously has speaker jacks so it's not going to have grounded speaker baskets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MorganB Posted January 30, 2011 Members Share Posted January 30, 2011 When the particle board falls apart it holds on to the speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted January 30, 2011 Members Share Posted January 30, 2011 Absolutely no sonic difference noted. I don't turn the amp loud anyway (it doesn't really sound good loud). Couple thing 1) When you say "absolutely no sonic difference noted" are you referring to the wiring and or the upgrade? I naturally think that a $99 amp could be better with an upgraded speaker so I'm curious about what you put in it. I just got mine a week ago and I'm still just beginning to work my way through the features. 2) I agree that it doesn't sound that good loud. With all the accolades folks throw at this amp, that should be known. Still a big bang for the buck amp though, no doubt about that. Hard to imagine a much better bedroom amp at this point in time. Quite a bit better than any Vox DA5, Pathfinder or Roland MicroCube and costs less than all of them. Oh, and good thread by the way. I've stopped by a couple times to see what folks are saying about this mysterious 3rd wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted January 30, 2011 Members Share Posted January 30, 2011 ^^^think he means with the wire atctached or not. The replacment speaker in mine makes a huge difference.I put in a Peavey 1230 75w speaker I have from an old cab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted January 30, 2011 Members Share Posted January 30, 2011 Did it give you a bit more clean headroom on the Fender models? I'm wondering how much of the distortion I'm hearing on the Fender models is the amp versus speaker break up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MorganB Posted January 30, 2011 Members Share Posted January 30, 2011 The 3 has good 12" Super 100 Celestion, Turn the dial backward you go right to all the amps with no effects (that you can add from the on board LCD. and theTuner is Accurate and big. So Rather than change the speaker it may be easier to get the 3 sell the 1. The 1 as good as it is sounds like a toy next to the three and the 3 gets low volume settings great too..although going through a PA the one sounded big too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 Did it give you a bit more clean headroom on the Fender models? I'm wondering how much of the distortion I'm hearing on the Fender models is the amp versus speaker break up. Yes it gives a bit more clean headroom but a more noticable volume over all. The Champ breaks up early it's just in the model I think. I bet the stock IV would be more than enough if you need clean headroom that loud. I use mine for home practice so I keep the master on 6-7. Volume is on 5 and control the output volume with the volume on my guitar. That can be plenty loud for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted January 31, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 2) I agree that it doesn't sound that good loud. With all the accolades folks throw at this amp, that should be known. Still a big bang for the buck amp though, no doubt about that. Hard to imagine a much better bedroom amp at this point in time. Quite a bit better than any Vox DA5, Pathfinder or Roland MicroCube and costs less than all of them. Yeah, I have a M1, so I really wasn't expecting to sound great loud anyway. But it's worth noting. And the new speaker sort of helped that situation, but it's not an amp I would take to a gig, or even a band practice w/a drummer. For less then $100 it's really hard to beat this amp. As a recording interface and amp sim (plus pedals!), it deserves all the accolades it gets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Larry the Dog Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 I bet the stock IV would be more than enough if you need clean headroom that loud. I've got the IV, and it's clear as a bell with the master on 5, depending on the preset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 Looks like that odd ground go's to a speaker mount screw on this IV. Looks like one to each speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EdMan57 Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 I had not seen such until I bought my Hayden "Hand Wired Series" Speakeasy combo last year.I wonder if this will be the new thing amongst amplifier builders? Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 The ground wire may have been nessasary to help prevent hum or the speaker basket from acting like an antenna. Since the chassis is so exposed its likely the amp needs all the help it can from picking up stray EMF. A coil in a speaker can act like an RF coil in a radio and carry that signal back into the circuit for reamplification. With the right test equipment, you can use an RF generatior and generate EMF noise. Manufacturers used to do those kinds of tests as part of quality control. Since they went with a minimal chassis, the unit was likely tested and found the ground wire was needed to make the amp quiet. There was a day when ectronic devices were tested to pass FCC and UL lisenceing and would require the circuits to pass a test so they would not interfere with broadcasting waves, nor receive broadcasted waves to be sold here in the US. Much of that has gone by the way side because many broadcasts are digital now and broadcast frequencies dont interfere with military or government bands like they used to. What the US may have required for low emmision /reception of RF was a full chassis where as with imports they were able to get away with a ground wire to the basket to act as an EMF blocker and pass inspection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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