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Topic: Limiter With Session 400 |
Dennis Detweiler
From:
Solon, Iowa, US
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Posted 25 Feb 2008 8:05 pm |
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Will a Limiter keep the speaker from blowing on a Session 400? If so, prefered Brand/Model Limiter?
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8. |
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Dennis Wallis
From:
Arkansas
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Posted 25 Feb 2008 10:04 pm
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| Are you sure it doesn't have one built in ? Most do I believe especially the later models. |
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Dennis Detweiler
From:
Solon, Iowa, US
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Posted 26 Feb 2008 5:45 am
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Session 400's didn't have the DDT.
I have a 1974 & 1976
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8. |
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James Morehead
From:
Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.
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Posted 26 Feb 2008 8:49 am
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| I think the limiter came in the newer Session 400 LTDs, but not the older Sesion 400's. I have a '76 Session 400, too, and am interested in the answer to that question, also. |
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Dennis Detweiler
From:
Solon, Iowa, US
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Posted 26 Feb 2008 1:14 pm
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The reason I ask, I think I just blew my 1501 deep basket over the weekend. @#$%, I hate that! 
_________________
1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8. |
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Bo Legg
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James Morehead
From:
Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.
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Posted 29 Feb 2008 11:23 am
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Dennis, one idea about you blowing a speaker in your session, it might not be the amp at all. You've played it many years with no troubles. If you would have needed a limiter, you probably would have needed it long ago.
What it COULD possibly be, is the fact that old black widows have foam in the magnet for a dust filter, and they disentigrate with age, and actually vibrate down in the voice coil, blowing the speaker. I have a BW that I need to clean out now. I caught it BEFORE it swarmed on me. I was taking some photos one day, and the flash from my camera made this problem "visible". You can see the disentegrated foam laying in there. My speaker still sounds good, so I caught it in time. It just needs to be cleaned out. But if you don't clean it out, it finds it's way into the voice coil, begins to "pack tightly", gets hot, melts, and seizes your voice coil. Just an idea to check out. Might save you some money and trouble.
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Dennis Detweiler
From:
Solon, Iowa, US
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Posted 29 Feb 2008 8:44 pm
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Bo and James,
After getting the 1974 Session 400 home, I tried plugging the amp into a couple of other speaker cabinets and ended up with the same symptoms (fuzz). So, it's an electronic failure in the amp and not the speaker. It acted exactly like a blown coil. It's currently in a repair shop.
I had a pair of SP-2 PA speakers (1504's) that froze up on me years ago. Like you suggested, it was the foam that rotted and locked the coil. I took the speakers apart and cleaned the voice coils and put them back together. They worked like new. And yes, it's a good idea to look inside and check the foam.
I have an old 1501 deep basket, an early model 1501 shallow basket and a new 1501 BMX shallow basket. I like the heavier tone of the deep basket.
I tried a Session 500 for one weekend during the early 80's. Probably about the time they were introduced? I prefered the sound of my 400 in comparison. The 400 seemed a little warmer and definitely lighter in weight.
My 1974 has a Brad Sarno mod kit in it. The 1976 has a LeMay mod kit in it.
I have four pieces in my rack. One of them is the Peavey Tube Sweetener. I had to experiment with a few different brands and sizes of preamp tubes to remove the "crunch" and get it into the clean tube warmth that I was looking for. I haven't A/B'ed the Sweetener and amp to a Twin, so I can't say that it sounds exactly like a tube amp, but it's close.
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8. |
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James Morehead
From:
Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.
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Posted 29 Feb 2008 8:52 pm
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| Well, let us know how you come out, Dennis. Which is your favorite Session, the '74 or the '76? |
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Dennis Detweiler
From:
Solon, Iowa, US
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Posted 29 Feb 2008 9:49 pm
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I prefer the 1974. It always had a warmer tone than others I've tried after that date.
Sidenote: I had my 1974 and 1976 bench tested A/B for power output during the 80's. The 74 put out an honest 200rms. The 76 put out 160rms. The electronics tech said the 76 had some factory protective circuitry built into it. Maybe this had something to do with the warmer tone?
During one of the St Louis conventions in the early 80's, I asked B.E. about the 1974 (introductory year) Session 400 compared to those manufactured after 1974. He said his first one seemed warmer.
Maybe it's that psychological first love? 
_________________
1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8. |
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Ken Fox
From:
Nashville GA USA
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Posted 1 Mar 2008 9:10 am
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I have worked on a good many Session 400 and LTD 400 of all eras. I have found no differences that would change the power output in them. The only thing I see is different brands of parts used over the years that could account for some tone differences. Different speakers as well change the tone dramatically. Not all Black Widow models sound the same for sure.
With the newer output transistors the older Session and LTD 400 will tend toward parasitic oscillation on the output. A common problem with direct coupled transistor amps! Later Peavey amps used a 22 ohm/2 watt in series with a .01 cap to ground from the speaker terminal to overcome the high frequency oscillation. That oscillation will result in lower power and poor sound quality. |
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