FAME BVH300 User manual

ELECTRIC BASS AMP
Owner‘s Manual
BVH300

2
Congratulations!
We would like to thank you for purchasing the BVH300 Electric Bass Amplifier.
It has been specially designed and developed for the use with electric basses.
Before using your new amplifier, we advise to read the following pages carefully.
Taking care of your BVH300
Safety Warnings
We want you to be aware of certain safety aspects,
for reasons of product safety and liability. With
all due respect, please read the following before
operating your new Fame amplifier.
• Do not use or store your amplifier in or near
moist or wet areas.
• Make sure that the voltage shown on the back of
the amplifier is the correct voltage for the
location you are using it. The BVH300 can
never be used at different voltages than shown.
• Opening the amplifier housing must only be
done by authorized personnel. No user
serviceable parts inside.
• The power amp is configured to deliver highest
tone at normal volume levels. We advise you
for your own good not to expose yourself to
very high volume levels for long periods of
time. It can lead to hearing damage.
Transporting the BVH300
• The BVH300 is a vacuum tube powered amp-
lifier. The built-in tubes are very sensitive to
shocks, especially when hot.
• Allow the amplifier to adjust to the ambient
temperature before operating, 10 minutes
should be sufficient in all cases. Especially the
change between a cold vehicle and, in most
cases, warm stages can cause condensing
fluid inside the electrical circuit. This can lead
to circuit shorts.
• For continued road use, please protect the
amplifier with a professional flight case. Trans-
port only in operating position. Do not trans-
port upside down or on its side.
Daily use
• Never be rough with knobs, connections
or other parts of the amplifier.
• Be careful while pulling out cables. Pulling
plugs quickly can cause damage.
• Disconnect all cables before transporting
the unit.
• Avoid physical shocks, such as hits or drops.
• You should never put any heavy items on top
of the BVH300.
Cleaning the BVH300
• Usually it is sufficient to wipe down the outside
of the amplifier with a slightly moist cleaning
rag.
• Do not use any abrasive cleaning chemicals.
• Sometimes a vacuum cleaner can be used to
remove dust and dirt from nooks and crevices.
• Avoid putting any vinyl on top of the unit.
It glues and discolours the surface.
Electric enviroment
• This amplifier contains electric circuits, which
can cause interference when operating near
Radio or TV units. If you notice any abnormal
noise, we recommend to put the amplifier
away from such devices.
• Blown fuses can only be replaced with fuses
of equal values. The use of incorrect fuses is
prohibited and can cause severe injury or
damage the amplifier.
• Only use a grounded power cable in good
condition.

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Content
Setting up the BVH300 .................................................................................................. 4
Peripheral Connections.................................................................................................. 5
Preamp Section ............................................................................................................... 6
Basics................................................................................................................................. 6
Mid Shift ........................................................................................................................... 6
Controls & Switches........................................................................................................ 7
Special Gimmicks............................................................................................................ 8
Specifications ................................................................................................................... 9

4
Setting up the BVH300
WARNING!
To avoid electrical shock or any other damage, make sure that the BVH300
and all other devices are switched off before you start connecting them to the
amplifier!
Power Connections/Mains
Before connecting to a grounded power outlet,
make sure the power switches are in the off position
(facing down). The BVH300 is set up for 230 V of
line voltage. Once the amplifier is plugged in, you
can get started!
Connecting an electric bass
The input jack on the right side of the frontpanel
receives your electric bass signal by means of a
shielded guitar cord with 1/4” mono style plug.
Make sure the master volume of the amplifier is set
to the lowest position to avoid disturbing noise while
connecting.
Connecting a bass cabinet
Due to the fact that the BVH300 does not have a
built-in loudspeaker, it can only be used in combina-
tion with an external connected bass cabinet. On the
back of the amplifier you will find two output jacks
for the connection with your bass cabs. You should
always make sure you have the correct impedance.
The value on the connected cabinet must be identical
with the value chosen on the back of the amplifier.
The minimum value of the BVH300 is 4 ohms, so you
are able to connect one cabinet with 4 ohms or two
cabinets with 8 ohms each. Please make sure to use
only speaker cables with 1/4” mono style plugs.
Travelling Abroad
If travelling to countries outside the EU, always check
their local voltage before operating the BVH300.
Mismatched voltages can and most likely will destroy
your amplifier. Should you encounter voltages and
frequencies other than those indicated, a transformer
must be used between the power socket and the
BVH300.Thistransformermustbeabletotransformthe
voltage and frequency to one of the indicated settings.
Main Fuse
The main fuse is situated in a little drawer which is
part of the power input jack. This sliding fuse holder
also hides a spare fuse. For 230 V, the fuse must be
a 6,3A slow blow. It is crucially important to use the
specified fuse values only.
Maintenance
Power tubes last 1 to 3 years, depending on care,
volume and frequency of use of the amplifier. If you
use your amp only once a month, then the tubes
will last longer. Get it? We have heard tubes that
are over 10 years old, but it was not a good thing.
Tubes age very slowly, slow enough for the artist to
get used to the changing tone. To keep things fresh,
we recommend retubing, cleaning and biasing once
a year if the amp is used frequently.

5
Periphal Connections
Signal In Jack
This input jack receives the signal of your electric bass
by means of shielded instrument cable with 1/4”
mono style plugs. You are also able to reduce the
preamp’s sensivity about -10dB. This can be useful
if you are playing with a bass that features an active
electronic circuit and you notice that the sound starts
to overdrive at a very low volume level.
CONNECTIONS ON THE BACK
Footswitch
With an optional footswitch (we recommend the
FS100 by Fame) you are able to switch the amplifier’s
boost function by foot.
Balanced Out
Your BVH300 needs to be connected to a PA-System?
You would like to record the sound directly into your
recording desk or audio interface?
The Line Out will do just that. All you need is a
standard mono style 1/4” cable to connect the
BVH300 to a channel strip of a mixing desk. Please
note that the volume set on the amplifier will be the
level that’s running into the channel strip of your
mixing desk. You should set the volume to the lowest
level possible and increase it step-wise.
Tuner Out
This jack offers you the possibility to connect an
instrument tuner directly to the BVH300. This avoids
problems with long cables on stage, while there is a
direct connection to the tuner.
Speaker Outputs
These two jacks are for the connection with your
external speaker cabinets. You are able to connect
up to two cabinets at the same time. It is important
to understand that these jacks are parallel type.
The impedance values of the connected cabinets
have to be indentical. At an impedance of 4 ohms,
the connected cabinets need to have 8 ohms each
respectively 16 ohms each at an impedance of 8
ohms.
Mains
This jack is used to connect the BVH300 to a
grounded power outlet.
Your guitar cord is an important part of the signal chain and its quality and
construction type clearly affects the overall tone of your rig. Try and buy the
best quality cord you can or want to afford for maximum sound!

6
Preamp Section of the BVH300
Basics
With its fully vacoum tube powered electric circuit and the basic equa-
lization, the BVH300 is the right amplifier for bass players who are
searching for a direct and fat-bottomed sound. It features a 3-band
EQ as well as mid shift and boost functions, that will customize the
basic sound of your bass exactly the way you like it. Please note that
the boost function should be handled very careful. A higher amount of
gain can also turn the sound into something very thin and unclear and
you will not be able to hear yourself inside the overall band sound.
Mid-Shift
This feature allows you to lower the mid frequencies of your
overall sound. The result of this is a sound, which is often called
“Bathtubdrive”. It is very popular in the modern rock scene or when
playing with slap techniques. We recommend a well-balanced
setting of the mid control, so that you will be recognized in the over-
all band sound.

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Controls and Switches
We suggest you start exploring the channels with all controls set to 12:00
o‘clock and the master volume slightly cracked open.
INPUT -10 dB
The general input sensivity can be lowered to -10 dB
by pushing this button. This feature can be useful if
you notice that the sound of your bass slightly over-
drives even at lower volumes. This can happen when
using a bass with an active electric circuit.
Gain
This knob controls the general level of the preamp
section. The more you turn this knob clockwise, the
earlier the preamp will start to overdrive the signal.
Boost
This switch activates the BVH300‘s boost function. It
adds much more distortion to the basic sound. The
general amount of distortion is always controlled by
the “Gain“ knob.
Bass
Controls the level of low frequencies in the overall
sound of the amplifier.
Middle
Controls the level of mid frequencies in the overall
sound of the amplifier.
Mid Shift
This switch lowers the mid range of the BVH300. That
means that low and high frequencies will be highligh-
ted. The result will be a sound which is mostly used in
modern rock and slap technique.
Treble
Controls the level of high frequencies in the overall
sound of the amplifier.
Master
This knob controls the overall volume of the BVH300.
Please note that the maximum capacity of the power
amp will be reached at a setting around 2-3 o‘clock.
A higher level can influence the life of the power amp
tubes badly, when playing over a longer peroid of
time.
Standby
Switches between the active or passive mode of the
BVH300.
Power
Switches the BVH300 on or off.
CONTROLS ON THE BACK
Impedance Switch
Controls the overall impedance value of the power
amp. You can choose between 4 or 8 ohms.

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External Effects
We are convinced that the basic sound of the Fame
BVH300 will suit the demands of most bass players.
Although, the usage of external effects devices can
provide a variety of new and interesting sounds.
These are divided into:
• Level-related effects are: Compressor, Limiter or
Noise Gate
• Time-based effects are: Delay/Echo, Chorus or
Flanger
• Volume-based effects are: Tremolo, Auto-Volume or
Pan
• Filtering-related effects are: Equalizer, Phaser,
Rotary or Vibe
Due to the fact that the BVH300 does not feature an fx
loop, all effects devices have to be connected between
instrument and amplifier.
A lot of our customers gave us a positive feedback on
using an Auto-WahWah in front of the BVH300.
How to choose the right device
High-quality effects like a vibrato or time-based units like
delays can round up the sound of the amplifier. But the
final sound is depending on the choice of the specific
unit.
A multieffects processor i.e. digitalizes the incoming
signal by using an AD-converter and inverts it after
adding several effects. Depending on the used model,
the sound can be influenced in a negative way.
Expensive units contain very capable converters, which
keep the signal in its original value and even improve the
sound quality.
Analogue units will not harm the signal’s quality, but they
are also limited and normally produce only one overall
sound.
Hints & Gimmicks
We came up with the following advice and “wisdom“ according to our
personal experiences. This will help you to improve the performance of your
BVH300.

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Specifications
Power Output: 300 Watts
Tubes: 6 x KT88 power amp, 5 x 12AX7 preamp
Switches: -10 dB, Boost, Mid Shift, Impedance, Power, Standby
Equalization: Bass, Middle, Treble
Effects: none
Connection Jacks: Input
Tuner Out
Footswitch
Parallel Speaker Jacks
Balanced Out
Dimensions: 55,9 x 25,4 x 30,5 cm
Weight: 26 kg
Accessories: Owner‘s Manual, Power Cable
Optional: 1-way footswitch for the boost function

BVH300
2007