*Help!!* Gallien Krueger Neo 410 farting/distortion problem
 

I have had my Gallien Krueger Neo 410 cab since July of last year I believe? and played a grand total of 1 gig with it, which was yesterday. It sounded amazing and had tons of low end and clarity and I was very pleased with it. But when I was jamming with some friends today I noticed very apparent farting noises and distortion coming from the cab.

My current setup is a Carvin LB 75 5-string (which I use on active mode) through an Eden WTDI preamp pedal and a Hartke LH500 to power it all. Last night at the gig I had the Hartke at 12 o'clock, lows and highs at 9 o'clock and mids around 11 o'clock. As for the preamp I had the lows rolled off a bit, mids and highs boosted at around 2 o'clock, gain around 10 o'clock and master volume about 12 o'clock The gigs I play are usually pretty calm and not too loud, so I was not pushing the cab hard at all and it honestly sounded awesome the whole night.

So here's my problem: the GK Neo 410 will not stop farting and distorting now. I tried bypassing the preamp, turning down the volume, moving the head off of the cab in case it was rattling, everything. And whenever I play even close to semi-aggressively it just makes the awful noise. And the cab will not even come close to handling the B string and sounds like complete crap when I play it.

I have pro coverage at through Guitar Center through and plan on using it if I can't fix the problem myself. But I find it very hard to believe that I've blown the cab. I don't know what went wrong, but I do know that it does not sound like it is supposed to and is giving me a lot of trouble that I don't need right now.

My guess is my electrical outlets at my house are the problem, and I've heard that the electrical outlets in your home might cause weird tones or distortion bass amps. But I don't know too much about any of that or amps/bass rigs in general so ANY advice or suggestions would be much appreciated, and please DO treat me like I know nothing about cabinets or GK products because my experience is very limited and I need all the help and information I can get.

Please help me get this figured out!

Any loss of volume with the distorted output?

That always makes me think of corrosion/dirt in the effects loop. Try plugging an instrument cable between loop out and loop in to see if that will eliminate the distortion.

Also, with active bass and a pedal, how new are your 9v batteries?

=wr=

To add to WR's suggestions:

1) Where do you run the bass control on the LB75? I'm 99% sure it's shelving, so it could be sending infrasonic garbage all the way through to the cab. Especially if you're an aggressive player, you play away from the bridge, or you're a slap player, or any combination of those.

2) Lay the cab on its back and snug up all the driver mounting screws.

3) Snug up all other hardware (jack plate, handle hardware). If the handles are spring loaded, make sure that's not what you're hearing. Also try running the cab w/o the speaker grill in place.

I have the bass exactly in the middle and it is in passive mode. I do play away from the bridge and aggressively, so shelving makes sense.
But I have never heard of this so if you could explain that would be great.

I have tried it without the grill in place with the same results, but I need to make sure it's not any other hardware.


And the cab somewhat of a loss of volume and bass if that helps.

I'd also suggest trying a different head with your cabinet just to eliminate that possibility. Also, check your speaker cable. If you use the speakon, try using a 1/4 inch speaker cable to check that as well.

Zach, you said in your OP you use the bass in active mode:

> My current setup is a Carvin LB 75 5-string (which I use on > active mode) through an Eden WTDI preamp pedal and
> a Hartke LH500 to power it all.

?????

Another thought: You don't have the WTDI's bass boost button engaged, do you?

A shelving bass control boosts the frequencies it claims to boost, but it also boosts everything below the range you need boosted, and that typically spells trouble, or at the very least burning watts to move cones at frequencies no human ear can hear. Check for cone hop at high volumes and that will be your first clue.

Interesting, I had a similar problem with my Carvin LB20 and a pair of GK NEO 212's. The Carvin's pickups, although passive, are very hot. When I hit the "pad" button on my GK RB1001-II head the problem was solved. Don't know if your issue is as simple. If you've got the Guitar Center "Pro" coverage why not take it back?

Craig.p - sorry I meant to write passive I can see how that was confusing haha. I know for sure I don't have the bass boost button on the WTDI engaged.

Steveheissner - The reason I don't just use the Pro coverage from guitar center is I don't think it's a blown speaker or anything. I wanted to ask TB before I go ahead and send it in and not be able to use it for some time. But it sure sounds like it's blown, I just don't know why. I have never pushed this cab to distort in the past, and have only used it in a live setting one time. And I most likely will end will end up using the pro coverage if I can't think of anything else or get it back to normal.

Eriky4003- I would try a different head if I had one, but currently all I have is the Hartke to use. If I can borrow one from my school or a friend to try I will but I don't know when that will be.

Use the 9 volt battery test with a 1/4" cable. 1/4" plugged into cab and the 9 volt touch and release on the free end. All speakers should move the same amount and you should hear a thump with no scratching sounds. The tweeter should click.

Blown tweeter ? What cable are you using from the head to the cab. I believe if you use a 2 wire speakon or a 1/4 speaker cable and set the cab to Bi-Amp it will by pass the tweeter. If that fixes it the tweeter is fried.

The cab is already in Bi-Amp. And the cab doesn't have a 1/4 jack to test a different cable.

Will the test still work if the I have a speakon plugged into the cab and a 1/4" into amp? That's the only cable I have that works for the cab.

Yank the 1/4" from the amp and apply the battery to that.

Yeah, it's probably best at this point to assume it's not a blown speaker and run further troubleshooting steps. Good luck. I've had two GK 212 NEOS now for about 6 years and have had no problems.

Thanks guys and I'll try the 9v test tonight as I'm jamming with some friends. I'll let you know how it goes.

The cab does have a 1/4" input. There is a black plastic plug that you have to pull out (don't loose it, it is there to prevent air leaks). ;)

Okay I just tried the 9v test but I have no idea whether it passed or not...

Did all speakers move in or out the same amount (around a 1/2" or so) and make a smooth thump?

Yeah they all moved about the same. Should there be two thumps? Like in/out or out/in? It sound like the thump twice. But the horn sounds...I don't know. Something sounds a bit scratchy to me.

Yes two thumps. If you make a solid connection to the battery (make sure the jack is clean) the tweeter should only click. If the horn sounds scratchy it could be damaged. If the woofers sound scratchy at all they are damaged.