Ampeg BSE410-hlf cab squealed & lit up @ practice last night.. HELP

[Jamus]

Hi all!

I was at band practice last night, and after playing a song, turned my volume down on my bass. Then after a minute, turned it back up and every time I took my hand off the strings my Ampeg BSE410-hlf cab would make this loud squealing sound and would light up inside the cab at the top!

I searched around the net for any info on this and found that this could do with a fuse type bulb on the back panel. Can't find anything on it from Ampeg themselves.

Does anyone know what is going on? Any help is very appreciated b/c I have gigs coming up and want to make sure it's not going to blow up on me!

[BassmanPaul]

The lamp protects the high range driver from overloads of the kind you initiated. May I suggest that you check all of your signal cabling/chain for problems.

[allexcosta]

You're probably playing too close to the cab and the noise you hear is feedback from the pickups. Move around a bit or have your pickups potted with paraffin and bee's wax.

[viper4000]

It's a protection lamp. They appear a lot in bass cabinets that have a horn.

[Jamus]

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

The lamp protects the high range driver from overloads of the kind you initiated. May I suggest that you check all of your signal cabling/chain for problems.

I thought that was what was going on, protecting from an overload. Thanks! So it's normal?

It's weird b/c I have been playing through the cab with the same amp and on the same volume/setting levels for over a year now and have never had that happen. My chain seems fine and has never changed.
I still don't know why it did that b/c everything seems ok and I wasnt doing anything obvious to make it protect itself.

[Samsound]

Did you recently add a banjo player to the lineup?

[BassmanPaul]

If a ground goes out on a signal cable you can get all sorts of weird events happening.