Bass 400+ w/410 HLF... Strange sounds

[Progzter]

I got this cab (ampeg 410HLF) hoping that with my 400+ would produce some damned clean sounding bass at high volumes. Maybe I just suck at dialing in good tone, but im having some problems.

At higher volumes, specifically after hitting the E string, I hear a loud high frequency sound. So I lower the bass and the volume and it sounds nicer, and the sound goes away. Is this my cab about to give in? maybe a horn problem?

Also, the cab sounds very boomy. Would a compressor do the trick?

I am very afraid that I am going to blow this cab out with my head. Mesa says its rated at 500 watts RMS but people on here doubt that. I personally don't think its really 500 watts RMS as I don't have nearly as much headroom as I thought I would have had. Would a second 4x10 HLF cab do the trick?

I just want a nice clean sound while its loud.

I feel like something is wrong! Is there seriously a possibility I could be getting better tone out of my B2R and an SVT 15e?

[meRTKendrew]

How do you have your eq set? Have you turned down the tweeter on your cab?

i would do that.
The Ampeg 410HLF has a huge bottom end that needs to be tamed somewhat, so if i were you, i would turn down the bass on your Mesa. that should be a good start.


-RTK

[lorenk]

The 400+ puts out 300 watts RMS, if you search you'll find some techy explaination. And that three hundred is at best. Most likely you have closer to 250-280 watts.

As for the lack of clean headroom....well I have never had much of an issue keeping mine clean. What are you settings, both EQ and input? Are you using an active bass? Adding another cab will help keep your sound clean, though it won't increase the clean headroom on your amp. You'll just have more volume without pushing the tubes into saturation or distortion.

[Progzter]

Originally Posted by lorenk

As for the lack of clean headroom....well I have never had much of an issue keeping mine clean. What are you settings, both EQ and input? Are you using an active bass? Adding another cab will help keep your sound clean, though it won't increase the clean headroom on your amp. You'll just have more volume without pushing the tubes into saturation or distortion.

Right, that is what I was figuring, another cab will not push the tubes too hard. Yes, I am playing an active bass. Whatever pickups came with the Ibanez BTB455QM. Would this make my tone less clean?

[jgroh]

I have an HLF410 and I am running a Markbass LMII through it. While this cab can get boomy because of the way its tuned, I have no problems cranking up the volume with mine. The LMII is 500 watts. Are you EQing your signal at all? I have to back off the lows a little on the amp. Could the phantom noise be from your bass?

[Progzter]

I am just beginning to think its too much head for this cab. Anyone else know anything?

[RFord04]

Definitely not too much head for the cab. If you're talking about headroom issues, it might be too little head for the cab. I also run an LMII through mine, and it handles it just fine. If you're looking for clean sounds, maybe a solid state head would be better for you, although I know that the 400+ is perfectly capable of good clean sounds itself. Make sure your horn isn't up too loud. The 410hlf is known for having a shrill horn and very little horn is required for most rooms.

[lorenk]

Originally Posted by Progzter

Right, that is what I was figuring, another cab will not push the tubes too hard. Yes, I am playing an active bass. Whatever pickups came with the Ibanez BTB455QM. Would this make my tone less clean?

Probably not the pickups, but more likely the active EQ. I know if I use my MTD Kingston with my 400+, using the botton (passive) input I can add a fair amount of preamp tube distortion. Definately try using the top and bottom input jack, as well as keeping the volume on your bass fairly low. Let the preamp and master volume do the EQ and volume.

Also, you might want to look up psychobassguy's au7 mod for the preamp, that will give you more clean head room and allegedly more responsive EQ. I haven't tried it, hence the allegedly.

[joeydavidson]

Originally Posted by Progzter

I am just beginning to think its too much head for this cab. Anyone else know anything?

You could be right about it being the cab, at very high volumes my 610hlf is less clean then at lower volumes, the speakers don't flub out but they really start to exaggerate any growl thats coming from my bass.

Even a broken wire strand inside a string will be very noticable through my 610hlf at high volumes but not so much through other cabs.

Also it could be the horn...even when turned off it still effects the sound, somebody here posted a mod that can be done to stop this.

That's why I like using the 610hlf over my 810 when I use fuzz/distortion.

Of course it could be something else and I can't explain why there would be a high freq sound like you said. Also the 610hlf and 410hlf have their differences so what I said might not mean much but I hope you figure it out, good luck.

I've tried a compressor with my hlf got the best results without a compressor and just spending some time EQing the amp.