Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 and active pickups

NickfromSOS · #1 11-15-2010, 04:53 PM

I let my friend use my Shuttle 6.0 this weekend for a gig I played drums on. He uses a 5 string Ibanez bass with active pickups. The clip light was lighting up all night long (not consistantly), especially on the B string notes. Both preamp knobs were at 12 o'clock. The master volume was set at 3 o'clock at most. It was lighting up like a christmas tree. With my 4 string Jazz bass, I can pin all of the controls and only blink the clip light occassonally when i really dig into a note. Due the active pickups make that much of a difference? How can I work around this so I can get a little more volume with the active pickups without clipping the amp?

KsPiNeSh · #2 11-15-2010, 05:27 PM

Probably more to do with the preamp than the pups, though I could be wrong. Try turning down the volume on the bass.

B String · #3 11-15-2010, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickfromSOS

I let my friend use my Shuttle 6.0 this weekend for a gig I played drums on. He uses a 5 string Ibanez bass with active pickups. The clip light was lighting up all night long (not consistantly), especially on the B string notes. Both preamp knobs were at 12 o'clock. The master volume was set at 3 o'clock at most. It was lighting up like a christmas tree. With my 4 string Jazz bass, I can pin all of the controls and only blink the clip light occassonally when i really dig into a note. Due the active pickups make that much of a difference? How can I work around this so I can get a little more volume with the active pickups without clipping the amp?

Did he have the bass, mids, or treble boosted on the bass? This can cause a very hot signal to be going into the amp.

**cheezewiz** · #4 11-15-2010, 06:08 PM

Exactly. Don't use big amounts of boost from the bass preamp. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Diming your bass knob will overload any bass amp's input. Start with your controls on the bass flat. Dial in your preamp gain on your amp, then go from there with small adjustments.

Aaron_D · #5 11-15-2010, 08:56 PM

With my hot Spector I have to keep the gain around 3 to keep it totally clean. With my passive jazz, I can crank it to 10 and only get mild tube warmth. This is why the shuttle max series is great with the high gain switch.

kesslari · #6 11-15-2010, 10:02 PM

Turn down the gain or the master on the Shuttle preamp. That's what it's designed for - to match the degree of saturation you get with the output level of the bass you're playing.

Delapaz · #7 11-15-2010, 11:01 PM

When connecting an active bass, all you have to do is turn a bit down the gain in the preamp section, because active basses have a preamp circuit this gives them more gain straight from the bass so, it is less than the passive signal, that happened to me on my ShuttleMax12.0, and did just that to solve it... Hope this helps you

hasbeen · #8 11-16-2010, 07:36 AM

a couple of questions/comments:

* were you hearing clipping or was it just the light coming on? The light will come on quite a bit before you hear any clipping.
* Please take a look at the manual...page two. This may give you some guidance.

All the best.

http://genzbenz.com/img/manuals/gb/SHUTTLE6_manual.pdf

Lublin · #9 11-16-2010, 08:08 AM

Your incoming signal is too hot. Turn down the pre on the bass or the gain on amp's pre.

srayb · #10 11-16-2010, 08:19 AM

It's interesting you mentioned it was an Ibanez. I experienced the same thing while trying a Shuttle 3.0 in a music store with the small 8T cabinet, when I turned up the low eq boost on the bass (it was an Ibanez 6-string). And it only seemed to cause problems on the lowest string.

I realized (what others here have mentioned), to not make use of the bass' eqing, just use the eqing on the head. If anything, using the cut controls on the bass should be fine, just be careful when using the boost.

KJung · #11 11-16-2010, 08:29 AM

Remember guys, the Shuttle 6 is a tube pre. Most tube pre's don't even have input clip lights, since one of the main points of having a tube pre is to be able to dial in some of that 'tube complexity' by cranking the gain.

On a solid state pre, you should pay attention to the input clip light, since there is (for most solid state pre's anyway) a true 'optimum' setting just below clip.

For a tube pre, an input clip light makes little sense and should be ignored. For some tones, you would want that input clip light to stay on all the time!

A power amp clip indicator is a different thing of course.

Finally, many passive basses are hotter than many active basses.... an active pre has nothing to do with anything, especially since quite a few have adjustable output levels in the cavity and/or are set for unity gain anyway with the passive pickup level.

Of course, if you crank the low end gain on your on-board preamp and dig in down low, that will be a LOT of output hitting the pre and you might have to turn the input gain down a bit versus most passive instruments.

Edit: For the cleanest tone from the 6, turn the 'secondary gain' knob all the way up, adjust the pre gain so that the clip light comes on at only your lowest, hardest hits, and then adjust volume with the master.

NickfromSOS · #12 11-16-2010, 01:50 PM

Hasbeen- The sound was not effected, just the light was coming on. I haven't had a chance to gig with it yet, so this was my first experience in a band setting with it. I realize that the manual says the light can come on from time to time, but it was coming on for a majority of the notes. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't damaging anything. It sounded great... a clear, punchy tone that I loved. With my Jazz bass, it's really nice. I don't play 5 strings, so i thought it might be isolated to the low B string.

hasbeen · #13 11-16-2010, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickfromSOS

Hasbeen- The sound was not effected, just the light was coming on. I haven't had a chance to gig with it yet, so this was my first experience in a band setting with it. I realize that the manual says the light can come on from time to time, but it was coming on for a majority of the notes. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't damaging anything. It sounded great... a clear, punchy tone that I loved. With my Jazz bass, it's really nice. I don't play 5 strings, so i thought it might be isolated to the low B string.

Thanks for providing more import. You're fine- you aren't hurting the amp. As long as it sounds good, it is good. And thanks very much for your business, we appreciate it.

agedhorse · #14 11-17-2010, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJung

For a tube pre, an input clip light makes little sense and should be ignored. For some tones, you would want that input clip light to stay on all the time!

Some players like to know where they are level-wise and how hard they are hitting the tube. The tube begins to overdrive as the LED flashes. This is even more important on a channel switching amp where it's nice to visually confirm that you are driving at the level you intended BFORE switching on the fly. It's an informational indicator, some folks prefer it, some may not care.