Just picked up an avatar 210... wish i could keep it

[And I]

So I was looking for a cab upgrade--and to downsize. I have a GK goldline 410 which i know most people don't think too highly of. it served me well for a while but after borrowing a friend's markbass NY 151 cab for a gig, i realized that i'd been lugging around 100 pounds of mediocre with the goldline...

i found a good deal on an avatar 210 on craigslist that is a couple years old. i went to check it out this morning and really liked the way it sounded, and also that i could lift it with one hand. i bought it, played it at home for a bit, and then brought it to a rehearsal today with a dub-reggae-worldbeat-infused funky jazzy band.

i was super happy with it when i got home and turned the head up a little bit (GK MB2-500). the clarity and definition that the goldline does not have was there in spades with the avatar. nice growl when i turned the gain up, sounded punchy and tight with the jazz bass, and nice and thick with the ibanez sr505. it handled the low B just fine unless i REALLY dug into it... overall i was really impressed.

but i noticed a buzzing somewhere in the cab... i A/B'd it with the 410 and i'm sure it's the avatar that's buzzing. i tried turning the tweeter all the way down, and then all the way up, but it has no effect on the buzzing. It's only audible when i play a long tone in the lower registers. after the initial finger attack, there is a faint but unpleasant distortion/buzz. cone excursion is fine, i opened up the back panel and the wiring/electronics look pristine (underneath a little dust). i also noticed that one of the plastic corner pieces was cracked, and there was a bit of mold on the grill (a little windex and a q-tip cleaned that up).

i confirmed again that it was the avatar buzzing and not some sympathetic vibration in my basement when i brought it to rehearsal. with the rest of the band playing it wasn't noticeable at all, but i set up first and played some long tones and definitely heard the buzz. a couple of the other guys in the band confirmed that it there was something not right.

the thing sounded great for the rehearsal!! but... that buzz is going to bother me. before i left the seller's apartment, i'd asked if he'd gigged with it before, and he said he hadn't. i asked if he would take it back if i noticed anything that didn't sound right wen i turned it up, and to my surprise, he was cool with that. i called him after the rehearsal and i'm going to return it tomorrow morning...

i'm bummed... i think i would have been quite happy with this cab. but who knows if this minor buzz will turn into a blown driver...

so i think i've decided to go to the local guitar center and trade the goldline in for a GK neo 112 now, and then get a 2nd one in a few months.

thanks for letting me vent.

[dminer]

Have you pulled the grill and checked all of the speaker mounting screws for tightness? Mine was buzzing a little on the A string, 7th fret, E note and I tightened all of the screws and problem solved....there were like 2 screws that were a little loose and the rest I could tighten only an 1/8 turn or less....worth a try. I seem to remember that I also read on here somewhere that you are never suppose to turn the horn totally off or you might fry it. And, I really do love my avatar neo 210...great cab.

[HMZ]

I think its a common problem on the Avatar cabs but an easy fix. Try tightening all the wood type screws holding the speakers. It seems they come lose after a while.

[And I]

thanks, i will definitely give that a shot before returning it!

[jellymax]

do not over-tighten the screws or you could cause a new noise by flexing the speaker frame....

[And I]

i tightened up all the screws on the outside of the amp, took of the grill, tightened up all the screws on the inside (i don't think too tight), and the buzz is still there. only in the left speaker. with the grill off i noticed that if i put my finger lightly on the left speaker near the surround, the buzzing stops. something in the speaker seems to be unhappy...

oh well, at least the dude was cool about taking it back. thanks for the sagely advice.

--andy

[BassmanPaul]

You're going from a 4x10 to a 2x10. That's a big difference. I get the feeling that maybe you are expecting too much from the humble 2x10. You may well have damaged the cabinet by trying to get the same volume as a 4x10.

[shoot-r]

Originally Posted by And I

So I was looking for a cab upgrade--and to downsize. I have a GK goldline 410 which i know most people don't think too highly of. it served me well for a while but after borrowing a friend's markbass NY 151 cab for a gig, i realized that i'd been lugging around 100 pounds of mediocre with the goldline...

i found a good deal on an avatar 210 on craigslist that is a couple years old. i went to check it out this morning and really liked the way it sounded, and also that i could lift it with one hand. i bought it, played it at home for a bit, and then brought it to a rehearsal today with a dub-reggae-worldbeat-infused funky jazzy band.

i was super happy with it when i got home and turned the head up a little bit (GK MB2-500). the clarity and definition that the goldline does not have was there in spades with the avatar. nice growl when i turned the gain up, sounded punchy and tight with the jazz bass, and nice and thick with the ibanez sr505. it handled the low B just fine unless i REALLY dug into it... overall i was really impressed.

but i noticed a buzzing somewhere in the cab... i A/B'd it with the 410 and i'm sure it's the avatar that's buzzing. i tried turning the tweeter all the way down, and then all the way up, but it has no effect on the buzzing. It's only audible when i play a long tone in the lower registers. after the initial finger attack, there is a faint but unpleasant distortion/buzz. cone excursion is fine, i opened up the back panel and the wiring/electronics look pristine (underneath a little dust). i also noticed that one of the plastic corner pieces was cracked, and there was a bit of mold on the grill (a little windex and a q-tip cleaned that up).

i confirmed again that it was the avatar buzzing and not some sympathetic vibration in my basement when i brought it to rehearsal. with the rest of the band playing it wasn't noticeable at all, but i set up first and played some long tones and definitely heard the buzz. a couple of the other guys in the band confirmed that it there was something not right.

the thing sounded great for the rehearsal!! but... that buzz is going to bother me. before i left the seller's apartment, i'd asked if he'd gigged with it before, and he said he hadn't. i asked if he would take it back if i noticed anything that didn't sound right wen i turned it up, and to my surprise, he was cool with that. i called him after the rehearsal and i'm going to return it tomorrow morning...

i'm bummed... i think i would have been quite happy with this cab. but who knows if this minor buzz will turn into a blown driver...

so i think i've decided to go to the local guitar center and trade the goldline in for a GK neo 112 now, and then get a 2nd one in a few months.

thanks for letting me vent.

I don't know what your cabinet budget is but, you can get the new Neo model Avatar 210 cabinet for $319.00 plus shipping.
I'm running two Avatar Neo 210's with a G.K. MB2-500...love this rig!.

[And I]

yup. i thought i'd save $150 and try a used one locally... i'm thinking that i'm gunna try out a GK Neo 112 and if i like it, get a second one in a few months. i can't seem to sell the goldline on craigslist, so guitar center will give me some cash for it towards the neo 112 and i can return it for a full refund if i don't like it. i have a feeling i will like it.

[And I]

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

You're going from a 4x10 to a 2x10. That's a big difference. I get the feeling that maybe you are expecting too much from the humble 2x10. You may well have damaged the cabinet by trying to get the same volume as a 4x10.

i don't play that loud. the 410 is 8ohms, the avatar is 4. i had the amp turned down lower than i did with the 410 and it produced the same volume when i was A/Bing them. the avatar is rated at 500 watts, which is what the head puts out at 4 ohms.

i turned it loud enough for a jam session with a non-rock band (we're not all that loud, the horn players don't even need mics). i didn't damage the cab by overpowering it. it noticed this buzzing at moderate volumes in my own house, before even jamming with the band. if it couldn't handle the volume i threw at it then i'm glad the guy took it back and gave me my money back anyway...

[Jaco D]

When I got my 115 Ashdown (pre-owned, by the way) I was getting a buzzing/farting sound from the driver. I took the driver to a tech and after a day or two of testing he said that the driver was ok. Mounted it back on the cab and the buzzing/farting was still there. When I was ready to swap the driver for a replacement, I noticed that when the driver was played unmounted on the cab the buzzing went away. My hunch is either the screws were being over-tightened to the baffle, the screws weren't uniformly tightened on the driver, or the hole in the baffle was interfering with the driver basket - either one or which was causing the basket to distort. What I did was to lay the cab on its back across two stools with the unmounted driver pointing to the ceiling. I then played a looped bass note through the cab (which was buzz free) and uniformly screwed down the driver to the baffle in a "star-crossed" manner similar to how you would tighten the nuts on a wheel in order to apply the torque equally across the face of the basket. I just tightened the screws in quarter turn increments equally across the screws and stopped at the point just before the buzzing came back. Something you might try.

[will33]

Originally Posted by And I

with the grill off i noticed that if i put my finger lightly on the left speaker near the surround, the buzzing stops.

surround may have a little cut in it or is starting to separate from the cone. Little glue fix it up fine. If you're worried about future problems and/or the guy will take it back if you point out the flaw then take it back.

[FuzzBoxVoodoo]

I had this exact same problem with a Avatar 2x10 where you could also touch the surround and the buzz would stop and what the problem was is that Some of the leads were made to long between the terminal and the cone inside the speaker frame and would rattle on the cone itself where it was touching,I was able to bend the leads just slightly and it cured it on both speakers.
Dave at Avatar confirmed that this was a problem on some of the earlier Neo's.
Hopefully this is your problem and not a bad coil.
Steve