New VB-2 .... great but with one problem

[TylerE]

So got my VB-2 from FedEx today...been playing with it for about 2 hours. Overall I'm pretty excited about it. Definatly does the old school thumpy thing I was looking for. Overdrive is kinda meh, but I'm not into distortion on bass anyway. One thing is kinda driving my nuts...it seems to have a pretty nasty resonance on D....either the 3rd fret on my low B or 5th fret on A, (but not inrterestingly, 10th fret E, or open D).

Once some volume threshold is crossed, when that note is played the whole head just vibrates very audibly. I'm not really playing super loud either.... master on about 4.5, gain on 3. I'm guessing some foam rubber is in order? I have the head sitting on top of my 212.. the feet of the amp are about an inch in from the edge on either side of the cab.

[BbbyBld]

I haven't heard one do that.

Was the box damaged in any way?

Can you single it out?

For example, does it go away if you push on either of the grilles or does it seem to be coming from inside?

[TylerE]

Not the grills. doesn't sound like anything specific. Doesn't appear to be any damage or anything. My guess is the combination of not being on a ground floor + somewhat boomy cabinet is doing it. It's very odd how it comes and goes. If I fit that D just hard enough to make it vibrate and then back off slightly it totally goes away. Also, digging in harder doesn't seem to really make it vibrate more.

[johnk_10]

it's probably either the tube retainers rattling at a resonant frequency, or the tubes themselves.

i'd try putting a piece of foam between your head and cab and see if it still does it. or put the amp on a chair next to it to see if you can isolate the problem.

my traynor yba 200-2's output tube retainer springs rattled alot until i slipped a piece of silicon tubing (RC airplane fuel line) over them, and now it's dead quiet.

[TylerE]

Yep...set it up on a piano bench next to the cab and it totally went away. Looks like I'm stopping by the home improvement store tomorrow for some foam rubber.

[TylerE]

After some more expirementation the overdrive is actually really starting to grow on me.

I think at first I was getting way off into nutso fuzzy land which is kinda fun in it's own way.

Allen Woody (of Gov't Mule) has always been a real influence on me...I love how he took the "lead bass" style ala Entwhistle or Berry Oakley and made it work without losing the groove. His live tone was this awesome growl from an EB-3, a pick, and an SVT...and I'm able to get pretty darn close to that despite a totally different bass. (Using the P pickup on my Pedulla MVP5 w/ La Bella Flats). Even with master on 2 or so it sounds massive...