Peavey Volume Drop and Smell during gig

mofeezy · #1 10-31-2011, 12:36 PM

Hey all,
Last night I was playing a show with my peavey classic 400 through a peavey 215D cabinet. In the middle of the set, I noticed my volume had dropped noticeably. I kept playing until I smelled some burning smell. I shut it off and used the DI for the rest of the set. While loading gear out, I noticed that the smell I noticed seems to be coming from the speaker cabinet and not the amp, though the cabinet has a fabric grill which may have just retained the smell.

I haven't had a chance to look at anything yet. Is it likely that this is a speaker issue, or an amp issue?

I am going to have my tech look over the head anyways, because it hasn't been checked while I've had it. I will check the speakers today hopefully to see if they are just blown.

This is more of a "what should I expect" the problem to be kind of thread.

any advice/tips/ideas of what to check with regard to the speakers?

Is it safe to try the head through another cabinet?

will33 · #2 10-31-2011, 12:54 PM

I'd check the speakers by themselves first just to insure whatever the amp problem is doesn't damage other test speakers. Those cabinets are just a pair of 15's wired to a jack, no crossovers or really much to go wrong. I would suspect the amp.

BbbyBld · #3 11-01-2011, 09:16 AM

That's probably the speaker(s).

You may have just been running too much power at too low of a frequency. The Classic 400 is very capable of that.

If they are Black Widows, some of the older versions have an issue where the foam magnet vent filter deteriorates over time. It can clog up the voice coil. If you can verify that problem, there are ways to fix it.

will33 · #4 11-01-2011, 09:55 AM

Ah, I forgot about the foam thingy. OP, if they're Black Widows you can take them apart and have a look at the coils....clean the crap out of there.

mofeezy · #5 11-01-2011, 10:45 AM

They are Scorpions i'm pretty sure. (silver framed/square sides). You are probably right about the low frequency. I was pushing them really hard (3.5 to 4 on the first channel), and may have been greedy.

mofeezy · #6 11-01-2011, 10:47 AM

I'm taking the head to the tech tomorrow and hope to look at the speakers tonight. Still haven't had a chance to plug the head into a different cab to see if it is ok.

mofeezy · #7 11-01-2011, 10:59 AM

Thanks for the replies!

1958Bassman · #8 11-01-2011, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mofeezy

I'm taking the head to the tech tomorrow and hope to look at the speakers tonight. Still haven't had a chance to plug the head into a different cab to see if it is ok.

Sniff the amp after removing the cover (if it doesn't have slots for cooling). If you don't smell anything like what you did during the gig, it wasn't the amp that was smoking. If you were overpowering your speakers, you probably know what you need to do- either more speakers or speakers that can handle the power. BTW- smoke rises- the grills wouldn't have picked up the smell of the smoke if it was the head smoking.

will33 · #9 11-01-2011, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1958Bassman

Sniff the amp after removing the cover (if it doesn't have slots for cooling). If you don't smell anything like what you did during the gig, it wasn't the amp that was smoking. If you were overpowering your speakers, you probably know what you need to do- either more speakers or speakers that can handle the power. BTW- smoke rises- the grills wouldn't have picked up the smell of the smoke if it was the head smoking.

It's a 400 watt tube amp. Tubes and transformers on top, everything else underneath. Can't see any burned parts without taking it apart, there is no cover you can just take off the top.

OP, I'd start by testing you cab with a battery on the speaker cable plug. Your volume drop may have been one of them blowing and the other single speaker still trying to work in twice the box size. Check for coil rub on whatever ones still move with the battery.

Ric5 · #10 11-01-2011, 02:45 PM

Peavey Volume Drop and Smell during gig

So your Peavey amp stinks ... bummer ...

mofeezy · #11 11-01-2011, 04:00 PM

Will,
Got around to checking it out. Put a battery up to the speaker cable, got the top speaker to move, but not the bottom. Used an abused solid state head on it, and could get sound from the top speaker, but it was very distorted. I'll just replace them both.

Taking the head to the tech tomorrow to look at it, didn't want to try it until it has been looked over. Thanks again.

will33 · #12 11-01-2011, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mofeezy

Will,
Got around to checking it out. Put a battery up to the speaker cable, got the top speaker to move, but not the bottom. Used an abused solid state head on it, and could get sound from the top speaker, but it was very distorted. I'll just replace them both.

Taking the head to the tech tomorrow to look at it, didn't want to try it until it has been looked over. Thanks again.

That's about all you can do. The top one's coil probably got hot enough to get bent out of shape too, just not silent yet. Your amp may be fine but best to have someone who knows what they're doing look it over.

1505DT-8 model Black Widows or Eminence Legend CB158's are both good drop in replacements in the 215D cabs and either of them can take more pounding than the Scorpion. The legends might cost a little less and have a little warmer sound, the BW's would have a little more going on in the upper mids. There are some neo's that work well in there too but they're pretty spendy. Seeing as you're gigging the Mother of all Bass Amps I assume you're not all that concerned with a few lbs. difference in the cab weight.

BTW, I've played the C400 a couple times, huge sound. I have one in tweed tolex sitting here with no power tubes in it I got a deal on. Just waiting for some amp to break down. I'll be tubing up that one instead of buying something else.

mofeezy · #13 11-04-2011, 07:13 AM

I got the head to the tech. Came back fine. He found no problems. I got to watch him hook it up to a dummy load and o-scope to assess power output. Which was pretty cool to see. This thing is a monster.

And I'm going to hopefully grab a couple of 15's from a friend to use in the cab for now. I will probably have to do a better job at keeping the volume (and low end) in check if I'm going to not blow these speakers too.

I love the c400, I don't think I will ever need another bass amp (and a guitar amp for clean tones). I will probably need to set up a second cab though to make sure I don't blow anymore speakers.

You should get yours tubed up now, you will love it. Thanks for the help.