Is it something I did?

[bassinplace]

Hello,

I'm relatively new at playing bass and I just bought my first amp for playing with a band, a Fender Rumble 350. I'm really impressed with sound of it, but I only had it for 2 months and the speakers blew. Luckily it has a 5 year warranty, so I took it in to be serviced. The tech told me he's waiting on new speakers, that they were both totally blown and that "the amp must have been driven really hard".

I'm not sure what that means. Here's the way I had the settings:

Amp Settings:

Volume: at about 1 o'clock at the time it blew (I usually run it somewhere between 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock, depending on what room we're rehearsing in).

Bass: at 3 o'clock

Two mid dials (semi-parametric): both at 12 o'clock

Treble: at 12 o'clock

"Scoop" button: on

"Punch" button: off

Overdrive: set at about 3 o'clock for both dials. I usually only use it on one song, but the day it blew if forgot to switch it off and had been playing everything with it on.

Bass settings:

Volume: Full

Mid: 12 o'clock

Treble: 12 o'clock

Bass: Full

I have a Stingray HH and usually play with both pups on full or front pup only.

That's it. Do these settings seem "excessive"? The amp is totally self contained, no jack to add any cab, so I would think it would be able to handle whatever settings it has internally, if that makes sense. I don't see how what I was playing was driving it hard. Like I said, I'm not even sure what that means. Any ideas? Thanks!

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by bassinplace

That's it. Do these settings seem "excessive"?

Yes -- that is a big bass load on those (or any) speakers. It's the lower frequencies that generally cause a speaker to come up against its limitations. If you're going to have a lot of bass, you need to turn way down. I can't for a moment imagine that the cabinet didn't make some pretty dreadful noises before it crapped out completely -- you need to pay some attention to that.

Hope you turned everything down before you took it in to the tech!

[Von Felgenhauer]

Also, it's not the volume going to the speakers but the heat it develops I believe which burns the voice coil. I could be completely wrong though. But yea, that is alot of bass. If you feel the bass isn't as pronounced at the unity setting of it, try cutting or turning down the treble instead of boosting the bass. Also adjusting the mids would help to.

[DosiYanarchy]

hmm, i'm not the most experienced by any means, but from the settings your saying it seems like that theres alot of 'bass' in your tone.

obviously, that sounds stupid, but you boost the bass to full with the active EQ on your stingray (which can sound quite scooped anyway), then on the amp you scoop out the mids and boost the bass further again. Im not critisizing, I just reckon that theres a whole lot of boosting in the lows, and this *could* be what caused the speakers to blow.

Also, im assuming that the Rumble has the 210 config?

If you added a 15 to that (if you can do that - im assuming that the current speakers are running at 8ohm, which means you may be able add another 8ohm cab) you'll hopefully notice more volume and more bass! which means you just wont need boost the bass frequencies so much because your speakers will (hopefully) be pumping out bass for days.

[TrevorOfDoom]

I'd suggest turning off the Scoop function.
scooping midrange frequencies makes it harder to hear the instrument. Mids are your friends!
also, my usual rule for Master Volume Only amps is if i have to turn it past noon, it's not loud enough for my goals. Maybe it's time you upgraded to something with a bit more power.

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by DosiYanarchy

If you added a 15 to that (if you can do that - im assuming that the current speakers are running at 8ohm, which means you may be able add another 8ohm cab) you'll hopefully notice more volume and more bass! which means you just wont need boost the bass frequencies so much because your speakers will (hopefully) be pumping out bass for days.

Adding an extension (if that's possible with the Rumbles, and I'm not sure it is, but anyway) will give you a lot more volume without having to turn up so much. It's a myth that a 15-inch speaker gives more lows than any other size, so ignore that bit -- but in general, adding speakers will make things better, adding more of the same speakers will be better still.

[bassinplace]

Yeah, there's no option to add a cab, and the volume is fine, I just like a lot of low. Sounds like from what you guys are saying that turning down on the lows would be a good way to go. That's what I'll do. Thanks! Is it a good idea to keep the volume on my bass set at full?

[Meyatch]

Originally Posted by bassinplace

Yeah, there's no option to add a cab, and the volume is fine, I just like a lot of low. Sounds like from what you guys are saying that turning down on the lows would be a good way to go. That's what I'll do. Thanks! Is it a good idea to keep the volume on my bass set at full?

if you like that much low, you are going to need to invest in a much much nicer amp setup. Multiple speakers, way more wattage. The Rumble is never ever going to cut it.

Personally I highly doubt I'd be able to stand playing with those settings for more than a couple seconds, but if that's what you like you need to get the gear to make it happen.

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by bassinplace

Yeah, there's no option to add a cab, and the volume is fine, I just like a lot of low. Sounds like from what you guys are saying that turning down on the lows would be a good way to go. That's what I'll do. Thanks! Is it a good idea to keep the volume on my bass set at full?

The output from a Stingray is pretty hot, if I remember correctly. I have a G&L L2000 and an NS EUB, both with very high output preamps, and I only turn up to 50-75% at most, which just gives me a little more play in my amp volume control.

I think you'll sound a lot better with your band with the bass turned down -- the EQ settings you had (relative to one another) generally sound better during solo practice than in a band setting. All rule of thumb stuff, of course, but a good place to start.

[bassinplace]

EDIT: Question answered by GrowlerBox. Thanks!

[bobby1781]

volume on the bass at full is fine, and normal

to shed a bit onto what you are actually asking your amp to do

every 3db is essentially double the volume

i do not know the range of those eq's on the rumble but lets just say for example its +/- 12db at 12 o'clock its 0, at 3 o'clock you are at +6db ish area

same for the bass, say its +9db at full you are telling your amp "play these frequencies 3 times louder than the others"
then on your amp you are telling it "now increase that by another 2 times"

combining the increased power draw the lower frequencies have you sorta asked your amp to put out a TON more power than it has.... that creates distortion (not the good kind) which is heat, I am sure you did one of two things - melted those voice coils, or ripped the spiders from the cone from over excursion. Either way you should have heard awful farting or just plain bad sounding bass.

If you want your lows exaggerated that much, it would actually make the same relative effect if you decrease the EQ's on your mids and highs and 12 o clock on the bass. If it is not loud enough like that you need an amp that can create more output.

[Meyatch]

Originally Posted by bassinplace

Would be nice, but I've gotta work within my budget for now. I'm sure this will work out, I've just gotta find an alternate setting that I like. How about the volume on the Music Man, full OK?

Having the volume full on the stingray in and of itself is not going to cause any damage.

Its possible you could clip the input stage. Most modern bass amps have an input pad for active instruments. You could engage that if you'd like, but its probably fine.

[Calaverasgrande]

I had a similar problem when I first got into active basses. You realy dont want to turn that bass knob up ever. It should be labeled "mud". I mostly just dial up the treble for some melodic tunes or dial up the mid for the rocking out gods of fire tunes. I run my amp with the bas up a bit more than the treble and the mids slightly cut, but its a very midforward setup.
I would say try and get your volume straight with all EQ knobs flat. Then use the EQ to dial in the tone by degrees.

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by bobby1781

every 3db is essentially double the volume.

No. Double the power output (i.e. "wattage") into your speaker and get a 3 dB increase in volume (i.e. "bugger all" -- you'll notice it if you're listening for it).

Doubling perceived volume is at about 10 dB (which, incidentally, requires 10 times the power assuming the same speaker set up).

[Marginal Tom]

If you really need that much bass, you need a much more powerful amp with a crossover and a dedicated subwoofer as well a normal bass speaker cab.

[Sartori]

Originally Posted by bassinplace

Hello,
I'm not sure what that means. Here's the way I had the settings:

Amp Settings:

Volume: at about 1 o'clock at the time it blew (I usually run it somewhere between 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock, depending on what room we're rehearsing in).

Bass: at 3 o'clock

Two mid dials (semi-parametric): both at 12 o'clock

Treble: at 12 o'clock

"Scoop" button: on

"Punch" button: off

Overdrive: set at about 3 o'clock for both dials. I usually only use it on one song, but the day it blew if forgot to switch it off and had been playing everything with it on.

Bass settings:

Volume: Full

Mid: 12 o'clock

Treble: 12 o'clock

Bass: Full

I have a Stingray HH and usually play with both pups on full or front pup only.

In bold are the things you did that probably blew up your speakers.

Low frequencies are extremely demanding on speakers, and also take a ton of power. If you want a really full sound, you might want to try dialing back the lows (especially on the bass, it's probably best to leave it close to flat, a little goes a long way), and instead bumping up the low mids a bit. That will also give you a really full sound, but won't take as much volume to produce, and won't be as hard on your speakers.

Also, disengage the scoop button when playing with a band, generally.

[Growly Lytes]

So you can...
Turn the Master down to compensate for the extra bass
Turn up the Mids & or Treble to balance it out
Leave bass at middle & turn down mids & treble to increase bass
You will be fine after the replies you get here.

[Munjibunga]

... something you did.

[bassinplace]

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

... something you did.

*snicker* Again? That's one moody cat...