Speakon Connector tips- I'm confused.

[Bassman316]

Hey fellas- I need a pointer here. I've gone through the stickies on this topic but I'm still lost. Here's what I've got- I just received a Hartke LH1000 head. Since I've started playing bass, I've only ever played out of combo amps, so I'm pretty stoked to start building an actual bass rig, but that's the reason I'm lost here.I'll be ordering one of the Hydrive 410 cabs next week. I have a Speakon cable for when the cab gets here so I can hook it all up, but I'm confused on how exactly to hook it up between head and cab, especially the "+" and "-" business. I'm not sure if I can just plug the cable into the back of the head and then to the cab or if there's more to it than that. Here's what the manual for my model amp says on the matter:

"In order to ensure correct phase correlation, the tip of the Model LH500 and LH1000 speaker jack should be connected to the “+” (hot) input of your loudspeaker, and the sleeve of the Model LH500 and LH1000 speaker jack should be connected to the “-” (ground) input of your loudspeaker."

Can someone lend a hand to a completely lost but excited fellow bass player?

Thanks!

[bongomania]

"Tip" and "sleeve" are terms used with the 1/4" speaker jacks, they don't really apply to Speakons. Instead, the first thing to do is simply plug the cable into the amp and the cab, and see what happens when you play. No damage will occur--worst case scenario, you hear nothing. If you hear nothing, then unscrew the cases of the Speakons, and observe which wire (typically "inner" and "outer") goes to which lug of the Speakon. Make sure they match at both ends. If they don't, then unscrew one and re-do it to match the other. If they do match already, and there's no sound, check to see if either of the plugs is a 4-pole (has 4 screws for wires to attach). If so, then try different combinations until it works. All it takes is a screwdriver, and some swearing.

Odds are though, you won't have to do anything, and it'll be fine on the first go.

[brendanbassist]

Bongomania is right. Plug and play; if there are no problems, then don't worry about it.

[Bassman316]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was worried that the whole thing my blow if I plugged it in wrong, so it's a relief knowing that worse case scenario is I won't hear anything!

[bassmanbiff]

Just moving the wires around at the two ends suggestion will eventually get you there, but first try ensuring the wire at 1+ goes to the 1+ a the other end and also with 1-. That's the usual wiring for simple connections.