My little EHX Microsynth Incident

[Mesa XI]

Yesterday I was jamming with one of my roommates. I was playing my Wishbass, which has a considerably lower tone than my Alvarez, through my Hartke Kickback 15. We're just goofin around so I kick the switch to my Microsynth. I still had it set to Sub-Octave all the way up, and Envelope shift from lowest to highest with the rate all the way up.

I hit that open E and immediately knew I'd done something horrible. I looked at my amp and it completely tore through the metallic part of the speaker, I'd say the gash was a foot and a half considering the curvature. Let that be a lesson to all of us, always adjust your settings to the instrument you're using.

[Geddyfleaharris]

Holy crap. Thanks for the warning. My BMS just arrived yesterday. I haven't even had a chance to fool with it yet. And while I feel your speaker pain the speaker-splitting awesomeness produced by he BMS is impressive.

[coolrunner989]

I'm sorry to hear about your amp, but on the other hand THAT'S AWESOME!
I'd really like to see a picture of said torn speaker

[rratajski]

Wah wah waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

I actually use that setting all the time and have never had an issue. I've used it w/ three different basses (Fender Jazz IV, Fender Jazz V, and Rick 4003).

Sorry to hear about your issue! Yikes!

[kevteop]

Put a notch on your BMS, you need to keep a record of its kills.

[Mesa XI]

Haha, I think it was mainly a grand compilation of bad moves on my part. Using the heavy gauged fretless, the settings I had the Amp itself set to, and then most importantly the full on suboctave with the low envelope. I'll try to post a picture later.

[BassJunkie730]

Originally Posted by kevteop

Put a notch on your BMS, you need to keep a record of its kills.

signature worthy

[dannybuoy]

I feel the need for a limiter now with my MXR Carbon Copy - that oscillation can get waaaay out of control if you're not careful! Sell the amp to Daniel Tulip / Nyarlathotep, he's looking for an effect to simulate a blown speaker.

[rratajski]

Zing. Zing. Zing!

[Nikoubis]

Originally Posted by BassJunkie730

signature worthy

Indeed.

[Lindsay]

Originally Posted by coolrunner989

... but on the other hand THAT'S AWESOME!

a big plus one to that

There is a Hartke Kickback with terminal farting problems at the rehearsal studio my band uses. Now I know how to put it out of its misery once and for all

[TheMutt]

Awesome!!!
Sorry about the loss of your amp, but I've yet to blow a speaker using super low frequencies. When I first got my Barge Concepts Grinder, I found an awesome dub tone that you felt more than heard. It was a wall-shaking, window-rattling, car-alarm-tripping good time.

As for the MXR Carbon Copy, it's best to stick it behind a volume pedal for self-oscillation, or turn the mix knob all the way to fully ccw (7:00) and turn it up to taste. That sucker gets massively loud!

[kevteop]

Originally Posted by Lindsay

a big plus one to that

There is a Hartke Kickback with terminal farting problems at the rehearsal studio my band uses. Now I know how to put it out of its misery once and for all

My guitarist's got a Hartke Kickback at his house that has occasional power issues. Maybe I'll pay him a visit with my BMS...

[Mesa XI]

Originally Posted by TheMutt

Awesome!!!
Sorry about the loss of your amp, but I've yet to blow a speaker using super low frequencies

Just don't buy a Hartke 15, I've blown this speaker 3 or 4 times now through various scenarios. Other than the input the amp itself has held up, but the speaker can't handle the volume capacity of the amp. I'm debating weather or not I should bother fixing it or not, I guess if I can find the extra speaker I had stashed away somewhere I'll give it one more go. I miss my Ampeg.

[SoonerMatt]

....why has my GAS for the BMS tripled?

[bigchiefbc]

Originally Posted by Mesa XI

Just don't buy a Hartke 15, I've blown this speaker 3 or 4 times now through various scenarios. Other than the input the amp itself has held up, but the speaker can't handle the volume capacity of the amp. I'm debating weather or not I should bother fixing it or not, I guess if I can find the extra speaker I had stashed away somewhere I'll give it one more go. I miss my Ampeg.

Ditto.

My 1x15 cab is a hartke transporter series, and I blew that aluminum cone speaker twice in two years. The last time, I said no more hartke drivers. I ended up putting in a peavey black widow, and that thing has pounding lows and has lasted 4 great years so far.

[bobulibobium]

so it was the low frequency that tore the cone? is this problem with all aluminium cones? better watch out on my hartke, ive got the 250W version

[TheMutt]

Warning! Technical mumbo-jumbo-debate-inducing question follows:
Would it be due to the sub-octave excurting the speaker farther than it can go that would be the problem, or would it be too much wattage being pushed to the speakers due to the BMS that would more likely cause this?

Prepare for battle stations!

[Mesa XI]

Originally Posted by TheMutt

Warning! Technical mumbo-jumbo-debate-inducing question follows:
Would it be due to the sub-octave excurting the speaker farther than it can go that would be the problem, or would it be too much wattage being pushed to the speakers due to the BMS that would more likely cause this?

Prepare for battle stations!

Hmmm....

I'm not to good with this kind of thing, but I assumed that it was the low frequency. I used my Alvarez bass with the same settings for a while and had no problem, but once I picked up the my Wishbass it was blown away. I suppose it's possible that the volume was too loud, but the volume on the Wish is lower than any Bass I've ever played. I blame the frequency, but who knows. I'll get some pics for you guys to analyze

[sonic assassin]

is it really going to take 20 posts to get to this?

PICS OR IT DIDNT HAPPEN!