Can someone help me troubleshoot

lopxtc · #1 08-30-2007, 06:25 AM

So I just recently got my first real amp, a Ashdown Mag C115-400, and I am loving it having gone from a 30 watt to a 400 watt amp. However I think Im having issues and I am trying to figure it out.

I have two basses; a squire VM jazz (passive) with the stock roundwounds, and a schecter elite-5 (active) with flatwounds. My four string jazz sounds fine playing through the amp, but my five string doesnt sound as good. Almost all low notes seem like they are sounding like they are being played through a distortion pedal. I checked the battery and replaced it, and have played with trying to dial in the tone but doesnt seem to help.

Could I possible have something wrong with my pickups or even my amp? Is it possible that this is just the way it will sound with the flatwounds on it. It doesnt bother me to much, since (okay Im a beginner and just learning) my five string is for rock/metal music and the distortion is nice, but the idea that something might be wrong with my amp or bass bothers me.

Any help or what not would be greatly appreciated.

***EDIT***

I dont know if this is a factor or not, but I also play in a small room (less than 10'x10') and directly in front of my amp. Could this be a factor? Could cord length be a factor also?

Thanks,

Aaron

Slater · #2 08-30-2007, 10:19 AM

I'm guessing that your active Schecter has much more output than your passive Squier. Does your Ashdown amp have a pad switch/button for active basses? If so, try the "pad" switch with the Schecter...

prokfrog · #3 08-30-2007, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slater

I'm guessing that your active Schecter has much more output than your passive Squier. Does your Ashdown amp have a pad switch/button for active basses? If so, try the "pad" switch with the Schecter...

+1 You are probably overdriving your amp with the hotter signal. One way to check is to bring your bass and treble all the way down, and see if it cleans up. Also, in a room that size, you may very well be hearing something within the room vibrating..

lopxtc · #4 08-30-2007, 10:53 AM

Yeah its got a high input and a low input. I have tried both without much noticeable difference.

Aaron

lopxtc · #5 08-30-2007, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prokfrog

One way to check is to bring your bass and treble all the way down, and see if it cleans up.

I'll give this a shot tonight.

Aaron

prokfrog · #6 08-30-2007, 10:58 AM

I notice that your head (amp ) has an input gain knob. You may have that set too high as well..

lopxtc · #7 08-30-2007, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prokfrog

I notice that your head (amp ) has an input gain knob. You may have that set too high as well..

Okay time for a classic Homer 'doh moment ... you might be very well correct on that. I didnt have a manual with it, and when I looked it up online I guess I incorrectly assumed that this was just a general volume knob. Which explains my confusion with why I had an input and output volume knob ... I just kept turning them both up or down together LOL. This will be the first thing I check when I get home.

Aaron

Scott in Dallas · #8 08-30-2007, 12:07 PM

Does it have the sub-harmonics knob? That's like an octave pedal. try turning that all the way down, as well.

lopxtc · #9 08-30-2007, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott in Dallas

Does it have the sub-harmonics knob? That's like an octave pedal. try turning that all the way down, as well.

It does, but that should only be active when the push button for it is pushed in. Either way I will double check that also.

Aaron

Searcy · #10 08-30-2007, 12:42 PM

You can also lower your pickups so they aren't as close to the string. This will help even out the difference between your active bass and passive bass so that you don't have to adjust the amp every time you switch basses.

But be sure you really know your amp inside and out before you start tweaking the bass.

Scott in Dallas · #11 08-31-2007, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lopxtc

It does, but that should only be active when the push button for it is pushed in. Either way I will double check that also.

Aaron

I wasn't 100 percent positive that you knew that, so I was just making sure.

Scott in Dallas · #12 08-31-2007, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lopxtc

It does, but that should only be active when the push button for it is pushed in. Either way I will double check that also.

Aaron

I wasn't positive that you knew that, so I was just making sure.

If you've got a fresh battery in the bass, the subharmonic switch off, your pickups not right up against the strings, control your input signal with the pre and your volume with the post, and have the EQ flat or below (by average) and you still hear it then you might have a problem.

lopxtc · #13 08-31-2007, 06:07 AM

Okay well I tried all the suggestions above (aside from lowering the pickups, as there is I believe good space between the pickups and strings.) While it does seem to have helped some, there still seems to be some kind of distortion I am picking up with each note plucked. Im not hearing with my four string, so I would assume the issue is coming from my five string.

Thanks for all the help so far everyone. Im guessing I need to bring my five string to a local store and seeing if I can plug into one of their amps and see if I can recreate the issue there. Thankfully the store I bought it from offers lifetime work on the bass if you buy from them, so I might have to leave it with them to check out.

Aaron

Milothicus · #14 08-31-2007, 02:12 PM

the manual has some recommendations for setting the input level:

INPUT CONTROL
The INPUT control sets the signal level through the preamp in conjunction with the INPUT LEVEL VU
Meter (Electric Blue 180 uses a LED display).This is adjusted to give a reading of 0VU on the meter
(yellow LED on Electric Blue 180) for average playing dynamics with occasional peaks into the red (red
LED on Electric Blue 180) region. Please note that this setting may require re-adjustment after modification
of the EQ controls.

you should definitely be using the 'low' input for the active bass, and the 'high' input for the passive bass.

did the active bass distort through your smaller amp?

lopxtc · #15 08-31-2007, 03:17 PM

No it didnt, and I still have my smaller amp so I checked that also.

Also I noticed today that even when playing with my passive bass that I am now hearing some distortion also, its not as noticeable unless I have the volume up on it, but it is there.

Im going to GC tomorrow with my bass (active) and amp to have them check it out also. I have their "protection plan" (used amp) so Im hoping if the amp is the issue it shouldnt be anything out of my pocket. Technically Im still in their 30 day return also, so if there is an issue I might consider swapping for another setup. I do love this amp though so that might be a last measure deal.

Aaron

lopxtc · #16 08-31-2007, 06:31 PM

Ugh ... I am officially a moron. Give me a computer of any kind (Mac, PC, Unix, BSD, Linux, Sun, Mainframe, Cluster, etc etc etc) and I can troubleshoot it all day long. Give me an amp and I am a moron.

So I was getting my amp ready to take to GC tomorrow and I moved it into the living room. On a whim I decided to plug it in and try it ... damned if the sound is gone. The distortion sound had to be coming from something in my small room that I use for both my computer and my bass playing. Geez I feel like an idiot ...

Thanks everyone for the help, and while it turns out my amp is okay I still did learn at least one thing from this and that its not that I have two volume knobs LOL ....

Thanks again for helping out a brain-dead noobie.

Aaron