Blown speaker?

[bopeuph]

Tonight, during the last tune, my speaker was buzzing on any G (any octave) that I played. So after we were done, I played around on my bass to see what came out. Everything else was fine, but every time I hit a G, the sound became pretty distorted and quite a bit louder. I noticed that when I moved my cable, that buzz would come back. So I changed my cable and tried again, and this time, the strange sound was considerably louder, and VERY distorted. So, did I blow the speaker, or is that an amplification problem?

Nick

[fdeck]

Could be a speaker or amp problem. And not all speaker problems are fatal. What kind of amp? Combo or separates? Can you try the amp with a different speaker, or the speaker with a different amp.

Most likely, something is loose. On the speaker, it could be that the driver is not screwed down sufficiently. A small air leak around the gasket will produce noticeable sound. The speaker jack or cables could be rattling. Could be something loose in the amp -- even your bass could be suspect.

Breaking things up by mixing and matching with other gear might help you sort things out.

Take care tightening screws, as it is easy to strip threads.

[bopeuph]

I just copied this from another post I made recently. I'm in the market for a new preamp anyway, so that's why this follows this idea:

So far, I have this old Hughes & Kettner cabinet that was given to me. The speaker was crap, so I put in an EA 15" speaker (probably around 400 watts). The cool thing about this cabinet, though, is that it has this double space rack built right into the body. So eventually, I'd like to get a good double space head and fit it in there. I've heard a lot of good things about the Peavey T-Max, and I know I like the GK heads, but the good ones are pretty pricey.

At the moment, I'm powered with a QSC MX 1500. Only one of the two 750 watt channels work, but that's good enough for me right now.

The preamp I'm borrowing (considering buying, but I don't know if I want it, and I've been borrowing it for six months now, heh) is a Peavey Probass 1000. It sounds good, but this one would need some work, as the direct out doesn't work, and I think a few other outs don't work, and the full range out to the power amp is alarmingly loose, and I can't seem to tighten it. No one in town does work on solid state stuff, either, so I'm on my own with it, if I want to buy it.

I'm guessing that if it's the speaker, it's not fatal. This problem only shows up when the pre is set to full, and the post is set to about 4 (this is on the preamp). The noise is mostly like a crackling buzz, so I was thinking it might be electrical.

Nick

[tornadobass]

Sounds like you could be clipping the input...usually not a good idea to turn any gain stage all the way up.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by tornadobass

Sounds like you could be clipping the input...usually not a good idea to turn any gain stage all the way up.

Perhaps, but he said it only occurs in a G. That seems like a resonance issue.

[bopeuph]

I think it will be fine for this weekends gigs, as long as I use my DI box, then first thing Monday, it's going to the Speaker Doctor.

Nick

[bopeuph]

Originally Posted by tornadobass

Sounds like you could be clipping the input...usually not a good idea to turn any gain stage all the way up.

I'm not very good with the technological aspects of music. I didn't even play my first electric gig until about a year ago, and I always struck it lucky with equipment for my jazz gigs with my upright. A friend of mine, who is an awesome electric bassist, suggested something he does: turn the power amp channel all the way up, turn the pre gain all the way up on the preamp, and the post up to about 2 or 3. I'm still toying with it, but it has always sounded fine to me; however, I am not super picky in sound of amplification, as I don't feel it will ever come close to the real deal.

I think one of my problems is that I'm 6'6", and the speaker is at my shin level. It's an awful long way down there for me to hear, and with the drummer in this particular band not knowing what finesse is, and the singer demands that his acoustic guitar and vocals are as loud as they can be without feeding back, and they don't bother plugging me into the PA, my rig is just waiting to explode. I'm out of the band in about two weeks. I just want to go back to my jazz and funk gigs. I'm also going to need to put my rig up off the floor for this kind of gig from now on.

Nick

[bopeuph]

Turns out the speaker wasn't at all blown, just getting overworked at the gig. The speaker repairman plugged up the speaker and turned the volume up. It sounded great.

The repairman told me to never again take no for an answer when plugging into the PA, and the reason I couldn't hear myself is that one 15" speaker is nowhere near loud enough for a country rock band. Funny thing is, the band told me I was too loud when I couldn't even hear myself. Turns out there, that the guitar player loves to have his lows up so high that he sounds like a bass on the low E string. I just turned my bass down, pretended playing, and they loved it. I would never do it on more serious gigs, but as it is, the pay was $50, I ended up getting stiffed a bit, and there was way too much ego for the amount of musical ignorance I've seen. If I make a suggestion to the bandleader, he tells me he knows what he's doing because he's been in Nashville for ten years.

Nick

[bolo]

Originally Posted by bopeuph

I'm also going to need to put my rig up off the floor for this kind of gig from now on.

I drag an amp stand to almost every gig. Really helps me hear myself better and helps w/ intonation.

If you're interested, here is a good thread about getting cabs up off the floor.

[bopeuph]

Great thread. Thanks for that. Now it's time to shop around for a good amp stand.

Nick