musicman bass farting my ampeg cabs

bogwalrus · #1 10-31-2009, 06:04 AM

this only started to happen recently and only with my music man bongo. all other basses are fine.

It is an active 4 string bass that takes 2 9v batteries.

The amp is an ampeg SVt classic head (mos-fet) 350W

Then i have that going through a 4X10 ampeg and 1X15 ampeg cab.

I have had the amp for 7 years and never a problem until the bongo.

I must always have the -20db on due to the amount of power the bass sends to the amp.

I would usually have the gain half the amount of the master so that the amo is loud without clipping.

It sounds great though i do wish i did not have to use the -20db button.

Anyway, only recently has the bass cabs started to fart. no matter what level i have the amp head set to it just keeps farting. usually when i strike a string hard.

Now i have replaced the batteries and done all the usual checks to see if it was the bass but it seems to be fine. I have played it through another amp and all.

As for the cabs they work perfect with other guitars.

So what i am asking is what could the problem be?

very strange imho

boggy.

bogwalrus · #2 10-31-2009, 06:08 AM

i think i know what the problem is. its my tuner pedal. I usually go into the pedal then out into the amp for ease of tuning. its causing all the problems.

its your standard boss tuning pedal.

Bassmickeyd · #3 10-31-2009, 06:09 AM

Take the bass to the music store and plug it into their gear and see what she does. .... I love Musicman but hate the reliance on active pickups.

MrTAteMyBalls · #4 10-31-2009, 06:11 AM

the other question is what have you been feeding these cabs that they should fart so much?????

j/k....whats up with the boss pedal causing problems???? i thought those were true bypass.....maybe not?

so, the problem goes away if you take the tuner out of the chain?

hasbeen · #5 10-31-2009, 06:29 AM

I just posted yesterday that Bongos and Specters have a habit of baying TOO HOT for most amplifier inputs.

Some other friendly competitors amp companies and I have comiserated about this- why do they need to be this way.

If an amp maker puts a pad on their input stout enough for these basses, then "normal" basses will not be hot enough.

With your Bongo- neat, neat bass....I've been a MM player since the 70's. Just keep your volume back a bit and don't over eq on the bass pre.

SwamiRob · #6 10-31-2009, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassmickeyd

Take the bass to the music store and plug it into their gear and see what she does. .... I love Musicman but hate the reliance on active pickups.

They use active pres not pickups don't they? Anyway what may be the case is that your Bongo is putting out alot of very very low end which is challenging your amp and or speakers more then other basses.

Like has been said it's probably input simply being too hot, I imagine it's fairly unlikely that your distorting the preamp with it having that 18v headroom unless your doing some major EQ boosting.

Do Musicmans not have a trim for the preamp on them by the way? A friend of mine plays a Stingray and the output is pretty weak, nothing to do with the battery either.

palmann · #7 10-31-2009, 06:39 AM

As long as it doesn't smell…

Pablo

T-MOST · #8 10-31-2009, 10:05 AM

It's NOT the bass . It's the cabs speaker ability to handle (quickly respond to) the low end range. That is common with many 15" woofers. Roll off a bit on the bass or dial in a little more mid.

akaTRENT · #9 10-31-2009, 10:10 AM

Whens the last time your retubed that head buddy?

SwamiRob · #10 11-02-2009, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-MOST

It's NOT the bass . It's the cabs speaker ability to handle (quickly respond to) the low end range. That is common with many 15" woofers. Roll off a bit on the bass or dial in a little more mid.

All drivers respond at exactly the same speed regardless of size, makeup, or star sign. It is probably due to the low end though, like I said before I bet the Bongo is driving your pre with quite a bit, if you still have a problem even when cutting the bass on your Bongo then it's most likely simply down to the high output.

AtomicPunk · #11 11-03-2009, 01:59 AM

The key with a Bongo is to start with your EQ set FLAT (at the detent) and dial it in from there. Very very tiny adjustments to your tone with the onboard EQ will produce huge results. Do not dime anything....it will be an amp killer. MASSIVE boost.

standupright · #12 11-03-2009, 02:12 AM

active bass you say? when was the last time you replaced the batteries in your bass?

edit: nevermind, read the rest where you replaced the batteries.

please....carry on.

phxlbrmpf · #13 11-03-2009, 04:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akaTRENT

Whens the last time your retubed that head buddy?

Quote:

Originally Posted by bogwalrus

The amp is an ampeg SVt classic head (mos-fet) 350W

Doesn't the "mosfet" mean the amp is all-solid state? It could be wrong as I'm not an Ampeg expert, though.

bogwalrus · #14 11-03-2009, 05:12 AM

mos-fet is solid state. no tubes.

SO the problem eventually went away when i took the boss tuner out of the loop. The problem appears when i insert any of my boss pedals now so it must be the amount of power my bass is sending into the pedals. Im using the pedal as effects send in the back of cab. No bypass but then again the bongo rarely goes out of tune=)

So as far as me padding the head is there anything i can do? when i knock 20db off and turning master up the sound is nice but it feels like there is less body. I would prefer not to be using the pad.

Maybe someone can recommend a suitable head (solid state) as the ampeg svt does not seem to be up to scratch.

thanks for the help guys. Much appreciated=)

boggy.

bogwalrus · #15 11-03-2009, 05:14 AM

i just went back to read your post there AtomicPunk. by messing with the eq on the bass and cab i should be able to keep the pad off?

mmbongo · #16 11-03-2009, 05:17 AM

Did you replace the batteries in the Bongo?

phxlbrmpf · #17 11-03-2009, 05:36 AM

Personally, I wouldn't hestitate to activate the pad, there is a reson it's there (i. e. making sure active basses don't overdrive the preamp) and the lack of "body" is definitely your imagination. I don't think there are any bass amps made today that don't have either a pad function or a separate input for active and passive basses.

73jbass · #18 11-03-2009, 05:51 AM

You could just back off on the volume on the bass itself. Sterling Ball has said many time over at the EB forums not to dime the volume control.Not sure about that because I always have my volume on my Sterlings at 100% with no ill effects.Worth a try.

AltGrendel · #19 11-03-2009, 05:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akaTRENT

Whens the last time your retubed that head buddy?

My thoughts exactly, that or a bad transistor if it's SS amp.

Tom F · #20 11-03-2009, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73jbass

You could just back off on the volume on the bass itself. Sterling Ball has said many time over at the EB forums not to dime the volume control.Not sure about that because I always have my volume on my Sterlings at 100% with no ill effects.Worth a try.

+1

I've had a few Bongos and with some amps it's just too much juice. No loss of tone by rolling the volume back, just a little more oomph in reserve.

Of course, I keep the volume on my 'Ray dimed at all times.