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Bass rig cutout help

M

markdax

Mar 23, 2008
36
0
www. myspace.com
#1
Hey every body
i was hoping you guys might be able to shed some light helping me find a problem with my rig.
Im using a Mesa M-Pulse 360 with a Goliath III (4ohms) i play a active warwick 5-string fna jazzman using a sienhisesser wireless kit.
Ive been finding that on occasion my amp is cutting out.
I can see from my wireless reciever that the signal is still being recieved from there (and the input signal is not clipping on the wireless pack itself)
and from amp i can that the signal is passing through the input and the eq to the compresser as there is still activity. (i dont normally use the compressor but i thought it would help track down the route of the problem)
when the amp cuts out its a solid cut not a slight crackle then loss of signal but one momemnt im happy in drop A bass lines then silence and the whole band turn to me to see whast wrong.
20seconds or so later it returns as if nothing ever happened.
Can anyone tell me if there is some protection circuits that i might be activating either on the amps power amp phase or on my cab (im aware that my SWR cab has a tweeter protection circuit but surely that would only cut the tweeter out?)

This problem occurs with both the passive and acticve inputs.
I generally have my input gain at around 10pm (so under half way) and my main output no higher than half way either.
I dont use any FX loops but i do use a some distortion and heavy fuzz.
Any theories or info that you guys hav ewould really help,

Thanks!
 
#4
Intermittent malfunctions like this are tricky to track down, sounds like you got a lot of gear in your signal path. You mentioned your concern about protection circuits engaging and you may just be on to something there. I'd suggest starting by eliminating all outboard gear and connecting your bass directly to your amp with a guitar cord. If it still occasionally cuts out, try patching a (known good) guitar cord between your amps effects-loop send and return jacks to eliminate the possibility of a intermittently defective switching jack issue in the return jack. (If this is your problem, it will completely disconnect your amps preamp from its poweramp section. Patching the guitar cord across the loop eliminates this possibility)

I dont know if your speaker cable is a speakton or 1/4", but I'd unscrew the ends of either type to inspect the wire to plug connections. If your using a 1/4" type speaker cable, make absolutely sure its not actually a guitar cord thats causing your issue after it gets hot.

If using just the bass-amp and cab absolutely never malfunctions, start adding the final items of your outboard gear first, one at a time till your problem returns to find your culprit.
 
#5
I would use process of elimination to find the problem. Start w/ the simple things cause that usually where the problem lies.
a. new battery in active bass, then one at a time, for extended playtime, to make sure, try different(new) patch cables between items in your chain. if prob still exists;
b. take the compressor out of the chain
c. then take the wireless out of the chain
d. if the problem still exists w/ the 2 items above out of the chain, then try a different amp
e. then try a different cab w/ your amp
sometimes thats the only way to find the problem. I had a weird problem once w/ volume cutting out, and it turned out to be a bad battery in an electric tuner that was plugged into the secondary output of my mxr M-80 D.I. box. I guess the dead battery was causing a dead short or someting that was trickling all the way back thru my chain. A new battery did the trick. But guess what? It was the LAST thing I tried. I was sure it was my DI box that had gone bad. Another time, our main mixer had a bad hum like a bad ground in the building, and it turned out it was a dead battery in the ipod that we use to play background music while we take our breaks.:hmm:
 
#6
CharlesHartman said:
How do you set your eq on the head and on your bass?

And have you ever tried using the compressor?
Click to expand...

The eq on my head is set kind of flat ( less than a third boost on bass, mid & treble); i have an active 3-way eq on my bass (full bass & full treble with a mids being rolled off by thtee quarters) so the tone is basicly set on that and then i adjust ever-so slightly on the amp, so theres nothing dramtic on my heads eq.
I dont normally use the onboard compressor but on saturday i used it so i could try and gauge if the signal was getting as far as the compressor.
The fact that when the amp cut out i continuted to play and the compressor was still getting triggered.
On the mesa boogie the compressor is placed past the EQ before master volume.
Ive had a patch lead in the FX loop some a while now. The FX loop on the m-pulse can be triggered by the footswtich... which i dont use, so on the back of the amp i have the fx loop switched 'on' but the mix down to 0%.

Ive had this problem when i go direct into my amp or wireless, it generally sems to cut out during a certain part of one song, in that part i use MXR's bass blowtorch so i thought it might have been that but then when i took that out the loop the i still had the cut out in the same song. :confused:

The next thing im doing is bying a jack to speakon lead to connect to my cab to try that. And ill replace my battery in my amp.
We're at the point where the band is running through the set under stage timings and 9/10 the amp cuts out on the last song half way through the guitar solo....grrr.
We're playing th elast 3 songs in drop A...and im reallying digging in. Though i doubt the tuning would affect the outcome im gonna try a ease off a bit at our next gig......:scowl:
 

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