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Basscab started to generate smoke

C

Crobybass

Oct 26, 2022
65
82
#1
1000010750.png


Hi!

When we rehearsed some week ago the basscab I was playing stopped working and smoke started to come out of the cab. It was so bad we didnt want to leave it overnight if it would like catch fire haha!

I attached a picture of the cable I was using, a speaker to tele cable that was like 1m maybe. As we could se we set the cab to match the ohm of the Orange terror bass head and i didnt even go past half of the volume on the head, the cab was made for 500w so it should be safe to play the Orange terror bass through it?

We dont understand where it all went wrong and wanna learn to next time. Was it because you cant use a speaker to tele cable or something? Im used to have tele to tele cables for my bass/guitarheads so I just thought it would work fine as for you cant use a telecable into the Orange terror basshead?

Greatful for any answers and thoughts!
 
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#4
Crobybass said:
View attachment 7393743

Hi!

When we rehearsed some week ago the basscab I was playing stopped working and smoke started to come out of the cab. It was so bad we didnt want to leave it overnight if it would like catch fire haha!

I attached a picture of the cable I was using, a speaker to tele cable that was like 1m maybe. As we could se we set the cab to match the ohm of the Orange terror bass head and i didnt even go past half of the volume on the head, the cab was made for 500w so it should be safe to play the Orange terror bass through it?

We dont understand where it all went wrong and wanna learn to next time. Was it because you cant use a speaker to tele cable or something? Im used to have tele to tele cables for my bass/guitarheads so I just thought it would work fine as for you cant use a telecable into the Orange terror basshead?

Greatful for any answers and thoughts!
Click to expand...
You haven't told us which cab you are using? However, the Terror Bass has gain and master volume controls which combined dictate the eventual output. You can achieve maximum output with a high gain setting with a low master control setting. Half way doesn't necessarily mean half output.
If you are using an active bass guitar with the low eq increased, or pedals that add bass or distortion, you could cook the speaker voice coil with constant playing at what looks like half output volume.
If you use a distorted bass tone that also makes it harder to hear when a speaker is being over driven. Hard clicks are one sign of the speaker voice coil hitting its limits.
My guess would be you've just pushed that cab too hard ; you have to listen more for signs of speakers being over driven than just relying on the specifications.
Not much help, but most of us have blown a cab at some point when we were learning.
 
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#5
Crobybass said:
View attachment 7393743

Hi!

When we rehearsed some week ago the basscab I was playing stopped working and smoke started to come out of the cab. It was so bad we didnt want to leave it overnight if it would like catch fire haha!

I attached a picture of the cable I was using, a speaker to tele cable that was like 1m maybe. As we could se we set the cab to match the ohm of the Orange terror bass head and i didnt even go past half of the volume on the head, the cab was made for 500w so it should be safe to play the Orange terror bass through it?

We dont understand where it all went wrong and wanna learn to next time. Was it because you cant use a speaker to tele cable or something? Im used to have tele to tele cables for my bass/guitarheads so I just thought it would work fine as for you cant use a telecable into the Orange terror basshead?

Greatful for any answers and thoughts!
Click to expand...
The one time I saw this happen, It was the X-over overheating. I believe it to be caused by having the Tweeter turned all the way down but I can't be sure. The ceramic looking part is what burned up.
full-d-1574607136-jpg.3607280
 
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#7
Sparky Mark said:
You haven't told us which cab you are using? However, the Terror Bass has gain and master volume controls which combined dictate the eventual output. You can achieve maximum output with a high gain setting with a low master control setting. Half way doesn't necessarily mean half output.
If you are using an active bass guitar with the low eq increased, or pedals that add bass or distortion, you could cook the speaker voice coil with constant playing at what looks like half output volume.
If you use a distorted bass tone that also makes it harder to hear when a speaker is being over driven. Hard clicks are one sign of the speaker voice coil hitting its limits.
My guess would be you've just pushed that cab too hard ; you have to listen more for signs of speakers being over driven than just relying on the specifications.
Not much help, but most of us have blown a cab at some point when we were learning.
Click to expand...
Yeah u may be right...When I think about it I might heard that one of the speakers in the cab sounded pretty maxed out. But there should be no problem using a speakon to tele cable if the cab only has tele input?

I was using a Ampeg 500w cab, so pretty expensive and good quality amp I would think?
 
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#8
Crobybass said:
Yeah u may be right...When I think about it I might heard that one of the speakers in the cab sounded pretty maxed out. But there should be no problem using a speakon to tele cable if the cab only has tele input?

I was using a Ampeg 500w cab, so pretty expensive and good quality amp I would think?
Click to expand...
Nothing you have described indicates the cable is the problem. The cable is obviously carrying enough power to cook the speaker voice coil.
 
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#9
Bass cab power ratings are an indication of the maximum amount of thermal energy the voice coil can dissipate. It doesn't mean you can connect it to an amp with that power rating and hit it with extreme slapping and deep bass signals that will move the cone beyond its intended limits of excursion.
You can destroy a speaker through over excursion without cooking the voice coil and also by over powering. If you had smoke, that indicates a significant period of pushing too much energy into the speaker.
 
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#10
FunkHead said:
The one time I saw this happen, It was the X-over overheating. I believe it to be caused by having the Tweeter turned all the way down but I can't be sure. The ceramic looking part is what burned up.
full-d-1574607136-jpg.3607280
Click to expand...
That's a 10 watt resistor. I'm not sure how that crossover is designed, but if that resistor is intended to dissipate the energy that would otherwise have gone to the tweeter, then a lot of high frequency signal such as a fuzzy driven tone at high volume, could eventually overheat it.
 
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#11
Crobybass said:
View attachment 7393743

Hi!

When we rehearsed some week ago the basscab I was playing stopped working and smoke started to come out of the cab. It was so bad we didnt want to leave it overnight if it would like catch fire haha!

I attached a picture of the cable I was using, a speaker to tele cable that was like 1m maybe. As we could se we set the cab to match the ohm of the Orange terror bass head and i didnt even go past half of the volume on the head, the cab was made for 500w so it should be safe to play the Orange terror bass through it?

We dont understand where it all went wrong and wanna learn to next time. Was it because you cant use a speaker to tele cable or something? Im used to have tele to tele cables for my bass/guitarheads so I just thought it would work fine as for you cant use a telecable into the Orange terror basshead?

Greatful for any answers and thoughts!
Click to expand...
Nice. Means you guys were rocking hard.
 
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#12
I would be opening up the speaker cab a taking a look, that would go a long way towards working out what happened.
I once bought a bass cab with a blown speaker and inside it looked like the closing scene from the movie Scarface, white powder residue everywhere, I think the speaker blew but the user just kept on playing for a while anyway so that was pretty extreme.
But looking inside your cab would be step one towards diagnosing what happened.
I haven't blown a speaker in many years but I don't ever recall seeing smoke, just hearing the sound go bad a getting that special unique smell of a toasted voice coil. Smells different to any other burnt smell IMO. At this point I would guess FunkHead is a good chance of being correct.
 
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#14
Crobybass said:
there should be no problem using a speakon to tele cable if the cab only has tele input?
Click to expand...
While the cable isn't necessarily the cause of your (current) issue -
the problem with the cable pictured is it's not a genuine Neutrik speakon connector.

As a "PSA":
There are numerous threads about the trouble "imitation" speakon connectors can cause, (but I believe the damage potential would more likely be the amp.)

Any speakon to 1/4" cables that I have to use (like on the Ampeg cabs, I insulate the "barrel", and - as a "best practice" with a class D amp - plug the 1/4" jack in 1st before the speakon connector if at all possible.

The "Horse" (not Alan Ameche - the other one) can explain it better than i can....
 
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#16
With smoke coming from the cabinet, the location of the trouble has been narrowed down. As has been mentioned, it's going to be a speaker voice coil or a crossover. Either could make the cab "stop working".

Crobybass said:
When I think about it I might heard that one of the speakers in the cab sounded pretty maxed out.
Click to expand...
An "Ampeg 500 W cab" doesn't provide enough info to know how the cab is configured, but since it's an Ampeg, the quote above indicates the cabinet has between 2 & 8 speakers.

How long did the speaker "sound pretty maxed out"? When you hear that, you should turn down the amp as soon as possible. If the maxed out sound went on constantly for a few minutes, you likely have a fried voice coil in a speaker bu it could still be a crossover.
 
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