broken amp/cab.. ideas whats wrong?

Hmm. Dont know what caused it, but sounds to me that the speaker is blown.
Happened to me once - not playing loud at all. But that was an old speaker.
Also heard that some gk speakers goes out easily. It happened to some of my friends.
Their heads is tough **** though (own one myself)

Anyway the guarantee should cover it.

 

get in touch with GK and see what they can do, their customer service is pretty good.

 

Are you absolutely sure the other band didn't change settings. For example, boosting bass very heavily, which would tear up the speaker?

The other bassist might have a boost pedal that could do the damage.

Blowing up speakers is usually considered misuse, and often not covered by warranty.

 

Welcome to the music business!

 

You can overload and blow any speaker with enough power. There's nothing wrong with GK speakers. They don't fail easily. They don't blow more than any other manufacturer. They use almost identical speakers, made by Eminence.

I've used GK for many years. I've blown a couple speakers due to my own negligence. Letting another band use your gear is negligence. You don't know what that guy did. I'm sure it wasn't on purpose. And you can't expect a head as powerful as the one you own to not blow the single 15" speaker in your cabinet if you keep pushing it. You need an extra cabinet. Don't boost your bass. Back off on the contour control. Tell your guitar player to turn down or get a smaller amp.

Owning bass gear that can handle a gig and still sound good costs money. It's a fact of life.

If you'd started playing as long ago as I did, you'd really appreciate how far bass amps have come in the last 50 years. Today we're playing at volumes impossible back then. So you need a powerful head (you have one and it's one of the best) and speakers, enough of them, to handle what that amp can put out.

 

Then it could be that the speaker had been abused in the past and was on its way out and happened at that time. I've had that happen to me too. No fault of the speaker. Just too much over a period of time. The answer is of course, another speaker cabinet to share the load so it doesn't have to work so hard. I know--it costs money. It costs me money too, but it's just part of being a bass player.

 

Thing is, IMO, you are using a single speaker. I have gigged with a single 15 but that was back in the Sixties with a fifty watt power amp section. I would not even consider using a single 15 nowadays especially not with an amp of the power you have. As the good 62Bass opines, you need more speakers to share the load.

As to the speaker, as has been said, a blown speaker is classed as abuse by most manufacturers. You now face a choice of replacing the speaker or having it re-coned. Where you live there is probably no one who can do a re-cone for you. You will most likely have to stay with the company you are currently dealing with. Get the speaker replaced and chalk the matter up to experience. We have ALL had to do that from time to time!

Paul

 

It is possible the speaker was defective and subsequently failed, but it's difficult to get the company to consider that possibility.

If you speak politely with customer service, but clearly indicate the system's age and your care with it, they may offer a lower price for the repair/replacement. You may need to be firm and ask that the case be referred to a supervisor. Often a large company will prefer to give you a decent deal rather than have a disgruntled customer.

 

Good, but you still need more speaker coverage for that amp, or it'll happen again. Good luck.

 

The 4x10 on its own would be fine for smaller gigs. Just depends how loud your smaller gigs get. I've successfully used a 1x15 with a high powered head (GK 2000RB) for small gigs and never damaged the speaker, and it had a lower power rating than you GK 15. For bigger gigs I used 2 of the 15 cabinets and didn't blow a speaker.

The 1x15 and the 4x10 together won't be too much for your amp to handle. If you get distortion with both cabinets then you will know you're playing way too loud. A rig like that I'd only use for stadium gigs or outdoors. It'll get awfully loud if you want it.

What kind of gigs are you playing and what type of rooms?

Two 8 ohm cabinets combined will give you a 4 ohm load. Perfect for your GK. The power will be split evenly between the two cabinets. So, just as an example, if your head is capable of putting out 500 watts, then each cabinet will receive half of that, which is 250 watts. But, that's if you really have the head cranked. Most of the time, if you're playing at sane volumes, you won't be using the full power of the amp.

 

The two cabinets will be getting equal power but the 410 may still sound louder because there are more speakers in it and if it's stacked on top it'll be closer to your ears and the 15 will be hitting you in the back of the knees. Get out away from the rig and it'll sound more balanced with the 15 adding deeper bottom the 410 doesn't have.