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Damage from cold?

MtManiac

MtManiac

Mar 6, 2007
9,089
6,993
Nova Scotia
#1
So my band split up shortly after our gig on new years eve, and last night was my first time playing with all of that same gear, jamming with some friends. I had a serious distortion issue, and am wondering what the trouble might be, and if it might be cause from my gear being left in my car for a couple of days in the cold at new years.

My gear:
G-K 700RB-II
Avatar 112 (Delta, 500 watts)
'57 AVRI p bass (not left in my car)

I was getting a lot of fartiness at just about every setting on my amp - I had it with the Input set to 9:00, master set to 10:00 or so, boost at 11:00, pad off. The only way I could control the distortion was with the input down to like 1 and the master at 10. It still broke up, just not nearly as much. I also tried lowering the volume on my bass. The clip light was not coming on at any of the settings I tried, but I never put the input past 11:00, as increasing that made it worse.

Wondering if damage may have resulted from the cold? Any speculation?
 
#2
Well, if you want speculation OK.

I'll speculate (because I'm not an expert). Living in Alaska, I've seen all sorts of things distorted, aged, and otherwise changed by being left in the cold. Freezing cold removes humidity from wood and other materials. I can also cause materials to swell (as water inside becomes ice) or to shrink (as moisture evaporates). Evaporation is part of the cooling process and; therefore, is part of the freezing process. Anything wooden is affected by freezing. Other materials (including electronics) are affected too. I don't doubt that letting your gear freeze for a couple of days did damage to it.
 
#5
georgestrings said:
I'd guess the other way around - a 700rb-II thru a single 12 - ANY 12 - can easily wreck a speaker... I'd guess blown driver, but the only way to really tell is to substitute good known components 'til you find what's broken...


- georgestrings
Click to expand...

That was my first thought too. I could not imagine trying to play a gig with a single twelve. OP I suggest you check to see if the cone moves freely or is it has scratchiness as you gently push in the cone.
 
#6
For what its worth all my gear spends its time in cold storage (been doing it like this for over 20 years) when not being used year round and I live in a place where the temp is constantly below zero for most the winter and I have never experienced any effects from it and I own tube and solid state amps and the cold has never affected my cabs either. Just throwing that out there.
 
#7
I played this 112 with this head for the past three years, but mostly in one small pub, and I rarely had the master up past 11:00. The new Year's eve gig, we had a big ballroom... I had to push it a bit, and I remember my tone sucking really bad, but the onstage levels were horrible and we had a keyboard player for that gig, so lots of sonic contention in the stage mix. I am now definitely worried that it is the speaker.

I left my gear at our rehearsal spot Friday night, I'll be getting it back tomorrow, and I can troubleshoot properly then.
 
#10
Rick Auricchio said:
Maybe it's OK. Are you running it at the level you did during the earlier session?

If it still sounds bad, my money is on a blown speaker, not the cold. You were probably running very loud at the NYE gig. You said the tone sucked; it was probably farting all night, damaging the speaker in the process.
Click to expand...

Yeah running it at the same level as I was Friday night, now it sounds clean - is it possible something in the room was vibrating and I somehow heard the sound coming from my amp, like an optical illusion except a directionally auditory illusion, mixing with my signal?
 

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