Darkstar P bass clipping

[Sharpman]

Hey guys so im from oz and im pretty new here but wondered if someone may have experienced my problem. My Darkstar p bass is great but i find when i really pick aggresive, sometimes the e string and associated notes clip my amp. Ive tried running the preamp of the amp in active mode, and even when i turn the bass output down(which i dont like to do) to around half i can still get it to clip. Ive adjusted my pole piece on the e as low as can go. Is there any other solutions other than playing softer? Cheers Simon

 

[Splods]

Notes will will clip when you pick aggressively no matter what you do to the pickup. Your only real solution is to play softly.

 

[Jazz Ad]

What amp are we talking about ?

 

[Sharpman]

Its an ozzie Labsystems vp400, happens in any amp. I play punk rock so its hard to play soft. Thinking it could be some real low freq stuff going on

 

[Jazz Ad]

I have never tried amps from down under.
Is it clipping or strings touching the poles ?
You could try applying a piece of tape over the poles.

 

[Sharpman]

Not touching poles, just low loud e playing causes almost speaker farting but not quite, the notes almost fart and are poorly defined

 

[Jazz Ad]

This usually happens when pickup is set too high. You can't go any lower it seems.

 

[Sharpman]

Tape may work cheers

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

They are pretty hot pups, so they will drive your amp harder.
Maybe you need a regular P pickup...
or another amp..
or better speakers.

I have found that turning that bass knob on the amp down and adding more at the volume knob
can keep it deep, yet clean.

 

[Happynoj]

Have you tried turning the input gain on the amp down?

 

[CORBS]

True, lots of punk players think that more is better. More bass, more volume, etc. Keep the amp EQ relatively even and the gain on the amp low, then hit it hard with a pick. You'll get an aggressive tone that won't sound like a fart. More volume = more stress on every component of your rig.

 

[Sharpman]

Thanks guys, preamp gain is at a minimum, eq is flat flat flat. This isnt a problem with the rig, im running through a good bass rig with a 6x10 cab. Its purely the basses output causing problems, and only deep low end, even at low volume. Maybe a HPF would work down real low.

 

[Happynoj]

Thanks guys, preamp gain is at a minimum, eq is flat flat flat. This isnt a problem with the rig, im running through a good bass rig with a 6x10 cab. Its purely the basses output causing problems, and only deep low end, even at low volume. Maybe a HPF would work down real low.

If your preamp gain is at minimum then it is not clipping. Clipping is when your preamp distorts because the signal going into it is too high. The preamp gain controls the amount of signal going into the preamp. If your preamp gain is as low as it can be, then either it isn't clipping, or your amp is faulty.

 

[Sharpman]

Cheers Happynoj, 'clipping' is the word ive used to describe what is happening. You are correct in saying its not clippimg but i couldnt think of another word really. So the amp is a Labsystems VP400, the input stage uses a dial which can be set hard left for passive or hard right for active, i have used the active setting in an effort to help this problem. I think its got something to do with inaudible low end from the Darkstar hammering my speakers, but thought id ask here as im sure lots of guys are using Darkstars here. Cheers