Fender Rumble Club

[G-Dog]

With a single output on the amp and a single input on the cabinet, do you use some kinda Y splitter cable to add multiple cabs?

Rumble V3 cabs all have at least 2 parallel connections.

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[Black Out Jazz]

Rumble V3 cabs all have at least 2 parallel connections.

View attachment 4292916
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[BBassBassington]

!

So yesterday I went to play some bass and my noise suppressor was being really farty. For some reason it kept overdriving. So I shut it off, jammed, and figured I'll deal with it later.

Tonight was later. I discovered I was getting some distortion on the low strings whether the pedal was on or off but it'd be nothing but random distortion when it was on. Swapped the power cables with my compressor and no change. So I pulled the noise suppressor from my board figuring all would be well now. I've never had a pedal do this, let alone a Boss one but hey things happen.

Plug back in. I'm really noticing a lot of noise from the wireless tonight, and low and behold there's that distortion from E-G. So I plug the wireless directly into the amp and it's still there but quieter and less often. So I think maybe it's the wireless and plug a cable back into the board and the board into the amp. Nope problems back.

Switch bass. Problem gone. Switch bass, still gone. Switch bass, comes back after a couple minutes. Take off the grille, speakers look mint, keep playing for a while grilleless but no noise. Put grille back on and a few minutes later distortion comes back and leaves again after a minute.

Tomorrow (it's 11pm now) I'm going to continue from there. I'm thinking take the BTB, which is by far my highest output bass (most likely to cause clipping or other issues) and the one that had no distortion. Plug in with a brand new cable (I have 1 or 2) straight to the amp and play for 30 minutes or until I get distortion.

If no distortion I'm going to power all the pedals using a wall wart instead of the PSU, rebuilding the board one pedal by one and playing for 5 minutes in between. (I'll also be adding the noise suppressor at the end again to see if my PSU is just bad enough to bug it but no other pedal.)

If I do get distortion without the board then I've gotta test it with headphones. If it distorts there then I clean the pots (realistically I'm probably going to start here tomorrow). If it doesn't then I've gotta try a new speaker cable.

And if all that fails then that might be the end of the road for my Rumble.

 

[trseal]

Wow! Sounds like you've got this well thought out. That can be very frustrating. However, to me, that might be a fun project.
I had a similar thing recently. Not sure if it was the same type of distortion but what I ended up finding was a crap cable in the FX loop was the cause. Replaced that--problem solved...
Good luck.

Tim

 

[Steadfast]

I thought my twin rumbles were shaging up. It turned out to be a looper pedal.

 

[BBassBassington]

I've done a lot of troubleshooting in my time! lol

I'm thinking about opening up the amp and seeing how it looks inside too, but from what I can see through the vent it's still very clean inside. I saw someone had to reseat the ribbon cable in theirs to stop a similar issue, so there's that to try too.

I'm just really stumped from a logical perspective. I can't think of something that would realistically cause such an intermittent issue that seems to be independent of the pedalboard and wireless but also somehow made worse by the board.

What my mind keeps sitting on is the pots need a cleaning, I need to reseat the ribbon cable as another Rumbler who had a similar issue did years ago, the speaker cable is bad (both the most and least likely because of how the issue is presenting itself), there's something wrong with my electricity tonight (could explain the wireless acting up), or it's the first sign of the end(the least likely option IMO).

I did have an Ampeg SCR-DI which was kind of like this but it was clearly some sort of clipping issue, happened right out of the box, and it had a cracked PCB. My studio monitors also recently died in a sort of similar fashion. The left channel volume slowly fell over a few days and then it started occasionally distorting on the left channel.

 

[BBassBassington]

I'm fixating and I know I won't sleep so... who wants to see the insides of the Rumble 500H?

It was really cool to see inside it. I made sure the cables were firmly connected and put it back together. There's a thin layer of dust but everything is surprisingly clean. There's a lot of space in there too! Fender could actually shrink these down quite a bit but then it wouldn't be compatible with the V2 and V3 mag locks. Which is almost certainly why it's so space inefficient.

I broke out a new cable, going to do the headphone test tonight. I'm going to see if Amazon has any amp cables first though.

 

[Kijekuyo]

Advice about Which Rumble to Get

Although my new band is not quite ready for stage performance, I’m thinking ahead to having an appropriate bass amp for the occasion. I thought I would describe my situation, and maybe you have some knowledge and advice to impart.

My band plays world beat music, which is mostly like Afropop, salsa, and reggae. The drums drive, but are not loud, mostly bass drum and high-hat. There is a lot of percussion, such as congas. The guitars and keyboards play lightly, more like Latin, African, reggae. The sound I want for my bass is like reggae or old school Motown/psychedelic funk (think "Ball of Confusion").

For the record, my bass is a Squier Jaguar SS short scale.

I currently have a Peavey Mark IV 400 Series 800-watt amp head with a 15” cabinet. It’s super heavy, and I’m tired of trying to lift and carry it. Besides, it’s more than I need.

I have a 40-watt Rumble, which has worked for rehearsals and of course home practice.

I imagine we will mostly play clubs and auditoriums but perhaps also outdoors for street fairs. I’m considering selling one or both of the Peavey components and getting either a Rumble 100 or 200. I am pretty confident that the 200 will work for all this, but it’s $500.

I’m wondering if the $300 Rumble 100 is enough. I have also considered selling the Peavey head but keeping the 15” cabinet and running it as an extended speaker from the 100, which—if it worked—would give me a 12” and a 15”. Would it work?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[BBassBassington]

It passed the headphone test. I even used the two basses I had an issue with. Playing just straight into the amp was so quiet though. It was actually pretty wonderful.

So this means that if the issue is in the amp it lies within the poweramp or the output jacks. Nothing physically suggests there'd be any issue there. And it can't be the speakers because the BTB would have made it worse not disappear. Though I didn't even bother trying it this time round.

I'm hesitant to say it was the instrument cable because than it'd have to be the wireless as well. So I think the speaker cable is dieing. That I can't test until tomorrow and even then I don't actually have a backup cable. I guess I just assumed I'd acquire one over time as it's happened before but nope. So I'll be playing for a half hour through the cab tomorrow. If the distortion is back then I need a new cable. If it's not than poking at the cables somehow fixed it?

Edit: Ordered an EB speaker cable off Amazon. I'm just going to replace the old one whether it needs it or not. But yay for being 99.9% sure the Rumble is still healthy!

 

[JakobT]

Advice about Which Rumble to Get

Although my new band is not quite ready for stage performance, I’m thinking ahead to having an appropriate bass amp for the occasion. I thought I would describe my situation, and maybe you have some knowledge and advice to impart.

My band plays world beat music, which is mostly like Afropop, salsa, and reggae. The drums drive, but are not loud, mostly bass drum and high-hat. There is a lot of percussion, such as congas. The guitars and keyboards play lightly, more like Latin, African, reggae. The sound I want for my bass is like reggae or old school Motown/psychedelic funk (think "Ball of Confusion").

For the record, my bass is a Squier Jaguar SS short scale.

I currently have a Peavey Mark IV 400 Series 800-watt amp head with a 15” cabinet. It’s super heavy, and I’m tired of trying to lift and carry it. Besides, it’s more than I need.

I have a 40-watt Rumble, which has worked for rehearsals and of course home practice.

I imagine we will mostly play clubs and auditoriums but perhaps also outdoors for street fairs. I’m considering selling one or both of the Peavey components and getting either a Rumble 100 or 200. I am pretty confident that the 200 will work for all this, but it’s $500.

I’m wondering if the $300 Rumble 100 is enough. I have also considered selling the Peavey head but keeping the 15” cabinet and running it as an extended speaker from the 100, which—if it worked—would give me a 12” and a 15”. Would it work?

Thanks for any advice.

I’d say that the Rumble 100 is a little on the small side - it also has no extension cab option, so you wouldn’t be able to use your 15" cab.

The Rumble 200 would be a better fit, and since it has an extension cab option, you could use your 15", and it would match the internal 15" in the 200 better. You would then have the benefit of the full 200 watts of output. It’s difficult to tell whether they would sound good together, though - the only way to find out for sure would be to try it.

However, since that cab is probably very heavy, and you’re tired of hauling it around anyway, my advice would be to sell both that and the head, and get a Rumble 500. It sounds great, is powerful enough to carry most gigging situations on its own, and light enough that you can carry it on your own.

 

[G-Dog]

Advice about Which Rumble to Get

... ... either a Rumble 100 or 200. I am pretty confident that the 200 will work for all this, but it’s $500.

I’m wondering if the $300 Rumble 100 is enough. I have also considered selling the Peavey head but keeping the 15” cabinet and running it as an extended speaker from the 100, which—if it worked—would give me a 12” and a 15”. Would it work?

Thanks for any advice.

I agree 100% with what JakobT said. ^^^ The Rumble 100 is not designed to use extension cabs. The 200 with an 8 ohm extension cab might be enough for some venues. The Rumble 500 combo is the best bang for the buck and can handle most venues by itself, but will take an 8 ohm extension cab for even more power if needed. Seem expensive? Shop the other brands. Buy once, cry once, then bring on the music!

Also, see the Rumble Feature Comparison Chart on the Rumble Club Wiki page.
.

 

[Inky13]

My new Epi Viola sounds fantastic through my Rumbles! View attachment 4273478

I have one to back up my uprights. Don’t play it much but I’m glad I had it for this job.
Not pictured: Rumble 500H and 2x112.

 

[John Stephen]

Nice. Is that a K&K pickup on the upright?

 

[Inky13]

Vic’s model B. Best bang for buck.

 

[EatS1stBassist]

I’d say that the Rumble 100 is a little on the small side - it also has no extension cab option, so you wouldn’t be able to use your 15" cab.

The Rumble 200 would be a better fit, and since it has an extension cab option, you could use your 15", and it would match the internal 15" in the 200 better. You would then have the benefit of the full 200 watts of output. It’s difficult to tell whether they would sound good together, though - the only way to find out for sure would be to try it.

However, since that cab is probably very heavy, and you’re tired of hauling it around anyway, my advice would be to sell both that and the head, and get a Rumble 500. It sounds great, is powerful enough to carry most gigging situations on its own, and light enough that you can carry it on your own.

I suggest the 210 cab instead of 115 to go with your 200c. I have that setup.

 

[JakobT]

I suggest the 210 cab instead of 115 to go with your 200c. I have that setup. View attachment 4293409

It’s a good setup, to be sure, but with the 500 he probably won’t need an extra cab that often.

 

[Kijekuyo]

I suggest the 210 cab instead of 115 to go with your 200c. I have that setup. View attachment 4293409

I think that would be great and I agree with you, but I was considering the extension 1x15 because I already have one.

I used to have a Peavey 2x12 cabinet (my guitarist made off with it), and I would use it as an extension for my Peavey Mark IV and 1x15. It sounded absolutely AWESOME, and much more than necessary for almost all my gigging situations.

 

[Kijekuyo]

Thanks so much, JakobT, G-Dog, and EatS1stBassist,

I should have mentioned that I am married, and I think the $500 Rumble 200 is all I could justify to my wife, especially since my band isn't even gigging at this point. The only way I could entertain the idea of getting a 500 is if I could sell the Peavy Mark IV and cabinet for $700 price of the Rumble 500 (or maybe as low as $500 and supplement the other $200).

I have been researching on Youtube, and many bassists have been making the Rumble 100 work even in outdoor settings. I figured the 200 would be enough, especially if it could be used in tandem with the cabinet, which I would only use in more expansive settings (due of the weight).

Another thing I like about the 200 is the 15" speaker. I thought for reggae it might have a fatter sound than the twin 10", though I'm open to correction on this. I'm not interested in anything at the high end, no interest in Chris Squire/Geddy Lee progressive rock or slapping. But if you guys think a twin 10 can be thick and heavy, let me know.

Thanks for your advice. I wish I were free to spend what I want to. However, since my wife is pushing me to buy a portable air conditioner that I don't need, maybe there's a little room for negotiation...

 

[G-Dog]

Thanks so much, JakobT, G-Dog, and EatS1stBassist,

I should have mentioned that I am married, and I think the $500 Rumble 200 is all I could justify to my wife, especially since my band isn't even gigging at this point. The only way I could entertain the idea of getting a 500 is if I could sell the Peavy Mark IV and cabinet for $700 price of the Rumble 500 (or maybe as low as $500 and supplement the other $200).

I have been researching on Youtube, and many bassists have been making the Rumble 100 work even in outdoor settings. I figured the 200 would be enough, especially if it could be used in tandem with the cabinet, which I would only use in more expansive settings (due of the weight).

Another thing I like about the 200 is the 15" speaker. I thought for reggae it might have a fatter sound than the twin 10", though I'm open to correction on this. I'm not interested in anything at the high end, no interest in Chris Squire/Geddy Lee progressive rock or slapping. But if you guys think a twin 10 can be thick and heavy, let me know.

Thanks for your advice. I wish I were free to spend what I want to. However, since my wife is pushing me to buy a portable air conditioner that I don't need, maybe there's a little room for negotiation...

A. If You're seeing $700 for a R500c you need to keep shopping! The major onliners got new ones for $600. Used ones are also available for less and can be a great value.

2. I was a 15" bass speaker snob before hearing the R500c 2x10" and dropping my jaw at the the thick and heavy tone!! And the times I've connected my Bassman NEO 115 to my R500c I've not been abled to tell any difference between them.

iii. Harmony at home is job #1. If negotiations don't help, then saving up will be worth the wait.

All the best.
.

 

[SoulReflection]

iii. Harmony at home is job #1. If negotiations don't help, then saving up will be worth the wait.

Keeping peace in the valley is cheaper than the alternative. Don't ask me how I know...