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Gallien Krueger Neo 410-II overheating.

K

Kostiantyn

Feb 28, 2019
28
25
#1
Hi everyone,

I recently picked up a Gallien-Krueger 1001RB-II and a GK Neo 410-II.

While playing and pushing the woofer control to 'noon,' I started noticing a burning chemical smell. The smell is coming from the cabinet, not the amp. Both the cab and the head are in great condition; all the speakers seem to sound and react normally, so it doesn't seem like any of them are blown.

The amp is rated at 700W and the cab at 800W, so I don't think I’ve mismatched them—the 1001RB with a 410 is a very popular pairing. I checked the inside of the cabinet panel and everything looks fine; the crossover isn't burnt and both fuses are intact.

What could be the problem? Is it fixable? Also, how can I test the speakers to ensure they are functioning properly?

I’ve seen a few threads online mentioning a strong chemical smell with GK cabs, but I don't think overheating a cabinet at 50% volume in a perfectly matched rig is normal.

Please share your thoughts and personal experiences regarding overheating bass speakers.
 
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#3
I tried both, it overheats in both Full Range and Bi Amp mode similarly.

I'm not sure where the main source of smell is - the tweeter or the woofers, testing that can be done only by disassembling the cabinet right after the rehearsal, while the smell is still strong.
 
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#6
Kostiantyn said:
Yeah, I use a quite a bit of distortion from Darkglass B7K.
Click to expand...
In that case, you are driving your cabinet beyond their thermal limits. You may very well be delivering more than the amp’s rated power to the speakers in this case.

If there is a tweeter and crossover in the cabinet, it’s also possible that the harmonics present in the distorted speaker are damaging your crossover (and maybe the tweeter).

If you keep playing like this, something is going to get damaged for good.
 
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#7
I never realized I'm not allowed to use sounds that pedals provide.

I played for a two decades on GK RBH series cab, various Ampeg cabs, Markbass cabs and lots of others and not once I had such issue.

Is there something different about those Neo cabinets which make them so delicate?

Will adding a second GK cab help? I guess dissipating heat from 350 watts of power is easier than 700.
 
Last edited:
#9
Kostiantyn said:
I never realized I'm not allowed to use sounds that pedals provide.

I played for a two decades on GK RBH series cab, various Ampeg cabs, Markbass cabs and lots of others and not once I had such issue.

Is there something different about those Neo cabinets which make them so delicate?

Will adding a second GK cab help? I guess dissipating heat from 350 watts of power is easier than 700.
Click to expand...
It’s not about being “delicate”. It’s possible you’re delivering more than 800W to a cab rated for 800W. Going over the limit will harm any cab.
 
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#10
Kostiantyn said:
Hi everyone,

I recently picked up a Gallien-Krueger 1001RB-II and a GK Neo 410-II.

While playing and pushing the woofer control to 'noon,' I started noticing a burning chemical smell. The smell is coming from the cabinet, not the amp. Both the cab and the head are in great condition; all the speakers seem to sound and react normally, so it doesn't seem like any of them are blown.

The amp is rated at 700W and the cab at 800W, so I don't think I’ve mismatched them—the 1001RB with a 410 is a very popular pairing. I checked the inside of the cabinet panel and everything looks fine; the crossover isn't burnt and both fuses are intact.

What could be the problem? Is it fixable? Also, how can I test the speakers to ensure they are functioning properly?

I’ve seen a few threads online mentioning a strong chemical smell with GK cabs, but I don't think overheating a cabinet at 50% volume in a perfectly matched rig is normal.

Please share your thoughts and personal experiences regarding overheating bass speakers.
Click to expand...
Is the cabinet brand new?
I had an odor coming from my new Mesa cabinet but it smelled more like a cabinet shop than a burnt smell. It smelled good to me having worked around cabinet makers. It went away after a week or so.
 
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#11
Kostiantyn said:
I never realized I'm not allowed to use sounds that pedals provide.

I played for a two decades on GK RBH series cab, various Ampeg cabs, Markbass cabs and lots of others and not once I had such issue.

Is there something different about those Neo cabinets which make them so delicate?

Will adding a second GK cab help? I guess dissipating heat from 350 watts of power is easier than 700.
Click to expand...
Nothing about the Neo drivers and adding a second cabinet will definitely help. Be sure that the amp can drive 2 ohms however and that if it can, it's set up to do so.

When using heavy distortion, all speakers need to be derated, I typically recommend by about 25% and maybe more depending on the model. Also, some tweeters/crossovers are not well suited to heavy distortion, even with the level turned down. The power of those harmonics need to be dissipated somewhere and this can cause what you are experiencing.
 
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#14
DJ Bebop said:
Is the cabinet brand new?
I had an odor coming from my new Mesa cabinet but it smelled more like a cabinet shop than a burnt smell. It smelled good to me having worked around cabinet makers. It went away after a week or so.
Click to expand...
No, the cabinet is definitely not new, but in great condition. I guess this era of NEO cabinets was produced 10 or 15 years ago, it's NEO 410 with silver metal grill.

And the odor is not constant, like from glue or something, it's appears during rehearsals, when it's turned on.

TeaTime said:
I'm curious - are you using Speakon, or 1/4" plugs?
Click to expand...
I used original 4 core Speakon cable by GK, huge 4 core 4x2.5 mm² Speakon cable by Cordial and 1/4" plug cable.
The cables are fine and not the issue here.
 
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#16
Kostiantyn said:
The amp is rated at 700W and the cab at 800W, so I don't think I’ve mismatched them
Click to expand...
The amp's 700 Watt rating is the amount of power it can output below a certain level of distortion. You can easily push it beyond that rating as long as you're okay with the loss in fidelity (and whatever damage it might cause).

If you are using heavy distortion effects you might not even be able to tell when you're pushing the amp beyond its rating because the distortion it adds is difficult to distinguish from the signal it was fed.
 
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#17
agedhorse said:
Be sure that the amp can drive 2 ohms
Click to expand...
he did not state anywhere that his cab is rated 4ohms. But if it is, adding a second one is no option, cause the 1001rb only goes down to 4ohms.
But assuming the cab would be 8ohms. Is it still possible to overload it by pushing more than 800w into it? The amp should have 480w at 8ohms. Does distorting it really go over 800 in this case? Seems wild to me
 
#18
thegrimmbass said:
he did not state anywhere that his cab is rated 4ohms. But if it is, adding a second one is no option, cause the 1001rb only goes down to 4ohms.
But assuming the cab would be 8ohms. Is it still possible to overload it by pushing more than 800w into it? The amp should have 480w at 8ohms. Does distorting it really go over 800 in this case? Seems wild to me
Click to expand...
Their 410 Neo cabinet models were both 8 and 4 ohms depending on the specific model. Not mentioning the caution about a second cabinet and the amp not being able to drive a load below 4 ohms IF he owns a 4 ohm version would be irresponsible IMO.
 
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