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GBE 600 concerns...

ErnieD

ErnieD

Supporting Member
Nov 25, 2004
3,205
1,334
68
Atascocita,TX.
#1
Just noticed Sat nite that there are 3 little red lites with the letters O/L located below the 3 control knobs located at the far leftside of this amp, they are the FET - TUBE control knobs. I used Avatar B2x12 with my SWR SOB 1x15 as my setup for the first time this weekend. I can usually set all knobs at 12 o'clock and I'm good to go but because we were in a larger venue, I cranked some EQ knobs at about 1 o'clock. Had the FET, far left knob and far right volume knob set at 2 o'clock, not extreme I believe. When I looked back at my rig I noticed the 2 little O/L red lites coming off n on like a limiter lite might as I played. And it seemed the red lite next to "protect" was slightly lit up as well. The green signal lite was lighting up as usual but I did not notice the actual red limiter lite coming on at all. So are these O/L lites flickering to indicate good or bad news to the player. I mostly use only one cab and maybe had not noticed the O/L lites before cause they are located below the knobs and I would be looking down at my rig. Anybody own this amp can let me know if these lites, the O/L and protect lites coming on intermittantly are of a concern for me. Don't have a manual to refer to.
 
#3
Thanks Mentalbass for that info. Manual is very thorough but I did just email Genz-Benz tech support cause still not real clear and when those O/L LED's should be lighting up like they are doing while I am playing.
 
#4
as long as you like the tone it isn't anything to worry about.
The o/l simply means you are clipping on your input.

Are you playing an active bass and is the active button on the input engaged if you are?

A couple of things:
* If your bass is active, boosting the tone knobs on the bass all the way can lead to the o/l coming on.
* Where did you have the master volume? Try putting the inputs no higher than 12:00 and then get your volume increases from the master.

I hope this helps.
Roger
 
#6
I was hoping you would see this and chime in. Yes the bass that nite was my 55-01,active, and I did have the tone knobs opened up pretty well too. The amps master was set at about 1-2 o'clock, as was the pre. So the O/L LED's meant I was sending a pretty hot signal to the pre? I thought my tone got a little muddy at times that nite. I backed off diggin in with my right hand, cause I could also hear clicking thru the speakers where I was hitting the pups. I'll try what you suggested here next time out. And the Protect-LED looked like it was slightly on, is this possible? I don't know if this amp recognizes certain degrees of needed protection that would make the LED light up (glow if you will ) from low to a full burn. Was this also due to me clipping the pre? The amp, in a rack case, did tip over a few days ago in the back of my car. Maybe I should open her up and see if the tube is sitting tight? Any other things to look for? Thanks again.
 
#7
the amp is very, very stable at 2 ohms even when running hard so don't work about the protect light.

I have four basses with active EQ's. A 1985 Ken Smith I bought new back in the day. Even though active, the pre isn't nearly as powerful as modern pre's so I never have a clipping problem even when cranking everything.

My other three bases are a Lull w/ Aggie pre, USA Lakland and Zon Sonus...both with Bart pres. The Lakland and the Zon seem to be pretty darn powerful. Enough so that I have to be careful not to "over-eq" which leads to not just clipping but I lose a lot of clarity as you commented in your post above....it can get muddy.

The Lull doesn't seem to be as bad.
 

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