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I Mixed Cabs Last Night

#42
Tim Skaggs said:
Was the cab a 400w 4-ohm 4x10 or a 400w 8-ohm 4x10? The 800w 4-ohm Ashdown head would be roughly 400w into an 8-ohm cab.

If all drivers in a 400w rated 4x10 were blown, I hope earplugs were passed out to the congregation beforehand….
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Thanks for your repsonse, it was a 400w 8 ohm Ashdown Mag 4x10, the one with the black speakers. I’m not an expert on this but all we get is just completely fuzzy/buzzy sound now, if you leave it for a it sounds almost fine for some seconds then it goes all like that again. I tried a less powerful amp with it and it was exactly the same, so I know it’s not the heads.

I’ve never actually seen bass speakers pop in person and no one reported a dramatically loud sound during the last programme before I discovered it😂😂
 
#43
walterw said:
good lord, what kind of slayer concert volumes does your church band play at? that single 4x10 cab should have gotten way too loud for a sane stage mix before blowing up anything.

also, that "800 watt" head would only be doing 400 or 500 watts into a single 8Ω cab, it's actually a good match. if you're not getting any sound at all, chances are it's something besides all 4 speakers being blown. have you tried a different amp or a different cab? different cables?

that would be hard to find
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Honestly I’m still guessing, no one at the last programme before I discovered it mentioned a noise that I imagine the speakers blowing out would’ve produced (I’ve never seen it happen in person before so I don’t know).

I did notice the bass guitar that was used at the last program had the bass and treble knobs cranked though, whether or not that could’ve been the reason I don’t know. The bass the player used was one of mine, a Jackson C5 from the early 2000s with a musicman and jazz pickup pairing, duncan designed. I put an aguilar obp 3 in it.
 
#45
Have you tried a different speaker cable? An intermittent cable or plug can cause similar symptoms.

Have you tried it with a different bass & cable? An active bass with a dead battery will produce the same symptoms.

Are you using any pedals? If so, remove them all for troubleshooting.
 
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#46
I thought I should report you! Only kidding! I mix a 2x10 and 1x15 by GK all the time. Great stack, lots of volume and warmth for my needs. No complaints from anyone I know.
Ten years ago these threads blew up but mostly due to players throwing a 4x10 over a 1x15. There were a lot of knowledgeable members trying to talk down the 'mixers' from doing harm to the poor 1x15s or expecting more from that cabinet than was mechanically possible.
 
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#47
Daveyj said:
I did notice the bass guitar that was used at the last program had the bass and treble knobs cranked though, whether or not that could’ve been the reason I don’t know.
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that might in fact be a problem, too much bass boost can blow speakers that are otherwise suitably rated for the rig. players who don't understand how active basses work all too often just turn all the knobs all the way up with no thought to the results
Daveyj said:
This is pretty much what it sounds like now
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oh, so it does still work, just with a buzzy sound on top? yeah, that could be a blown speaker or two, but that video sounds more like the tweeter in the cab is damaged. does your cab have a horn control? if so try turning it off. then check the speakers with a heavily bass-boosted but not too loud sound, putting your ear by each of the four speakers and plucking the bass gently to see if one or two speakers sound worse than the others
 
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#48
Thanks for the suggestion, it does have a tweeter in the center of the 4 drivers, but I don't think it has a switch. In terms of the actual sound it makes, it's similar to what's in the video but worse. The first sunday after the programme the sound was so buzzy and we couldn't get any volume out of it, I was on drums that day so the person that played bass just thought the church bass was the problem, I took it home to have a look and it was fine. We didn't realise what the issue was till the next rehearsal, at first we thought it was a battery issue with the bass (my jackson), but then we plugged in another bass and it was the same. The awful buzz was there, the volume was louder this time but it started fluctuating, sometimes you get a really buzzy note sound but really buzzy, sometimes its just the buzz with no discernable tone and lower volume too. It's why I suspect it may be all the speakers gone, maybe some of it and the tweeter. The next time I'm there I'll try and do a video. The back looks exactly like this one, except 400w
1732704106235.png
 
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#49
walterw said:
that might in fact be a problem, too much bass boost can blow speakers that are otherwise suitably rated for the rig. players who don't understand how active basses work all too often just turn all the knobs all the way up with no thought to the results

oh, so it does still work, just with a buzzy sound on top? yeah, that could be a blown speaker or two, but that video sounds more like the tweeter in the cab is damaged. does your cab have a horn control? if so try turning it off. then check the speakers with a heavily bass-boosted but not too loud sound, putting your ear by each of the four speakers and plucking the bass gently to see if one or two speakers sound worse than the others
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don't even get me started with them not knowing how active basses work. I'm the beginner amongst all of them, I mostly play drums, but I find myself telling them what not to do, teaching frequencies. They're really good playing wise but they don't really understand all this other stuff, I'm a bass geek so maybe that's why I'm more into the details I guess. One has a habit of controlling the volume from the amp head but he leaves the volume control on bass on full blast. sometimes the tone controls are all over the place on the bass but then they fiddle with the amp head. It drives me crazy sometimes but it hard to say much without coming across wrong, especially seeing as they're the ones that can play and me telling them what not to do can come across as a student telling a teacher the basics of the subject.
 
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#50
Daveyj said:
The awful buzz was there, the volume was louder this time but it started fluctuating, sometimes you get a really buzzy note sound but really buzzy, sometimes its just the buzz with no discernable tone and lower volume too. It's why I suspect it may be all the speakers gone, maybe some of it and the tweeter. The next time I'm there I'll try and do a video. The back looks exactly like this one, except 400w
1732704106235.png
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OK, no tweeter control. still, when you have some time do the audio check, gently play a clean but bass-boosted tone into the rig and listen with your ear right in front of each speaker
Daveyj said:
One has a habit of controlling the volume from the amp head but he leaves the volume control on bass on full blast.
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well, the bass guitar volume knob probably should be all the way up and left there, that's standard procedure and the safest way to do it. it's the active EQ you have to be careful with, especially the bass EQ

Daveyj said:
It drives me crazy sometimes but it hard to say much without coming across wrong, especially seeing as they're the ones that can play and me telling them what not to do can come across as a student telling a teacher the basics of the subject.
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i mean, they're the ones that blew up the bass amp :bored:

still, if you're the drummer and it's not your amp it might be time to just shrug your shoulders and let go of the whole thing, let the church leaders deal with it

maybe take your active basses home too, this bunch might be better off with a passive jazz bass or something
 
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