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My amp has terrible tone on Eb and only Eb

lowend219

lowend219

Sep 17, 2007
212
0
Los Angeles, CA
#1
Recently I've been experiencing a problem. When I hit an Eb my Fender Bassman Pro 2x10's normally even and mellow sound turns into something akin to vomit coming out of a bass guitar. It happens on Eb and only Eb, move up or down a half step and the tone is back to normal. I've tried multiple cables and basses so I know the problem lies in the combo amp. I've never really encountered a problem like this before. any thoughts TBers?
 
#5
Try opening it up and tightening the speaker and whatever else might be loose.

It could be the way the cab is tuned and it may be tough to resolve it.

My old Bassman 400 did this on a B. No matter what I did (tightened everything/checked for any loose joints etc), I could no get it to go away. In the mix it wasn't really audible, but played alone it was real annoying. I finally got rid of the amp.

On my Bose system there is port noise on some of the lower frequencies (air flowing through the port and causing a buzz). sometimes with all of this "tuning" magic that gets low notes out of small boxes there are some compromises that appear now and then.
 
#6
interesting about the tuning. I'll go in and tighten everything down and see if that helps.

Normally its not an issue. But there is 1 part in 1 song in my bands new material where I play lead and the line is centered around a held out Eb. After our last gig I told the guys that I won't play the song live anymore until I get the problem fixed.

The line sounds something like: doo doodoo doo di do blaaaaahhhhh
 
#8
rbonner said:
Sounds like you are "Right On" the equipment's BROWN NOTE. BOB
Click to expand...

I was actually hoping to open a can of worms with this post as it obviously turns to dark matter on this particular note. Tell us is this a ported cab or sealed? I'm not familiar with the new stuff.

If it is ported you could possibly remove the port tubes if they are the removable kind and lengthen the tube slightly and move the problem to LIKE D or some note nobody ever uses.

I find it interesting it isn't just at one note but all over the spectrum. SO each octave is a problem, this is major wierd.

Do your buddies or spouse or somebody else hear the same flat response? I know this sounds hokey but lets eliminate your brain vibrating funny first.

I got to a volume level here that my vision actually blurred a couple weeks ago. Wasn't something I expected to have happen was a bit scary and exciting all at the same time.

I was looking at a video monitor back in 1988 and somebody said something to me I didnt agree with and I did a POO POO blowing air through my lips where the my lips vibrated, you know what I mean. The video monitor started losing sync. Turns out the frequency was the same as the monitor's refresh rate and me and my business partner could make the vision freaked out when we did this.

Maybe I broke something, no... But this could be 100% in the amp/cab, the pickups might be flakey or you might have a physical condition. Lets eliminate you first. BOB

BOB
 
#10
If it sounds like a farty buzzing sound, then you probably just have something loose. When you hit the frequency that resonates the cab, whatever it is that is loose starts vibrating. Find whatever it is that is loose and secure it. Problem solved.

Alternately, never play Eb again. Either way.
 
#12
rbonner said:
I was actually hoping to open a can of worms with this post as it obviously turns to dark matter on this particular note. Tell us is this a ported cab or sealed? I'm not familiar with the new stuff.

If it is ported you could possibly remove the port tubes if they are the removable kind and lengthen the tube slightly and move the problem to LIKE D or some note nobody ever uses.

I find it interesting it isn't just at one note but all over the spectrum. SO each octave is a problem, this is major wierd.

Do your buddies or spouse or somebody else hear the same flat response? I know this sounds hokey but lets eliminate your brain vibrating funny first.

I got to a volume level here that my vision actually blurred a couple weeks ago. Wasn't something I expected to have happen was a bit scary and exciting all at the same time.

I was looking at a video monitor back in 1988 and somebody said something to me I didnt agree with and I did a POO POO blowing air through my lips where the my lips vibrated, you know what I mean. The video monitor started losing sync. Turns out the frequency was the same as the monitor's refresh rate and me and my business partner could make the vision freaked out when we did this.

Maybe I broke something, no... But this could be 100% in the amp/cab, the pickups might be flakey or you might have a physical condition. Lets eliminate you first. BOB

BOB
Click to expand...
Umm....................Wha....? Huh?.......
 
#15
rbonner said:
I was looking at a video monitor back in 1988 and somebody said something to me I didnt agree with and I did a POO POO blowing air through my lips where the my lips vibrated, you know what I mean. The video monitor started losing sync. Turns out the frequency was the same as the monitor's refresh rate...
Click to expand...

Yup. In 1984, while using a DEC VT100 computer terminal, I could get that rippling effect while humming a tune in A. It's close enough to 60Hz to get a beat.

When you hum, your eyes vibrate along with the hum. Sometimes this will interact with the video display.

In about 1986 when I was at Apple, one group was testing new refresh rates for video. They would change the refresh rate and have a bunch of test subjects answer questions about perceived flicker. We were told not to speak, as that could vibrate our eyes.

But back to bass...
 

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