New Head

Hey guys, it's been a while. Currently my replacement amp I got from Ampeg (Their customer service has been a dream to work with) is out or my head is being a p.i.t.a. Currently the cabinet responds to power, it gives me a deep throaty boom when you turn it on to let it know it's ready to roll.

Only problem is, no sound is being sent to the cabinet. I'll need to sample powering it through with a stronger spare head (Tried seeing if my little 15 watt amp would be enough to power the cabinet to some life, got nothing, I'll have to try it through a 120 spare in the music room here at college). I'm running a Hartke HA2000 200 watt bass head, so it's power matched with the cabinet and this cabinet seems to still have fully functioning electronics (As reflected in the fact that the speaker does pop to life when receiving electricity from the head).

So here's my couple of questions to the wonderful community here at TalkBass:

1.) Anyone have any idea what might be the problem?
- All the cables and connections are fine, stable, and strong.
- To reiterate; the cabinet is responding to electricity, therefore the amp is sending it.

My inkling is something crapped out in the amp, which I wouldn't be shocked. The cabinet seems fine overall, but like I said, I'll have to give a shot feeding it through a more powerful combo amp to the cab.

2.) I'm feeling as though the head is continually a problem. My other problem though is that 200W bass heads are hard to come by. Could you guys recommend a good bass head for an Ampeg B Series 115E (200 watt cabinet)? More so, if none are really available, what should I do? Buy a lesser powered head or go over by about 25 watts and hope nothing goes wrong? I'm pretty sure the cabinet can handle a little more than 200 watts but I'm pretty sure there will be more knowledgeable people here than I.

Thanks for any answers and I hope you guys can help.

 

Thanks B-String. Also, if I could be a pain and totally unrelated to bass heads, what kind of strings would one recommend for a Fender P-Bass? Looking to pick up some replacements for when the stock ones crap out, kind of like the stock sound on this Mexican made beauty.

 

Any other recommendations on the head/cabinet debate? I'm pretty sure B-String is right with the head problem. Further tests are pending (as stated). Any other recommendations as well? Mayhaps a link I can snag it from as well?

 

Am I running any risk if I go with a 225 watt or even up to a 250 watt head? I know overpowering can create a problem, just wondering about the mechanics of it. Dumb idea or what?

 

Thank for the heads up man. I'll make sure to treat her nice. And you've really helped me a lot, hopefully I can drive this thing and make it work to figure out just what the problem is. I'm thinking it's the head, I've heard Hartke heads don't necessarily play nice with Ampeg gear.