New to active basses... why am I clipping?

[Honch]

It's a passive pickup active onboard EQ bass. The pickups are a split coil humbucker and either a single coil or a thin humbucker in the J position (looks like the OP's bass is like that). It's got a 18V preamp (stacked bass & treble) and a knowb that acts both as push-pull for active/passive and also as the treble cut when in passive mode.

Then it must have room for 2 9v batteries? leaving 18v? Sure any amp input can take that? I know of several that can't handle my twin batteried EMGs. Hence I skipped the 18v went down to "longevity" 9 v use instead. I don't lean in and thump and pop that much anymore.


18 v? That can be quite steep for any preamp to take.

 

[andruca]

Then it must have room for 2 9v batteries? leaving 18v? Sure any amp input can take that? I know of several that can't handle my twin batteried EMGs. Hence I skipped the 18v went down to "longevity" 9 v use instead. I don't lean in and thump and pop that much anymore.


18 v? That can be quite steep for any preamp to take.

No, wait, you got that wrong, the output of a bass has nothing to do with the voltage of the onboard preamp's power supply (in this case batteries). The output of a bass guitar is in the order of tens of millivolts, rarely over 50mV. That output is in fact AC (otherwise it wouldn't produce sound), while the battery/s provide DC.

 

[pedroims]

What bass you got? What preamp is in there, some preamps are boost only while others are cut and boost, some have too much boost that even a 25% is a lot, if you can give us this information we will be able to provided a better help.

Assuming that is cut/boost,
- put the eq knobs in the middle or detent position.
- Turn the volume in your bass around 90%
- Turn the gain in the amp and volume all the way down.
- Play the open B or E string as you usually do.
- Start turning the gain knob until it starts to clip.
- Back a little, that is the gain you should use.

I hope this helps

 

[Zooberwerx]

Hey guys sorry for leaving you all in suspense, working late nights to support the music habit
Okay so I did take the sansamp out of the picture and everything seemed to get better once I cut off some volume and dimmed the bass down about 25%

Problem is, it still sounds like fart no matter what settings I try through the sansamp. Maybe I just don't need it for this bass, just so used to it doing wonders for my passive. I haven't tried it through the effects loop yet though.

Thanks for all the help guys! Didn't expect so much, TB rules!

You really need to put this in the hands of someone-in-the-know, either a shop or local TBer (Pittsburgh? Oh, hell yeah!)who can eval, correct, provide re-instruct, etc. IMO, you're making no headway and there's no reason for this to be a guessing game.

IOW, this bass / rig combination, if cobbled together properly, should be capable of producing thick, rich bass tones unless there is a glaring deficit (equipment, operator) in the chain with a minimum of finagling.

Riis

 

[mmbongo]

Then it must have room for 2 9v batteries? leaving 18v? Sure any amp input can take that? I know of several that can't handle my twin batteried EMGs. Hence I skipped the 18v went down to "longevity" 9 v use instead. I don't lean in and thump and pop that much anymore.


18 v? That can be quite steep for any preamp to take.

18v is not any louder than 9v. 18v just gets you some headroom (can crank more eq before clipping) and twice the battery life.

 

[seedokebass]

I've encountered this issue with Markbass amps as well. If the bass is hot enough, it just smokes the preamp. If there is no internal trimpot on the bass, you'd need to have something in front of your Sansamp to lower or "pad" the signal.

Or as others have suggested, try plugging into the Sansamp, then plug the output of the Sansamp into the effects return of the amp. That should bypass the preamp but have your signal before the EQ. That's how my Markbass SD800 worked anyways. Sounded way better that way too!

 

[Nickweissmusic]

Hey guys sorry for leaving you all in suspense, working late nights to support the music habit
Okay so I did take the sansamp out of the picture and everything seemed to get better once I cut off some volume and dimmed the bass down about 25%

Problem is, it still sounds like fart no matter what settings I try through the sansamp. Maybe I just don't need it for this bass, just so used to it doing wonders for my passive. I haven't tried it through the effects loop yet though.

Thanks for all the help guys! Didn't expect so much, TB rules!

This is leaving me with more questions than answers... are you in San Diego? Im dying over here, I gotta get in there and see what's going on . Still bad results even with the -10 setting on the BDDI? At 25% volume on the bass? I second the opinion above about having a knowledgeable player/tech take a look and see what's happening, this is unusual.

 

[Honch]

18v is not any louder than 9v. 18v just gets you some headroom (can crank more eq before clipping) and twice the battery life.

No, not with EMGs in any case. You get 18v headroom OR twice the battery life, not both. I've had problems with some amps can't take my 18v and then I had to use the "pad" which limits dynamics quite severely. Such as Ampeg 15" Combos and the like. Modern units can cope with it better. There's not even a led that blinks, you'll hear the annoying clip which is of no use for anything. Now, a 9v battery limits the initial transient dynamics. Mind you that a 9 v battery induces some kind of limiter to the sound. I e when I whack ONE single string the led or preamp can clip ugly, but if I whack all of the strings, it won't clip, which ought to mean higher output, from all strings, but they "duck" so to speak.

At least EMGs does.

It all depends on how the circuit is made, and since it ain't any EMGs on that one, it's only EQ section.

 

[Honch]

No, wait, you got that wrong, the output of a bass has nothing to do with the voltage of the onboard preamp's power supply (in this case batteries). The output of a bass guitar is in the order of tens of millivolts, rarely over 50mV. That output is in fact AC (otherwise it wouldn't produce sound), while the battery/s provide DC.

From horses mouth, I said, it depends on all things, what circuitry and how the pickups works with it:

"If you have room for multiple batteries in your guitar, you can use two 9v batteries wired in series to run your pickups at 18 volts. The output level will not improve significantly, but you’ll have increased headroom and crisper transients. This is especially useful for percussive/slap bass styles where you can generate enormous instantaneous power levels across the entire frequency spectrum."

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This has nothing to do with the onboard power preamp, or its supply. I should not state it puts out 18v however, that was my bad, but it does increase, even in the mV range. These pickups are active, and the preamp resides inside the pickups, and they won't work without batteries. It's out there for anyone to try for themselves if you happen to have EMG actives. Just set the input gain just a hair below so it doesn't clip or blink at all, and then open up, and wire it for 2 batteries. Screw back them again, and don't touch the amp, and start playing the same intensity as before and take a good look, or listen...

It does/did one every amp I've tried at least.

 

[Kygr]

What was your Sansamp settings at? You said it was sounding bad when you go through that, yet I go through a Sansamp and it sounds great. Any way to make a quick youtube video to show your settings and play it a bit? Or at least take some pics of your settings. It may give us a better understanding on this situation.

 

[andruca]

From horses mouth, I said, it depends on all things, what circuitry and how the pickups works with it:

"If you have room for multiple batteries in your guitar, you can use two 9v batteries wired in series to run your pickups at 18 volts. The output level will not improve significantly, but you’ll have increased headroom and crisper transients. This is especially useful for percussive/slap bass styles where you can generate enormous instantaneous power levels across the entire frequency spectrum."

Invalid Link Removed

This has nothing to do with the onboard power preamp, or its supply. I should not state it puts out 18v however, that was my bad, but it does increase, even in the mV range. These pickups are active, and the preamp resides inside the pickups, and they won't work without batteries. It's out there for anyone to try for themselves if you happen to have EMG actives. Just set the input gain just a hair below so it doesn't clip or blink at all, and then open up, and wire it for 2 batteries. Screw back them again, and don't touch the amp, and start playing the same intensity as before and take a good look, or listen...

It does/did one every amp I've tried at least.

Oh, I see, that is different, active pickups with a buffering circuit that can work with a 9-18VDC supply range and its output is therefore affected. Still depending on the onboard preamp installed afterwards it can be taming the signal enough to deliver a "normal" gain.

 

[Josh Kneisel]

Have you tried running the SansAmp into your effects return at line level? I sometimes run that way and it should allow you to avoid clipping the input since the pre is now the SansAmp. If you like the way the pre on the markbass sounds better then I would just see if you can get that sounding good and use the XLR out to send to FOH.

 

[96Brigadier]

Hey guys sorry for leaving you all in suspense, working late nights to support the music habit
Okay so I did take the sansamp out of the picture and everything seemed to get better once I cut off some volume and dimmed the bass down about 25%

Problem is, it still sounds like fart no matter what settings I try through the sansamp. Maybe I just don't need it for this bass, just so used to it doing wonders for my passive. I haven't tried it through the effects loop yet though.

Thanks for all the help guys! Didn't expect so much, TB rules!

I had this exact same problem when I had a Markbass CMD 121H. The head that it comes with does not have an input pad, it would clip like crazy with my active basses if I dug in even with the volume way down. I solved this when I had a GT-10B by putting the GT-10B in front and using the built in input pad. I ended up getting rid of the GT-10B, then got rid of the Markbass CMD 121H for an amp with an active/passive switch. Now I have no issues no matter what bass I play and no matter what pedals I have in front, just a simple flip of active/passive switch on the amp. Expensive solution in the end but I ended up with a much better amp and cabinet combo (the Markbass was no slouch, not trying to diss it) with the versatility I wanted.

I will never again buy an amp that doesn't have an active/passive switch (input pad).

 

[Hopkins]

I have never had a bass that required the use of the pad (AKA tone suck) in order to get a clean signal.

 

[Hopkins]

18v is not any louder than 9v. 18v just gets you some headroom (can crank more eq before clipping) and twice the battery life.

It won't give you twice the battery life unless they are wired in parallel, in which case would only output 9v

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

if you want to keep your volume, adding some compression will take away the clipping.

 

[bassbenj]

I have never had a bass that required the use of the pad (AKA tone suck) in order to get a clean signal.

Same here. My main axe is a G&L L2500 which is about as hot as they come either active or passive and it's never overloaded an input (at least when you use the "active" input) . On the other hand I have seen clipping and distortion happen from a bad battery (once the bad battery was a "new" battery...just saying). I've also seen that happen from pickup set to high and close to the strings. Best is to try several amps and preamps to try to isolate just which thing is being overloaded. If the problem is definitely in the bass then at that point you may have to look at the bass for defective problems. For example parts can go bad in the bass electronics (in addition to the battery just mentioned) that can cause problems. For example a capacitor on the circuit board going bad can cause this kind of thing.

 

[Kygr]

I have never had a bass that required the use of the pad (AKA tone suck) in order to get a clean signal.

I'm using a pad now for the first time in my life. Passive bass, going into a Sansamp, then an SVT 7 PRO. However the gain on the Sansamp is up a bit and I crank the gain on the amp almost all the way up

 

[Hopkins]

I'm using a pad now for the first time in my life. Passive bass, going into a Sansamp, then an SVT 7 PRO. However the gain on the Sansamp is up a bit and I crank the gain on the amp almost all the way up

I can't abide the way most input pads cut into my tone. I have never used one, even using pedals and very hot basses. I have always been able to lower my input gain and adjust the EQ to the point that clipping isn't a problem.

 

[Faceman75]

I just remembered that Sansamp recommends setting the EQ on your active bass flat, and EQ it on the Sansamp.