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Problem with fender rumble 500

#26
trenken said:
I think it might be just trying to find the right settings. I have 4 volume knobs so this is pretty complicated. Gain, Level (which is in the overdrive section), master, and then the volume on the bass.

Only way im getting any real distortion out of this is with gain maxed, overdrive maxed, and bass turned all the way up. Im not even entirely sure what Level is for on this amp. It seems tied to the overdrive.

The bass volume has a huge effect on this. If its not all the way up, I get no distortion, which is very annoying since that means I cant even control my volume without messing with it on the amp.
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I think this may be your issue. Try working with the gain and master knobs with the overdrive engaged. Not sure which has more of an effect on the OD...you should also consult the Rumble Club...you will probably find many answers there. Linnin is very knowledgeable about all things Fender...hit him up, too. :thumbsup:
 
#27
The master doesnt seem to effect the distortion at all. I have the gain, drive, and bass volume cranked, and just using the level and master knobs to adjust volume.

I dont have the manual. They had a floor model labor day sale I couldnt turn down so I took that. Im sure there is a pdf manual online though.
 
#31
This is definitely new to me. Back in the day I had a pedal. You press it, and boom, distortion. No messing with all these different knobs. Clearly its different with the distortion built into these combos. Its getting there, but still puzzled as to why the bass needs to be all the way up, which means I have no way to adjust the volume playing live other than walking back to the amp and changing it there. Not super cool, or profesh :(
 
#32
trenken said:
Im starting to get a little more distortion out of the rumble with the volume all the way up on the bass, gain on the amp turned all the way up, and the master volume way down obviously so it doesnt blow out my windows.

Is this normal?
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I have the 500 combo here are my settings gain=1 oclock, master volume=9 oclock, eff dist gain 3 oclock and distortion level 10-11 oclock and I use different basses and still get some grindage from that setting. Go to Fender and read up on the manual it will help.
 
#33
What? That's weird. Strings shouldn't have an impact on the level of distortion, signal is.

If your bass has a lower signal output (which is weird for a deluxe) then you must compensate it with the gain knob.

Pretty weird that you have it cranked up to the max and it still doesn't distort. Weird.

Go back to that store woth your bass and try it on another rumble. If you aren't far away.
 
#34
You may need to see if you are getting normal output from your Jazz. If you used something with a hotter pickup to demo it would definitely be easier to get distortion. Maybe one of the Jazz experts can clarify but I don't think Jazzes are known for high output.

I owned a Rumble 500 and had no issue getting distortion using a P. Very Grindy.
 
#35
LT131 said:
You may need to see if you are getting normal output from your Jazz. If you used something with a hotter pickup to demo it would definitely be easier to get distortion. Maybe one of the Jazz experts can clarify but I don't think Jazzes are known for high output.

I owned a Rumble 500 and had no issue getting distortion using a P. Very Grindy.
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Could be. Im not sure. This is my first jazz. This is what I used in the store to demo the amp. Got way more distortion out of this than the jazz. For the jazz to get any real distortion everything has to be cranked. For this, I had the gain at like 9:00, very low, and wow was it super distorted. Sounded great. Way better than the jazz.

http://www.guitarsite.com/files/Music-Man-Classic-Stingray.jpg
 
#36
Trust me I know its silly for me to expect the same sort of distortion that Geddy Lee gets with his jazz bass. He doesnt use $500 combo amps with built-in distortion lol, but I really did expect a lot more than this. Maybe new strings will make a difference. We'll see.

I really dont want to return this bass. I ordered it online after trying the same bass out in a store, since it was cheaper online. Returning it would mean shipping this damn thing back out again. I cant imagine there is anything technically wrong with it. The thing is brand new and is working fine aside from this distortion issue.
 
#39
trenken said:
Just bought this amp. Sounds great, but when I tried the overdrive out in the store it sounded nasty, in a good way. Very crunchy. I get the amp home, try it out on my fender jazz deluxe, and there is almost no distortion, even with it cranked all the way up.

Wth? This is incredibly irritating because I had an ampeg combo with this same issue, no distortion from the scrambler. I return it, get the rumble, same problem!
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Odd, I get plenty with my Jazz. Do you have the combo?
 
#40
I think I can help, the Jazz bass you are running probably has lower output pickups than the hoppus bass. The Hoppus signature bass has a Duncan SPB-3 which is a higher output pickup. I have been testing a lot of overdrive pedals lately and my lower output basses always produce less overdrive when fed into a particular pedal.

You have two options to remedy this. If you like your amp and your bass and are not looking to change either, you can invest in a clean boost pedal to drive up the input signal into the overdrive channel or the second option, and this would be my recommendation, would be to purchase a set of Seymour Duncan sjb-3 pickups for you bass, this will boost your output to a similar output level as the hoppus bass. The signal will hit the overdrive channel harder and give you the results you are seeking.
 
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