• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Speakers distorting too early

J

JJd2sc

Jul 31, 2003
256
2
Marietta, Georgia
#1
Im feeling like my ampeg svt 410hlf is getting a distorted tone way before it should. Im pretty sure my ears arnt getting worse, and its
certainly not feeling or playing as loud as it used to on the sameish settings playing vs the same guitar rigs. I have to ask the guys to quiet down their rigs to a level that they are saying is way less than they used to play at. Im running it through a recently re-tubed mesa 400. What could some possible problems/solutions be? And price range?
 
#4
a bad tube could cause that issue. My hartke i just re-tubed fixed that issue. check the speaker cable first, that sounds like a possible issue.

jacks oxidize, causing less power to reach the speaker, and a higher resistance to the amplifier.

a bad cable will do the same thing.

Get new cables, and try again.
 
#13
mactac said:
no, i've had 2 different 400+'s and 3 sets of tubes & an empty wallet. nothing wrong. people can have different opinions of what "loud" means. this was covered in a previous thread
Click to expand...

Don't take this the wrong way, but are you aware that the tone stack on that particular amp is set so flat is something like 2-10-2? If you have all of your mids turned down, there's no surprise that it's quieter than you expected.
 
#14
Eric Cioe said:
Don't take this the wrong way, but are you aware that the tone stack on that particular amp is set so flat is something like 2-10-2? If you have all of your mids turned down, there's no surprise that it's quieter than you expected.
Click to expand...

yep good point, but i've been through all that a number of times :)

it actually funny (not to hijack this thread), but the 400+ turned to 2-10-2 really seems to have no balls compared to other heads i've owned. it almost seems like that is in fact not flat at 2-10-2, as it seems quite thin.

that aside, i've always had colume problems with thiis head. no matter how it's eq'd etc, i can't get it really loud without distortion (either from the pre or power section). At a master of 5, it's just starting to kick ... but can't really go any higher than that....

I still have my 400+, but it's been a struggle. I want to get rid of it because i'm just not having much luck... on the other hand, i keep thinking i'm missing something here (due to everything i read) & that I should stick with it. I've spent TOO much money on it trying to get it sounding good, and have gone through 4 (!) cabs.... but i can't seem to get any magic out of it.

Am i the only one?
 
#15
Ive never used the 400, but for 300 watt all tube it should be really loud, my SVT-II is loud as hell (except when plugged into the bright input but thats a -15dB pad aswell, thats the only thing i dont like about my amp), but no matter what cab i use its still more volume than ill ever use, and im pretty sure my peavey 410 and 2x15 are the most sensitive cabs out there!

But, each to thier own aye :)
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back