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Thin sound - weak link?

#22
TNCreature said:
Is this a new set of equipment, or is this an "it suddenly happened" situation?
What changed between your rig working and your rig not working?
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Agree, there is important information missing here.

Gord said:
The VT500 is a great sounding amp at the volumes I've normally been using it at, but there must be a disconnect at this volume
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This may be the key. At what volume did it sound "good" and at what volume are you playing it now? Did it sound good at high volume and thin at low volume? My experience is that you need to feed enough power to the cabs until they "open up", and at any volume below that the bass just doesn't sound right. If you are trying to achieve a good tone at very low volumes, a much smaller cab may be necessary. But again, until we don't know more about your situation, we are just shooting in the dark.
 
#23
Gord said:
I can't find anyone saying NV610s sound thin. nobody saying that dingwalls are thin - and nobody talking about VT500s. that might be fairly telling.
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This tells me that this equipment is new to you as you are talking about other people's experience instead of your own.

Gord said:
With all pedals out of the chain, just bass into amp, it still sounds just as crummy. Just .. weak and dry
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Plug the bass into the amp and use headphones from the amp, plugged into the PHONES, then adjust the tone and pickup selector on the bass and amp and see if you get some meat that way. I linked what each knob does on your bass in post #2. Swap a few cables while doing this.

If you get meat through the headphones then it could be the cab speakers out of phase if someone messed with it. Was it used?

WHAT SPEAKER CABLE are you using? Some that are not Neutrik Speakons do not connect well and have had thin sound as the result.
 
#25
S-Bigbottom said:
WHAT SPEAKER CABLE are you using? Some that are not Neutrik Speakons do not connect well and have had thin sound as the result.
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... and are you sure the cable you're using to connect the head-to-cab is in fact a speaker cable, and not an instrument cable? They often look alike and can easily be confused. (I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but you did ask whether you might be overlooking something obvious.)
 
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#28
Interestingly enough, I bought all of these at roughly the same time.

It's only recent that I've started noticing how thin it has become. It has sounded great on stage, and then awful on stage. Great at band practice, and then the next day, super thin.

That's really interesting about the battery. I have been playing in passive mode, and I get the same amount of thinness. I also have a Fender Precision that sounds ok, not great.

I've just rented a Traynor YBA300. New speakon cable, new power cable. I'm going to go through this one at a time. Starting with another new battery! I'm thinking if this still sounds bad with all new equipment - I'll have to take a look at the cab. Thank you everyone!
 
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#34
Really seems to be bass problem.
But if a passive bass was thrown in the mix. It's likely not the bass.

Going from good to thin exactly means the speakers are not most likely the culprit.

So could be amp. Power cord is working but intermittent poor connections. Or preamp issue. Or effect loop corrosion.
Clean effects loop. If there is pad switch turn in on and off make sure it's working. Likewise any other switches that could be intermittent
 
#35
Gord said:
It's only recent that I've started noticing how thin it has become. It has sounded great on stage, and then awful on stage. Great at band practice, and then the next day, super thin.
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Take an instrument cable then plug one end of it into the SEND and the other end into the RECEIVE and see if that thickens it up.
There is a contact switch in there, if it is dirty it will make sound go good to thin randomly. Plugging in this cable bypasses this.
 
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#36
Last night, I tested with the precision, just to rule out the active situation.

Ok, got the tube amp all wired up - and it sounded awful. Ok, good! That's a start.

Changed out the speakon cable and power cable. Still bad. Switched to the second speakon input on the cab. Jesus. Full, rich, beautiful bass. (Unfortunately, now I have YBA300 GAS)

Switched back to the VT500. God damn. Not quite as great, but still, that's the sound I used to have.

It's a shared jam space, so the fact that the cab sounds good on some days could quite simply be explained by people using their heads, then putting the speakon cable into a different input on the cab every time. I'm guessing if I looked at the back, that one input doesn't have a full connection or something. Anyways, for now, I'll just skip to that one input ... and probably look into grabbing a YBA300 as well ;)

Thanks everyone!
 
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#37
Gord said:
ha! I just changed it yesterday. and I definitely wouldn't have thought of it - until the thing died on me. my first active bass in a while. I forgot about that!

I'm going to rent a head from Long and mcquade tomorrow. I can't find anyone saying NV610s sound thin. nobody saying that dingwalls are thin - and nobody talking about VT500s. that might be fairly telling.
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Why rent? just take your bass there and "try out" a few amps.
 
#38
Congrats on figuring out the problem. I love my Traynor YBA-300. I like to build my Own Speakons with Genuine parts. It's cheaper and I can be my own quality control.:)
 

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