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Double Bass Weird speaker problem

B

Bass Catcher

Jul 9, 2005
87
1
44
Minneapolis MN
www.myspace.com
#1
Hi everyone -

I had a really weird speaker problem on my gig on Friday. Thought I'd share and see if anyone could give any insight.

My rig: Full Circle, DPA 4099 into Clarus III into EA Wizzy M-Line. I plugged in, started to play and it sounded just like my speaker was blown - nasty distorted like sounds on lower notes. In my haste to get ready for the show, I abandoned my amp (didn't have a chance to check all the cords) and hooked up everything through the PA. The next day I revisited my amp at home (using all the same cords) and everything was fine! I played another gig last night with it, and not a problem at all!

What could the problem be here? When it sounded like the speaker was blown I was baffled, because I don't feel like I've ever pushed it to the level of doing damage. Another thought I had, the night of the gig where my speaker sounded blown was a very snowy night. I was carrying my amp outside for a few more minutes than usual. Is there a chance that a little moisture could have gotten into the speaker, causing it to sound blown?

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Matt
 
#2
The manual for my powered Mackie speakers claim that after being exposed to cold weather the speaker should be run at very lower volume for 15-30 minutes before turning up the power. Must have to do with response issues that possibly could cause damage to the speaker
 
#3
Matt,

I know you said you used all the same cords / cables each time. But I do know that a bad cable can produce a sound that makes it seem like the speaker is blown. This happened to me recently.

Also, maybe try to sparingly apply some contact cleaner like DeoxIT D5 in the jacks on the Clarus. I emailed Rick Jones and told him sometimes I got "crackle and hum" from my Focus. He suggested the DIY contact cleaner solution. I felt a bit silly, since I've had a can of D5 sitting on my shelf for years. I had just gotten out of the habit of using it regularly.

Both these problems were intermittent, like yours. Two easy (and cheap) things to rule out I guess, as part of the process of elimination.
 
#4
Bass Catcher said:
...a very snowy night. I was carrying my amp outside for a few more minutes than usual. Is there a chance that a little moisture could have gotten into the speaker, causing it to sound blown?
Click to expand...

If it was cold & snowy outside & then reasonably warm inside, you may have some condensation build-up somewhere in the signal chain; this might have caused a partial short (ie, resistive, not complete) & therefore the distortion. It'll more likely be electronics than the speaker itself (a 'blown' speaker generally doesn't work at all, and mechanical problems (cone/suspension tears tend to sound worse as you increase level, rather than just getting louder). It never hurts to wipe plugs dry before insertion and Contrabbasso's suggestion of leaving the amp on for a while is not a bad one (unless you know that the amp is definitely soaking inside :eek: in which case, you'd simply not turn it on) as the heat will help evaporate any slight moisture (a bit like how the old VCR players had a 'Dew' warning light to let you know not to play a tape until the moisture had evaporated, lest it cause the tape to tangle).
 
#5
I think Tber`s are right about the cold.Maybe it was just a little cold in the amp & the speakers too & probably needed to just warm them up properly.You said you tried it the next day & it was fine so im quessing it was going from cold to hot that caused the distortion !
Just remember for the future.
 
#6
In hindsight I do recall (2) rare moments at band practice that this happened to me totally unexpected out of nowhere.
It happened spontaneously at the beginning of a tune.
Harsh crackle when pizz. Not a buzz. Heavy,heavy rude fuzz tone. Unusable.
Everyone look at me like "What's up?".
I desperately fooled with the pickup connections to see if I could clear the problem and it disappeared within a few moments so we continued the tune.
Yes it happened once before exactly the same but with different cable wires. Again, gone after a few moments.

I recall that in both instances "cold temperature" was not the issue.

Is it possibly that there could be a condition about the pickup that it either had a bad momentary connection/contact or static charge that affected it's response?

Anyway, cold temperatures do affect the speakers/coils and it's better to let them warm up before high output levels but after thinking about it Matt yes I have experienced this weird speaker noise and I believe now that it is some other condition with the pickup not a cable or amp problem.

Very unusual "Crackle" not a buzz or grounded type of sound.

I disregarded it but it is very annoying especially at a gig.

Anyone else have this happen?
 
#7
Contrabbasso said:
...
It happened spontaneously at the beginning of a tune.
Harsh crackle when pizz. Not a buzz. Heavy,heavy rude fuzz tone. Unusable.
...
Anyone else have this happen?
Click to expand...

This exact thing happens to me sometimes. It sounds like maybe a blown speaker, but cleaning the input jack on the amp (or just pushing the jack in and out a few times when on a gig) always corrects the problem.
 
#9
Bass Catcher said:
I was under the impression that leaving a speaker or amp in your car (in cold weather) wasn't bad for it. Am I wrong?

Matt
Click to expand...

I think the general wisdom is that you won't harm your gear (excluding the bass, of course) by letting it get cold or even freeze, but it's a very good idea to let it warm up a bit before firing it up, preventing shorts from condensation. Bad news for jobbers who don't want to show up more than ten minutes before start:crying:
Personally, I've never worried about this, and have never experienced any problems I connected to a cold amp or speaker, but the coldest city I've lived in was Cleveland!
 
#10
Contrabbasso said:
Is it possibly that there could be a condition about the pickup that it either had a bad momentary connection/contact or static charge that affected it's response?
Click to expand...

It's not likely to be a problem with static charge but it could be a bad connection at the pickup. This isn't something that would "heal" itself. If the connection to the pickup is beginning to fail, then wiggling the connection to it ought to reproduce the problem. If no problems occur, then it would seem the problem is elsewhere, likely in the other cable connections as already suggested.
 
#11
I think its a bad connection somewhere.It sounds like when it happens there is a short causing the distortion` loose wires , pickups maybe ? Have it looked at & tell them exactly whats happening.There could be some serious damage done if not looked at.
 
#12
Phone plugs and jacks are pretty poor devices if they have to carry much current. The place where they contact each other is very small (a flat surface against a round bar), and they can easily get corrosion or carbon build up that will act as a resistor. That's why speaker connections have evolved into SpeakOns and Neutriks and the like, and inputs have moved toward XLR.

Keep in mind that phone plug/jacks were originally developed for telephone switchboards where they carried very little current and were regularly (100s of times per day) plugged in and unplugged. If you have phone plugs anywhere in your signal chain, they are suspect and should be inspected and cleaned.
 
#13
michaeln said:
Phone plugs and jacks are pretty poor devices if they have to carry much current. The place where they contact each other is very small (a flat surface against a round bar), and they can easily get corrosion or carbon build up that will act as a resistor. That's why speaker connections have evolved into SpeakOns and Neutriks and the like, and inputs have moved toward XLR.

Keep in mind that phone plug/jacks were originally developed for telephone switchboards where they carried very little current and were regularly (100s of times per day) plugged in and unplugged. If you have phone plugs anywhere in your signal chain, they are suspect and should be inspected and cleaned.
Click to expand...
Very good advice dude !!
 
#14
Matt,

I'm no expert, but I think I tend to agree with those above that said - If it's not the cables or dirty input jacks, it is probably the amp's adverse reaction to the extreme temperature and/or humidity changes in a short amount of time, not the speaker. Some good comments and suggestions listed above. Thanks all.

Minnesota, eh? Brrrr ... The only time I visited was in the summer. Back in 1978. :D
 
#15
michaeln said:
Phone plugs and jacks are pretty poor devices if they have to carry much current. The place where they contact each other is very small (a flat surface against a round bar), and they can easily get corrosion or carbon build up that will act as a resistor. That's why speaker connections have evolved into SpeakOns and Neutriks and the like, and inputs have moved toward XLR.

Keep in mind that phone plug/jacks were originally developed for telephone switchboards where they carried very little current and were regularly (100s of times per day) plugged in and unplugged. If you have phone plugs anywhere in your signal chain, they are suspect and should be inspected and cleaned.
Click to expand...

Exactly! it's one of those things (like slotted screws) which functions just well enough that it persists into the present even though it should be long extinct!
 
#17
Were you using, the microphone, the pickup or both? Possibly you can isolate the issue to either.

As other TBer's stated maybe the 1/4" phono plug contacts could be tarnished. Repetitively "plugging in and unplugging them into the input jack a half dozen times "may" clean the contacts.

Sorry to hear that the problem persists.

Hope you don't have a gig tonight. As you know the weather is "kind of ruff".
I'm going to go blow out the snow drifts and then play bass,eat food, drink cocktails.

It's going to be a long weekend.
 
#18
I tried both the mic and pick-up - both gave me the same problem in the 2nd channel of my Clarus. Also tried both of them on channel 1 and they worked just fine. I sprayed some contact cleaner into channel 2, didn't seem to help at all.

Fortunately I'm not playing tonight. Was supposed to drive to South Dakota - but my gig got cancelled. That would have been a tough drive.

Hope to see you soon!

Matt
 

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