Why my Fender Rumble 40 Amp Sounds Muddy?

[Rob Wagner]

Hi folks, please help.

I have a Fender Rumble 40 amp that I have thoroughly enjoyed over the past year. It gives me a full range of tones that is unbeatable for the price. Recently I went on holiday for a month. When i returned I pulled the amp out of my closet, and now it gives me nothing but a muddy tone with little definition. I can't figure it out. I tried all my basses on it and worked and reworked the EQ, but the sound remains muddy. Before the problem, I kept the EQ knobs straight up at noon and the gain low or off. It gave me that warm, round sound of 60s rock. It was especially nice on my hollow and semi-hollowed body basses. Just to make sure I wasn't imagining my problem, I pulled out my old Roland 20W amp and it sounds like it should. I live in a country that doesn't have much interest in rock/pop, so it's not easy to find people to jam with or discuss music. So I am pretty much on my own here. Any ideas out there what I am doing wrong, or what the heck is wrong with my amp?

 

[JumboJett35]

Turn the "vintage" setting off. Mine is permanently on whenever I use my rumble 40. I'm likely sure you've pushed all buttons and turned all knobs so not sure what help anyone will be here without seeing or hearing it. We can only guess what your definition of "muddy" is.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

Change your strings

 

[Neck Diver]

Turn the "vintage" setting off. Mine is permanently on whenever I use my rumble 40. I'm likely sure you've pushed all buttons and turned all knobs so not sure what help anyone will be here without seeing or hearing it. We can only guess what your definition of "muddy" is.

Yes, make sure vintage button is off. Assuming you put amp in same room placement as before. Proximity to walls and floor increase boom.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Hope it works out, my son has a Rumble 30, great little amp. I'm using it as practice amp now, way overpowered for that, but he got through his high school and college Jazz band, including horns and a drummer, and it was plenty loud in small auditorium and church-sized venues. It definitely sounded "boomier" in church settings, but I think that's more about the room than the amp: all hard surfaces.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Just put it on a coffee table, it should sound clearer.

 

[JumboJett35]

Is it in the same room as before? Any other items large enough in the room to reverberate sound as compared to before?

I will add that I used to play mine in my basement before getting a bigger rig. When I moved the rumble 40 upstairs into my bedroom, it completely changed the sound I was used to. To my ears more boomy and muffled.

It is a smaller amp so I decided to get an amp stand and direct the sound up to my ears and that did the trick. I paid $45 on Amazon. Before I bought the stand I just used a couple folded towels to prop the front of the amp up towards me.

 

[Mastermold]

My Rumble 100 will sound a little muddy if I don’t dial back the bass and low mids a little. Try that and boost the treble and high mids a bit.

 

[SharpCat]

You said you tried different basses, but make sure you try it plugged directly into the amp, bypassing any pedals, and try more than one instrument cable just to rule out those as an issue.

 

[lowplaces]

Shot in the dark here. Was the amp stored with the grill removed ?

If so, some critter may have set up camp for the winter inside the cab, entering through a port.

 

[DaveParker39]

Usually when I plug into my rumble and it sounds different it means one of the tone buttons is either engaged or disengaged compared to how i had it previously.

 

[21DaHoagie12]

I’d remove the amp from the cab and spray the electrical connections with DeOxit and see if you have any luck.

 

[nonohmic]

Cause Rumbles suck and sound like they're covered in a wet blanket.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Cause Rumbles suck and sound like they're covered in a wet blanket.

Hmmm.... Not the experience of the vast majority of TB'ers who have played one, but... I never bonded with SVT's and 8x10 fridges either, go figure. They are what they are, a lightweight, decent sounding, relatively inexpensive amp with a pretty baked-in sound. Lot's of better amps out there, lots worse too.

 

[SoonerBill]

I had an issue with my Rumble 40 being really fuzzy. I found the overdrive button pushed in. Probably when I moved it. Make sure all the buttons are where they should be. They're easy to set and easy to miss.

 

[Rob Wagner]

Turn the "vintage" setting off. Mine is permanently on whenever I use my rumble 40. I'm likely sure you've pushed all buttons and turned all knobs so not sure what help anyone will be here without seeing or hearing it. We can only guess what your definition of "muddy" is.

Thank you.

 

[boogieman63]

I thought my Rumble 40 sounded good until I bought Mesa Boogie. Now it just sounds muddy/hazy to me.

 

[Clark Westfield]

I thought my Rumble 40 sounded good until I bought Mesa Boogie. Now it just sounds muddy/hazy to me.

Great amps until you compare them to something else.

I had a Rumble 500 and 410 v2 that I used when starting out, then started comparing to others brands.

The Fender was exactly that, muddy.

They should fire the muddy team to hire a smoothness team.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

Great amps until you compare them to something else.

I had a Rumble 500 and 410 v2 that I used when starting out, then started comparing to others brands.

The Fender was exactly that, muddy.

They should fire the muddy team to hire a smoothness team.

Same here. Gigged all around with my rumble 500 and thought it was alright until I tried my SUNN/Ashdown stack. Let’s just say now I only play a Rumble when I absolutely have to.

 

[JakobT]

Great amps until you compare them to something else.

I had a Rumble 500 and 410 v2 that I used when starting out, then started comparing to others brands.

The Fender was exactly that, muddy.

They should fire the muddy team to hire a smoothness team.

I have to disagree - it’s very much a matter of personal opinion. One man’s perfect is another man’s muddy.