jazzyvee Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 I have never blown speaker before so don't really know what to listen for to determine this. I have been getting my gear out at home to check it all out as there are some gigs looming. I haven't powered up my rig for most of the Covid-19 pandemic period and if so just quietly. My normal way of using my rack system is to have the power amp on full and bring up my pre-amp gain (usually only up to 2 or 3 max) till I find a good balance and as my basses are active, the quality of sound doesn't suffer if the bass is on low. Anyway what is happening is that when I dig in a moderate volume on bass with the above arrangement, there is a loud crack sound from the speaker if I hit anything low G and below on the E or B strings. I have tried both my BTII and BBII cabs and both exhibit the same noise. Any idea what is going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acebassmusic Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 I'm not sure whats happening from your description but I would think its highly unlikely that BOTH cabs have failed at the same time. I would look more at your pre / amp setup for any changes that might have happened since the start of covid. The fact that you have your power amp on full will obvoiusly magnify any problems in your signal chain. Could it be the vibrations from the low frequencies shaking a dry joint / dirty connection / dodgy patch lead and causing the "crack"? Can you try another amp? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 I don't really know what you mean by "crack". Could the strings be hitting the pickup? I'd guarantee it's not the cabs. I doubt 2 separate cabs would fail with exactly the same symptoms and at the same time. You need to trouble shoot everything else you used, leads, amp, bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunderwonder Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 I'd be looking through everything for accidental 'low end boost'. If I didn't find something obviously amiss I'd take it all outside to rule out something vibrating inside. Bring it up gently. Maybe you got covid deafness or just forgot how loud one cab can go before it starts smashing itself to bits. BF is not immune to being blown up by too much power too low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzyvee Posted June 24, 2021 Author Share Posted June 24, 2021 1 hour ago, Acebassmusic said: I'm not sure whats happening from your description but I would think its highly unlikely that BOTH cabs have failed at the same time. I would look more at your pre / amp setup for any changes that might have happened since the start of covid. The fact that you have your power amp on full will obvoiusly magnify any problems in your signal chain. Could it be the vibrations from the low frequencies shaking a dry joint / dirty connection / dodgy patch lead and causing the "crack"? Can you try another amp? it tends not to happen when the amp is on full volume which is how I've always used power amps in my rig previously with no such issue. When it's on full it's too loud to dig in and be near the cab so but when it's under about 3/4 and playing with emphasis, that's when the crack sound appears if I play the lower two strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 A crack noise can happen when one of the devices in the signal chain runs out of headroom. It may be in the amp, it may be in the pre. The first thing I'd do is make sure there isn't too much bass EQ, as that eats up headroom like mad, in both the pre and the amp. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiram.k.hackenbacker Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 What amp are you using? The Barefaced BBII and BTII are rated at different impedances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 Try a different amp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 8 hours ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said: A crack noise can happen when one of the devices in the signal chain runs out of headroom. It may be in the amp, it may be in the pre. The first thing I'd do is make sure there isn't too much bass EQ, as that eats up headroom like mad, in both the pre and the amp. This has happened to me before, and as usual Bill is, as above, spot on, I reduced the lows and the gain a touch and all was well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 Probably the 'crack' you are hearing is the speaker voice coils hitting the back plate of the magnet structure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 Active basses? Replace the batteries! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunderwonder Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 @jazzyveeseems to have forgotten about his clank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzyvee Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 Nope not forgotten about it just still experimenting with different volumes and settings. I have currently found a level where things don’t go “crack” and had a gig last week Sunday with my BBII and it was fine as it was a low volume jazz gig. But i still need to discover the cause as i have more gigs coming up soon. My basses are all active and run at dc voltages of 9v, 18v or 36v and cracking happens with them all. I tested all the leads including the speaker ones and all were fine. I bought a set of new patch leads for my preamp input yesterday only because the existing ones were the plastic moulded ones and a bit too short to fit comfortably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunderwonder Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 What's your EQ doing? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim1 Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 I would also consider lowering the pickups. I once had a similar issue and it was the string hitting the pickup when I played hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 I would say as it happens with multiple basses and multiple cabs, the only common thing you have is the amplifier. Any chance of recording the crack sound? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 It's probably your bass. Those Alembics are very poor quality 😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzyvee Posted August 5, 2021 Author Share Posted August 5, 2021 Good point, maybe i should sell them and get a vintage P-bass........... "I'll get my coat" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisisswanbon Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 FWIW I had a very similar issue with a Big Twin 2 I purchased second hand. Didn't really notice an issue until I kicked in my sub octave pedal, then there'd be a crack sound and you could physically see sparking coming from the top driver. I emailed Alex at barefaced who basically said in a polite way that I was talking shite, and I moved on. It wasn't until I changed to an Aguilar tonehammer 500 head and couldn't get to gig volume without the amp clipping and distorting like crazy that I realised maybe I wasn't talking shite... To keep a long story long, took it to my local go to repair guy, who said there was a broken connector inside the cab on the driver and the top driver wasn't actually working! My sub octave pedal was causing the cables to vibrate and catch and that was producing the spark and crackling sound from the top driver. He said he suspects it came this way from the factory due to where abouts on the driver it was. First and last barefaced cab for me, hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Have you cleaned the sockets on your amp effects loop? They can tarnish if not used. I assume the amp is on top of the cabs, so will probably vibrate a bit on low frequencies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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