Conan Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 (edited) Got to try my new (well, to me anyway) Hartke LH500 out on tuesday evening at a full band rehearsal. Full band minus singer anyway as he's on holiday... Decided to take my full backline as I wanted to hear what it would sound like in anger. I was getting really worried when I could get no sound out of my amp. Ten minutes of fiddling about ensued. Changed guitars. Changed leads. Plugged into the hired backline - no problem, so it was obviously my gear. Keyboard player is some kind of electronics engineer so he comes over to investigate. I explained that the amp had been working fine in the house only an hour earlier. I start worrying about the pre-amp valve. How flimsy are they? Do they stand up to a bit a bashing about? (Not that I DID bash it about...). I've never owned an amp with valves in it before. Known history of the amp and cabs is discussed at length... Finally we turn the amp round and look at the back. All is revealed as my credibility plummets.... I had plugged the leads into the effects-loop sockets rather than the speaker outs... Well, it was pretty dark in there! Sorted it out and the amp worked fine! Slightly lacking in honky midrange, but a lovely smooth and loud tone! Next week I'll nick one of the kids' torches! Edited June 10, 2010 by Conan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer61 Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 [quote name='Conan' post='863177' date='Jun 10 2010, 12:41 PM']I had plugged the leads into the effects-loop sockets rather than the speaker outs... Well, it was pretty dark in there! [/quote] Been there and done that more than once. My other trick is to plug my bass into the output socket of my tuner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Academy Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 [url="http://www.etorches.co.uk/mini-maglite-aaa/mini-maglite-2-cell-aaa-black.htm"]http://www.etorches.co.uk/mini-maglite-aaa...l-aaa-black.htm[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 There is plenty of mid there, but the tone stack is very unituitive (to my addled brain). Set mid on max, treble on about 1, bass on about 1. Really! I find that a 2,10,2 starting point, then roll off the treble to taste and bring up the bass, whiclst slowly rolling back the mids is the easiest way, damned fiddly though. But it can do a very wide range of very nice tones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Been there and done that a thousand times (fortunately not involving third parties in the 'reveal'). Its an occupational hazard of dark room and working with something you can't actually look at as it is around the back. THere is also the one where you are starting a set and you hit the first note and nothing. You haven't plugged your bass in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShergoldSnickers Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Forgetting some patches use the pedal for volume on my GT-10B. Accidentally knocking the 'Speaker' switch on the back of my Nemesis combo. Forgetting that pulling the lower volume dial on my bass mutes the output. Yes, all these result in that living nightmare of the fingers moving, but no sound ensues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Thought Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Having the volume turned down on my bass is a favourite of mine! Or the mute switch on on the Shuttle. I once stepped backwards halfway through a gig and trod on my bypass tuner, thus immediately muting my sound! Now I've found the tuner out on the GB, I use that these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Pluggin the speaker cable back into the speaker (two speakons in one cab). Thought the whole shooting match had broken! What a numpty The sense of relief when it all springs back into life is palpable though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 [quote name='51m0n' post='863241' date='Jun 10 2010, 01:44 PM']There is plenty of mid there, but the tone stack is very unituitive (to my addled brain). Set mid on max, treble on about 1, bass on about 1. Really! I find that a 2,10,2 starting point, then roll off the treble to taste and bring up the bass, whiclst slowly rolling back the mids is the easiest way, damned fiddly though. But it can do a very wide range of very nice tones.[/quote] I start with a similar setting myself - though I probably push the bass end a bit further round than most,as my bass pickups are mid and top orientated (in comparison to a P Bass for example) - But I get the same results. Bass up then pull the mid down if I need to. My treble control is down around 2 all the time and I am running a JJ preamp valve. Though I have to admit, I do fancy a bit of 'rolling' if a really nice Mullard comes my way! - Not because I need to- it just looks like fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted June 10, 2010 Author Share Posted June 10, 2010 [quote name='51m0n' post='863241' date='Jun 10 2010, 01:44 PM']Set mid on max, treble on about 1, bass on about 1. Really![/quote] Yeah, I did that. Fiddled about a bit either side of the "flat" position. I just find that it doesn't have as much mid as my Ampeg did... You're spot on with the tonestack though - its going to take some getting used to! BTW, in reference to the other bloopers - nice to hear that I'm not the only goon on here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harvey1-8 Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 [quote name='Deep Thought' post='863276' date='Jun 10 2010, 02:05 PM']Having the volume turned down on my bass is a favourite of mine! .......... I once stepped backwards halfway through a gig and trod on my bypass tuner, thus immediately muting my sound![/quote] These two for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 My Berg IP doesn't have any lights on the front to confirm it's on, so many times I've replaced all my rack cabling with the spares I carry trying to find a duff lead before I realise that I forgot to .... turn the amp on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 My Berg IP doesn't have any lights on the front to confirm it's on, so many times I've replaced all my rack cabling with the spares I carry trying to find a duff lead before I realise that I forgot to .... turn the amp on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umcoo Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 (edited) I had an old Bassman 135 I got off a chum on here and the bass channel worked fine, but the 'normal' channel (which has its own volume, master and EQ) didn't. Spent a good hour fiddling with cables and the volumes, checked basses etc. Later realised I hadn't got any EQ turned up....ta daaa .....sound!!! Edited June 10, 2010 by umcoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassicinstinct Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 [b]There is also the one where you are starting a set and you hit the first note and nothing. You haven't plugged your bass in. [/b] Oh yes, that's an old favourite of mine. Character building though, isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 It definitely needs some mid boost before it sounds "flat" to me, there's a scoop to it with everything set on 5. But then I'm mostly plugging a Thumb bass into mine so I'm not short of mids to begin with, and when I plug in the Jazz I'm usually shooting for a more vintage sound so I'm rarely chasing mids. Fecking loud though aren't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted June 11, 2010 Author Share Posted June 11, 2010 [quote name='thisnameistaken' post='863345' date='Jun 10 2010, 03:07 PM']Fecking loud though aren't they? [/quote] Frighteningly loud! Especially if you cross the threshold of Doom that seems to lie somewhere between the volume settings of 5 and 6!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah5string Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 [quote name='Deep Thought' post='863276' date='Jun 10 2010, 02:05 PM']I once stepped backwards halfway through a gig and trod on my bypass tuner, thus immediately muting my sound! Now I've found the tuner out on the GB, I use that these days.[/quote] Guitarist in a band I used to be in did this once, in the middle of a solo! Oh how I laughed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bottlebassman Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 [quote name='Toasted' post='863323' date='Jun 10 2010, 02:46 PM']My Berg IP doesn't have any lights on the front to confirm it's on, so many times I've replaced all my rack cabling with the spares I carry trying to find a duff lead before I realise that I forgot to .... turn the amp on.[/quote] Thats my trick! I often wonder why there is no sound, and its always because I have forgotten to switch the amp on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colleya Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 [quote name='bassicinstinct' post='863335' date='Jun 10 2010, 02:58 PM'][b]There is also the one where you are starting a set and you hit the first note and nothing. You haven't plugged your bass in. [/b] Oh yes, that's an old favourite of mine. Character building though, isn't it? [/quote] Mine's similar, but I managed to stand on my tuner pedal whilst dancing around onstage. Instant silence! My other classic is getting a bit tangled up in my lead resulting in that embarrassing stumble/stagger sideways whilst trying to maintain some semblance of cool. Never good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbytodd Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 I once plugged my bass into the tuner jack rather than the input only done it once but the others in the band took the p155 for a while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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