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Topic: distortion |
John Roche
From:
England
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Posted 13 Jan 2011 9:05 am |
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| After playing the first set my sound was as good as it gets on my Peavey Special 130 amp, on the second my sound was gone and was getting bad distortion if I played a little louder , I can't work out if it's the amp or the speaker. any ideas as to finding the problem...??? |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 13 Jan 2011 12:19 pm
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It might just possibly be that the band was a lot louder the 2nd set, and pushed the volume to a point where the amp couldn't keep up. If it's a pub type gig, sometimes the alcohol can fuel more and more volume as the night goes on - the crowd gets louder, the band gets looser, it has been known to happen.
One effect that happens when trying to diagnose these kinds of problems is it's sometimes hard to replicate loud stage volumes at home - there's a tendency to say, "I couldn't have possibly been playing that loud." I sometimes have an amp sound fine at home, at the volume I imagine I'm playing at on the gig, but the gig was really louder than it seemed at the time and the amp just doesn't cut it at that volume.
But that's not necessarily it. It could be a bunch of other things.
First - did you crank up the Pre-Gain to get louder? If you want to maintain max clean volume, keep the Pre-Gain down and push up the Post-Gain. If your Post-Gain was cranked and you started cranking up the Pre-Gain, it can get ugly. So rule out that issue - max the Post-Gain and see where the Pre-Gain starts to distort.
If it's still distorting with the Post-Gain cranked and a lower Pre-Gain, see how hard you need to push the Pre-Gain to get it to distort with the current speaker.
Then plug it into a different speaker that you know can handle the power well and doesn't distort at a loud volume. See if you have any more headroom with the other speaker. If you do, it might be the stock speaker just doesn't cut it. What does it use - a Scorpion or a Black Widow, or something else?
There could also be a problem with the amp, or possibly a problem with the power at the gig venue. Nothing will destroy the sound of an amp more than problems with the mains voltage. I use a voltage regulator to deal with this - one time, I was playing an outdoor gig, and every time the bass player hit a strong note, my sound degenerated into mush. I pulled out my voltmeter - the voltage sagged every time he hit it hard - down towards 90 VAC, as compared to the typical 117-120 VAC here in the US. No more.
I have a Bandit 65 that I sometimes use - it's basically the same as the Special 130 with half the power. It's pretty loud and clean, but it doesn't have the clean juice of a real pedal steel amp. The Special 130 is twice the power, but nowhere near twice the volume. It may just not be enough to cut the gig. But not necessarily.
Just some ideas. Sometimes it's nontrivial tracking down this kind of thing. |
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John Roche
From:
England
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Posted 14 Jan 2011 5:23 am
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Thanks Dave, I will be taking it to Peavey in Corby in the UK for repair and have a Blue Marvel speaker fitted,
I live about 12 miles from Corby and have always be well looked after by Peavey... |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 15 Jan 2011 9:29 am
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| Try the amp with another speaker and the speaker with another amp, if there is a problem it will show up and you will know what to do... |
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John Roche
From:
England
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Posted 15 Jan 2011 10:00 am
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| Thanks Dave , the amp is with Peavey now, they are going to fit a Blue Marvel Speaker and overhaul the amp. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 15 Jan 2011 2:46 pm
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Dave,
I once played a long house gig at a Honky Tonk out in the sticks. My '56 Pro would sound great until about 11 o'clock, then sounded horrible. I measured the voltage at 8 pm, and it was a steady 120. After 11pm, 87 VAC! Don't know what was going on, but I got my Pro outa there, and just used my Lab for steel and Tele. The low voltage didn't seem to effect it as much. |
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Jim Mathis
From:
Overland Park, Kansas, USA
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Posted 20 Jan 2011 1:41 pm
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AC drop can be a real problem. If the air conditioners and a bunch of refrigerators all come on, as they can as the room gets busy, the line voltage can drop causing all sorts of problems.
_________________
Jim@MathisPhoto.net |
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