Amp speakersI

Stephen Goode · Post by **Stephen Goode** » 23 Jan 2022 5:46 pm

I just bought a new amp a little while back and I just heard that new speakers had to be broke inn. If so, how is it done other than just playing through it?

Larry Dering · Post by **Larry Dering** » 23 Jan 2022 6:33 pm

That's exactly how it's done. I have read some people plug a radio or mp3 player in and let it play for hours at moderate volume. I can't verify the results but it seems logical. I play through it as much as possible as I would with a live band. Does it sound good to you now? If so, forget about the breaking in and let it happen naturally.

Allan Revich · Post by **Allan Revich** » 23 Jan 2022 10:37 pm

Larry Dering wrote:That's exactly how it's done. I have read some people plug a radio or mp3 player in and let it play for hours at moderate volume. I can't verify the results but it seems logical. I play through it as much as possible as I would with a live band. Does it sound good to you now? If so, forget about the breaking in and let it happen naturally.

Yup. There are plenty of “cork sniffers” who insist that tubes must be burned in, and speakers must be broken in. Some go to great lengths to accomplish this.

Larry is right though. If you like the way it sounds, play it, enjoy it, it will get broken in eventually—just like we do.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 24 Jan 2022 6:48 am

Much of what we hear about speakers comes from the audiophile world, where splitting hairs is a way of life. But that stuff (and all it's related and exacting statistics) has little or no relevance in our low-fi, nuts and bolts, application. I suppose you could buy a 12v or 18v filament transformer, and hook that up to your speaker for a couple of days, but it's really not worth the trouble.

The only difference between new speakers and "broken-in" speakers is the tone; the sound will be very slightly different. So what? We've got tone controls, set them where you get a decent sound and go on playing.

Stephen Goode · Post by **Stephen Goode** » 24 Jan 2022 10:19 am

Thanks everyone for the input, I'll just keep on plucking away and see what happens. I just wish I could get a little more Bass out of my amp (with the Bass turned all the way up and the mid and treble turned all the way down) with 2- 12in. speakers.

Michael Butler · Post by **Michael Butler** » 24 Jan 2022 10:30 am

i've heard of some people who connect their phone's headphone out via 1/8" stereo to connect to their speaker. might work for you when you are not playing.

play music!

J Fletcher · Post by **J Fletcher** » 24 Jan 2022 10:32 am

Which amp did you buy ?

Thomas Stone · Post by **Thomas Stone** » 24 Jan 2022 10:48 am

If "breaking in" means loosening up the surround and spider, as I believe it does, then you really want to get the cone moving, and the way to do that is with bass notes. What I have done is record a walking bass line on electric bass into a digital recorder, set it on endless loop, plugged it into the amp, put the amp in a closet and let it go for as many hours as you desire.

Stephen Goode · Post by **Stephen Goode** » 24 Jan 2022 11:41 am

I have a line 6 modeling amp and it does have a drum loop on it and I thought about letting it hammer away for a few hours and see what that does. The only problem with that is keeping my wife from hammering on my head while the amp does its thing.

Larry Dering · Post by **Larry Dering** » 24 Jan 2022 1:24 pm

Just hire one of those metal head wankers from YouTube and they will have it broken before you know it. Notice I said broken

. What amp are we talking about? Try using a eq pedal in front or best results if it has an effects loop.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 24 Jan 2022 4:49 pm

Stephen Goode wrote:I have a line 6 modeling amp and it does have a drum loop on it and I thought about letting it hammer away for a few hours and see what that does. The only problem with that is keeping my wife from hammering on my head while the amp does its thing.

Even with a broken-in speaker, you're not going to notice much improvement in the bass. And with amps below 40-50 watts, you aren't going to have a lot of bass. Especially with Line 6 amps, which have very poor tone networks.

Good bass takes lotsa wattsa.

Stephen Goode · Post by **Stephen Goode** » 25 Jan 2022 5:52 pm

Actually I have 240 watts with built in EQ, and I'm kind of satisfied with the lower strings, I'ts the top G#,E, and B strings that sound really tinny.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 25 Jan 2022 7:23 pm

It's the top G#,E, and B strings that sound really tinny.

If you don't have a bright switch you can turn off, try using longer cords between the the guitar and the pedal, and the pedal and the amp. Longer cords will add a small amount of capacitance, which will reduce some of the higher frequencies.

David Nugent · Post by **David Nugent** » 26 Jan 2022 5:49 am

You might try using an acoustic setting if one is available on the amp. Also, most modeling amps come equipped with low grade speakers, replacing it with a different model (such as a bass speaker) may help to tame the high-end frequencies.

Stephen Goode · Post by **Stephen Goode** » 26 Jan 2022 9:11 am

OK, the only thing is that i'm not sure what an acoustic setting is. This amp has a Compression and drive setting, a bass and distortion setting, a midrange and delay setting, a modulation and treble setting, and a reverb setting. I've tried all different combinations with the same results. As far as cords are concerned I already have two 10ft. cords plugged in, one to my vol. pedal and one from the pedal to the amp.