Gain issues

[Rhythmbug]

I've got an ongoing problem with distortion from my Ray 5, particuarly with the B string or E string.

If I pump up my Bass control on the preamp anything past neutral, it is very noticable. In neutral I can clearly hear it distorting when I strike hard on E & B strings. Yuck.
Note - i have a basslines pickup but had this problem prior to changing over

Turning right down the Gain on my amp - Trace Elliot AH600SMX - doesnt seem to help a great deal, just make everything alot quieter (obviously) and the master volume has to be right up high to get decent volume out of it.

Does my pickup height have anything to do with it, I have already lowered it which seemed to help somewhat (?)

Do anyone else experience this problem or able to explain what is happening.
Sorry for the noobness of this subject

Cheers

 

[Aussie Mark]

Sounds like pickup height to me

 

[bassmonkeee]

How old is the battery? That's the first thing that comes to mind...

 

[JB1]

+1 - sounds like your pre-amp is running low on juice

 

[Mobay45]

I thought this was a diet thread. My mistake.

 

[Rhythmbug]

^ haha


ok its definately not the battery.

I further adjusted the pickup height which did help, but still the distortion was noticeable, but not as bad. ....my pickup was nearly flush with the pickguard....which seems a bit stupid / unnecessary


to make matters worse, after numerous fiddlings with the settings on my amp, I switched it off then back on....it makes a clicking sound and suddenly the power goes out. And wont switch back on. Could this be a fuse? I got to get it repaired now....
I'm wondering if my bass output / distortion issue has any connection with the amp problem?

Not a happy camper

 

[MingusBASS]

If you can, try your bass out on another amp...it very well could be your amp that was causing all the trouble.

Andrew

 

[oddjob]

I had gain issues as well... I just had to switch to an input that had a 10db pad and all was well with the world. The other thing you can try is reduce the initial gain and pump up the output volume to compensate.

 

[tkarter]

Softer touch comes to mind to me. If that makes it go muddy then keep crankin the knobs on the amp. I don't know the Trace amp but my Laney is touchy and almost makes me think something is wrong if I don't eq it right. When it is right though nothing but sweetness. The EB bass just rocks.


tk

 

[bovinehost]

Okay, I try to stay away from these things, but check the easy stuff first.

1. Different amp.
2. Different cables.

THEN get back to me.

 

[The Rodg]

My Bongo5HHP has such a strong signal to begin with (even with the pickups adjusted to factory specs) that it lights up my clip light even when ran flat. Luckily my GK1001RBII has a -14db pad which solves the first problem I had with distortion. The second problem I had was of course THE BATTERIES
Once I changed them I was back to Bongo Heaven!!!!!

Anyways, you may be sending too strong a signal FROM your bass. If that is the case changing chords and amps may not help. But of course you could always test it by turning your volume down a little on your bass then cranking up the amp.

I tell you what, my Bongo gets down right dangerous sometimes (especially on the low knob adjustment). I have to keep that thing under tight control or it will fry a voice coil in a heartbeat........

 

[Rhythmbug]

Thanks for the responses fellas.

I already tried a different cable but to no avail.
The busted amp is out of action for a few weeks now due to the repairers lead time.
My setting on the amp was utilising alot of EQing & boost, but the low end was still clipping / distorting / couldnt handle aggressive playing on E & B strings.

The EQ setting on the Ray was
Treble - 3/4
Mid - Full
Bass - Neutral
....the bass control is the only one that affects the distortion.
In Neutral it is "ok" unless playing aggressively. But a neutral setting does not provide enough low HZ output even with amp EQing, I'm sure you guys know!
A higher bass setting than neutral and it will distort straight away, and then playing the B,E,A & D strings induces the clipping LED to illuminate red.
my B string is very quiet/muddy/yuck & practically useless (with this current setup at least) except for the most subtle applications.

The repairer's guess was one/several of the mosfets has died and the distortion/clipping may have been a signal of that pending. Fingers crossed.

Going to scout around on saturday and try some different amps, hopefully an ampeg svt of some sort. The range of amps is pretty poor here though.

My SR will go on (Titanic style)


Cheers