Question:
Glad you didn’t come out last night Mark. First set, had the Mesa/Boogie stack all ready to rock, the first song starts and the bass is cutting in and out. It comes back in and stays in for the rest of the song then by the second song, it cuts out and stays out. Cure 1 – I replace the battery in my wireless – still cutting out. Cure 2 – I bypass the wireless altogether and go directly into the Korg tuner (next piece in the rack) – still cutting out. The guys are starting to get annoyed. Cure 3 – I bypass the wireless, the tuner, then plug directly into the POD Pro – this time I get thru about 2 songs and it starts cutting out again. Could it be a tube in my Mesa/Boogie 400+? Jury’s still out on that one. Cure 4 – I dash straight out of the club and go home, run inside the house, scaring my wife half to death, bust into my spare bedroom, grab the emergency stack (my SWR Workingman’s 1×15 combo and SWR Workingman’s 2×10 extension cabinet) kiss her running, bitching up a storm, toss it into my truck and floor it back to the gig – total time from departure to arrival = about 7 minutes (I live close to the club, otherwise I’d have had my backup rig in the truck anyway). I proceed to set up the "emergency stack" with my 3-pedal box (Boss chorus, limiter, and eq) – about 10 more minutes, pluck a string, it works! I’m sweating my ass off from the pressure and the physical exertion of literally, *running* with heavy objects. The guys come rushing up to the stage, ready to go. I’m standing on the floor with two bass stacks taking up the spot of the stage behind me where I was standing. The first song of set 2, can’t hear the bass. It’s there, but some serious tweaking needs to be done. I’m doing the fretting-with-left-hand-tweaking-knobs-with-right-hand thing. Guitarist and drummer are bitching the whole time (professionally, in a way the casual audience cannot tell) about this frequency and that frequency, etc. Finally, by about the 4th song – I’ve got the killer tone from hell going, the band’s smiling from ear to ear again, the show goes on. I’m feeling like the NFL quarterback who just threw an interception that’s run in for a touchdown… trying to shake it off and get my head back into the game. I make it through set 2, and on the break, everyone’s telling me how well I pulled it off and the SWR kit sounds great, etc, etc. Band high-fiving me, etc., etc. In the back of my mind, I’m still kind of freaking because I’ve *never* had to use a backup rig in literally hundreds and hundreds of gigs. Set 3 (last set) – I’ve got the tone happening, it’s sounding great, I’m finally relaxed and playing well again. The whole band is smiling again (genuinely, as opposed to the ‘professional smiles’ where they are saying "is your shit working" while smiling if you’ve ever been there). End of night, back sore from lugging both stacks around, I take stack number 1 – the Mesa/Boogie, put it into the trailer, still wondering what the prob is. Today, I’ve got the SWR rig sitting on the stage, sounding good in the last set, last night, so I’m ready to rock tonight (this was a Fri & Sat gig, btw). Just in case you want to come out and jam, Mark (hint, hint). </end long story> Question for you techie bassists: What would cause the amp to cut in and out like that? I never bypassed the pre-amp (POD Pro) to go directly into the M/B 400+, but it seemed pretty warm in the back of the rack as I was swapping things around. Is there some setting on the POD Pro that could have been moved or whatever to cause this, or is this what would happen if the 400+ had a tube or two going bad? TIA for your 2 cents. The Closest Thing I’ve Got To An Official Web Site: http://www.noteworthymusic.net/otf.htm ** Change ".nospam" to ".com" to send an email 
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Response:
Karl…..when my Demeter blew on a gig a few weeks back…it took me out of the game for awile! It only took a minute to get going again because of the Sansamp in my pedalboard…..but it still took me a awhile to "feel" it:-) I had a bad gig hangover the next day:-) Aloha, Jerry
Response:
Dontcha just love the Sansamp! I have mine around for just such emergencies! Mahalo, e
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Karl…..when my Demeter blew on a gig a few weeks back…it took me out of the > game for awile! It only took a minute to get going again because of the > Sansamp in my pedalboard…..but it still took me a awhile to "feel" it:-) I > had a bad gig hangover the next day:-) > Aloha, Jerry
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >Dontcha just love the Sansamp! I have mine around for just such >emergencies! >Mahalo, >e > Karl…..when my Demeter blew on a gig a few weeks back…it took me out >of the > game for awile! It only took a minute to get going again because of the > Sansamp in my pedalboard…..but it still took me a awhile to "feel" it:-) >I > had a bad gig hangover the next day:-) > Aloha, Jerry
I guess I’m going to have to learn a lot more about the Sansamp. I take it you can use one in an emergency situation like this, but what do you do – just plug it somehow into one of your cabinets? I’m confused (as usual) <g> The Closest Thing I’ve Got To An Official Web Site: http://www.noteworthymusic.net/otf.htm ** Change ".nospam" to ".com" to send an email **
Response:
wow, sorry I missed all that! Maybe I could have helped a little… not sure if I can get down there tonight or not, I’ll sure try! Hope it’s smoother sailing for ya! m
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Glad you didn’t come out last night Mark. First set, had the > Mesa/Boogie stack all ready to rock, the first song starts and the > bass is cutting in and out. It comes back in and stays in for the > rest of the song then by the second song, it cuts out and stays out. > Cure 1 – I replace the battery in my wireless – still cutting out. > Cure 2 – I bypass the wireless altogether and go directly into the > Korg tuner (next piece in the rack) – still cutting out. The guys are > starting to get annoyed. > Cure 3 – I bypass the wireless, the tuner, then plug directly into the > POD Pro – this time I get thru about 2 songs and it starts cutting out > again. Could it be a tube in my Mesa/Boogie 400+? Jury’s still out > on that one. > Cure 4 – I dash straight out of the club and go home, run inside the > house, scaring my wife half to death, bust into my spare bedroom, grab > the emergency stack (my SWR Workingman’s 1×15 combo and SWR > Workingman’s 2×10 extension cabinet) kiss her running, bitching up a > storm, toss it into my truck and floor it back to the gig – total time > from departure to arrival = about 7 minutes (I live close to the club, > otherwise I’d have had my backup rig in the truck anyway). > I proceed to set up the "emergency stack" with my 3-pedal box (Boss > chorus, limiter, and eq) – about 10 more minutes, pluck a string, it > works! I’m sweating my ass off from the pressure and the physical > exertion of literally, *running* with heavy objects. The guys come > rushing up to the stage, ready to go. I’m standing on the floor with > two bass stacks taking up the spot of the stage behind me where I was > standing. > The first song of set 2, can’t hear the bass. It’s there, but some > serious tweaking needs to be done. I’m doing the > fretting-with-left-hand-tweaking-knobs-with-right-hand thing. > Guitarist and drummer are bitching the whole time (professionally, in > a way the casual audience cannot tell) about this frequency and that > frequency, etc. > Finally, by about the 4th song – I’ve got the killer tone from hell > going, the band’s smiling from ear to ear again, the show goes on. > I’m feeling like the NFL quarterback who just threw an interception > that’s run in for a touchdown… trying to shake it off and get my > head back into the game. > I make it through set 2, and on the break, everyone’s telling me how > well I pulled it off and the SWR kit sounds great, etc, etc. Band > high-fiving me, etc., etc. In the back of my mind, I’m still kind of > freaking because I’ve *never* had to use a backup rig in literally > hundreds and hundreds of gigs. > Set 3 (last set) – I’ve got the tone happening, it’s sounding great, > I’m finally relaxed and playing well again. The whole band is smiling > again (genuinely, as opposed to the ‘professional smiles’ where they > are saying "is your shit working" while smiling if you’ve ever been > there). > End of night, back sore from lugging both stacks around, I take stack > number 1 – the Mesa/Boogie, put it into the trailer, still wondering > what the prob is. > Today, I’ve got the SWR rig sitting on the stage, sounding good in the > last set, last night, so I’m ready to rock tonight (this was a Fri & > Sat gig, btw). Just in case you want to come out and jam, Mark (hint, > hint). > </end long story> > Question for you techie bassists: What would cause the amp to cut in > and out like that? I never bypassed the pre-amp (POD Pro) to go > directly into the M/B 400+, but it seemed pretty warm in the back of > the rack as I was swapping things around. > Is there some setting on the POD Pro that could have been moved or > whatever to cause this, or is this what would happen if the 400+ had a > tube or two going bad? TIA for your 2 cents. > The Closest Thing I’ve Got To An Official Web Site: > http://www.noteworthymusic.net/otf.htm > ** Change ".nospam" to ".com" to send an email **
Response:
Me too. :^) — Bud LeCompte
> wow, sorry I missed all that!
<snip> – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> m
Response:
I just plugged the Sansamp into my QSC and away we went….I was just bummed, because the Demeter was only a month old and I thought it would be last thing I though I would blow:-( When we do gigs on the other side of the island, I keep one of those C note small 6 channel Behringer mixers in my gig bag for backup for everybody. Aloha, Jerry
Response:
Into the PA. — Bud LeCompte
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I guess I’m going to have to learn a lot more about the Sansamp. I > take it you can use one in an emergency situation like this, but what > do you do – just plug it somehow into one of your cabinets? I’m > confused (as usual) <g> > The Closest Thing I’ve Got To An Official Web Site: > http://www.noteworthymusic.net/otf.htm > ** Change ".nospam" to ".com" to send an email **
Response:
Doh! That sucks–I hate gear-related panics. They’ll drive ya nuts! > Question for you techie bassists: What would cause the amp to cut in > and out like that? I never bypassed the pre-amp (POD Pro) to go > directly into the M/B 400+, but it seemed pretty warm in the back of > the rack as I was swapping things around.
Most likely it was activating its thermal shut down. Many amps include thermistor devices that cut off the amplifier when things either actually get too hot or the thermistor just thinks its too hot. I experienced this once with my Fender BXR300C when I unwittingly fed it a 2.667ohm load. > Is there some setting on the POD Pro that could have been moved or > whatever to cause this, or is this what would happen if the 400+ had > a tube or two going bad? TIA for your 2 cents.
Certainly possible–though I’m not familiar with all of tubes’ several failure modes. It could be any number of things. Was the air flow unrestricted? Was the fan operating? SHort of those obvious things, you may hve a component going bad. I maintain that any tube-powered bass amplifier must be accompanied by a full complement of replacement tubes when used for any gig. Personally, I avoid tubes for bass in a show situation. — Todd H. http://www.toddh.net/
Response:
><snip – gig story from hell>
Thanks to all for the responses. What a great group of people! The Closest Thing I’ve Got To An Official Web Site: http://www.noteworthymusic.net/otf.htm ** Change ".nospam" to ".com" to send an email **
Response:
I had similar drama about 2 mos ago…. I was on a gig and, for some reason, my POD pro started cutting in and out… Luckily, I always have a spare DI of some flavor in my bag. I hooked up and was good to go (Well, minus my stage volume, but it was pretty minimal on this gig anyway). I haven’t really been able to fully trust the POD pro since then. Luckily, I got my SM-400s the week before, so there was no drama after that. _ _ _ / o | o / / / Ted Partin http://members.aol.com/dblbassted
Response:
>Is there some setting on the POD Pro that could have been moved or >whatever to cause this, or is this what would happen if the 400+ had a >tube or two going bad? TIA for your 2 cents.
Agree the heat seems like a thermal symptom, but also you should realize you may actually have more than one problem here. Low voltage can make digital electronics do some bizarre stuff, and I’d suspect this. It can also make amps run excessively hot, and that might trip the thermal protection in something also. Do you really really really really really really think the PodPro is as road-worthy the other stuff in your rig ? Mesa, SWR, etc has a stellar road reputation. I’m not knocking your gear, which sounds very nice indeed, but I’d be suspicious of the Pod Pro until it’s as "industry standard" as your other components are. That’s going to take a few years of road-dogging, IMHO. Check all those cables and connections REAL well. Input jacks are a weak point on LOTS of stuff, especially the ones with plastic components. Jacks need to be crisp and tight.
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