Thanks to drunk ADULT FEMALE, my Genz-Benz cab died in middle of gig last night.

D Bopp

D Bopp

Supporting Member
May 26, 2007
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Alpharetta, GA
#1
We were playing a popular song last night and a few YOUNG ADULT FEMALES got up on the side of the stage and were dancing. During the chorus, I waived one of them over to sing the backing vocals with me on my mic.

ADULT FEMALE comes over to sing, and ends up stepping on my pedals (Boss Bass EQ and TU-3 Tuner). In doing so, she pushed up all the EQ sliders to the max. As that happened, my amp volume cut out and I could smell something burning. Had to play the rest of the gig through straight DI.

I was playing my Mesa Subway head through a Genz-Benz Neo212 cab. I thought it was the head that was damaged. But today I tested the head on my other cab, and it is working perfectly. So I brought in the cab, and plugged it up. A very slight volume comes out of the tweeter, but no sound from the 12's.

So what do you think it could be? Is there a fuse inside the cab? I took off the back plate, but it only displayed the input jacks and tweeter dial. In order to get inside the cab I'll have to take off the grill, and remove the speakers. Before I do that I thought I'd ask you guys for any opinions.

Thank you!
 
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#2
D Bopp said:
We were playing a popular song last night and a few girls got up on the side of the stage and were dancing. During the chorus, I waived one of them over to sing the backing vocals with me on my mic.

Girl comes over to sing, and ends up stepping on my pedals (Boss Bass EQ and TU-3 Tuner). In doing so, she pushed up all the EQ sliders to the max. As that happened, my amp volume cut out and I could smell something burning. Had to play the rest of the gig through straight DI.

I was playing my Mesa Subway head through a Genz-Benz Neo212 cab. I thought it was the head that was damaged. But today I tested the head on my other cab, and it is working perfectly. So I brought in the cab, and plugged it up. A very slight volume comes out of the tweeter, but no sound from the 12's.

So what do you think it could be? Is there a fuse inside the cab? I took off the back plate, but it only displayed the input jacks and tweeter dial. In order to get inside the cab I'll have to take off the grill, and remove the speakers. Before I do that I thought I'd ask you guys for any opinions.

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Bummer, not sounding good for the home team... unfortunately your cabinet is good for ~600 watts RMS but under the conditions you describe your amp is capable of delivering over 1000 watts RMS. The amp cut out in it's attempt to protect itself and the speakers attached but the difference in power between the amp and speaker was simply too great. This is my best guess, based on having designed both your amp and your speaker.

I do have a pair of replacement drivers for your cabinet, you can PM me if interested.
 
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#6
agedhorse said:
Bummer, not sounding good for the home team... unfortunately your cabinet is good for ~600 watts RMS but under the conditions you describe your amp is capable of delivering over 1000 watts RMS. The amp cut out in it's attempt to protect itself and the speakers attached but the difference in power between the amp and speaker was simply too great. This is my best guess, based on having designed both your amp and your speaker.

I do have a pair of replacement drivers for your cabinet, you can PM me if interested.
Click to expand...


Thank you. When you say amp, are you referring to the head? I'm looking at the speakers, and can't see any tears. Would the speakers just stop working electronically, thus becoming useless?
 
#8
Insurance? Chances are there's video evidence somewhere (seems like in any crowd at least one person is rolling at any given time) that should support a legitimate claim to the venue's company that a patron is responsible for your damaged gear. Just a thought. Maybe inviting her to participate waived your right to a claim.... I dunno bur it's worth a look.
 
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#11
basscooker said:
Insurance? Chances are there's video evidence somewhere (seems like in any crowd at least one person is rolling at any given time) that should support a legitimate claim to the venue's company that a patron is responsible for your damaged gear. Just a thought. Maybe inviting her to participate waived your right to a claim.... I dunno bur it's worth a look.
Click to expand...

I really put the blame on myself. Non-musicians (and even some musicians) have no concept of gear on the floor. Don't know what pedals are or what they do. I don't really blame her for stepping on them, as that has happened more times than I can count in the past. But before, I used to only use the tuner. I just recently put down the EQ pedal next to it to dial in a little extra mid-range. The volume boost is crazy how much louder it can get than by just the head alone. I should've thought about that.
 
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#14
D Bopp said:
Thank you. When you say amp, are you referring to the head? I'm looking at the speakers, and can't see any tears. Would the speakers just stop working electronically, thus becoming useless?
Click to expand...

Sounds like you've probably melted the voice coil, so to answer your question, yes.
The correct answer to @agedhorse in this case is "Thanks Andy, I'll PM you right back."

YMMV, but believe me it shouldn't...
 
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#16
Spectrum said:
What's that have to do with his amp problem?
Click to expand...

Maybe a woman would have seen the pedalboard & not trampled on it, but alcohol was involved.
Wait, why was alcohol being served to a girl?


D Bopp said:
younger than me, but old enough to be in a bar drinking alcohol
Click to expand...

Ah, so it was a woman!
Lesson learned, block all oncomers from trampling your gear.

Hope you can get some drivers w/o breaking the bank.
 
#17
D Bopp said:
Thank you. When you say amp, are you referring to the head? I'm looking at the speakers, and can't see any tears. Would the speakers just stop working electronically, thus becoming useless?
Click to expand...
Yes, the damage would be internally to the speaker itself. Not visible.
 
#18
Killed_by_Death said:
Maybe a woman would have seen the pedalboard & not trampled on it, but alcohol was involved.
Wait, why was alcohol being served to a girl?




Ah, so it was a woman!
Lesson learned, block all oncomers from trampling your gear.

Hope you can get some drivers w/o breaking the bank.
Click to expand...


Ahh, I see what you did there. Ok, I've changed the title of the thread. Is that better?
 
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#19
D Bopp said:
I really put the blame on myself. Non-musicians (and even some musicians) have no concept of gear on the floor. Don't know what pedals are or what they do. I don't really blame her for stepping on them, as that has happened more times than I can count in the past. But before, I used to only use the tuner. I just recently put down the EQ pedal next to it to dial in a little extra mid-range. The volume boost is crazy how much louder it can get than by just the head alone. I should've thought about that.
Click to expand...

Killed_by_Death said:
Maybe a woman would have seen the pedalboard & not trampled on it, but alcohol was involved.
Wait, why was alcohol being served to a girl?




Ah, so it was a woman!
Lesson learned, block all oncomers from trampling your gear.

Hope you can get some drivers w/o breaking the bank.
Click to expand...

I have to say that it's true about pedals sometimes just get stepped on. I used to play with a guitarist who (sober. AA member) would constantly step on his own pedals by accident. So, yeah, I guess blaming the ...LADY..... 100% might be unfair.

But hey, you have a great resource in Mr. Field here on TB. You'll be up and running in no time.
 
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