Weird Farting/Distortion in AMP

H

hogrt123

Jun 10, 2019
50
15
4,531
#1
Hey everyone!
I recently purchased a hartke 410xl and a lh500. I have to say, the tone on them is amazing! However, whenever I put it past around 4 on the volume, I get a weird distortion/farting. Especially when I pluck hardly. And if I am ever going to do any live stuff, I need to get it to around 6. I play a schecter stiletto stage 4 (which is active) and I am worried its "too hot" for the amp. I am playing with the EQ on the shecter flat as well. I also have pretty bad fret buzz (which may be exacerbating the distortion???) What do I do? What is causing this issue?
Thanks!
 
#3
How do you know that you need the volume around 6?

How do you know the eq is set flat?

I suggest you go wireless or get a long cord so you can hear how you sit in the mix. Adjust your eq so the mix sounds good. It's the only tone that really matters.

Tweaking your bedroom or reheasal tone and expecting it to work on a gig is a fool's errand.

If you're still getting boom and mud, add an HPF to your signal chain.:thumbsup:

Also, be sure to check the pickup height. Might be too close to the strings, especially the E string. Probably a full setup would help clarify what the source of the problem is.:thumbsup:
 
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#4
Nighttrain1127 said:
First get your bass setup to get rid of the fret Buzz then answer a few questions is your bass plugged into the active or passive input? second how is your EQ set? Do you have your bass volume all the way up? How old is the battery in your bass?
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I have the bass plugged into active. My eq is currently Bass 6.5 Mid 5 Treble 6.5. I do have my bass all the way up. And actually, I just got my battery replaced.
 
#9
Nighttrain1127 said:
Ok so not a dying battery and not a guitar cable being used as a speaker cable . so turn down the volume on the bass and see if the noise goes away. Just like a quarter of a turn should do it.
Click to expand...
That seemed to help a little bit. I still get bad distortion on lower notes and when I pluck hard. Especially on the E string. Is that a set up thing?
 
#14

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#16
If the action is causing buzz it might be too low, but that wouldn't necessarily have anything to do with if it's too close to the pickups. Looking at your picture, it might be close. Might not. Depends how you attack the string, and how hard. Tighten the screws on the pickups to lower them, or at least on the E-string side of it. See if that helps. And if you're getting fret buzz when you play unplugged, then get that fixed too. Plenty of set up tutorials on here, it's not too hard, and it's a great skill to have. Will save you in the long run, knowing how to set your own basses up to how you like them.

And lastly, does your amp have a gain as well as a volume knob? Try backing off the gain a little, and raising the volume to maintain the loudness you want.
 
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#17
tavesd said:
If the action is causing buzz it might be too low, but that wouldn't necessarily have anything to do with if it's too close to the pickups. Looking at your picture, it might be close. Might not. Depends how you attack the string, and how hard. Tighten the screws on the pickups to lower them, or at least on the E-string side of it. See if that helps. And if you're getting fret buzz when you play unplugged, then get that fixed too. Plenty of set up tutorials on here, it's not too hard, and it's a great skill to have. Will save you in the long run, knowing how to set your own basses up to how you like them.

And lastly, does your amp have a gain as well as a volume knob? Try backing off the gain a little, and raising the volume to maintain the loudness you want.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I plan to take it to our local tech. And there is no gain. However, it does have the old fender tone stack circuitry.
 
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#18
I just looked at a pic of that amp. It has a limiter button... I'm not certain how it works, but I imagine when you have it selected, it will light up when you drive the amp too hard. That should help you isolate the problem to if your input signal is too hot, or if it's a bass set up issue. Any noticeable difference in your described problem with the limiter on, or off?
 
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#19
tavesd said:
I just looked at a pic of that amp. It has a limiter button... I'm not certain how it works, but I imagine when you have it selected, it will light up when you drive the amp too hard. That should help you isolate the problem to if your input signal is too hot, or if it's a bass set up issue. Any noticeable difference in your described problem with the limiter on, or off?
Click to expand...
I do not believe the limiter will change lights when the signal is too hot. The limiter does help a tiny bit but is definitely not a replacement to a compression pedal.
 
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#20
hogrt123 said:
Hey everyone!
I recently purchased a hartke 410xl and a lh500. I have to say, the tone on them is amazing! However, whenever I put it past around 4 on the volume, I get a weird distortion/farting. Especially when I pluck hardly. And if I am ever going to do any live stuff, I need to get it to around 6. I play a schecter stiletto stage 4 (which is active) and I am worried its "too hot" for the amp. I am playing with the EQ on the shecter flat as well. I also have pretty bad fret buzz (which may be exacerbating the distortion???) What do I do? What is causing this issue?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

A setting of 6 on the volume control corresponds to a clockface settting of 1 O'Clock on the LH500. I am not familiar with this amp, but many amps are well beyond their clean power limits when the volume is turned up this high.

I could be wrong, but I suspect the rig is just at it limits when turned up to 4. I'll try to explain: The level of the volume control only tells you how much of the amp's potential gain you are using, not how much headroom you have left. The control on your amp goes from 0-10, but it's a mistake to assume that setting the control to 5 will give you half of the amp's potential volume. The level of the input signal must be considered as well. Turn down your bass's output and you can turn the amp up more before it distorts. Basically this entails reducing gain in your bass's preamp and making up for the difference in the amp, but the totally gain remains the same. Unfortunately this will not allow you to play louder and once the amp hit's it power limits it will begin to distort, regardless of where the volume control is set.

So I suspect your probably need either another speaker and/or a bigger amp. If you have an 8 ohm 410XL, the LH500 only makes 350W. The good news is you can add a second XL410 and the amp will make more power (500W at 4 ohms) and you will benefit from mutual coupling between the speakers. The mutual coupling will give you bump in efficiency in the low end and fill out the sound.

Good luck:thumbsup:
 
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