NJE Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I have not long taken delivery of a Lakland 55-02 (Great bass but thats another topic) and the last two nights I have been giving it a run through my Aguilar Tonehammer 350 which lives at the bands rehearsal space. Last night I was not getting the normal volume out of the Aguilar which seemed odd as I was using an active bass and had the gain and master volume higher than usual. I had the -10dB pad engaged as its an active bass and that is what we are told you should do. As I had low volume I decided to roll back the gain and and put the 10dB back in to see what happened, and I got all of my volume back and no clipping of the amp. I turned the gain up and boosted the EQ on the bass and I was still nowhere near to clipping the amp even with some more volume. I can clip my amp with my passive J normally so I am a bit confused. The first thing I should say is that the bass was working in active mode but I have no idea how old it is and I didnt have another battery to see if that was the issue. I thought when the battery was no good the EQ just went, but do that fade out before going completely? could this be the reason for the low volume? If its not the battery, is there any harm in running my amp with and active bass without the -10dB in as long as the amp isn't clipping, or will I be causing some damage internally but running the amp too hot? I will try another battery when I get back to my amp next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I don`t think there will be an issue as Aguilar say there`s no problem with the clipping light showing anyway, but to make sure, why not e-mail them direct? Their contact details are on their website and they are very quick to respond with helpful advice - I`ve had great customer service from Aguilar when contacting them direct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Is there a trim pot on the inside of the bass that is set very low? Looking at the block diagramme there is an input gain pot. May be worth having a tweak of that. https://www.lakland.com/tech-docs/LH-3%20Wiring%20Diagram%204-07.pdf If possible, I like to set my active level about the same as passive so there isn't a big change in settings if you have to switch over mid-set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJE Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 [quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1455883310' post='2983245'] Is there a trim pot on the inside of the bass that is set very low? Looking at the block diagramme there is an input gain pot. May be worth having a tweak of that. [url="https://www.lakland.com/tech-docs/LH-3%20Wiring%20Diagram%204-07.pdf"]https://www.lakland....gram%204-07.pdf[/url] If possible, I like to set my active level about the same as passive so there isn't a big change in settings if you have to switch over mid-set. [/quote] That is brilliant, I had a completely different PDF with the mid range settings but it didn't have anything about the gain. I think that may be what is going on here, the passive pull pot doesn't give me a huge drop in sound so perhaps the previous owner had it set up how you mentioned. I will do some fiddling tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Glad to be of help. I hope this does turn out to be the issue. I've never really got the need for active basses to have such hot outputs, unless you're trying to drive the front end of an old valve amp into distortion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJE Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 [size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Well fair play to Aguilar, I got a really quick response from them about the -10dB pad and clipping etc, really impressed! here is their reply:[/font][/size] [color=#000000][font=Helvetica][size=3]"In regards to your Tone Hammer 350, you can absolutely plug an active bass into this amp without the -10 dB pad switch engaged. This will not do "unforeseen" damage to the amp. [/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=Helvetica][size=3]If the clip light ever comes on, rest assured that this does not indicate a problem. The clip light is simply a visual indication that the wave form is clipped or squared off, which is telling you that the amp is being driven into distortion. You would most likely hear that and could adjust your Gain setting accordingly - to most people it is desirable as it creates warm overtones and makes the amp sound slightly "driven". Clipping will not damage the amp or your speakers. It will not cause a shutdown or any kind overheating."[/size][/font][/color] [font="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"]So there we have it, no need to use the -10db pad and no need to worry about clipping really, although I like a nice clean sound so I wouldn't clip the amp. Super pleased that I won't do any damage so I can no use the amp worry free.[/font] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Not all active basses are louder than all passive basses. Think of the switch as a loud/quiet rather than active/passive bass switch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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