willgatesbass Posted March 9, 2018 Share Posted March 9, 2018 (edited) I'm fairly new to the instrument and definitely new to all the gear that comes along with it. I have to keep the noise down when I practice so I generally use my Vox Amplug, which is great. I recently started putting a pedal board together and decided it best to figure out sounds with my amp (GK MB800) as this is what I will be using live. I have a 2x12 neo cab but can't use it in the house so I have been using the headphone output on the back of the head for the last couple of nights. I was half an hour in to testing a new compressor pedal this evening when the volume dropped substantially and the sound became distorted and crackly. I took my new pedals out of the equation and went straight into the amp - same problem. I then took the bass out of the equation by testing it on the amplug - no problems there. It seems that the amp has developed a fault. I remember once reading that an amp must be plugged into a cab to work. I'm now worried that using my GK head as a headphone amp without a cab connected may have damaged it. Maybe it's just blown by coincidence. Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Edited March 19, 2018 by willgatesbass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gottastopbuyinggear Posted March 9, 2018 Share Posted March 9, 2018 It’s only valve amps that must have a speaker connected - you haven’t damaged it by using it without one. Did you buy the amp new or secondhand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willgatesbass Posted March 9, 2018 Author Share Posted March 9, 2018 2 hours ago, Gottastopbuyinggear said: It’s only valve amps that must have a speaker connected - you haven’t damaged it by using it without one. Did you buy the amp new or secondhand? That's a relief. I bought it secondhand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gottastopbuyinggear Posted March 9, 2018 Share Posted March 9, 2018 I guess the next step is to try it hooked up to a speaker to see whether it's something affecting the preamp, or just something affecting the headphone amp - the latter would be a pain but at least the amp would be usable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted March 9, 2018 Share Posted March 9, 2018 (edited) 14 hours ago, willgatesbass said: I'm fairly new to the instrument and definitely new to all the gear that comes along with it. I have to keep the noise down when I practice so I generally use my Vox Amplug, which is great. I recently started putting a pedal board together and decided it best to figure out sounds with my amp (GK MB800) as this is what I will be using live. I have a 2x12 neo cab but can't use it in the house so I have been using the headphone output on the back of the head for the last couple of nights. I was half an hour in to testing a new compressor pedal this evening when the volume dropped substantially and the sound became distorted and crackly. I took my new pedals out of the equation and went straight into the amp - same problem. I then took the bass out of the equation by testing it on the amplug - no problems there. It seems that the amp has developed a fault. I remember once reading that an amp must be plugged into a cab to work. I'm now worried that using my GK head as a headphone amp without a cab connected may have damaged it. Maybe it's just blown by coincidence. Any thoughts would be much appreciated! I may be reading this wrong, and im probably stating the obvious, but did you use a different lead? for what its worth i have the same head and it works fine without a cab, but on more than one occasion ive got to a gig and turned the head on, only to be greeted with silence. After a while it comes to life (even though the warning light never came on). Did you see any warning light (around the power button i believe) come on? Edited March 9, 2018 by dave_bass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willgatesbass Posted March 9, 2018 Author Share Posted March 9, 2018 11 hours ago, Gottastopbuyinggear said: I guess the next step is to try it hooked up to a speaker to see whether it's something affecting the preamp, or just something affecting the headphone amp - the latter would be a pain but at least the amp would be usable. Good shout. I'll hook the cab up in more sociable hours and see if I'm having the same problem. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willgatesbass Posted March 10, 2018 Author Share Posted March 10, 2018 On 09/03/2018 at 15:16, dave_bass5 said: I may be reading this wrong, and im probably stating the obvious, but did you use a different lead? for what its worth i have the same head and it works fine without a cab, but on more than one occasion ive got to a gig and turned the head on, only to be greeted with silence. After a while it comes to life (even though the warning light never came on). Did you see any warning light (around the power button i believe) come on? I tried a different lead. Didnt see a warning light. Good to know that you and others use these heads without a cab connected. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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