Blown speaker situation

[Huw Foster]

Right then, let's try to make this as short as possible. On Friday night I played a gig for my uni's end of year party, it was a great night, etc etc. My band had agreed to provide the backline (amps, drums) for the occasion, so brought along my LMII and my Aguilar 1x12. There was decent monitoring and PA support at the venue, so although my rig itself isn't particularly weighty, I thought it would do fine with these factors in mind.

The headlining act was a respected Leeds-based band, and to be fair they played a great set as usual. However, I noticed towards the end of their set that the 'clip' light on the amp was almost constantly illuminated. As we packed up afterwards, I was quite disturbed to find that both the gain and the master volume had been turned all the way up. I didn't get a chance to talk to the bassist, but despite my worries I thought it would most probably be OK.

Last night, which was the night following the gig, I was playing a function. In soundcheck I made sure everything was OK, and it seemed so then. However, we were barely into the second song of the set and the speaker on my cab suddenly died - it just fizzled out. Fortunately I had an XLR going into front of house, so I managed to keep going with a few monitoring adjustments. I daresay my night was ruined though - I was f***ing [i]livid[/i].

Honestly, I don't think I've ever been as angry as I was last night. I worked hard to get that rig, and I've barely had it for 2 months - I bought the cab brand new from Bass Merchant. I was simply baffled as to how the other bassist could be so disrespectful of somebody else's gear. I have reason to believe some of the band were very drunk, but regardless of that, [i]anyone[/i] should know that pushing the gain like that is big fat no-no, let alone an experienced player such as him. It's a massive shame too, as I previously had a lot of respect for him as a bassist.

I've calmed down a bit since then - i.e., I don't have quite an immediate urge to kill someone.

Anyway, I would firstly like to know if anyone else agrees that the two incidents are correlated. I can't think of any other reason, as the cab is new and I've looked after it well.

Secondly, does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get it fixed? I've been given a contact number for the band, and obviously I'm going to explain the situation to them. Hopefully they will understand and agree to cover any subsequent costs. If I were to send the cab back from the dealer, would it be covered by warranty? If not, what else could I do?

By the way, I have double-checked and triple-checked that it is indeed a problem with the main speaker. It just seems completely dead - the only audible sound is emitted by the tweeter.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions. I'm getting worked again just talking about it, as I've not had a chance to properly vent my anger over this since last night - it's not entirely appropriate to smash things up at a function, as much as I wanted to. Incidentally, if anyone can recommend any decent outlets of rage, please feel free to add them to your replies.

Yours indignantly,

Huw

[escholl]

That's harsh dude, i feel for you

Unfortunately while it might seem clear as to the cause of the problem, it may be a little difficult to actually make the other band pay for any damages -- as they will claim it didn't happen while they were using it.

Furthermore, it would be tough to prove that was even the cause of the problem, as they will likely claim that the power output of the head matches to the power handling of the cab. While i think it's likely the two incidents are related, you will have to hope that they are nice guys -- who knows, the bassist may redeem himself yet! He really should have known better though.


Speakers tend to fail [i]during[/i] heavy usage however, not [i]after[/i] heavy usage -- so you may want to have a look in the back of the cab and make sure everything else is alright inside.

[Huw Foster]

Yeah, the fact that it died a little while after said abuse does breed some uncertainty. However, I am still convinced it was the reason for the speaker failure, or whatever the eventual diagnosis turns out to be.

I am pretty sure they will understand the situation, and be reasonable. If the bassist does realise how much of a dick he was being, all the better!

[alexclaber]

First thing I'd do is speak to the band's bass player - he should have known that you risk breaking any rig if you turn all the gain controls up to the maximum. I would be very surprised if that speaker damage is covered under warranty, that kind of usage constitutes abuse in my opinion. Did you speak to this bassist and give him any guidance on what to do with the rig? The big problem you have is it didn't die whilst he was using it, so you're going to have to do some very hard bargaining to get any money out of him, but it's not a hopeless situation if you take the right tack.

What kind of music does this other band play? I know there is popular trend to use very lightweight small rigs it does require you to accept that in any rock band you're not going to be able to have big bottom - small cabs just can't do loud and low. What does he normally use? Did he make the fatal mistake of thinking that as this is a 500W head the rig will go just as loud as a 500W 4x10" rig?

On the positive side a replacement speaker shouldn't be too expensive, maybe about £75, or for a bit more you could upgrade to a 2512-II which I've heard very good things about as a drop in replacement for the GS112 (stronger mids, more power handling in the lows).

Once you have the broken speaker out, it should be possible to dismantle it and find out how it died.

Don't go in all guns blazing, but you need to ask him if he normally turns any bass amp up to full gain like that and did he consider that he'd be damaging it? It's probably an honest mistake due to ignorance but with such high power amps around ignorance gets expensive. Point out that you're now in a hole because you have no working rig and you can't afford to fix it immediately, maybe he and his bandmates could chip in towards some of the cost?

Alex

[GreeneKing]

Excellent post Alex

[Huw Foster]

The band perform soul/funk originals, and have been established for quite some time. I didn't want to patronise the bassist by explaining my rig to him, as I assumed that he would know how to use it. I can't remember what he normally uses, but I seem to recall seeing a moderately sized Fender rig on previous gigs. I find it hard to believe that he could plead ignorance though. As mentioned previously, he might have been drunk, but that's no excuse.

As for conversing with the band, I'm going to talk to another member who I understand also takes on the role of manager. I've been waiting a little while to do this so I can compose myself a little and think through how I'm going to explain the situation without coming across all accusatory. I've also met him on one previous occasion where he depped in the very band I played with on Friday, and he lectures at the college of music I attend, so I'm hoping he will be sympathetic - as you suggested I won't really be able to afford replacing the speaker, being that I am a poor student (although, come Monday I'll just be a poor freelance musician).

Ironically, I was considering splashing out on an extension cab in time for the gig... If I had, I expect I wouldn't have this problem!

Thanks for the informed response Alex.

[JTUK]

Sorry to hear this story..... but having been in that position before, I wouldn't do so again...unless I personally knew and trusted someone with my gear...and even then, I'd be wary and not keen.
I wouldn't even hire out my kit now.

Had too many speaker problems over the years to know that some people are just plain deaf or worse... stupid/ignorant etc etc ...

Put it down to experience ... and if you get a result out of the band then great... but this is a a lessoned learned in my book..

It appears you were very badly let-down... make that the last time...

I assume the band got paid...why couldn't they hire/use their own gear..? anyway, makes no difference, take note for next time round...