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Topic: Low Voltage Problem? |
Charlie Thompson
From:
South Carolina, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2016 8:15 am |
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Played a gig at a good sized venue last night and had a problem like I never had before.. . Towards the middle of the set every time I would step on the gas I would get a whole bunch of distortion. I'd back off and it would be fine . Then sometimes when turning up it was fine but when the band was loud there distortion remained when increasing volume for solos. I was running two amps and the problem was on both .
I bypassed everything I had (VP EFX) until steel straight into amp I hooked everything back up this morning and played for 45 minutes with no issues.
I'm wondering if this could be a low voltage problem at the venue. Anyone experienced this?
Last edited by Charlie Thompson on 24 Jan 2016 9:58 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 24 Jan 2016 9:01 am
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Sounds exactly like the problem.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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ajm
From:
Los Angeles
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Posted 24 Jan 2016 9:12 am
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You didn't say what kind of an amp, but it may not matter. There was a good chance that was what was going on.
I have a tube amp and my Strat started sounding REAL good one night when I was practicing.
About that time I also noticed that all of the lights in the house were dimmer, and the refrigerator was sounding different.
I measured the voltage coming out of the wall and it was 85 VAC. |
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Jamie Mitchell
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 24 Jan 2016 11:14 am
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| ajm wrote: |
You didn't say what kind of an amp, but it may not matter. There was a good chance that was what was going on.
I have a tube amp and my Strat started sounding REAL good one night when I was practicing.
About that time I also noticed that all of the lights in the house were dimmer, and the refrigerator was sounding different.
I measured the voltage coming out of the wall and it was 85 VAC. |
time to buy a variac!
get that sound, all the time...
j |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 24 Jan 2016 11:58 am
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I used to play an outdoor gig at a ranch in San Jose. They only ran one single outlet extension cord about 100 or more feet to the stage No telling what was on that circuit too. I played steel and keyboards at the time, with three keyboards, three rack mount synths, two amps. The guitar player had a Roland guitar synth. When we cranked up in portions of the song, the power would drop so low that our synths powered off, and everything else started distorting or powered off. In less than thirty seconds, the power would come up, and our synths would reboot, most of the time loading the first patch, usually not the one you needed. I got a Tripp-lite power conditioner/voltage stabilizer which helped in some venues, but the ranch would drop below the minimum voltage spec, and things would still drop out.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 24 Jan 2016 1:49 pm Re: Low Voltage Problem?
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| Charlie Thompson wrote: |
I'm wondering if this could be a low voltage problem at the venue. Anyone experienced this? |
Oh yes, may times. If the band is loud, the bass and PA system will suck most of the power. Try to find another outlet that nothing else is plugged into. |
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Ronald Sikes
From:
Corsicana, Tx
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Posted 24 Jan 2016 2:10 pm
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I use a Furman PL-8 C , Voltage regulator in my rack system. It's more than a power conditioner.
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Show Pro #26 & #83,BJS bars,Stereo Steel,Tommy Huff cabs loaded with JBL D130's, Wampler pedals,NV112,NV400, Steelers Choice Seats |
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Steve Schmidt
From:
Ramsey, MN, USA
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Charlie Thompson
From:
South Carolina, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2016 7:20 am
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Is there a strip style power conditioner that would prevent the problem I encountered
thanks |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 25 Jan 2016 8:49 am
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| Charlie Thompson wrote: |
Is there a strip style power conditioner that would prevent the problem I encountered
thanks |
I've never seen one, and I looked after my TrippLite died. I believe a transformer is still needed to increase the low voltage to 120, and to lower it if it goes above. I don' t know if modern electronic has been able to eliminate the transformer. That would be cool, but would probably still need to expensive.
If you play regularly in that kind of situation, a voltage stabilizer would be a worthy investment. I don't know what damage can be done to your amp, if any, in low voltage situations.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Tim Marcus
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 25 Jan 2016 9:12 am
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might have been an intermittent cable. Solderless cables tend to do that - not sure if you are using them or not.
Or maybe a dirty contact somewhere on a switch or pot on an effect pedal/unit
Tube amps are not really affected by low line voltage, unless its really really low.
_________________
Milkmansound.com |
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Charlie Thompson
From:
South Carolina, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2016 10:39 am
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If it was a bad cable wouldn't it be bad at all volumes? Tim - It was the twin MM amps I told you I would try. I bypassed everything and both amps had the problem.
Whats weird is I've played this venue many times with no issue. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2016 12:37 pm
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| I have a pretty high end Furman power strip/conditioner in my rack. When I turn on the switch, it checks the power and adjusts it within reason, either up or down. If the power is too much out of wack, it shuts down the rack. |
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Tim Marcus
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 26 Jan 2016 10:38 am
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not necessarily
if you have a cable that has just a few strands making contact - or shorting - they will react differently at different volumes. Same goes for a dirty switch contact or transistor somewhere in the line that is out of bias. You might only hear it fail when you push it.
I bring amps up on my test bench at 80VAC - just enough to get the 5AR4 to conduct. When I play out of them, they sound pretty much the same just not as loud. No way the venue had voltage that was under 80V unless you accidentally plugged into a lighting circuit with a dimmer. That would do it!
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Milkmansound.com |
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Charlie Thompson
From:
South Carolina, USA
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Posted 26 Jan 2016 11:13 am
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| Well I didn't plug into a light dimmer and I guess that rules out low voltage. I more logically suspected a cable and I know sometimes a pot will exhibit this ...Wish I could recreate it. |
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