laney r2 low fuzz?

[josh a]

My Laney R2 when above like volume full and gain 1 or above has a weird fuzz sort of like when you play and your drummer's snare fuzzes but not. Is it the amp or my bed or my other amps in the room fuzzing? I would try it elsewhere but neighbours would get annoyed at this time.

 

Also does anyone have any advice on any basic settings to try out as this is my first "proper" bass amp. I'm looking for a punky type sound (like a drag in d flat by saves the day). The settings is has are here

 

Thanks

[Fred TBP]

Originally posted by josh a:

My Laney R2 when above like volume full and gain 1 or above has a weird fuzz sort of like when you play and your drummer's snare fuzzes but not. Is it the amp or my bed or my other amps in the room fuzzing? I would try it elsewhere but neighbours would get annoyed at this time.

 

Also does anyone have any advice on any basic settings to try out as this is my first "proper" bass amp. I'm looking for a punky type sound (like a drag in d flat by saves the day). The settings is has are here

 

Thanks

I think I'd go a little higher on the gain and a little lower on volume. Right now it's like trying to floor the gas pedal on your car while the emergency brake is engaged and the car is in park - ain't gonna go nowhere that way. Try 5 and 5 and see what happens. The neighbors are gonna hate you no matter what volume you play at (some things never change) so you might want to sneak your amp into a school band room or college dorm and try it out there... or a music store (say you're interested in comparing amps and bring yours as an excuse to demonstrate the problem you're having, nod-nod, wink-wink, say no more... )

 

The other way to go is to add a distortion pedal or a preamp booster. Lots of those to choose from. Hang in there!

[josh a]

Ok thanks for the help I will try it tomorrow cuz it's 1.13 am now.

Also can someone explain the difference between gain and volume?

[davio]

Gain boosts the signal coming from your bass going through your preamp. It affects how your eq settings effect your tone and pretty much every knob on your amp relies on it. Most bass players prefer to keep their gain set as high as it can go without clipping (there's usually a clip light on the amp) although some players (myself included) try to make use of that overdriven sound that comes from clipping the preamp. I keep the gain at about 5 on my amp and the volume at about 7ish. The volume controls the actual amount of sound put out by the amp to the speakers.

[josh a]

yea gain at 5 and volume at 3 theres no fuzz. thanks for the help.

[The Geoff]

I set my R2 with gain at around 7, as beyond that mine starts to clip, and I turn the volume up or down to suit the room. I only use it as a practice amp, although I'm going to try it out at rehersals with my 15" speaker attached, and see if I can get some reasonable volume.

 

Generally you should keep the tone controls pretty flat (0) for bass, as boosting the bass response at high volume can cause the speaker to travel too far & rip (excursion).

 

I keep my bass, treble & presence about 0, and the parametric too, but sometimes I turn the parametric frequency up to 1K and turn the level down to -5, this produces a softer tone - nice for bedroom. I also sometimes turn the frequency full left(100Hz) and the level up full (+5). This is my preferred way of getting a bass boost, as it's not too severe on the speaker at low volumes.

 

I find with the R2 that any bass boost (ie going off 'flat') causes the speaker to fart out even at low volumes - if you've read my other comments you'll realise I'm not too impressed with the speaker. If it were replaced with a 12" Eminence Delta or Kappa, it'd make a big difference at high volumes. My Beyma would be ideal, but it has a wide flange & won't fit the tight box - pity.

 

The R2 is supposed to deliver 120W, and 180W with a correctly (at least 60W@8 Ohm) rated speaker plugged in, but I have my doubts about those figures. My old 200w Marshall 3520 has much more volume and headroom, but isn't rated too much more, and I play it through the same 15" Celestion with the 12" Beyma attached in place of the 12" Celestion.

 

I *do* like the R2 but have severe doubts about the 'Celestion' and the overall volume.

 

I hope your suits what you do better.

 

Geoff

 

G.

[josh a]

Well here's how I have it setup at the moment in my room:

gain=2

compresser on

enhance=3

bass=-5

enhance=200

level=0

treble=0

prescence=0

limiter defeat on

volume=5

horn off

 

The tone on my bass is on a little as well.

Is there any chance of breaking my amp in any way with these settings?

How can I get maximum volume without any change in the tone?

Also, could the Laney R2 handle a 5 string bass?

 

Thank you for any help.

[The Geoff]

Cutting your bass like that will diminish your volume badly. I understand the kind of tone you're looking for, but you'd be better to to put the bass at 0 and try boosting the upper frequences using the parametric controls. I can't tell you what they should be, you'll have to play around until you find something that works for you. You could also add some treble & presence without fear of damaging the speaker.

 

What do you mean 'the tone on my bass is on a bit as well'? Is it active or passive? If it's passive, you'd probably be better having the treble all the way up - it can only cut the treble, if it's passive.

 

If it's active you can boost the treble & bass, and sometimes the mids too. Again, be careful about boosting the bass at high volumes.

 

I live near Leicester. Are you anywhere near me?

 

Geoff

[josh a]

Nope I'm down south.

 

I put the bass to 0 and para 350. A bit of the fuzz is back but it's cool.

[The Geoff]

I wonder if the 'fuzz' is interference? Do you have a computer screen on nearby? Single coils guitars/basses are particularly prone to picking up hum from devices and florescent tubes - remember that modern low-energy bulbs are really small florescent tubes. Try turning everything else off. Or if you have an active bass, try turning down the pre-amp - you may be putting out too much gain from the instrument and over-driving the amp at an early stage.

 

Remember that the 'Level' is what boosts or cuts your parametric frequency. Try putting the 'Frequency' round to 1K and turning the 'Level' up full, and then down full and note the difference. Then play around with both to find the kind of sound you're after.

 

Geoff