Buzzing sound goes away with a good hard Smack!!!

[badassmak]

I'm running my J-station into my Behringer amp via the AUX ins, and now lately there has been some buzzing coming out of the amp itself . OK possibly I am a complete moron for having done this, but it seemed like a lot better idea than running straight into the input.

The amp is a GX112, w/ effects processor built in, and the buzzing sound seems to be comingfrom the very top. This sound can be heard with or without the J plugged into it, and with absolute zero volume. If I give it a good solid wack with my hand it goes away...for a time.

There is actually two questions I have about this.

1) (The obvious one) What dya think is wrong with the amp, and how do I fix???

2) The J-station, and whats the proper way to plug it in? I was getting pretty intimate with it last night (one of the best musical items I have ever bought BTW) and discovered the amp modeler settings. Seeing as how I am running it through an amp with a single 12 inch speaker, should I be setting the modeler to only one of the 1x12 settings? Will setting it on a 4x12 cook the amp? It does seem sorta plausible, but then again what do I know. I do know that reducing the setting at least cured the heavy duty bass problem.

Any thoughts for the guy who isn't to concerned about his Behringer anymore???

 

[Toad Rush]

I can answer #2.

The 'proper' way to run a J-station, V-amp, POD, etc. into an amp is to plug it into the effects loop(if it has one). In my case my amp doesn't so what i do is plug my PODxt into the input of my amp but turn all the EQ knobs on my Amp to 0 and jsut use my Pod to control the EQ, sounds better this way unless you want that extra high setting(up to you).

Also as for the amp modelling, a 4x12 model will NOT ruin a 1x12 speaker it'll give it a 4x12 sound(to the best of it's ability). However usually when i run my POD into my amp(has a 1x10 cab) i take off the Cab(can you do that on j station?) and jsut use my amp's cab instead of modelling a cab then putting it into another cab seems to sound better that way atleast. I'm probably rambling here so tell me if i am .

 

[Major Tom]

I agree with toad...You should take off the speaker cab simulation when running thru a guitar amp combo - the speaker modelling does so by rolling off highs (and other things, I guess) to mock what a real speaker does. To run this rolled off signal thru a 12" speaker which will roll off highs (and other things) again will probably be too dark of a sound. Same thing with the effects loop input, using that will eliminate your amp's preamp stage- the Jstat is mocking what a tube preamp does, and so is your amp's preamp section. It should sound more natural to only have one preamp stage...

 

[Lt. Bob]

Actually............both responses are technically correct; but you should simply run it however sounds best to you. Using the speaker cabs will not harm your amp. Also, my POD has a switch for changing it from something that needs to go into a board as opposed to going into an guitar amp HiZ input. After all........plenty of amps don't have an aux in or a FX loop......
In my Fender amps....when I use my POD, I actually use it in the 'board' setting even though it supposed to be on 'Amp' because after trying both.....in these particular amps, that's how it sounds best to me. Use your ears to decide.....you're not gonna harm the amp, although if it doesn't clear up...maybe that's what you're gonna want.

 

[matty_boy]

I can answer #2.

The 'proper' way to run a J-station, V-amp, POD, etc. into an amp is to plug it into the effects loop(if it has one). In my case my amp doesn't so what i do is plug my PODxt into the input of my amp but turn all the EQ knobs on my Amp to 0 and jsut use my Pod to control the EQ, sounds better this way unless you want that extra high setting(up to you).

Also as for the amp modelling, a 4x12 model will NOT ruin a 1x12 speaker it'll give it a 4x12 sound(to the best of it's ability). However usually when i run my POD into my amp(has a 1x10 cab) i take off the Cab(can you do that on j station?) and jsut use my amp's cab instead of modelling a cab then putting it into another cab seems to sound better that way atleast. I'm probably rambling here so tell me if i am .

If your amp has active eq, you might want to turn them to 5.

 

[Major Tom]

Oh, yeah, as far as the noise that goes away with a good smack (similiar to the situation with my wife...), sounds like a solder joint that has been broken either from rough handling on your part or during shipping- it will only get worse as time goes on. Lt. B is right of course about you being the judge about the sound, I was only speaking of what would be the theoretically correct, which is usually a good starting point, especially for a beginner. (I kinda assumed you were a beginner from the nature of yer ?? and the equipment you have...) Also I have a JStation, and they are already too "dark" to begin with. Now, if you have bad taste in guitar tone, DON'T use your ears...

 

[badassmak]

Fixing your Behringer...do's and dont's...ok well any amp then...

If your amp has active eq, you might want to turn them to 5.

Well, the amp comes with left and right AUX ins, and further investigation on my part it would appear (as well as confirmation from you guys) that's the right way to do it. The EQ on the amp is hus deactivated, the only thing that operates then is the AUX level and master volume. I did somehing right for a change. .

Toad Rush: yes you can turn the cab(s) off. The Behr cabs kinda suck (but work), at least compared to the J's. However, like I said, running thru the AUX I can't use em anyways. I think I can get away with using the 1x12 and 2x12 settings for the most part, but the 4x12's are just too much on the low end.
Ramble on...

Lt. Bob: Yea, I'm mostly playing this by ear. It took me a fair while to get sounds I could live with out of the Behringer, it's like learning to walk again with this thing . Although I must say simply plugging it in for the first time without changing any setting it sounded better than after a year of twiddlin the Behringer knobs . Also common sense should tell me that the cabs wont hurt it because well, that speaker already goes thru everything with the effects processor built into the amp anyways. I guess you could call that...common sense ...

Major Tom:Sounds like a solder joint...hmm. That makes sense though, if I can pretend to imagine I know what a broken solder joint sounds like. I'm gonna open er up today I think, and have a look . What is really weird is that the amp has been sitting in the same spot for the last two months, just fine, no buzzing. Then after running the J thru it for a couple of days its starts buzzing. Rough handling due to excessive volumes ?

As far as a beginner towards guitar tones, well, I suppose you are right. I don't think my ears are too bad though, we shall see. At the very least I don't have 8 million pounds of chorus on everything .




Ok so, I'm gona dissect an amp. Any pointers? (before I do it?) I'm gonna wait until I get a few . I'm just worried, if it is a broken solder joint, isn't it very possible it'll short everything out? This is the only amp I have (with a speaker this big). I know its a Behringer , but shes all I've got.

Thanks again guys.

 

[Major Tom]

I have repaired quite a few items in my day with bad solder joints, TV, amps, etc. Often it will be one of the larger components, a volume/tone control, or one of the jacks. These items endure stress that often leads to the bad joint. Sometimes it takes a while for the symptom to manifest itself. What you are looking for is usually a hairline circular shaped crack around the lead of a component, I would suggest using a bright light and a magnifying glass to find it.