Ugly speaker fart sound

[Misanthrope189]

Alright, here's what's going on. I'm running a Triaxis, Behringer parametric eq, Mesa 50/50, and Weber Stereo Mass into a V30 4x12. Monster cables and all that.

I can't figure out why I have this disgusting fart noise after I palm mute my notes. It's most prominent on the low notes, and the higher notes don't seem so affected; when I play a single note, the tone will come through, and then all of the sudden it farts out, comes back in, and then farts again.

I thought the bass might be too high, so I turned that down more and more until the tone was all brittle, and the notes still "flopped out". That, and when I chug the low notes palm muted near the bridge, the tone comes through but below it is that fart noise, like some scratching sorta noise through the speaker.

I lowered my bridge pickup incase it was too close to the strings when I palm mute, I fiddled with all the connections incase the plugs weren't secure, and I still can't figure out why I get that terrible crackle/fart/flop noise when I play. Is it the power tubes giving out on me?

I know this is long-winded, but thanks for any help and advice.

Cheers,
Nick

[Sanctuary]

No more Mexican...

[siggy14]

what kind of cab is it? I know with my 5150 cab this would happen because it did not have an extra brace in the middle of the back panel. Once putting a peice of wood bracing it to the from baffle the fart sound went away.

[jgcable]

It sounds like its either your speakers or your cabinet.

[Misanthrope189]

It's an Avatar speaker cabinet...and I haven't ever played this very loud, so I don't know how I could have blown the speakers (although that fart noise is reminiscent of a blown speaker).

Thanks a lot!

Cheers,
Nick

[Matt Crooks]

It could be a problem with your gain-staging. The low notes coming out of the guitar are going to be more powerful than the high notes. With multiple pieces of gear in your rig, you could be distorting one without knowing it. Try simplifying your rig and see if it still hapens. Start with the tri-ax and 50/50 only into the cab. If you get no "farting" there, add in the next piece in and see if you can eliminate which item is causing the problem.

My guess is that the behringer is the problem - the input or output might be up too high, or the bass might be up too high, or some combination of all of them.

If it happens with the triax, 50/50 and your cab, try with someone else's cab. If it still happens, there likely a problem with your tubes. If it doesn't happen, you've got a problem with your cab.

Good luck.

[Adam]

The above post containts excellent advice.

Do what Matt says - simplify everything down and add pieces of gear back into the rig one by one, until the noise comes back and there's your culprit.

FWIW I'd lay money that it's the Behringer doing it, but it's better to use the above method. Your cab should be very well constructed - Avatar makes good stuff, but I suppose it's still possible.

[Misanthrope189]

I can directly bypass the Behringer and the Weber units...is that sufficient, or do I need to actually unplug them and reconnect everything? Both units have what I think they call a "hard bypass" where the signal goes straight from the input cable to the output cable without even interacting with the unit.
Also, don't tubes act a lot differently when they're pushed versus them being used at low levels? I know before I haven't encountered tube problems until I've really tried to push them; so I don't know if bypassing the Weber Attentuator will be accurate, because there's no way I can turn the power amp to 10 without killing myself.

So far, though, with the hard bypass of the Behringer unit, the sound is still there. I'll experiment with bypassing the Weber to see what I can find.

Thanks for all your help and advice so far!

Cheers,
Nick

[Racerx2k]

I had the same prob, when I tried running my J-Station into my Fender combo. Did all the same things, you describe. Once you ran the bass down enough where it didn't fart, the tone was much too thin. Do you have ANYTHING before the preamp? I was guessing, in MY case, that I was driving the Fender too much with the J-Station. I would try actually PHYSICALLY disconnecting everything except the preamp and power amp to the cab, to help ensure widdling down the problem.

[Misanthrope189]

No, nothing before the preamp except my guitar. It's my guitar straight into the preamp, then the two outputs from the preamp directly into the behringer, then those outputs going into the poweramp, the poweramp going into the Weber attentuator, and then to the cabinet. So nothing is pushing the preamp, and there are peak meters on the behringer which tell you if the level is too high and would cause clipping, so, I'll keep experimenting with connections with the equipment.

Cheers,
Nick

[Misanthrope189]

Well, I rewired everything and with just the triaxis going into the 50/50, straight to the speakers, I still get that fart noise coming through the speakers. It gets worse (or at least more noticeable) the higher I turn up the power amp, though.

I don't readily have a friend with a cabinet I can exchange to test out if it's the cabinet, but the Avatar hasn't ever given me problems before.

Cheers,
Nick

[jgcable]

Well, I rewired everything and with just the triaxis going into the 50/50, straight to the speakers, I still get that fart noise coming through the speakers. It gets worse (or at least more noticeable) the higher I turn up the power amp, though.

I don't readily have a friend with a cabinet I can exchange to test out if it's the cabinet, but the Avatar hasn't ever given me problems before.

Cheers,
Nick

Its your speakers. I would bet the farm on it.

[Misanthrope189]

Can V30s just...go bad?

[jgcable]

Can V30s just...go bad?

Yes. Absolutely.

[Misanthrope189]

Like a rabid dog, or lunch meat, or cheese...without any provocation, really loud playing, or abuse, they can just turn on you? Damn it...speakers aren't a cheap fix.

Cheers,
Nick