Volume Reduction during gigs.

Paul2916

Paul2916

Inspired
Hi,

During the last few months at some of my gigs my equipment seems to lose 40 per cent output volume before returning to full power and it does this whilst I'm mid song or solo. Most frustrating.

It does not happen at every gig, it's random and I'm convinced that it's down to the wiring / power supply at the venues (affected by beer coolers behind the bar switching on and off on thermostats for example).

Has anyone else experienced this and if so, what did you do about it?

I know that Furman make a Power Conditioner but that stops electrical spikes so I believe. I seem to have the opposite problem where I need an electrical boost (like a heart pacemaker) when the power supply dips. Is there such a product out there?

Gearwise I'm using an Axe FX II with an Atomic 50/50 amp and two Atomic passive cabs. I also use a Line 6 G30 Relay wireless system.
 
Paul2916 said:
Hi,

During the last few months at some of my gigs my equipment seems to lose 40 per cent output volume before returning to full power and it does this whilst I'm mid song or solo. Most frustrating.

It does not happen at every gig, it's random and I'm convinced that it's down to the wiring / power supply at the venues (affected by beer coolers behind the bar switching on and off on thermostats for example).

Has anyone else experienced this and if so, what did you do about it?

I know that Furman make a Power Conditioner but that stops electrical spikes so I believe. I seem to have the opposite problem where I need an electrical boost (like a heart pacemaker) when the power supply dips. Is there such a product out there?

Gearwise I'm using an Axe FX II with an Atomic 50/50 amp and two Atomic passive cabs. I also use a Line 6 G30 Relay wireless system.
Click to expand...

Hmm.. If it was an overall power fluctuation every single device would get affected including the PA. Does this only occur at this venue? Never at home? It could be your wireless or the tubes in the Atomic. (although when wireless systems are about to die there is usually a crackling kind of noise)

Start simple, if you can, eliminate the wireless and use a cable instead and use different cables running from the Axe to the power amp and to FOH. Then I would move on to the Atomic and check if that is causing the problem.

As I said, if it was an overall power fluctuation then all of the devices plugged into the mains would get affected. :)
 
Good advice SockPuppet. Thank you.

Yes, always at the venues (but not every venue) but never at home although I never use the wireless at home.

I always take a spare amp with me so half way through last night's gig I swapped the Atomic for a Matrix GT100FX but the problem repeated itself so I do not think it's the amp.

Tonight I'll wait to see if anything happens and if it does I'll swap the wireless for a lead to see if that solves the problem. If it does not then I'll move on to the cables.

As you suggest, this needs to be a process of logical elimination.
 
Paul2916 said:
I always take a spare amp with me so half way through last night's gig I swapped the Atomic for a Matrix GT100FX but the problem repeated itself so I do not think it's the amp.
Click to expand...

That takes the power amp out of the equation at least! Also, make sure to check your presets. Sometimes it is really easy to miss the simple stuff, like accidentally assigned global blocks (although this is indicated on the front panel) or that a scene or a block has maybe -4dB instead of +4dB.

Keep doing it in simple steps and see if you can reproduce the problem. :)
 
Hi Rex, no it's always just me that's affected.

At last night's gig there was no problem whatsoever and, taking Sockpuppet's advice, I was standing by with spare cables to start the process of swapping things in order to fault find....and yet everything behaved as it should.

These intermittent problems are always the worst to solve!
 
Are there any other symptoms like the Axe display screen dimming or flickering?

If you're suspicious that a regular venue power supply is iffy then I'd be wary about the longevity of the Axe power supply component especially when it's getting power at the upper 240V range. Might be an idea to get one as a spare in case of total failure sometime (they're cheap and easy to install yourself - you can search the forums for the part number and order online from electrical sites).

Also consider your guitar as a possible source of the problem - do you always play the same one when the problem strikes?
 
Sometimes things like this are caused by stray MIDI signals coming from the controller. Maybe a saggy expression pedal?
 
Maxdown - thanks for your input. Yes, always the same guitar so I am carrying a spare to gigs now as the thought had crossed my mind too. I have not seen any dimming or screen flickering and thanks for the technical advice although I'll let G66 carry out any repairs, I'm not great at that kind of stuff.

Rex - How do I detect / correct a saggy expression pedal please (not sure what the term 'saggy' means in this context)? Any advice gratefully received.
 
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Paul2916 said:
Rex - How do I detect / correct a saggy expression pedal please (not sure what the term 'saggy' means in this context)? Any advice gratefully received.
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A saggy pedal is one that won't stay put where you set it. Either the heel or the toe of the pedal dips down a bit when you take your foot off of it. You'll know whether it's happening if you look for it.
 
Thanks Rex, I don't think it's the pedals as I have just manually checked and the pedals are staying put wherever they are set. I might re-calibate them though just to be on the safe side and give them a tweak to tighten them just a fraction.

There are some good ideas here from the community and I'm grateful for everyone's time and support. Hopefully if it happens again I can start to eliminate a few of the possible causes and find the actual source of the problem.
 
Rex said:
A saggy pedal is one that won't stay put where you set it. Either the heel or the toe of the pedal dips down a bit when you take your foot off of it. You'll know whether it's happening if you look for it.
Click to expand...

That can be fixed. Look under the heal part of the pedal and often there is an allen key adjustment. Tighten that up and no more sag.
 
There's no guarantees that I've ever played the exact same venue Paul, but after well over 1000 gigs around Devon, Cornwall, Somerset etc, I've never experienced this happen with any rig at any time
unsure.gif


The only power related oddity I can recall (aside form the hugely sensitive trips on temporary outdoor set ups) was a voltage drop due to long extension cable at a marquee gig - a couple rack processors would intermittently reset and the bass bins would crap out on kick drum hits as there wasn't enough juice to drive them properly. However, this problem was spotted at set up and wasn't something that manifested itself as the night went on

It's an odd one...
thinking.gif
 
Hi Clive,

Thanks for your message. The very first time that this happened to me was at Falmouth Football Club where the owner tells me that some other bands have experienced this problem (and therefore this is why I have always assumed it's a 'power supply thing' as opposed to a fault within my gear).

What has just caught my eye in your post is the rack processor re-setting. My pal has a piece of electrical gear that has recently done that a couple of times too. Hmmm...the plot thickens.
 
Ah, as it happens, I believe I have played in Falmouth Football Clubhouse - probably more than a decade ago now - don't recall any power issues though!
 
Paul2916 said:
Thanks for your message. The very first time that this happened to me was at Falmouth Football Club where the owner tells me that some other bands have experienced this problem (and therefore this is why I have always assumed it's a 'power supply thing' as opposed to a fault within my gear).
Click to expand...
Sounds more like a problem with the venue's audio system than with their power. I would expect the Axe to work consistently until the power dropped low enough to mung up operations completely.
 
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