sunn solarus problem

[benj637]

hey,
I play thru a sunn solarus, and normally it is very loud. however, lately when ive been jamming with other people, i have to turn it up really loud to comete with the bass and drums. i think it migt be because of the pedals that i go through, but im not sure. any ideas?

thanks,
ben

[loudthud]

Do you think the amp is not as loud as it used to be or are you just having to turn the volume control up farther to get to the same volume? If your amp hasn't been serviced in a number of years, that could be an issue. Another issue could be that the bottom speaker in the stock Solarus cabinet could have gone bad (open) and is not making any sound (happened to me once). Have you tried another speaker cabinet?

[loudthud]

Second thought: Are you plugged into the correct speaker jack? Plugging into the "Extention" jack will switch to a lower impedance tap.

[Enzo]

If you suspect the pedals, eliminate them. Plug straight into the amp. Is it loud now? I know it won't have the tone you want, but for purpose of test it will tell you what you need to know.

You mention it is normally loud, but now you are playing with others and competing to be heard. Was it loud before and playing with others? Or was it loud before but only while playing alone. SOmething can sound pretty loud alone, but not seem so loud when played along with a lot of other noise.

The tone you set matters too. If you scoop out the mids for example, that removes a lot of the body of the sound, so it doesn't cut through.

Of course you could have a real problem, but check these ideas first.

And what Loud said too. Also, how old are your tubes? A worn set of power tubes can let you down. Or if one of the tubes failed, that will suck your power out.