dblack_2 Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 I have a Spider IV combo that is having a problem taking a signal from multiple EMG equipped guitars. It sounds great with passive pups, but has a severe loss of gain and has a tremolo sounding effect coming through on the higher gain settings. It sounds fine clean. I've already tried changing the batteries, factory reset it and updated the software. I haven't used this amp in a few years. It used to sound decent with about any guitar. Does anyone have any idea of what could be wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 Active pups. Pushing too much at the input of the amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblack_2 Posted July 29, 2019 Author Share Posted July 29, 2019 2 hours ago, psarkissian said: Active pups. Pushing too much at the input of the amp. Thank for the response. Interesting thing: I've had the amp for many years, about two months after its release. I'ts never had a problem with EMG pickups until recently. Could something have changed with the amp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 Yes, active pups slowing stressing the input circuit over time. Active circuit guitar on one supply rail going into active circuits in an amp on a different supply rail can be a bit of a stress on on of them. And it's an older product, so there is that to consider as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblack_2 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 9 hours ago, psarkissian said: Yes, active pups slowing stressing the input circuit over time. Active circuit guitar on one supply rail going into active circuits in an amp on a different supply rail can be a bit of a stress on on of them. And it's an older product, so there is that to consider as well. I've hardly used this amp. And when I did, I've almost always used passive pickups. Sounds like a poorly engineered input circuit to me. The amp was manufactured on 12/12/2011. When I think of an "older" amp, I think of my 1974 Fender Vibro-Champ, not one that is less than 8 years old. EMG has been making active pickups since 1981. I'm not sure why it takes more than 30 years to catch up with that technology. Especially from a company that builds equipment that is marketed to be technologically advanced. There are many reasons why I was unimpressed with this amplifier to begin with, so it sat for a long time until I was offered a trade for it along with the FBV Shortboard MKII. I'm no longer unimpressed. Now I am extremely dissatisfied. No more Line 6 products for me. Thank you for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fflbrgst Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 This is an old problem, too - the solution is to use a stompbox pedal (guitar>stompbox>amp) that does not have 'true bypass' to buffer the signal. First read it here on these forums many years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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