Compressors are good for slapping and popping, not so much for classic styles. Pretty de rigueur for recording though - smooths out room nodes. Maybe some players think they ought to have one because that's what the engineer uses, but obviously they don't help much coming before the microphone.
Some bass amps now have sub-harmonic generators.
I'd say forget "flat" for bass cabs, and concentrate on Q and Xmax, with the intention of using electronic enhancement.
Oh, and to sreten's list I'd add Peavey. That's all anyone around here uses, except for two guys that won't give up their SVTs. Of course, every time they bring them in our shop for a re-tube, they're trying to work out time payment plans!
Some bass amps now have sub-harmonic generators.
I'd say forget "flat" for bass cabs, and concentrate on Q and Xmax, with the intention of using electronic enhancement.
Oh, and to sreten's list I'd add Peavey. That's all anyone around here uses, except for two guys that won't give up their SVTs. Of course, every time they bring them in our shop for a re-tube, they're trying to work out time payment plans!
Maybe, but my guess would be CTS if he didn't use Jensens. I didn't start selling them until '74, and by then he was making his own speakers.
On a side note, for you bass players on a budget, the low end Peavey bass guitars are great deals, as well. I also like the ESP and Ibanez, but they're a tad more money. The cheapest playable basses we could find were the Samick 'Greg Bennett' models.
Hi,
The budget Peavey bass amps don't float my boat much, a bit too plasticky
for me, classic looks never date, I like my very old MkIII amp a lot though.
Having looked at this further the Line6 spider IV for $100 (amazon) delivered seems a beer budget bargain no-brainer for a small practice bass amplifier,
if it was half price in the UK I'd very probably get one, but it isn't.
rgds, sreten.
The budget Peavey bass amps don't float my boat much, a bit too plasticky
for me, classic looks never date, I like my very old MkIII amp a lot though.
Having looked at this further the Line6 spider IV for $100 (amazon) delivered seems a beer budget bargain no-brainer for a small practice bass amplifier,
if it was half price in the UK I'd very probably get one, but it isn't.
rgds, sreten.
Actually, no.
Imagine we have a sealed bass cab with Fs around 80-100 Hz, which is quite typical. We would need a bass control that "attacks" around 80-100 Hz with 12 dB/oct slope. The "Bass" control on bass amps simply does not do that, typically they start to add level slowly around 500 Hz with 6 dB slope. Very far from what we need. So it's not going to get us flat to E1 (41 Hz).
Parametric EQ or a special "deep" bass control will help, and some (a few) amp heads do have them.
I'm working on something that will get me 30 Hz flat in a moderate sized box. Efficiency is going to be low of course, but that's ok with me - I dont need to play very loud. Will post more info here when its tested and ready.
Hi,
Actually I do know what I'm talking about for practical bass combo's.
I didn't imply you ever have flat to 40Hz (or 33ish for 5 strings).
Everything set to flat you hardly ever have a flat response, the
bass end tapers off to whatever low end alignment is used.
A classic alignment down to those frequencies will be inefficient,
and due to the bass extension have relatively poor bass power
handling rendering the whole arrangement not very user friendly
and all but unsuable on the higher volume settings without bass
cut, rendering the whole enterprise somewhat futile with a lot
of bass drivers, but not all bass drivers.
You can of course do it, using something resembling a subwoofer driver.
something like the Peerless 10" SLS c/o to a 2" dome mid/tweeter.
(2" dome for higher power handling, you don't need the top octave)
Peerless SLS 830668 10" Woofer - Coated Paper Cone: Madisound Speaker Store
Volume displacement (bass capability) slaughters most bass guitar speakers.
Good bass with a workable response to deal with in the midrange.
Hi-Vi DMB-A 2" Fabric Dome Midrange: Madisound Speaker Store
Very usable (for this application) raw response, see Zaph|Audio
and a very good price for what you are getting IMO.
FWIW the typical first 6dB of bass boost can and often does compensate
quite well the baffle step of typical cabinets. If a mid control is fitted,
and the bass operates from a point lower than usual 1kHz for bass/treble
even better, it will work better with the baffle step of larger cabinets.
With a little c/o work, you could end up with a killer standup bass amp.
And a pretty good keyboard amplifier, as it won't have the huge
presence boost and treble roll-off typical of guitar and bass drivers.
You can build it sealed, but double box volume and vent it for "flat"
to around 40Hz (or lower for 5 string) if that is what you want.
A Polyswitch on the mid/tweeter might be a good idea, not sure.
Amplification, I'd always buy it, i.e. a head, used if on a beer budget.
rgds, sreten.
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One of my basses is a Peavey Millineum AC BXP 5. It's a fine playing, beautiful instrument. You can get one for under $400. And a 4 string passive can be bought for less than $250. I consider them to be a bargain in todays world.
I have once bought two RCF L18P300 that are still laying around up in the attic. I wanted to use them for an actively crossed-over bass rig.
The intention was to use them in a closed-box together with an EQ circuit that offers an adjustable cutoff frequency. In a box slightly larger than 50x50x50 cm (per driver) they would have been able to generate 120 dB at 30 Hz approx within their power- and excursion- capabilities.
Now that I own an ERB since about a year this might get interesting again, since this bass goes down to 23 something Hz. While you can hear the lowest notes clearly with ordinary bass equipment - due to the harmonic content - it would be definitely more fun to have the fundamentals with a little authority. More authority would be even more fun ...
Regards
Charles
The intention was to use them in a closed-box together with an EQ circuit that offers an adjustable cutoff frequency. In a box slightly larger than 50x50x50 cm (per driver) they would have been able to generate 120 dB at 30 Hz approx within their power- and excursion- capabilities.
Now that I own an ERB since about a year this might get interesting again, since this bass goes down to 23 something Hz. While you can hear the lowest notes clearly with ordinary bass equipment - due to the harmonic content - it would be definitely more fun to have the fundamentals with a little authority. More authority would be even more fun ...
Regards
Charles
I have thought about using two woofers, crossed active
but I was looking at the opposite way
namely to favour upper frequencies
low woofer should still only do midbass 40h - 150hz, and up
when relieved from lower frequencies you can choose more optimal upper woofer
a nice 'sideeffect', you will be able to adjust SPL on each woofer
have been looking at two 12", with VAS of 40 / 90 liter
Ok folks, here's what I ended up with:
It's a Seas L26ROY long-throw 10" alu woofer in a 50 liter ported box. Its flat to 30 Hz or so, enough for 5-string bass guitar. Efficiency is low, but with the powerful Behringer BX4500H amp I have it can play more than loud enough for me.
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It's a Seas L26ROY long-throw 10" alu woofer in a 50 liter ported box. Its flat to 30 Hz or so, enough for 5-string bass guitar. Efficiency is low, but with the powerful Behringer BX4500H amp I have it can play more than loud enough for me.
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