Chezz55 Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Hi all. I've been researching the SFX MicroThumpinator over the past couple of weeks - looks good. Does anyone have one that I could try before I dig deep and invest in one please? Happy to cover postage costs. Thanks. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameronj279 Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 I don't unfortunately but creepily enough I almost posted this exact same topic earlier on yesterday! If you do get a shot of one let us know your thoughts? I'm still on the fence about wether one would be worth the expense of not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0175westwood29 Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 ive got one underneath my board, its there as security, i use a lot of octaves and bass heavy fuzzes and it can go a bit crazy so for that it just stops the cab and amp trying to reproduce sounds it just cant! theres no obvious loss of low end at all either. andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearfist Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 I don't have one you can try unfortunately as i cant spare mine at the moment but if you're interested in opinions mine would be buy one. Its a great bit of kit and one of the few things i really would never go without. Its very hard to put into words what it actually does, it doesn't change your sound its just changes how your rig feels, i run mine before my comp strait out of the bass i feel like the comp reacts so much better, its not working hard on the stuff you don't even hear it just compressing what i want it to. I've actually just changed my cabs and my new cabs have metal grills so i can see the speakers and i did an A/B with and without the Thumpinator a couple of days ago and that Video on the SFX site is no exaggeration! Although it doesn't really change your tone its clearly doing a hell of a lot of work. I've just recorded an album and both the tracking engineer and mix engineer were really into it too. Awesome little box and if you did get and you didn't like it it would sell on here in about 5 minutes, they always do when the occasionally come up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 It's a funny one... It does little with some amps that they already contain a high pass filter of some sort. But with other amps the effect is clear: the speakers move much much much less, but the sound stays virtually the same. Sometimes I feel it changes nothing in the sound, other times the bass feels a bit... nicer, "tighter", perhaps. It's subtle. But it clearly saves speakers a lot of extra work and makes the amp work less hard. I use mine all the time. Sometimes I suppose I don't need it, but it's fitted permanently to my board. You can probably never use it and ba absolutely ok, most people don't use one! But... I feel better using one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1433073008' post='2787498'] It's a funny one... It does little with some amps that they already contain a high pass filter of some sort. But with other amps the effect is clear: the speakers move much much much less, but the sound stays virtually the same. Sometimes I feel it changes nothing in the sound, other times the bass feels a bit... nicer, "tighter", perhaps. It's subtle. But it clearly saves speakers a lot of extra work and makes the amp work less hard. I use mine all the time. Sometimes I suppose I don't need it, but it's fitted permanently to my board. You can probably never use it and ba absolutely ok, most people don't use one! But... I feel better using one. [/quote] I agree with this. I wouldn't be without it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1433073008' post='2787498'] It's a funny one... It does little with some amps that they already contain a high pass filter of some sort. [/quote] I believe Genz-Benz amps have that, I vaguely remember reading EBS's Multicomp does something similar as well, though it is a vague memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 I have one you can try if you don't mind coming over to Ipswich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AttitudeCastle Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 [quote name='0175westwood29' timestamp='1433070158' post='2787450'] ive got one underneath my board, its there as security, i use a lot of octaves and bass heavy fuzzes and it can go a bit crazy so for that it just stops the cab and amp trying to reproduce sounds it just cant! theres no obvious loss of low end at all either. andy [/quote] I'm really curious about these, as I really notice on EQ's with 20-30Hz controls when they are wound down, but they aren't designed to do exactly what the thumpinator does. I'd love to hear an A/B and try one myself, curious as to how it sounds recorded too. Does seem to be a real cab saver for us sub pumpers though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zacclowes Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 On an eq you'll be changing a band of frequencies with the labelled frequency as the centre. The thumpinator is like a low pass at 30hz so only cuts of below there. And the cutoff is really steep. I have one. It's not a night and day change to my sound but it seems to have tightened things up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny-79 Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 [quote name='Graham' timestamp='1433080687' post='2787604'] I believe Genz-Benz amps have that, I vaguely remember reading EBS's Multicomp does something similar as well, though it is a vague memory. [/quote] This is my thinking, I use the same cabs (Genz Benz FCS 410 & 115) with the Shuttle head turned up to a decent volume there is little movement in the speakers, I use that set up for clean, mild modulation maybe an all is good. But when I have the Orange hooked up to it at the same or less volume there is a significant amount of movement in the cones, especially the 15, with that set up in going for grit so add the Tech 21 VT and all hell breaks loose, sounds great just ... something is going to give so putting some thought into getting one, for that set up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 The Thumpinator is a High Pass Filter. That mean low cut so it us cutting the very low stuff that you can't hear but can hurt your speakers. SFX do not publish their specs but I suspect it is around the 25-35Hz region. This is where most modern bass reflex cabinets lose control of the speaker come, allowing it to move a long way with very little power applied. This really low area adds nothing to your sound and cutting it helps your amp too as you are not asking it to power sound you don't want. The filters in amps are often too high and do cut the sounds you want. I have heard that some amps cut from 75Hz and that is too high to just take the speaker. However the new thinking is to combine a fixed HPF for speaker control won't a variable one that can adjust for room boominess. Look on TB for FDeck's HPF thead for more info. Going back to the original thought about the thumpinator, it will give real benefits even if you cannot hear them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passinwind Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 (edited) [quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1433456766' post='2791331'] I'm really curious about these, as I really notice on EQ's with 20-30Hz controls when they are wound down, but they aren't designed to do exactly what the thumpinator does. [/quote] Not in the least. Here's a comparison of cutting about 8db at 20 hz with a fairly typical amp's tone control and using a high order HPF set at 32Hz: Edited July 14, 2015 by Passinwind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AttitudeCastle Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 [quote name='Passinwind' timestamp='1436905447' post='2821983'] Not in the least. Here's a comparison of cutting about 8db at 20 hz with a fairly typical amp's tone control and using a high order HPF set at 32Hz: [/quote] That's pretty much exactly what I wanted to see. Still want to try one, for a 'feel' test, but as far as I can tell it'll all be just as epic. I scrap everything from as high as 80hz and below depending, when I mix, so this has just confirmed I need one! Where do those who have them place them in the chain? I was thinking perhaps one at the very end of the chain to clear up clutter going into the speakers, but also one before my compressor, so the compress can squash less as there is less peaking down low. Thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passinwind Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 (edited) [quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1437238271' post='2824628'] Where do those who have them place them in the chain? I was thinking perhaps one at the very end of the chain to clear up clutter going into the speakers, but also one before my compressor, so the compress can squash less as there is less peaking down low. [/quote] It's one of those "just depends" deals. In my own designs I put it just after the EFX return, so I can use it with other preamps patched into the return and it also doesn't affect the EFX send. I know other guys who prefer one in front of the whole amp, somewhere in their floor pedal chain, or just in front of their power amp. Glad my little graphs were instructive. I do a lot of that sort of modeling and it's very easy for me to put something like that together. The Thumpinator's curve is likely to be a little different, the one I posted is just from [url="http://www.talkbass.com/threads/a-diy-500-watt-bass-head.1061473/#post-15624273"]one of a few different ones I've designed and built[/url], and at one particular setting that I actually use a lot.. Edited July 18, 2015 by Passinwind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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