Bill Fitzmaurice

[quote name='GRAHAM SG1' post='990506' date='Oct 16 2010, 02:12 PM']Hello guys, I have not been on here for a while so thought I would say hello . I have got a GK MB210 and am really pleased with it, I am still waiting for the MBE210 cab to arrive on UK shores, have been told it will be here end October so fingers crossed, is anyone else on here waiting ?[/quote] A couple of issues you should be aware of: [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=688140"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=688140[/url] [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=693727"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=693727[/url]

[quote name='xgsjx' post='987586' date='Oct 13 2010, 07:12 PM']I'd go with Mr Hunt's suggestion. 2 2x10s vertically offer a better dispersion & easier to carry than any of the other options.[/quote]+1. Of all commercially available options this is the most versatile and probably the best sounding.

[quote name='mikebass78' post='977614' date='Oct 4 2010, 03:35 PM']I've also looked at eminence and legend speakers but keep getting turned off by the listed frequency response, can anyone recommend a roughly 300w 8ohm speaker that can match the celestion at the low low end??[/quote] Have you modeled the Celestion in question in the cab to see its actual response? Listed frequency response means little.

[quote name='justis' post='974971' date='Oct 2 2010, 08:28 AM']can i take a line out from my bass head (a horrible behringer piece of sh*t but it works) or maybe even the effect out and then put it into a guitar combo to give me the ability to have distortion without losing the bass[/quote]Chris Squire's been doing just that since 1968. It's a popular technique.

[quote name='Phil Starr' post='974909' date='Oct 2 2010, 07:38 AM']The advantage of the bass hump in an instrument speaker is obvious; it will make the cab sound bassier and if you combine this with the midrange hump of the beta it will sound quite lively. A bit like switching the loudness control on a cheap hifi and I guess this is why BFM suggested it.[/quote] A high Q driver is the last option I'd take if I had plenty of power, but the OP doesn't. He may find a lower Q driver works perfectly well with only 100 watts, but then again, he may not, and I doubt he's inclined to embark on a driver testing regimen. Many users of older lower powered amps have replaced the original drivers with Betas and Deltas and found they work quite well. No surprise that, as the Betas and Deltas have specs very similar to vintage drivers, but with higher excursion.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' post='973104' date='Sep 30 2010, 02:45 PM']Is the Delta also worth looking at, or does the bigger Xmax of the Beta make it a better option?[/quote]The Delta response is smoother, though it has only half the displacement limited power of the Beta. But it still probably has twice the displacement limited power of that Celestion.

[quote name='Protium' post='973160' date='Sep 30 2010, 03:33 PM']Unless you stand it vertically [/quote] Of course, but I doubt you'll find that recommendation in the Trace documentation. Can't do it, you know, as it will look odd.

[quote name='Count Bassy' post='973056' date='Sep 30 2010, 01:54 PM']But is it good enough? The OPs problem of movement between the cone and the dome suggests that the original glue might not be up to it.[/quote] Cyanoacrylic is the industry standard. It won't fail, but the humans/machinery that apply it sometimes do.

[quote name='MythSte' post='972982' date='Sep 30 2010, 12:46 PM']and where would something like a Trace Elliot Bright Box come into the mix? Sorry, I quite enjoy picking your brains! ^_^[/quote] Totally flawed, as drivers should never be horizontally arrayed. The intent is to widen the coverage, the result is to narrow it.

[quote name='MythSte' post='972945' date='Sep 30 2010, 12:18 PM']From a bassists point of view Bill, Could it be said that tweeters could be "enough" to add sparkle to slap pieces if your happy with the overall tone of say a single 15?[/quote]IMO no, because if you haven't heard a 15/6 or 15/8 you don't know what you're missing. As 15/6 and 15/8, and for that matter 12/6 and 12/8, are still primarily the domain of DIY and custom builds few players are aware of how well they work. Most who do have them also tweeter equipped find that they prefer the tone with the tweeters turned off; those who don't have tweeters for the most part don't miss them.

[quote name='BassBen' post='972747' date='Sep 30 2010, 09:35 AM']So what are the pros and cons to using the MarkBass tweeter box?[/quote]Tweeters and fifteens result in a response hole over an octave wide between where the woofer stops and the tweeter begins, and that's on-axis. Off-axis the gap is closer to two octaves, and it's those two octaves that are most critical to tone. Fully two thirds of the tweeter frequency range is above where it offers any benefit with bass. For that matter tweeters and tens or twelves aren't all that good a match either, unless said tweeters operate down to at least 2kHz, and few do. That doesn't say that tweeters bring nothing to the table, but mid drivers bring much more. The primary reason why tweeters are offered instead of midrange drivers is cost.

[quote name='BassBen' post='972658' date='Sep 30 2010, 08:37 AM']Hi guys, Quick question really. I run a markbass little iii with barefaced compact. If I wanted to add a little harsh highend to cut through the mix can I connect a markbass tweeter box to the speaker jack on the amp? Would I damage anything by doing it? Cheers,[/quote] I'd use a midrange driver, just as Alex does in the Big One.

[quote name='stevie' post='972650' date='Sep 30 2010, 08:28 AM']Yes, that Beta is great for recreating the vintage sound of your grandad's radiogram. [/quote] Or a Portaflex. Delta 15s are the preferred replacement drivers in the lower powered models, where the 2.7mm xmax is of no concern.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='972094' date='Sep 29 2010, 04:20 PM']Eminence Kappalite 3015, spensive, but happy in that box, and sensitive. If you are only running 100w don't need to worry much about the port either, more power and it wants to be bigger/two of them.[/quote] This is one case where the 3015 might not be right. Low power amps tend to rely on high Qts drivers that give a midbass response bump to get adequate volume, at the expense of low end. The Eminence Beta 15 is one example.

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='970689' date='Sep 28 2010, 09:10 AM']Not very. It's all been done before. [/quote] Ad nauseum, in fact. Comparing cabs based on the driver size is as accurate a method as comparing automobiles based on tire size. The one thing that can be said of the insistence that driver size is crucial is that the insistor has no idea how speakers actually work.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='970611' date='Sep 28 2010, 08:09 AM']Cobblers. I know - I've played one.[/quote]+1. The only characteristic that's derived purely from driver size is dispersion. Period. Any other response/tone differences are from a dozen odd driver specs, specs which can be identical on tens, twelves and fifteens. Where dispersion is concerned that is as much a product of the driver configuration as driver size. Two tens side by side have the same dispersion as a twenty-one, so whatever advantage they might have in the mids is squandered in so doing. So, while the individual drivers in a 4x10 cab might have wider dispersion than a fifteen, the 1x15 will have wider dispersion than the 4x10. [quote]Is a Vintage 2x15"..? if so, expect the roll off around 3khz max[/quote]In terms of what really matters, off-axis response, 1.2kHz is more like it. Even a ten isn't much good above 2kHz off-axis. And if you place two tens side by side? Read the paragraph above.

[quote name='Phil Starr' post='968132' date='Sep 26 2010, 03:48 AM']If it is not too late the dome can simply be stuck back down with some latex based adhesive like Copydex. Ive done this lots and so far it works every time.[/quote] The adhesive used by Eminence is superglue (cyanoacrylic). Run a bead of it around the joint, spray it with superglue accelerator for an instant cure.

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='965148' date='Sep 22 2010, 07:07 PM']Question is: where can I put it, to get a better sound other than back in the car?! Thanks[/quote] In a room without bare brick walls.

[quote name='PURPOLARIS' post='962724' date='Sep 20 2010, 04:04 PM']Is your new Bass Passive, you might have to let the amp know if it is.[/quote] He said it had a pre. I'd say the old bass was passive. Put the amp volume to full, take the gain only as high as required. It might have better adjustability with the volume on the instrument backed off. The amp is not the problem, gain structure is.

[quote name='Paul S' post='960954' date='Sep 19 2010, 04:53 AM']I wondered if it was the fact that it was an 18" cab or specifically a TE 18" cab that would have made the difference but have decided to wait for one to come along and buy it, rather than spend the rest of my life experimenting.[/quote]It was that specific cab/driver combintation. Tone is not determined by driver size alone.

[quote name='4-string-thing' post='960240' date='Sep 18 2010, 05:54 AM']Best alternative though, is to point out to your guitarists that they can turn down a bit and still get "their sound" Good luck![/quote]Two points. First, 'getting all of the watts out of my amp' isn't what gives most of the increase in output seen with using more cabs. It's the added sensitivity that does that. The quest for added watts is very much an exercise in acoustical engineering masturbation. Second, the same sensitivity gains applies to using multiple drivers. Guitar'd players with their 4x12s run 6dB louder than would a 1x12 driven with the same amp. If they need to push both amp and driver to a certain level to 'get my sound' without being obnoxiously loud they can just get rid of those stupid behemoths and use a sensible 1x12. But that wouldn't look nearly as cool, so forget about sensibility. And they wonder why we call them guitar'd players.

[quote name='Paul S' post='959826' date='Sep 17 2010, 02:38 PM']There must be drawbacks though?[/quote]It's a cheap driver loaded into a box that's too small, with ports about 1/3 the required area to work properly. It will give the same result as a cheap cab of similar design that's marketed as a bass cab, which is to say not a very good one.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='956726' date='Sep 14 2010, 06:07 PM']There are pretty awesome bass cabs with 12" speakers. The diameter of the speaker isn't the important bit.[/quote]Also quite right. For all the hoopla made about how different size drivers sound most of it is uninformed conjecture. The only factor influenced by driver size alone is dispersion. Everything else is determined by a dozen odd T/S specs, with driver cone area (Sd) being only one of them, and a rather insignificant one at that.

[quote name='Adrenochrome' post='956085' date='Sep 14 2010, 10:14 AM']Understood but my point was that I don't think reproducing those fundamentals of lower notes at volume is that important.[/quote]Quite right. The Fridge has a 58 Hz F3. Electric bass is defined by the harmonics.

[quote name='fryer' post='955744' date='Sep 14 2010, 04:37 AM']I'm thinking of building a bass cabinet. Normally cabs have 10" or 12" speakers. 8" speakers aren't listed as bass speakers on Blue Aran. Those that are listed only go down to say 50 Hz, so how do say Markbass get a bass sound from 4 of them in a cabinet ?[/quote] Getting eights to run to even 30Hz is no major accomplishment, they're common in hi-fi. The problem with eights is displacement, and that's what limits low frequency output. A good eight has about 70cc of displacement, so that's 280cc with four of them. Even a middle of the road fifteen has 400cc displacement, while a high end fifteen can have over 800cc. [quote]Smaller speakers give you a quicker ('tighter') response.[/quote]No, they don't. All drivers respond to signal at the exact same speed. Where smaller drivers have the advantage is in high frequency extension and dispersion. Eights can have midrange extension and dispersion twice that of a fifteen, so using a fifteen for the lows and an eight for the mids is a logical arrangement. Using eights for the lows, not so much.