alexclaber

[quote name='endorka' post='620590' date='Oct 8 2009, 02:28 PM']I recall reading somewhere once, with respect to speaker cabs: cheap, loud, good: you can have two of these. I paraphrase, but the idea seems to work.[/quote] The original statement is referred to as Hoffman's Iron Law. Loud (i.e. sensitive), small (in total cab volume), deep (how low the bass response extends) - you can only have two out of three. However much money you have, you cannot beat the law - it's constrained by the physics of loudspeakers. Alex

[quote name='Monz' post='620452' date='Oct 8 2009, 12:21 PM']...but when you get to LOUD levels the lightweights seem to loose the ability to punch the sound forward...[/quote] Depending on your idea of how loud LOUD is, I'd say that it isn't weight that matters but size. Obviously larger cabs are heavier but they don't have to be HEAVY! Ask too much of any speaker and it'll go 'blah', whether or not the cab's made of foamcore composite or concrete. Alex

The thermal rating for the speaker is 450W continuous, whilst it'll handle 400W in the lows with <10% THD (i.e. excursion limited power handling). In comparison a typical nice neo 4x10" will handle 1000W continuous thermally but only 300W in the lows with <10% THD. The old TE 15"s were probably around 200W thermal limited and 100W excursion limited. The Midget in comparison handles 400W continuous thermally and 350W excursion limited in the lows. Other nice neo 12"s come in at 250W thermal and 150W excursion limited. That 'transient attack' twice RMS recommendation fits logically with the typical peak LF excursion limited power being usually about half the thermal power handling, so the cabs would stay clean in the lows even with the amp at full power. That issue still holds true with the vast majority of bass cabs, in fact the ratio is often even worse with modern high temperature voice coils. Alex

[quote name='hubrad' post='620488' date='Oct 8 2009, 12:53 PM']Dash! Missed that bit.. sorry Alex.[/quote] I'm guessing that so has everyone else... Thanks for the review and photograph though! Alex

Update - I've found my scales - hurrah! Have weighed the new Compact and thanks to the magic composite ply it comes in at 26lb or 12kg. Alex

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='608768' date='Sep 25 2009, 04:44 PM']I have to confess that I thought I'd be losing some bottom end but that doesn't seem to be the case, I'd love to hear the science behind why that doesn't happen.[/quote] You don't lose any true bottom because the cab is still close to the floor. As you elevate the cab further from the floor the highest frequency that benefits from boundary coupling gets lower and lower, until eventually it goes below the useful range of a bass cab - by which point the cab would need to be 7 feet from the floor boundary! The coupling the PlatFoam reduces is mechanical coupling, not boundary reinforcement aka acoustic coupling. With boundary reinforcement the floor acts as a solid and unmoving reflector, so you just get more bottom in a consistent and predictable manner. With mechanical coupling the floor acts as a wobbly resonator, like a giant drum skin - as a non-harmonic resonator it has a rather atonal series of resonant modes, which different notes will excite in different ways, hence almost random booming on some notes but nothing on others. Nightmare! Glad to see that the PlatFoam idea is catching on, I've been banging on about it for years - just ordered a load myself in fact. Alex

People, once you have clips recorded can you email them to my [email protected] address, please. Thanks! Alex

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='619061' date='Oct 6 2009, 09:45 PM']Ah right, so it's like when my girlfriend buys some shoes and think she's saved twenty quid?[/quote] Only if she was barefoot and empty of wardrobe at the time. Alex

[quote name='davidmpires' post='618990' date='Oct 6 2009, 08:34 PM']Just listen to the recordings I sent to you.That's the di of the F1 going straight into the zoom H4.[/quote] They seem to be ok. But is there any EQ on them? [quote name='davidmpires' post='618990' date='Oct 6 2009, 08:34 PM']I too am certain that the problem lies with the spector. the voltage of the spector is 18v although it only uses an 9v battery. If the markbass bass only takes 15v, you have 3v to spare, enough for clipping.[/quote] 15V should be ample headroom with a sensibly configured 18V preamp. But I don't consider trying to add tons of gain with onboard electronics a sensible configuration! Does the problem occur with both pickups? What EQ settings make it worst? Alex

I got the ply for my first few cabs cut on the local merchant's panel saw - it's SO much quicker than a circular saw and more precise. Alex

Something Tubescreamerish should give you the requisite midrange. Alex

There's a few reasons I'm pretty certain it's not the cab. Firstly that the cab has absolutely no problems with the T-Bass+F1 at high volumes. Secondly that this problem is happening at low volumes with the Spector+F1 so it's not power amp clipping or speaker struggling. And also this: [quote name='davidmpires' post='618762' date='Oct 6 2009, 04:52 PM']I remeber not being able to use a zoom b2 because of the high output of the spector, and when recording for Alex using my H4 and the markbass the output was too much as well.[/quote] [quote name='alanbass1' post='618883' date='Oct 6 2009, 06:51 PM']If the problem only started to exhibit itself with the Barefaced cab then surely that's where you need to look first. The F1 has a gain input to match the output of any bass so I doubt it is a simple case of overloading the amp (I'm making the assumption that you have turned the input gain down on the amp).[/quote] As I said earlier there there is an input buffer before the gain control - hit it with enough voltage and it will distort. There's also a possibility that the Spector preamp is running out of headroom due to the pickups being too high. I'd want to have a listen through the F1's headphone out - take the speaker out of the equation. Alex

[quote name='davidmpires' post='618797' date='Oct 6 2009, 05:15 PM']Same here, but I did use to use both knobs rolled back.[/quote] You mean you had the midrange and tweeter turned right down? Alex

Lowering the pickups is definitely a good idea btw. Looking at the basic schematic for the F1, the input jack goes straight to a buffer and the gain pot comes after that. So even with the gain turned all the way down then it's possible to clip the input buffer stage with a hot enough signal. The manual states the max input voltage is 15V peak to peak, which is 7.5V peak or 5.3V RMS. As the Tonepump uses a voltage doubler (presumably giving it +9/-9 rails) it might be exceeding 5.3V if the pickups are running hot (high output and close to the strings) and the EQ is giving quite a bit of boost. Alex

The one thing that still puzzles me is that this problem didn't show up with the Acme cab - was the mid/high protection bulb blown in it? Alex

[quote name='Raggy' post='618755' date='Oct 6 2009, 04:48 PM']Barefaced (Non Vintage) Vintage.[/quote] Most confusing model name ever? Alex

When you cut the lows on a bass amp it's akin to cutting the gain, i.e. turning the amp down, because most of the power demands for bass guitar are in the lows. Alex

If it has a line out then it'll work fine. Could be difficult to rackmount though... Alex

If you're going for a typical old rock sound then you won't want much depth to the lows and you don't need the sound to be clean so a 2x10" should be fine. However that does assume your guitarist is willing to leave you some sonic space. Alex

Those that mock simplistic bass playing are as ill informed as those that mock Ringo's drumming (and aren't doing so with tongue firmly in cheek). Alex

I have fairly middling hands but rarely do truly one finger per fret - instead my thumb stays where it is (in the centre of the back of the neck most of the time) and the rest of my hand pivots about it. This lets me cover quite a lot of fretboard without shifting. So when stretching up the neck my thumb ends up headstock side of my index finger whilst when going the other way it can end up level with my little finger. Alex

[quote name='danlea' post='615050' date='Oct 2 2009, 06:04 PM']At first I put a fairly hefty EQ cut at the very low end, but then realised that a better option was to stuff the ports of the 1x18 with sponges I had bought a while back for testing out the old Trace Elliot tuning system, essentially making this too a sealed cabinet. The result is that my EQ setting is now almost flat... ...One benefit of having a flat EQ is that I'm can push the input gain to a more suitable level for general playing without clipping occuring when I really punish the strings.[/quote] Actually you'd be less likely to clip anywhere along the signal chain if you left the 1x18" ported, plus the 18" would be less likely to run out of excursion. I bet those 10"s run a lot cleaner without the lows going through them. Alex

Are you already pivoting around your thumb? Alex

On the album cut of 'Don't Forget Me' off 'By The Way' there's a fuzz bass fill that was played by John Frusciante. Here's them playing it live and Flea just does the same thing - it's at 1min 50s. Not that dissimilar to your fill, just needs a pick and some more high mids to add bite. Synth pedals and octave shifters will just open up a tracking can of worms. Alex

Why not just play the fill up above the 12th fret with some distortion? Alex