stevie

2Hz. Do I get a prize?

It's unsafe to assume that Fender knows how to port a bass guitar cab? Just editing this, because I think I see where you are coming from now. Bass guitar cabs are all tuned to around 50Hz, give or take. There is a certain amount of wiggle room - tuning to 40 or 60Hz is not going to make that much difference. The tuning frequency is a characteristic of the cabinet - not the driver. So, when you change the driver, the cab tuning frequency doesn't change. As long as the driver is suitable for the cabinet size it will work. You can therefore fit a variety of different drivers to the same cab and they will all perform. They may sound different but you won't need to change the tuning unless the tuning was badly out in the first place.

If Redlawman is bothered about the tuning I'm sure he'll ask, but he hasn't done. He asked for a driver recommendation. And I think we can safely assume that Fender knows how to tune a bass guitar cab. Why make things more complicated than they need to be?

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1333726600' post='1605806'] Sealed cab? Gogo gadget WinISD pro.[/quote] It's front ported. Redlawman actually mentions this twice. [quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1333726600' post='1605806'] Edit: Short summary: putting a state of the art driver into a not state of the art cab is a bad plan. Suitable driver for the cab is going to yield better results. [/quote] According to the manufacturer's specs, the driver I mentioned is recommended for a cab between 80 and 140 litres. The cab as described ("largish 15 smaller than an Ampeg 4x10") is within that.

Lean are selling a 4-ohm 18sound *NEO* driver for £160 at the moment - the 15ND830 . It must be old stock because the 8-ohm version is £75 more. The direct link won't copy, but the site is at: http://www.lean-business.co.uk/eshop/. It's a bargain. I've never used it personally but the spec is right and 18sound speakers are state-of-the-art. Very few (if any) commercial bass cabs use a driver of this quality.

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1333709292' post='1605504'] This is a good exercise, except for one caveat. OP, this is known as the "one finger per fret technique". It is a very economical way of playing, but be [b]very[/b] careful when applying it to frets 1-5. [/quote] +1. Using one finger per fret near the nut can cause wrist pain if you have small or normal sized fingers. Some teachers advise linking the fourth and fifth fingers together for support and only using one finger per fret up the neck where the frets are closer together. It definitely worked for me. I think Dave Marks has a lesson on his website that discusses this.

On the piezo front, my web researches indicate that you need a unit with a CTS (Motorola) piezo element. It's not always easy to tell, as there are a lot of copies around. The Monacor MPT range seems to use them, as do these ones from CPC, which seem to be quite popular (and cheap): [url="http://cpc.farnell.com/_/mpt-001/piezo-tweeter/dp/LS02371."]http://cpc.farnell.c...ter/dp/LS02371.[/url] There's no harm in using two, but because a bass guitar produces very little energy at these frequencies (unless you play like Markus Miller all the time), you are very unlikely to overload a single tweeter. Two would be more sensitive though.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1333702915' post='1605384'] Would I go back to a 115..? no, The biggest single factor was that it wasn't useable on its own. [/quote] I'm currently using a single 15 and, even though the frequency response is flat to nearly 4k, I find it difficult to hear what I'm playing when I'm up close (for obvious reasons). However, I hate the idea of having to carry four magnets around - so I've added an eight-inch midrange in a separate cab, crossed over at 800Hz. The on-axis frequency response of the pairing is virtually identical to that of the single 15, but subjectively there's a lot more top-end clarity which is audible up close and throws better in-room. I previously used a 2 x 12 which was a lot bigger, but this is a much better solution IMO. There are lots of ways to skin a cat.

You'll find a similar pattern in just about any industry you care to mention. Larger companies have a wide product range; smaller companies have a more limited product range. Do these companies want you to buy more than one of their products? Quite likely.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1333655403' post='1605007'] Just because a certain combination sounded "good" doesn't maen that a different combination wouldn't have sounded better. Unless you can to a proper A vs B test with all other factors constant, it's just not a fair test and therefore rather meaningless. If it sounds good to your ears, good - keep using it by all means. But don't diss another set-up of which you have no experience. [/quote] How likely do you think it is that the players using a 15 and 10s have never used a 4 x 10? Of course, they have, but they are happy with what they've got. Nor are they dissing those who choose to use multiples of the same driver. All the shouting is coming from those who insist that you should not mix drivers. I'm waiting for someone to give me a good reason why 15s and 10s don't work. "I tried it once and it sounded sh*t" doesn't cut it, I'm afraid.

[quote name='john the pond' timestamp='1333651253' post='1604926'] Nobody is saying "thou shalt not mix cabs"! But the reasons usually given are false. [/quote] You will notice that the people saying 'I mixed cabs to good effect' are clearly experienced players using good gear. They are saying, almost to a man, I did it and I know it sounded good. So these reasons are false?

What causes phase cancellation is not different driver sizes, it's the spacing between the drivers. So, a 1 x 15 plus 2 x 10 is not going to be any more or less "phase coherent" than two 2 x 10s.

What exactly does this mean?

Paddy stopped cutting the hedge as the big car drew up beside him and an English visitor enquired: "Could you tell me the way to Balbriggan, please?" Paddy wiped his brow. "Certainly, sor. If you take the first road to the left.... no still that wouldn't do..... drive on for about four miles then turn left at the crossroads...... no that wouldn't do either." Paddy scratched his head thoughtfully. "You know, sor, if I was going to Balbriggan I wouldn't start from here at all."

Alternatively, you could also have a word with Ashdown. If they did a tweetered version of the cab they will no doubt be happy to sell you a tweeter and x-over for you to fit yourself. That way, it would still look like an original Ashdown cab. Unlike most, Ashdown spares prices are quite reasonable.

Sorry, I haven't dealt with piezos for years, although I'm aware that there are quite big differences in the brands. The Fitzmaurice cab builders use them a lot and will no doubt be able to advise you. Dave Perry could be your man.

As icastle says, adding a single piezo is by far the easiest way to go - and shouldn't cost you more than a fiver. It's not going to be a perfect solution because it probably won't be quite loud enough, but it will give you that bit of tizz you are after. Just stick one on the top of your cab to see what you think. You'll need to try it wired in phase and out of phase to see which is louder. Adding a proper tweeter is a lot more complicated, easier to get wrong, and costs more.

Loved it!

Excellent video review. The amp sounds really nice.

You're right. Whether you wire them in series or parallel, the power handling doubles. Twice the wattage.