Dealing with tweetered cabs

[SwamiRob]

I really like the shimmering top end of a tweetered cab in the right context, however in the 2 bands I'm in at the moment, I really don't want anything to do with them. I like to have plenty of high mid definition in both those bands, however when I've been at gigs where I've had tweetered cabs,m I've struggled to deal with them to varying degrees.

Obviously it doesn't help that the tweeters in most available cabs are gash, but I can't seem to get that nice pick clank, and only get the really clicky stuff, even with a treble roll off and boosting high mids, or turning the teeter down/off and trying to force them by doing alot of boosting to all of them.

It's especially bad with the band where I use always on overdrive, I've got a fancy Vfe RUP pedal which I use to have very clean high mids and top, mostly clean bass and growly driven midrange. But even though I have the overdriven signal rolling off from about 1k upward I still get fizz and the clean top end sounds harsh.

Is there any clever tricks for getting a smoother top end. and filling that gap between mid-mids and treble that seems to appear on a typical tweetered cab? Or are those frequencies just been sucked straight into the crossover, so your only choice is having them with alot of extra ultra high stuff too or not at all?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='SwamiRob' timestamp='1464619971' post='3060841']
Is there any clever tricks for getting a smoother top end. and filling that gap between mid-mids and treble that seems to appear on a typical tweetered cab?
[/quote]Yes. Get a cab that uses a four to eight inch midrange driver instead of a tweeter. The problem with tweeters is that they typically work only above 3.5kHz, some much higher than that, while what you need is for them to start working no higher than 2kHz. There is a bass specific tweeter that will work to 2kHz with a 4th order crossover, the Eminence BGH-25, but I'm not aware of any cab manufacturer that uses it, so at this point it's a DIY proposition.

[Dood]

The way I have managed to get round fizzy top end when it's gear I can't mess with, is to use a speaker emulator type pedal on the distortion side of things. I bought a Fender Micro DI (which is just a rebadged Mooer pedal for less money) and found that it has been useful for such a job. It doesn't do any clever IR function sor anything like that, basically it's just a steep EQ in a DI pedal that can be engaged to simulate a 4x12 guitar cabinet. Works quite well with bass too and have found that the roll off means heavy distortion sounds a bit more like you'd hope. Of course, there are way more expensive units out there that do all manner of amplifier / cabinet simulations to a much better degree, but it's a little box I keep in my toolkit just in case!

[tonyxtiger]

If you're running a RUP I'm guessing your pretty particular about gain levels across the spectrum. Not a bad thing either so +1 on the cab sim or any type of LPF to let you roll off high end steeply. The new Fuzzrocious Feed me would let you do that, and a few other things tone wise.
Alternately just get a cab without a tweeter and use that.
If you're using a sound with drive most of the time I'd even go as far as avoiding a cab with a small midrange cone. It's not as bad as a tweeter but when you hit the drive it's like the mid cone suddenly becomes way louder and it's still pretty shrill and separate sounding.
I've used a Berg15 with a mid cone and a Baer 12 with a mid cone and it was the same.
Most 10 based cabs will have a tweeter so grab a tweeterless cab with 12s or 15s which will naturally roll off earlier and will give you a much more pleasing distortion.
Plenty guys out there with a mid heavy gainy tone using 15s.

[Lightlyseared]

I recently got Baers for similar reasons. Changing to a mid loaded cab requires a rethink of how you EQ the rest of your rig (basically use your ears not your eyes) but I am now in the nice pick (as opposed to ice pick?) clank zone. With full on fuzz something more old school would probably sound better (think JJ's Hiwatt cabs) but I think you want something more articulate.

[SwamiRob]

Sorry just to clarify this is using other peoples cabs at gigs when borrowing equipment, the speaker sim thing sounds cool. Perhaps the trouble might be negated a little when I have this fancy overdrive through my mid band on the RUP as I've found the distortion a bit too rough on it's own (I've currently been using a Daddy-O which is cool but a bit fizzy on the highmids):

[url="http://www.vfepedals.com/the-scream.html"]http://www.vfepedals...the-scream.html[/url]

It has 2 filters to take out top end both pre (filter) and post gain (tone), and the frequency of the post gain treble roll off can be centred anywhere between 1-7k, so that should help alot if I keep that on the lower side of things right? The main problem with the harshness coming out is gonna be mostly from the top end of the overdriven midrange? If I can get rid of that and then cut the treble on my amp to smooth out the clean high end then I should be in a bit of a better position when I have to use a tweeter.


My cab is a Berg 2x15, but before I got my new head and RUP sorted, our practice room got screwed by the flooding in Leeds in January, so I've not actually had a chance to use it with it. Love that cab, and I'm hoping if it can be saved that the clean top end will be really sweet through there, and if I can cut out most of the upper mids from my driven/distorted bit of my signal that could work out quite well. Plus hopefully it'll improve the tone on my DI signal too. That's if the guy that generously said he'd take a look at it ever has the spare time to do so.

If it's dead I think it's time for a barefaced 6x10 though, somehow affording it...

Edited May 30, 2016 by SwamiRob

[Dan Dare]

I like Bill's idea. I use a Phil Jones 4x5 cab with my 15. Adds mid-hi clarity without that tweeter sizzle I hate.

Edited June 2, 2016 by Dan Dare

[SwamiRob]

The Berg I have is a 2x15 with a 6 mid driver, whether it makes it is another matter