Speaker cable polarity

[jeffjones]

I used to play a Sadowsky RV5 into a Markbass Little Mark II into a Bag End S15. It sounded great. I just bought a Fender MIM Jazz bass 60's re-issue, passive, single coils. When I play it through the same set up, the attack is not round and fat, but sharp and thin. When I reverse the polarity of my speaker cable (swap the tip and sleeve wires on one end), I get the big fat round sound I had with the Sadowsky. Does anyone know why this is, and if there is another way (besides re-soldering my speaker cables) of fixing this issue. I also have noticed this in many other amps. My old SWR Studio 220, for example. When I would plug into the passive jack (with a stock '65 Fender Jazz), it sounded great, but when I plugged into the active jack, it would sound thin and the attack was sharp and unpleasant. Would they have reversed the polarity on the 2 input jacks? Anyway, I don't know if I am explaining this properly, but reversing the polarity of my speaker cable seems to make a huge difference in the sound.

[Selta]

[babebambi]

try a speakon cable, let us know how it goes

[PhiDeck]

So, Jeff, just to make sure we understand you...
You concluded that that the Fender didn't sound right because the speakers were sucking when they should have been blowing, and blowing when they should have been sucking?

How'd the Fender sound through headphones (with the speakers off)?

[tom-g]

Just to make sure I understand what is going on here. Are you talking about the cable between your bass and amp or the one between amp and speaker?

[DeadPoet]

I'd think there is something else going wrong here, 99% of people do not hear absolute polarity.


Herwig

[john m]

Speaker polarity is only and issue if using more than one speaker cabinet (assuming the internal wiring of each cabinet is correct). Speaker polarity with one cabinet might be an issue if you are also hooked into a PA and its subs are out of phase with your amp.

Using the wrong gain input on the bass amp could result in loss of sound. Use the highest gain available that does not result in overdriving the preamp (no distortion or clipping)

[lbwdog]

You really shouldn't hear any difference if using one speaker cab.

You sure the "placebo effect" isn't in play here?

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by lbwdog

You really shouldn't hear any difference if using one speaker cab.

+1. When there's only one cab there's no such thing as phase cancellations, only with two or more. There can be impedance loading issues with passive pickups into active inputs, but those also are not affected by a reverse polarity cable.

[DWBass]

I'd check the pickup/controls wiring. I don't think I'd be fooling around with the speaker cables. I'd be afraid I may smoke my amp. Having said that, I'd also make sure I'm using the correct Speakon cable.

[jeffjones]

I am using 1/4" cables. I don't know about all of the physics, but I can hear a definite difference. It's really more of an attack difference than a tone difference.

[Selta]

Nope, not buying it one bit.

[JackANSI]

Just play it how you like the sound of it..

[scotch]

Originally Posted by jeffjones

I am using 1/4" cables. I don't know about all of the physics, but I can hear a definite difference. It's really more of an attack difference than a tone difference.

Ummm. No. Sorry. I think you're tricking yourself into thinking you hear a difference.

[ThrashMaster]

maybe hes in that tiny part of the population that can hear absolute phase...

If so, youre like a unicorn or somethin man

[DWBass]

Originally Posted by jeffjones

I am using 1/4" cables. I don't know about all of the physics, but I can hear a definite difference. It's really more of an attack difference than a tone difference.

Gotcha! I still wouldn't fool around with the cable wiring. If there is such a big difference in sound, I'd go back to the electronics (pups/wiring) in the bass.

[Wes Whitmore]

This is weird for all of the reason stated above. I wonder what happens if you flip the bass 1/4" output jack's polarity? That would change the phase of the bass, so you could use all of the same cables all the way to the cab. It shouldn't make a difference though.

[Matthijs]

Is the effect unrelated to your position relative to the speaker or to the room your in? Thinking as a DB player, the only thing I can think of ,besides you imagining things, is some kind of acoustic or EM feedback from the speaker into the bass.

[UnexplodedCow]

I would also play with the pickup wiring scheme first, and ensure it's even wired properly. An out-of-phase speaker sounds a little funky to me, but I don't really notice unless I listen closely and play back and A/B against known in-phase cabs...so it's more placebo to me.
An out of phase pickup, however, I can tell the difference in, and I find out-of-phase not so pleasant, and very thin. Also, keep in mind the stock pickups on a Fender are not *imo* going to be the smoothest things out there, especially a lower model (Squire makes me cry for this reason).
It's also worth noting that reversing speaker polarity might have acoustic effects inside of the cabinet, leading to a perceived sound difference. I also read somewhere, a couple years ago, that speakers are not polarity based, but will operate properly regardless of polarity. I'm no physicist, but electromagnets seem to be polarized, which is pretty much what a speaker is.
A whole lot of speculation is here, but I'm more inclined to think something is up with the electronics in the bass, or possibly an EQ needs to be tweaked to compensate for the each bass. Sorry for the book post.

[jeffjones]

I swapped the wires at the speaker terminals, and everything sounds good. And I CAN hear the difference.