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Originally Posted by racecar5  The info on Duke's website is very good and technical. But, how about some real world users out there. Need your thoughts on amps and port plugs. Where is KJ I always respect his thoughts. |
Man, you are loaded for bear with amps and basses
OK, here are my thoughts, from doing many gigs with my TC115 with a number of different amps, most of which you own!
In general, you will find the TC115 a bit bigger down low than most other cabs, a bit less punchy since it doesn't have a significant upper bass/low mid rise like many cabs, and you will also find the upper midrange a bit cleaner and more 'relaxed'... zero 'grind' coming out of the cab. The treble extension is pretty similar to high quality cabs with tweeters.
So, a bit 'studio monitor' sounding, which for some styles is can sound a bit sterile to me. The good news is, your Eden, the Shuttle Max and to a lesser extent, the TH500 all have voicing and EQ that will get you most anywhere.
To start, I will say that the big, relaxed tone of the Streamliner did not work for me AT ALL with the Thunderchild cabs, no matter what I did with the gain and EQ ratio's. Just a bit too much of 'wide and relaxed' meets 'wide and relaxed' to me. If you are looking for punch and warmth, I would first focus on your other amps.
The Shuttle Max is heaven with the TC115. A bit of bass bump (which on that head primarily impacts upper bass, which is good for that cab), and it sounds pretty darn good. The upper mid brightness of that head kind of yin yangs with that cab to push it to sound a bit more 'two way bass cab traditional. Then, you can add more burp if you want with the low mid semi-parametric, and expand the deep low end as you like with the very nice variable lo filter. MM heaven with roundwounds!
Hard to not make that head work. Your Eden will get you to a similar place with a bit of upper mid boost, and a bit of boost in the low mids using the lowest semi-parametric EQ. Stay away from the enhance control
I've been gigging the TH500 with my P Bass and the TC115 a lot lately. Very nice. Use the upper treble roll-off switch (optional, but I like that with the P), dial down the treble a smidge, boost the bass a VERY small amount, and then boost the mids to upper midrange with the semi-parametric mid control (I typically boost at around 2 to 3 o'clock... which is approximately between 400-700hz, depending on the rooom. That kind of 'roughs up' the mid and upper mid response of that cab, which the P likes. (Edit: Also, remember that the drive control is not a 'distortion' knob on the TH500, but rather an 'old school knob), rolling off deep bass and upper treble simultaneously. I almost always have that engaged between 8 and 10 o'clock with the gain at moderate settings with the TC115 to tighten that low end up and 'warm up' the top end of that horn. Works GREAT with a P.
I've never felt the need to use the port plugs... all the heads I have do a good job of controlling the low end, so can't help you there. I believe the recommended way to use the port plugs is either all in (4), or 2 in on the diagonals to even out the airflow behind the drivers.
Hope that helps a little. The cab does take a bit of getting used to, since you can't really EQ this class of cabs to mimic the more typical bass cab tonality of that round low end and that bit of grit and brightness coming from the top of the driver IMO, but it sounds darn good in its own way.
