Where is the "thump"?

MLChief · #1 04-08-2011, 11:47 AM

I have had a number of bass amps over the years, all great sounding. Howeverthat heavy bass "thump" is something that has eluded me. How do I get it? Is it a special effect pedal, an EQ pedal or what?
I am currently using a Yorkville Bass Master 200, with 2x10
and a tweeter. A great amp.
Anyone got suggestiuons?

guroove · #2 04-08-2011, 11:49 AM

Any ampeg amp with an "ultra-low" switch.

Oraflora · #3 04-08-2011, 11:50 AM

Is there a player or band that sounds like what you are trying to describe?

If you can, post a link to youtube.

Is the 'thump' a live sound or recorded sound you are hearing?

jumbodbassman · #4 04-08-2011, 11:51 AM

15 inch speaker...

Vinny D · #5 04-08-2011, 11:52 AM

Could be multiple reasons / issues why you are not getting the thump you are looking for.
But one way to help fix it is more drivers, add another cab to what you have and see if it gets you closer to the sound you are looking for.

Oraflora · #6 04-08-2011, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinny D

Could be multiple reasons / issues why you are not getting the thump you are looking for.
But one way to help fix it is more drivers, add another cab to what you have and see if it gets you closer to the sound you are looking for.

I agree....a 210 isn't going to give you a lot of low end typically.

I use a 410 (eden) with an eden head, and that has plenty of "thump" - though I usually dial as much of that out as I can, just my preference though.

Stumbo · #7 04-08-2011, 12:06 PM

Seems like you're only getting less than 200 watts out of your rig since the amp is rated at 2 ohms and the cab is rated at 4 ohms. Adding another 4 ohm cab to your rig would move a lot more air and get you more volume. I don't know about the "thump" but at least you could try. Maybe adding a 4ohm 4x10 or 2x15 would get you there? Possibly Yorkville has a cab with similar efficiency that would work to provide a balance sound.

You could take your combo to a few music stores and try it out with various extension cabs before spending your cash. Try out some fretted basses as well.

With the basses you have(from your profile) - Dean 5 string acoustic-fretless, Beatle bass-fretless, upright bass, I don't know how much "thump" you'll get out of them. What type of gigs are you playing? Maybe you're looking for the old-school P-Bass tone? I'd also play with the e.q. during rehearsal to see what you can come up with.

As suggested, find a recording with the tone you're looking for and then look into what bass/rig was used on the recording.

Yorkville specs:

* Cab impedance: 4 ohms
* Minimum impedance: 2 ohms
* Power: 200 watts
* Speaker: 2 x 10" for XM200T
* Piezo horn tweeter
* Limiter
* Hum and noise: -90dB unweighted/-94dB weighted
* Input channels: one
* Controls: Volume, bass, lo-mid, hi-mid, treble, scoop contour

* Switches: limiter off/on, DI out pre/post EQ, mute
* Effects loop (front panel)
* XLR line out, pre or post EQ
* Extension speaker out (rear panel)
* Headphone jack (unbalanced line out)
* Thermal and short circuit protection
* LED indicator for power on
* XM200T dimensions: 22" W x 23"H x 14"D - weight: 58 lbs.

Russell L · #8 04-08-2011, 01:07 PM

I had a Peavey Mark IV head that had an eq slider that was 100 Hz. To me, that was thump. I would boost it a bit always.

wshines1892 · #9 04-08-2011, 01:10 PM

a lot of people use words like that differently. To me, thump is low end that you can feel in you chest. I have a 63 Hz knob on my amp head that gives me plenty of "thump."

John Wentzien · #10 04-08-2011, 01:15 PM

To my ear the thump is in the low-mids.......125-150HZ

badstonebass · #11 04-08-2011, 01:41 PM

A LOT of thump is in your technique as well.

JUSTINKP · #12 04-08-2011, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guroove

Any ampeg amp with an "ultra-low" switch.

Ah! That's what that is for on my ampeg pf-500 head!!! I never knew that. I shouldn't be using that all the time right? Or can I through an entire song?

Russell L · #13 04-08-2011, 08:45 PM

I have found some thump by playing nearer the fingerboard. It makes my strings feel like they're made of rubber.

steelhead2 · #14 04-08-2011, 08:52 PM

in fact a need a room bigger than 12x12 to actually enjoy it thru a 4x10 cab so i'm buying an 18 cab,blow a wall or two out of the(stinkin) way!,,and i'll,?,still need a bigger room

but it's all in good fun

walterw · #15 04-08-2011, 09:29 PM

"thump" to me means "percussive low end", and that takes power. to get more of it, you need more wattage and more/better speakers. EQ won't get it if the rig's not strong enough to produce it.

it's like trying to get your car to be faster; it won't matter what tires you buy, you need more horsepower and torque.

the phrase for amplification (and automobiles) is "there's no replacement for displacement."

Mojo-Man · #16 04-08-2011, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MLChief

I have had a number of bass amps over the years, all great sounding. Howeverthat heavy bass "thump" is something that has eluded me. How do I get it? Is it a special effect pedal, an EQ pedal or what?
I am currently using a Yorkville Bass Master 200, with 2x10
and a tweeter. A great amp.
Anyone got suggestiuons?

Genz Benz Streamliner Amp. any good 2x15 4 ohm cab.
Add P-bass flats=Massive Thump.

testing1two · #17 04-08-2011, 11:19 PM

Personally I think this is an issue of cabinet tuning and speaker design, even more so than power. The traditional cab design adage goes something like this: loud, low, light -- pick two.

Most manufacturers pick loud and light for a number of reasons but the primary result is that the cab dimensions are smaller resulting in a higher tuning (speaker choice is also a major factor). In the case of the Yorkville, the BM200 is only 13 inches deep. Compare that to an Eden Metro which is almost 19" deep and has two shelf ports and you'll see that the Yorkville just isn't designed to be voiced as deep. FYI - the Eden is tuned to go down to 48Hz (+/- 2dB).

That said once you have a cabinet that is designed to go low enough to thump, Walter's point about power comes into play because all this ultra-low energy requires more power and excessively more power to reproduce at high SPL without distortion. Back to the previous comparison, as Stumbo pointed out, the Yorkville is delivering less than 200 watts (you only get the full 200 with a 4 ohm extension cab) compared to the Eden's 500 watts (750w with a 4 ohm extension cab).

So you need two things: cabinets designed to thump and enough power to drive them based on the SPL requirements of your gigs.

selftitled907 · #18 04-10-2011, 04:59 PM

I used to play on an SWR 210C combo amp that was giving me the same problem...not enough "thump" for my taste. i then went and bought a boss GBE-7 (7 band EQ pedal w/ the super low 50hz slider) solved all my problems. as that allowed me to raise that particular spectrum of the low end and those 2 10s came to life with "thump".

cheers and good luck finding your sound.

and like stated before....it will help to adjust while playing with the band. as when i got the sound i liked with the band....it sounded like crap when playing alone. just a heads up.

-Gabe