Do you really not hear the low fundamental on a B, E whatever down low?

[King David]

OK, for the record, I am not intendiing to start a cussing match or open the can of worms. Some people say that you do not really hear a low B as much as you hear the harmonics. I am not sure I believe that. I am not saying it is not true, but I need some convincing. Can you convince me in english?

How can I test it?

[Stuggi]

You could hook up a signalgenerator to a speaker and set it to output a sinewave at a specific hertz. The low E on the BG is around 40 Hz, so you would then just step down from there, herz by herz...

[bongomania]

It's not that "no-one can hear it", but rather "most speaker cabs cannot reproduce sub-40Hz signals at anywhere near the loudness of the frequencies above 40Hz or thereabouts".

So when we hear earth-shaking low bass from a speaker cab, in most cases what we are actually hearing is low mids, often resonating with the room which amplifies their intensity.

There are cabs which can reproduce the sub-40Hz signals at levels closer to the higher freqs, but (a) they require a massive amount of wattage to do so, and (b) then it becomes a question of how good your hearing is.

[T-Bird]

Hi, King David.

Originally Posted by King David

Can you convince me in english?

How can I test it?

1.Google WinISD (a cab designing software)

2.Choose a site to dowload it from.

3.Download and install.

4.Start the prog and go to the "utilities" / "signal generator"

5.Choose a freq and click start.

6.Fiddle with the freq and the mode: fix/sweep.

This all assumes that You have some kind of a Hi-Fi system attached to Your computer, but we love music, so don't we all

If You want to test Your amp/cab just buy/make a suitable 1/8 -> 1/4 cable to connect Your computer to Your amp.

Be surprised.

Regards
Sam

[metron]

I had a moog low pass filter pedal which could resonate and act as what is essentially a sine wave generator. It also had a sweepable frequency that went down to 20 Hz according to the dial. Between roughly 35-40 Hz the signal gets quite weak depending on the speaker. Even if the speakers I was using were tuned lower I dont suspect I would hear much around 30 or below due to my ears. You really have to hear it, its quite interesting.

As a side note what was more surprising to me was how near dog whistle like the high end of the sine wave was at about 12kHz. It hurt my ears. Most people think there is something substantial to be heard going up to 20kHz but there really is very little if any. Especially with electric bass.

[bgavin]

It's easy to test.

If you have a 31-band equalizer, kill everything below 62 Hz. This is the 2nd harmonic for low B. If the bottom drops out, and the sound becomes thin then you are losing something down low. If not, your cab is probably not producing the fundamental.

If you have access to playing your bass through high quality HiFi speakers, especially a home theater and subwoofer setup, this test will show you even more.

[King David]

I found this. I'll give it a try.
http://homerecording.about.com/od/ho...test_tones.htm

[Liko]

+1 Bongomania; this hits the nail on the head. You can both hear and feel 40Hz waves rather easily. The problem is twofold; bass frequencies naturally do not sound as loud as treble (they are lower energy waves by their very definition; at the same amplitude, there are half the peaks in a 40Hz signal vs. an 80Hz, therefore half the energy), and in addition the response efficiency of a cone speaker is reduced at its extremes. Therefore, you need twice the power per octave as you go lower, and you also need more power to overcome the lessened frequency response of the speakers.

This in most cases is done with the PA. You plug in direct, your amp produces the highs and the board boosts the lows through its subwoofers.

Now, I've never thought of my B-string as a tool for ultra-low frequencies (that B is a B0; 30.87Hz, just 11Hz above the human-audible lower limit). I think of it instead as a tool to increase flexibility. Adding one string makes two-octave scales possible with only one hand shift. You get far more in terms of fingering possibilities than you do in added range.

Why then do I prefer a low B to the high C string in a fiver configuration? First, when playing just the EADG on a fiver, it's far easier to forget a B-string exists than the C-string (that BTW is also why I don't currently play 6-string bass). Second, many songs were written in drop D, which a standard fiver can very easily play using standard patterns, while a tenor bass with the high c would need to drop. Low D is by no means inaudible, and it's very accessible on a fiver.

[seamonkey]

I can hear the fundamental. Put on some good headphones and play with the EQ like Bgavin pointed out.

Most everyone can hear in the fundamental even if it's not there:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_fundamental


Myself, I like a cabinet that can reproduce the fundamental of low E, but most all of the audience and fellow musicians don't really care.

[alexclaber]

If you play a 10Hz tone into a cab that cannot reproduce that frequency (of which there are none) then you will still hear sound being reproduced. Why? Because the speaker distortion will create harmonics above that 10Hz tone which are within the capabilities of the cab. So playing a 30Hz tone through a cab may only prove that it reproduces 60Hz upwards.

Bass waves are not lower energy than treble waves, quite the converse in fact in typical music.

Alex

[rockstarbassist]

Originally Posted by Liko

+1 Bongomania; this hits the nail on the head. You can both hear and feel 40Hz waves rather easily. The problem is twofold; bass frequencies naturally do not sound as loud as treble (they are lower energy waves by their very definition; at the same amplitude, there are half the peaks in a 40Hz signal vs. an 80Hz, therefore half the energy), and in addition the response efficiency of a cone speaker is reduced at its extremes. Therefore, you need twice the power per octave as you go lower, and you also need more power to overcome the lessened frequency response of the speakers.

This in most cases is done with the PA. You plug in direct, your amp produces the highs and the board boosts the lows through its subwoofers.

Now, I've never thought of my B-string as a tool for ultra-low frequencies (that B is a B0; 30.87Hz, just 11Hz above the human-audible lower limit). I think of it instead as a tool to increase flexibility. Adding one string makes two-octave scales possible with only one hand shift. You get far more in terms of fingering possibilities than you do in added range.

Why then do I prefer a low B to the high C string in a fiver configuration? First, when playing just the EADG on a fiver, it's far easier to forget a B-string exists than the C-string (that BTW is also why I don't currently play 6-string bass). Second, many songs were written in drop D, which a standard fiver can very easily play using standard patterns, while a tenor bass with the high c would need to drop. Low D is by no means inaudible, and it's very accessible on a fiver.

+1 on that. I use my B b/c it sounds better from 2nd fret/A string -> up than on the A, and ease of use w/out having to switch positions on the bass.
If you have a decently-powered FOH PA, that type of response isn't a necessity, which isn't exactly what you're asking (the OP), as if you have any kind of IEMs, you'll just be "feeling it" more than hearing it.
The FOH subs were made to slam and go low, whereas your bass cab (unless you're playing w/ subs and have them adequately powered) isn't. Most are made/tuned for the 4-string player in mind.