Distortion/OD with tweeters?

autodidact · #1 12-10-2011, 01:21 PM

I posted a thread a long time ago about using a bass cab as a guitar cabinet, it was fine as long as I disconnected the tweeter.

I suppose the question is: does the sane apply from bass? I tried out a Metal Muff on a bass at Guitar Center the other day and loved the sound but the amp I was playing was tweeterless. My set up is two 4x10s, both with tweeters that are unswitchable. Would it be a bad idea and risk blowing the tweeter with OD or distortion ?

seedokebass · #2 12-10-2011, 01:29 PM

What kind of cabs are they? I would think you could disconnect the tweeters, but I've never personally done it. Just blown them out unintentionally

autodidact · #3 12-10-2011, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seedokebass

What kind of cabs are they? I would think you could disconnect the tweeters, but I've never personally done it. Just blown them out unintentionally

I COULD disconnect them but I like having them on for the clean parts of songs, I like my grindy punk sound

autodidact · #4 12-10-2011, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seedokebass

What kind of cabs are they? I would think you could disconnect the tweeters, but I've never personally done it. Just blown them out unintentionally

Oh and Legion EMI-410 and an older Mesa PH410 without an attenuator

seedokebass · #5 12-10-2011, 01:52 PM

Can you get that tone without the tweeters on your rig? Boosting the 1k-4k range with a tweeter off might get you what you like...

FWIW, I use a Sansamp RBI into a Markbass head. I generally run the eq on the RBI flat, blend at 100%, gain to taste, and the presence at noon. I forget what frequency the presence is voiced at, but it does a great job of adding bite.

autodidact · #6 12-10-2011, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seedokebass

Can you get that tone without the tweeters on your rig? Boosting the 1k-4k range with a tweeter off might get you what you like...

FWIW, I use a Sansamp RBI into a Markbass head. I generally run the eq on the RBI flat, blend at 100%, gain to taste, and the presence at noon. I forget what frequency the presence is voiced at, but it does a great job of adding bite.

unfortunately my Hartke only has Low, Mid, and Treble so its a bit more difficult

gastric · #7 12-10-2011, 03:24 PM

I personally dislike the sound of horns when using drive effects. Plus nobody is mic'ing your tweeter, at least in a live stage setting.

Laurent · #8 12-11-2011, 09:29 AM

With enough power the distortion will blow up your tweeters.
I have always read it's NOT something to do.

That's why guitar cabs or combos don't have tweeters.

There are some posts on the topic in the amp section of Talk Bass.

chaosmic · #9 12-11-2011, 12:10 PM

I'm gonna go against the grain and say that I like using the tweeter on my Mesa PH212 with Fuzz/dirt. Most of the distinguishing character of fuzz is found in the higher frequencies in my experience. Without the tweeter, my fuzzes all sound way too similar. Plus, I've gigged for 10+ years and I can count on two hands the number of times my cab was mic'd. If you're like me and use a DI box live, then the full frequency response of your bass going through your effects is being sent to the front of house. To me, my amp/cab is nothing more than an onstage monitor. When my tweeter is on, I can get an accurate idea of what my sound is like out front. That allows me to dial my dirt boxes with the audience in mind. With that being said, some cabs with tweeters do sound horrible with dirt. My Mesa however does not. Just my 2 cents....

tech21nyc · #10 12-13-2011, 09:59 AM

It's your power section clipping that can fry your HF drivers. Not distortion from a pedal. This is very common with PA amps. If you use a power amp that doesn't have enough clean headroom you will generally blow a tweeter if you run the power amp into clipping. If all it took was the sound of a distorted guitar how would any PA system be able to amplify a distorted guitar amp?

If you run your system too hot you can blow anything. You really need to be aware of the limits of any system.

The downside to running a distorted fuzzy sound through a full range cab is that you will usually notice a great deal of "fizz." Distortion generates a great deal of harmonics that a typical guitar or bass speaker will attenuate. Once you add the horn you are now running full range and reintroduce those added harmonic overtones. This is not to say that you can't use distortion with a full range cab. You just need to be careful how you adjust the EQ. Our SansAmp products can be used quite easily with a full range cab as they are designed for direct use as well as with a traditional speaker system.

Oreomeister365 · #11 12-13-2011, 10:35 AM

I have the same problem. At the end of the day I think I'd rather have my tweeter on, though off isn't a terrible boon.

The darkglass B7k has a DI and apparently it sounds pretty good through it.

So this either meant that the B7k has a speaker sim type thing built into the DI or it's an OD that plays well with full range signals. I asked in the thread but got no replies so...maybe someone can chime in: how does the B3/7k gel with tweeters?