AMPS FAQ!! Info on OHMS, Allsize RIGS-OverUnderPowerCabs DIY TechTalk-Links

**IvanMike** · #1 02-18-2005, 06:28 PM

Clink on the links below to view threads on the most frequently asked questions and topics in the amps forum.

If you have threads or links to contribute to this section, please feel free to PM an AMP mod for inclusion!

This thread is currently a work in progress. more links will be added and more linked threads will be started with the purpose of posing generic questions and lettign TB members chime in with answers. Please post responses to these threads as you feel is appropriate

Warning! Some of these topics are objective and to the point. Most are on much more subjective matters. The one thing you won't get in those threads is a single definitive answer. Like most subjective isssues, you're going to get a lot of opinions, hopefully most of which are based upon real world experience. The point of having threads like this linked in the FAQ sticky is to give users a starting point. Just like in an individal and specific thread, these threads will contain a wide variety of answers and viewpoints. Hopefully after reading threads like these a user will be able to come back to the forum with a better understanding of the issue (even if the understanding they gain is that no one can agree on the subject - ), and a more prepared assesment and explanation of their particular needs and situation.

Ohms & Impedance - how many cabs can I use with my amp and what does all this mean???

Starting point - suggestions for lightweight rigs for easy transport

Instrument cable for a speaker?

How safe is it to run an amp without a power condtioner?

Running amp without speakers? Good idea?

Learning amp repair

Technical Books, Online resources for learning Amp Repair

Good amp techs (member recommendations)

NEW!!!!! Bass Guitar Amplifier Knowledge Base site by Joris!

Does your rig really matter?

Soundmen - your DI or theirs? and other issues

Best advice ever given on TB - "which should i upgrade 1st? bass? amp? cab? check out this one post answer"

Why not use midrange drivers instead of tweeters in a bass cab?

Reality check on amp prices, performance, etc

Show your amps

TalkBass AmpFAQ by Joris

deos "clipping" hurt speakers? - read the whole thing, it gets heated.

My subjective opinions on amps - Ivanmike

Which is more important, the head or cabinet?

What heads can handle a 2 ohm load?

EQ - what do the different frequencies sound like?

How many watts and cabinets do i need to gig with?

Combo amps - pros and cons

Is there an easy way to move my amp? my back's killing me!

Rackmount rigs - what the heck are they and what's in them??

Rigs for both upright and electric bass

the cure for GAS - how not to lose sleep over gear you lust after, and save $$$

Bass Through Guitar Gear

I've heard of using a bass amp for a g**tar, but a bass through g**tar speakers?

Playing electric guitar through a bass amp (please dont hate me)

Can i play a standard guitar through my Bass amp?

Tube Amp Specific Discussions

Tube amps VS solid state amps - which is better and why?

Tube watts

Are Tube amps louder than Solid State?

Favorite Preamp Tubes

What's the best tube amp?

Over/Underpowering Cabs

Can you blow a speaker with too much "clean" power?

Can You Damage A Cab By Underpowering It: The Poll!

Am I underpowering my setup here? Please help

underpowering cabs

Amp output and cab power, dumb question

I'm about to underpower this cab to the max

under-powering?

overpower or underpower, a hypothetical..

underpower/overpower revisited

Technical and Design Discussions

Mixing Speakers and Phase Response courtesy of billfitzmaurice

Bass Frequency/Waterfall Plots: What They Mean To Bass Rig Designs

A Paper on Near Field Line Arrays

The Meyers Paper on Line Array Field Theory

Technical discussion pages from TB'er fdeck:
Three pages on the physics and math behind Thiele-Small theory:

http://personalpages.tds.net/~fdeck/bass/speaker.pdf
http://personalpages.tds.net/~fdeck/bass/kpro10a.pdf
http://personalpages.tds.net/~fdeck/bass/phase.pdf

Notes and free tools for response measurement:

Note on measurement:
http://personalpages.tds.net/~fdeck/bass/measure.pdf

Free spectrum analysis software:
http://personalpages.tds.net/~fdeck/bass/freesa.zip

Open source speaker design program:
http://personalpages.tds.net/~fdeck/bass/speaker.xls

History Lesson, ThunderFunk/SWR/Eden

Speaker Size Discussions

Does speaker size matter?

Speaker Size

Does speaker size effect tone or just volume?

speaker dust cap: size, shape and the effect thereof

Is there an ideal speaker size on a bass combo amp?

Speaker Size and Wattage

Favorite speaker size and why...

15" speaker tone...Size does matter.

Speaker size & changes in technology

Speaker size characteristics

Poll: What Size Speakers Do You Mainly Use?

Speaker size vs sound

Mixing Speaker Cab Sizes. 10's with 12's or 15's? Read the definitive answer.

Resources for DIY Speaker Cabinet and Amp Builders Including Builds by TB Members, Useful links and Speaker Design Freeware

WinISD Download, a state of the art freeware speaker design program, with many built in T/S parameters available. START here, this is a must have program for the cab designer.
http://www.linearteam.dk/default.aspx?pageid=winisd

A quick roundup of some TB DIY Builds:

DIY Lightweight Composite Cab Build II - ZL1263, 3-way by Zac2944

DIY 6x10 Build Thread by nebzero

DIY 12"+8" by Feast

DIY 2x10" by michabass

DIY 4x10" and 1x15"by Snakeman1066

DIY Lightweight Composite 2x10" by zac2944

DIY Schroeder 1210 copy by modulus763

DIY 1x15" by MojoBenny

DIY 2x10" by Roundwound

DIY 15"+6" by jock

DIY Hi-Fi 3/2 Way Rig (8" is enough) by spodemaster

DIY A $160 Fullrange 1x12 Cabinet. Build by Schecter4.

DIY Upgrade of the Rat Shack 2x12 Music Cab to a
2x12 Ported Bass Speaker Cabinet by Thor

Show your DIY Cabs - TB Thread

A new compiled section on Greenboy's fEARful 15/6 designs

greenboy's fEarful™ 12/6 & 15/6 bass enclosure designs - FREE! - the discussion thread
greenboy's fEarful™ 12/6 & 15/6 bass enclosure designs - FREE! - the download area
fEarful™ 12/6 Cutkit Assembly by Supertanker
Main Wiki Article on fEarful Cabinets on Talkbass Wiki.
Wiki article on fEARful build by Burning Skies
Thread on construction of fEARful enclosure by Andyman on Woodnet. Basic cab construction example.
Wiki Comments on the enclosure build directly above by the cab designer.

Build discussion links and tools:

A Speaker Design by fdeck

Building your own speaker cabinet - how & why, pros & cons

http://www.bcae1.com/ - Lots of basic info on crossovers, electronics, sound, physics, etc.

Passive Crossover Designer Freeware, easily downloadable, runs on Excel.

http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/FAQ/XOver/ - Crossover calculator and design info.

http://www.diyaudio.com/

http://eminence.com/resources/cabinets.asp
Eminence's reference designs for many of their drivers:
Big and small box, ported and sealed.

Eminence Speaker Wiring Diagram

Designing and Building a Bass Guitar Cabinet

Archived E-V TL Bass Cab Plans .pdf's available
for free download from the Telex Site.

Best Little Bass Speaker Cabinet

Article by Len Moskowitz from Speaker Builder Magazine
Published in 1994, a 1/10 cab build suitable for a Low B.Good Technical discussion,
but the Peerless Woofer and Midrange are no longer in production.

Duncan's Amp Pages
Not really bass guitar specific, but some decent info

Speaker Building Software

Building a High End Enclosure

U.S. Speaker
http://www.usspeaker.com/speaker%20wiring-1.htm

Parts Express Speaker Building

http://www.billfitzmaurice.com/.

http://www.eminence.com/resources/wiring.asp

http://archives.telex.com/archives/EV/Builders%20Plans/ Older info.

http://www.duncanamps.com/zips/speaker5.xls

Speaker Design Basics

Box Design Links
Lots of links here, seem to be geared more towards car audio, good info.

Article on Power Ratings

http://woodworking.about.com - Basic Woodworking Tips and Info./

Save wood, prototype your cabinet design in Free Google Sketchup:
http://sketchup.google.com/
You can find speaker cabinet examples under File->3d Warehouse

One you've drawn your cabinet, you can calculate the internal volume using one of the "Volume" calculators at:
http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibrary...m_geo_page.htm
Hint: Temporarily plug the end of ports so they won't be considered in the calculated volume.

To derive a cut list for plywood and other wood components take a look at "Cut List" plugin. http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/daltxguy/blog/5143

Some Speaker manufacturers sites with design info for PA or Instrument woofers:

18 Sound - Only PA, no instrument cab designs.
http://www.eighteensound.com/index.a...&mainMenu=kits

B&C - Only PA, no instrument cab designs.
http://www.bcspeakers.com/page.php?id=22

Beyma - Complete design catalog, primarily PA-centric. Individual .pdf or .cad files can be found at the second link.
http://profesional.beyma.com/ingles/...esigns2008.pdf
http://profesional.beyma.com/frameset_ingles.php

Ciare - PA, guitar and bass specific designs.
http://www.ciare.com/consumer_en/gui...ofessional.htm

Fane - Only PA, no instrument cab designs.
http://www.fane-international.com/resources.asp

P.Audio, Peavey, Pyle, Radian - No desgins, as the make and sell their own enclosures.

RCF - Only two suggested subwoofer designs.
http://www.rcfaudio.com/vediMacro.ph...ggestedDesign/

Amp/Pre-Amp DIY Builds and discussion threads.

Bass pre-amp kits:anybody ever build one?

Building my own Pre-amp? Includes nice schematics and links!

New DIY project in the works - Ampeg B-50R Bass Pre-amp. Includes schematics, pics and links.

A DIY rack pre-amp build by Passinwind.

A DIY Tube Line Driver by Passinwind

fdeck's new Bo-Teek DIY Pre-Amp with schematic
link

A 1u Rack Space DIY Pre-Amp by Passinwind

***

Thanks to all TB members, too numerous to mention, who have contributed links, info, personal pages and threads for inclusion in the Amps FAQ resource section.

note to self: need threads for preamps, poweramps, how to set up an amp rig/rack rig, pre/power vs heads and whatever else someone PM's me with

**bassybill** · #2 08-28-2008, 02:58 AM

Just added some extra info to the above post and rearranged topics slightly.

If anyone has any suggestions for the FAQ section, please let us know.

**Kelly Lee** · #3 08-28-2008, 10:54 AM

Great job Bill!

**bassybill** · #4 08-28-2008, 12:36 PM

Well, it's a start, Kelly - I think there's a fair bit more that could be done in this regard to bring IvanMike's original work of art up to date. You'll have also seen my PM indicating why I rejigged some of this stuff. But I'm going to wait and see what folks suggest before revamping it wholesale.

Once it's up to date, we can refer to it with the confidence we had in it in days gone by and then REALLY bash anyone who posts a question that shows they haven't read it!

Actually, IvanMike was really good on this sort of stuff, it will be a big asset to the forum when he's able to spend the time to visit regularly again. Watch this space, folks - he's coming back!