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Double Bass Accurate Bass Cab Without Hype

T

thesneakyjesus

Sep 17, 2006
214
1
Richmond VA
zandthejungleb.bandcamp.com
#1
I have two Bergantino HT 110 speaker cabinets that I love. I have realized though that they are bad choices for upright bass because they have very little midrange/high range clarity. They have huge low end that sounds sweet, but too much for upright.


I own an acoustic image clarus 2 and a walter woods and they both sound phenomenal. I have a german hand carved upright thats about 100 years old. I use a full circle pickup in a new bridge just made by Mike Shank. My string choice is always a struggle, but right now is top three evah and low E a ddario pizzacato.

I would like a little more clarity/punch out of my strings, maybe with spiros, but the sound out of the amp is still too muddy in general expecially walking at a quick tempo.


I would love a light cabinet like the whizzy 10, but want something I could have a pair of ( like the 10s I have now) so I could do a loud gig or electric bass gig with them. So low end is a must.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks
 
#3
thesneakyjesus said:
...they are bad choices for upright bass because they have very little midrange/high range clarity. They have huge low end that sounds sweet, but too much for upright.
Click to expand...
I was in the same position with my Eden 210XST - loved the smooth HiFi sound and extended lows for BG but it didn't work so well for upright. My fix was an Eden 112XLT - less extended low end but much more detail and punch in the mids.
I had originally planned to buy a bigger amp for loud gigs, but with this cab I hear myself so well I can get by fine with the one I have.
 
#4
Hi - I was surprised to hear you say that you don't get enough high and low mids from the HT 110. I think they are very punchy cabinets and also great for the double bass.

I suggest you try setting the EQ on your preamp differently and you should get the sound you want. Double bass really puts alot of emphasis on the mids. Try cutting you bass and treble EQ and boosting the mids. If you have a four band EQ, boost the low mids more than the high mids. The two heads that you have are lean sounding on the low end so getting cabs with less bottom would make the situation worse.

I have tried other cabinets. The Wizzy is good but the Berg is better. The Epi cab is also good but the Berg is better. The problem is Neo cabs overemphasize the mids and while they sound good for the double bass, they don't sound as good for the bass guitar.

If you want a little more umph and midrange punch , I recommend the Berg HT 112. It weights 39 pounds versus the 35 pounds of the HT 110. I happen to know someone selling one in excellent condition with a cover if you are interested. He is asking $395 plus shipping which is a very good deal. Let me know and I will send you the particulars.

Hope this helps. Best regards, Dave
 
#5
Check out Raezer's Edge "Bass 10" at about 22 lbs. I couldn't be more satisfied with mine. Doubling up with two Bass 10's would provide ample volume for those very loud gigs, I'd wager, with the great amps that you mentioned. RE also has a "Bass 12" at about 32 lbs. I'd rate it second to none, also.
 
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#9
thesneakyjesus said:
thanks for all the suggestions.

David
You never have problems with the berg and the upright? I think I might just need brighter strings? I duno. I need to do some A/Bing of some stuff.

There is almost no highs that come out of my cabinet though with the upright.
Click to expand...

I own (or have owned) those heads, the wizzy ten and the bergantino ht112. I can't say enough good things about the berght112.

Now, I haven't heard the berg ht110, but with either of those heads i can only imagine they can sound pretty darn tootin'. Not enough highs? Even with the tweeter cranked? hmmmm.

If you're itchin to try something new you *might* like the wizzy ten. It' got plenty of mids and healthy serving of highs IMO. plenty of punch.

You mentioned strings,but the right pickup might also be what you're looking for. Thomastik spiros you mentioned . . . those are definitely bright strings.

(ps - maybe more definition might come with using just your finger tip on your plucking hand and a lighter tug, but let's save that for the technique forum)

anyway, lots of ideas here. Usually I start with the cheapest and work from there (!)
 
#11
In addition to what's already been posted, I would recommend experimenting with the high pass filter on your Clarus. IME w/ some piezo pickups the lows just overwhelm those precious mids and muddy things up in some situations.

Also maybe see how the cab(s) sound if they are decoupled from the floor. Like up on an amp stand, chair, barstool.

Suggesting these experiments as a starter since they cost nothing.
 
#12
ser1960 said:
I can name you two: the first brand is HEVOS (http://www.hevos.nl/engels.html), they have a special page for double bass and the second one is AER (Invalid Link Removed). First one is Dutch but they do deliver in the US and the second one is from Germany. They are both great for acoustic basses. Best, Ser
Click to expand...

You've really used the Alpha with bass? I've wondered many times about the AER amps but always assumed that the smaller boxes (Compact 60, Compact Classic, Alpha) would not cut it for bass.
 
#15
Mike Arnopol said:
I really like the EA Wizzy 10 and especially the M-Line for upright
Click to expand...
+1. M-Line 12 Wizzy to be specific.

As far as the rest, the full circle I'm sure is fine. The evah's have been known to create amplification problems for some people/basses. When was the last time you tried Spirocores? Old dark basses really like them. My old dark bass sounded terrible with Evahs through an amp. With spirocores it sounds great.
 
#18
Yeah I can certainly agree w/ all the votes for the M-line. But still, per my previous post ... I use a HPF with mine. And I decouple it from the floor. Seems to really help balance out the overall sound and keeps the low end more manageable and more in line with my unamped sound. Maybe that's because I use an RS, and perhaps the FC is more balanced to start with, dunno.

Edit - I guess say if the Berg HT 110's w/ slab also have "very little midrange/high range clarity," then yeah it's the speaker. That would seem a little odd for 10's to me, but who knows. When I read "sound out of the amp is still too muddy" in the OP I thought HPF right away.

Heck, what do I know? Phil Jones. Glockenklang. :cool:
 
#19
I think I need to try some different strings.

Let me clarify though.

The bass has too much low end for the speaker. I think I should play with the high pass, that's a great idea. I like to raise the speaker, but not always an option you know?

THis bass through my school swr working man 12 sounds pretty good. A little more lo fi, a little more presense, but still not the amount of clarity I would really like. It's so hard to describe these things over the internet. I am just going to take the suggestions and try stuff.


Uncletoad
I've never tried sprios on this bass. Just evahs and heritage. I've read about all your experimentatio and think it's time for me to try spiros.

Does the low E bow better than a ddario pizzacatto low E?
 
#20
thesneakyjesus said:
Uncletoad
I've never tried sprios on this bass. Just evahs and heritage. I've read about all your experimentatio and think it's time for me to try spiros.

Does the low E bow better than a ddario pizzacatto low E?
Click to expand...
I don't know about the Pizzacatto strings anymore. Been to many years since I tried and disliked them.

I think the Spiro Mittel E and Stark E are two great strings and just fine under the bow. YMMV.
 

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