So, my biggest pet peeve about bass amps is knobs, switches,ect that have an effect on your tone, but have stupid, non-descriptive names or are poorly explained in the manual.
why not just use a three knob or a 12 band graphic? why all the Voodoo?
Example:MosValve REAL TUBE 3300 SERIES & 3175 BASS AMPS
Excerpt from the manual: CONTOUR Forms a gentle over-all bass-response slope across the most active bass frequencies.
Very useful in compensating for stage size and room acoustics.
one knob labeled Contour with a very poorly described function. AARGH!!
Example: TECH 21's RBI:
Excerpt from manual
resence Brings out the upper harmonic content and attack. For a smoother high end and for
clean settings, decrease to taste.
***??? MOJO KNOB? CARROTS I SAY!!!
Finally, my all time most despised knob
Example: SWR Aural Enhancer:
Excerpt from Common feature page, Support Section, SwrSound.com: Aural Enhancer
The Aural Enhancer has been a feature on nearly every SWR amplifier since the company's inception in 1984, and is a trademark part of the "SWR Sound" people have come to know and love. It was developed to help bring out the fundamental low notes of the bass guitar, to enhance high-end transients and to reduce certain frequencies that help mask the fundamentals. The result is a more transparent sound, especially noticeable when slapping and popping, and it can give a passive bass an "active" quality when set at two o'clock" or higher.
The Aural Enhancer works as a variable tone curve that changes depending on how you set it. As you increase the control clockwise from the "MIN" position, you're elevating a whole range of sound (lows, mids and highs) at a variety of frequency points selected specifically because they're different than those selected for the individual tone controls.
This remains true up to about the two o'clock position. This positiona favorite for many usersbrings out the low-end fundamentals and crisp highs. At the same time, it adds a little lower midrange to help cut through the band. If you go further clockwise past the two o'clock position, however, selected mids will start to drop off; specifically, a group of frequencies centered around 200Hz. At this point and beyond, the effect becomes much more pronounced, but the curves involved here are gentle as opposed to the extreme curves you can create by boosting or cutting the active tone controls (EQ).
Most significantly for basses, the Aural Enhancer will help bring out the fundamentals of your lower registers without masking them with overtones, as is possible when using the Bass control only. It also opens up the sibilance characteristics of all instruments without being harsh.
Obviously, numbers and curves and circuits mean nothing compared to what you hear with your own ears. Play a chord, a repeated lick or a harmonic, and adjust the Aural Enhancer to various points to hear the effect for yourself. As always, your ears are the best judge when it comes to settings that affect the tone of your instrument.
This tells me essentially nothing about what the feature really does!!! The only hard data is that past the 2:00 setting, some mids are dropped, specifically the ones around 200hz
Seriously, any one else sick of this stuff? Give me a nice graphic e.q., semi or fully parametric eq, or don't bother and leave me the three knobs an go.
I like the way Carvin did the eq for the b 1500 :
Excerpt from manual for Carvin B1500: Tone Controls: ±12dB @ 30, 100, 300, 1k, 3k, 10k (Hz)
Bam. That's sweet. Why all the obfuscation?
why not just use a three knob or a 12 band graphic? why all the Voodoo?
Example:MosValve REAL TUBE 3300 SERIES & 3175 BASS AMPS
Excerpt from the manual: CONTOUR Forms a gentle over-all bass-response slope across the most active bass frequencies.
Very useful in compensating for stage size and room acoustics.
one knob labeled Contour with a very poorly described function. AARGH!!
Example: TECH 21's RBI:
Excerpt from manual
resence Brings out the upper harmonic content and attack. For a smoother high end and forclean settings, decrease to taste.
***??? MOJO KNOB? CARROTS I SAY!!!
Finally, my all time most despised knob
Example: SWR Aural Enhancer:
Excerpt from Common feature page, Support Section, SwrSound.com: Aural Enhancer
The Aural Enhancer has been a feature on nearly every SWR amplifier since the company's inception in 1984, and is a trademark part of the "SWR Sound" people have come to know and love. It was developed to help bring out the fundamental low notes of the bass guitar, to enhance high-end transients and to reduce certain frequencies that help mask the fundamentals. The result is a more transparent sound, especially noticeable when slapping and popping, and it can give a passive bass an "active" quality when set at two o'clock" or higher.
The Aural Enhancer works as a variable tone curve that changes depending on how you set it. As you increase the control clockwise from the "MIN" position, you're elevating a whole range of sound (lows, mids and highs) at a variety of frequency points selected specifically because they're different than those selected for the individual tone controls.
This remains true up to about the two o'clock position. This positiona favorite for many usersbrings out the low-end fundamentals and crisp highs. At the same time, it adds a little lower midrange to help cut through the band. If you go further clockwise past the two o'clock position, however, selected mids will start to drop off; specifically, a group of frequencies centered around 200Hz. At this point and beyond, the effect becomes much more pronounced, but the curves involved here are gentle as opposed to the extreme curves you can create by boosting or cutting the active tone controls (EQ).
Most significantly for basses, the Aural Enhancer will help bring out the fundamentals of your lower registers without masking them with overtones, as is possible when using the Bass control only. It also opens up the sibilance characteristics of all instruments without being harsh.
Obviously, numbers and curves and circuits mean nothing compared to what you hear with your own ears. Play a chord, a repeated lick or a harmonic, and adjust the Aural Enhancer to various points to hear the effect for yourself. As always, your ears are the best judge when it comes to settings that affect the tone of your instrument.
This tells me essentially nothing about what the feature really does!!! The only hard data is that past the 2:00 setting, some mids are dropped, specifically the ones around 200hz
Seriously, any one else sick of this stuff? Give me a nice graphic e.q., semi or fully parametric eq, or don't bother and leave me the three knobs an go.
I like the way Carvin did the eq for the b 1500 :
Excerpt from manual for Carvin B1500: Tone Controls: ±12dB @ 30, 100, 300, 1k, 3k, 10k (Hz)
Bam. That's sweet. Why all the obfuscation?
