Double Bass amplifier with "Thick sound"

[crd]

I would get a bigger speaker. I used the MAS 2.5s for a little bit. They were great for just giving me a little more volume than my acoustic sound but not much more. I used the MAS 4.5's for 5 or 6 years. It was great when I was using it as a stage monitor at a place that had a big PA. I found when I was playing jazz rooms I really missed the fact that it didn't want to really pump out the fundamental of pitches on the E string. I always had to run a fdeck hpf very high to keep the speaker from choking which had consequences for my sound. I recently switched to a Barefaced cabinet and it's great. It's everything I liked about the MAS cabinets but a little more oohmp. I never was using the latest and greats MAS stuff so maybe some of the later models would have worked better for me. I briefly used 1/8 and my 4.5 which sounded incredible but still required I use a hpf and the E string sounded kind of strange sometimes at higher volumes.

With all the newer class D stuff I've found overkill specs to deliver the kind of performance I need. 1200 watts at 4 ohms seems to match my old Walter Woods MI-400. I had the EA doubler for a while but it never felt like it had any push to it. It seemed transparent as in, invisible not transparent like my bass but louder.

This all makes me seem like I play in a rockabilly band or something. I play jazz and have a big acoustic sound. I just prefer a dark tone and that seems to take a lot of juice. I also like to play at a volume that lets the drummer let loose a couple times a night.

 

[Sam Reese]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Ampeg. Stanley Clarke evidently uses the Ampeg SVT-2 Pro head with his upright. Nonetheless, Ampeg brings the beef/thickness (which is a blessing and a curse).

 

[jthisdell]

A ToneHammer has a very thick sound imho.

 

[Ric Vice]

[QUOTE="crd, post: 27346726, member: 387523I recently switched to a Barefaced cabinet and it's great. It's everything I liked about the MAS cabinets but a little more oohmp. I never was using the latest and greats MAS stuff so maybe some of the later models would have worked better for me. I briefly used 1/8 and my 4.5 which sounded incredible but still required I use a hpf and the E string sounded kind of strange sometimes at higher volumes.

With all the newer class D stuff I've found overkill specs to deliver the kind of performance I need. 1200 watts at 4 ohms seems to match my old Walter Woods MI-400. I had the EA doubler for a while but it never felt like it had any push to it. It seemed transparent as in, invisible not transparent like my bass but louder.

This all makes me seem like I play in a rockabilly band or something. I play jazz and have a big acoustic sound. I just prefer a dark tone and that seems to take a lot of juice. I also like to play at a volume that lets the drummer let loose a couple times…….[/QUOTE]

Mike’s build’s we’re very dependent on the parts he could acquire for a particular batch of cabinets. When Eminence quit offering their custom builds in small lots
Mike couldn’t afford to buy a bigger lot of speakers he had to find something else. This takes time and required a retrofit of the 1/8 with the Ciare 1/8’. There wer’e shortages of Okume plywood so the cab’s got heavier. He reportedly had issues with a daughter board that connected the Pascal power amp to the jack’s, AC, and speaker. It was a no win scenario. it’s no wonder that Mike stopped building cabinets. Sounds like the Bare Face is ideal for you. You are correct that the Walter Woods amps have more heft that’s because they are rated into 8 ohms unlike every other modern amp that are rated into 4.

 

[neddyrow]

I played this weekend and I have been going direct through my board as we are switching to in-ears and I use a sarno black box into an Alix. A guy who is a monster player, told me after my set that he loved my rich tone. I was flattered.

 

[Jay Corwin]

It sounds to me like you might be looking for a more traditional bass cabinet, meant to thump and move more air.

I also like the idea of adding some tube or tube like processing in. While I don't use real tube drive - my chain has started with a Paradriver for years now. I run the tube emulation at 100% all the time. It just fattens everything back up from that shrill piezo sound, and I've found it to particularly good with gut. However it trends away from the MBOL approach.

 

[Jefenator]

Working with the Bergantino B|Amp was an interesting experience for me. With the digital controls & speaker profile, you can run it pretty much 100% flat & neutral. Then you can add in precise amounts of EQ & compression, and save those settings & quickly A/B compare them against the unaffected reference.
At first I thought I liked the completely neutral setting for DB but now I usually prefer the BG memory setting with some low mids & compression for "thickening".