Approximating a B-15 cab with EQ: parameters?

[frankie5string]

When I recorded with them, I always had a DI as well as mic'd cab. Sometimes we just did DI and re-amped. The final product was usually a blending of both. My past two projects have been DI only.

The last session I did, I didn't even know I was running through one. They had the B15 in another room, miced up, and you couldn't see it unless you peeked into the little room off the bathroom!
I didn't find the final bass tone they got particularly B-15'ey, but it was solid. My DI'd signal was my Sansamp BDDIv2 with the midrange control set to about 3 o'clock on the dial.

 

[HueyFreeman]

wut

They haven't read the brief.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Okay my turn to put my foot in my mouth.

I found it's the cabinet that imparts most of the B-15 sound. True there are various cabinets used over the life of the B line. The ones I associate to the B-15 sound are the single and double baffles. The amp itself sounds balanced and modern through other cabinets as I have used it, at the same time, other amps through the B-15 cabinets took on the B-15 sound more than you would expect.

Out of the recent examples of B-15 type pedals I have heard, the Origin Effects Bassrig Fifteen sounds the closest to my sence of a B-15, in a pedal format.

For me right now, the rig I bought after selling my tired but working B-15 that comes close to sounding like one, which I wasn't expecting to.

Hey y’all come look at dis…

 

[frankie5string]

Okay my turn to put my foot in my mouth.

I found it's the cabinet that imparts most of the B-15 sound. True there are various cabinets used over the life of the B line. The ones I associate to the B-15 sound are the single and double baffles. The amp itself sounds balanced and modern through other cabinets as I have used it, at the same time, other amps through the B-15 cabinets took on the B-15 sound more than you would expect.

Out of the recent examples of B-15 type pedals I have heard, the Origin Effects Bassrig Fifteen sounds the closest to my sence of a B-15, in a pedal format.

For me right now, the rig I bought after selling my tired but working B-15 that comes close to sounding like one, which I wasn't expecting to.

Hey y’all come look at dis…

View attachment 7401847

At least with a rig like yours you can "undo" that really baked in cabinet tone. While a B-15 can be cool, it's still not the sort of thing I want all the time. I like your rig better.

 

[DJ Bebop]

At least with a rig like yours you can "undo" that really baked in cabinet tone. While a B-15 can be cool, it's still not the sort of thing I want all the time. I like your rig better.

That is the thing I like about it. It's not exactly like a B-15 but I can get that dry middy sound of the the B cabinet with a high HPF setting enhanced with some EQ trickery if needed, then the mid to low damping setting to get some of the amp feel and in a band or even a bedroom setting it get close to an idealized B-15 sound, to me.

The nice thing as you noted, I can throw that all out the window and go for my Thrash Reggae Dub Country sound!

 

[Ender_rpm]

Okay my turn to put my foot in my mouth.

I found it's the cabinet that imparts most of the B-15 sound. True there are various cabinets used over the life of the B line. The ones I associate to the B-15 sound are the single and double baffles. The amp itself sounds balanced and modern through other cabinets as I have used it, at the same time, other amps through the B-15 cabinets took on the B-15 sound more than you would expect.

Spot on. I had the luxury to A/B a 65 (double baffle) with a 70s model (Thiele cab). Ran the heads into each others cabinets as well. The baffle cab has THAT sound, but ended up vastly preferring the thiele sound. No low end choke, gives one a bit more headroom. My current "small" rig is an EBS T90, which is a B15 style pre mated to 2x Kt88s tubes, and a simple peavey 115 with an eminence. For most projects, its plenty.

 

[Kindness]

I also greatly prefer the Thiele cabinet. <3

 

[Ender_rpm]

I also greatly prefer the Thiele cabinet. <3

this story remains evergreen XD

 

[DJ Bebop]

Spot on. I had the luxury to A/B a 65 (double baffle) with a 70s model (Thiele cab). Ran the heads into each others cabinets as well. The baffle cab has THAT sound, but ended up vastly preferring the thiele sound. No low end choke, gives one a bit more headroom. My current "small" rig is an EBS T90, which is a B15 style pre mated to 2x Kt88s tubes, and a simple peavey 115 with an eminence. For most projects, its plenty.

I dig as one of my favorite pairings was the B-15 head into an Aguilar GS 112 cabinet. It was more open sounding with more bass projection, like amps we are familiar with today. I had tried it though others cabs like a Peavey 410 but the GS 112 seemed to fit better and was more believable

But alas the B-15 is gone for the rig I posted above. Other than the momentary twinge when it walked out the door, vintage piece and all, I have not missed it. I never used it out anymore and rarely used it around the house. It needed a major refresh and I didn't have the bucks up front to fix it. However I made enough money off the sale of it to get the Mesa rig.

Crazy huh? Couldn’t afford to fix it but made enough money off of it to buy a brand new rig I would have never been able to afford

 

[Kaplan]

I know that the oddities of the B-15 cab contribute to its revered tone: does anyone know the frequency response of the original cab? It may be a fool's errand, but I would like to try and play with EQ as a starting point and get as close-ish as possible.

Thanks in advance.

My simple approach is to cut the frequency at around 300 Hz and slightly increase 800 Hz.