AudioKinesis Cabs Part VI...

[alaskaleftybass]

Does anyone have a recent pic of the Birdhaus? And specs? Thanks!

 

[Interceptor]

that looks cool. i get it, but as long as duke was designing a cab for the people on the stage to hear, i was suggesting that he not leave out one person... i know a small cab like this would be great with upright bass, and the size gigs i play. generally, i dont care what the people in the audience think of the group. im playing for the people on the stage. criticize that all you want, but its becoming a reality in the modern jazz scene, and this seems like a perfect use for what duke has in mind for the birdhaus. something small, for the tiny stages where the amp is practically between your legs and the ride cymbal is hitting your elbow and if you're not careful the violin corner on your bass will start playing the high notes on the piano. i think the hathor would be too big for this, based on my experience with the thunderchild.

I am very much in the same boat as you describe. Jazz, tiny stage, and everyone in that band is very concerned about hearing each other. Sometimes the audience pays attention, sometimes we're playing for each other. Plus, I play a fretless. I fought hearing pitch prior to the Birdhaus. That problem is solved for me. Where the Birdhaus changes things is the amount of full range energy projected to the sides. It is easy to hear for others, and the side energy really adds a great deal to the up close intelligibility.

Adding another driver to the top would take that easy to hear aspect up yet another notch for sure, but the complexity would go up as well. That's about the point where if I was designing it I'd be moving into plate amps and DSP.

 

[Interceptor]

OK, I found a pic.

 

[shwashwa]

OK, I found a pic.

I suppose you could lay it on its side if you really wanted

 

[Passinwind]

OK, I found a pic.

What size drivers?

 

[shrigg]

What size drivers?

I believe those are 6's

 

[Mystic Michael]

OK, I found a pic.

Does Duke have the Birdhauses actually in production now? Or are the stories we're hearing about the Birdhaus on gigs based only on a few prototypes that Duke has released into the wild?

MM

 

[Interceptor]

Mine was a prototype that got loose and is in the wild. 6" drivers.

There may well be a few other prototypes out there. I'm not an endorser. I bought the prototype after liking it.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

I sure like the way Duke thinks! that birdhaus is cool!

 

[John D Harris]

im definitely interested in the birdhaus for upright bass, but would like to suggest a slight variation. so many gigs the amp is literally right up against the back of my legs. i cant hear a thing standing literally right on top of it. makes it hard to play in tune this way. i would love to see speakers on the top! at least one...

Those lucky few who have used the Birdhaus can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the driver placement on the Birdhaus makes for almost 360 degree sound coverage (even if you're standing right in front of it).
I don't think you'd have any problems hearing yourself even on the most cramped stage.

 

[Passinwind]

Those lucky few who have used the Birdhaus can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the driver placement on the Birdhaus makes for almost 360 degree sound coverage (even if you're standing right in front of it).
I don't think you'd have any problems hearing yourself even on the most cramped stage.

That mirrors my experience with both the original 4 X 6 and the later 4 X 8 one I tried.

 

[Marial]

Yep, the 4x8 was phenomenal. I almost kept it.

 

[Selta]

Sadly, the days of my AK being on stage behind me may be limited.
Both of my bands are edging to IEMs for all gigs. It'll take awhile, but until we get there, the AK will be used. Once we're there though, nada. It'll still be used at rehearsals and while practicing at home, but it almost feels overkill for that, so I may downsize to one of Duke's smaller offerings.
Sigh.

 

[Mystic Michael]

Doncha just wish that beasts such as the T118 and H1855 were around some 45 years ago, during the prehistoric era of wimpy FOH systems...and monster bass rigs that were expected to carry the entire room (i.e. hall, auditorium, theatre, etc.) on their own? An environment where you could bring a pair of big Thunderchildren or a pair of big Hathors...along with, like a 2,000-watt power amp and preamp, crank everything up to, like 3:00 or 4:00 on the gain and master volume controls, and just let 'er rip?

Standing right in front of that righteous low-frequency roar, with bass waves permeating every particle of one's body, would have to be something like a religious experience...I would think. Wow. I get all goose-bumpy, just imagining it...

MM

 

[Selta]

I wasn't alive 45 years ago.

 

[Passinwind]

I wasn't alive 45 years ago.

Neither were 2000 watt power amps, for the most part...Link Removed

 

[Snaxster]

Doncha just wish that beasts such as the T118 and H1855 were around some 45 years ago, during the prehistoric era of wimpy FOH systems...

Standing right in front of that righteous low-frequency roar, with bass waves permeating every particle of one's body, would have to be something like a religious experience...I would think.

That's how it felt to play bass guitar at a CBGB gig 25 to 30 years ago, standing near the big*ss, vertical side fill: your sound (bass, etc., amp) magnified to affect complete immersion for the player.

Sometimes I quip that if a band couldn't sound good in the house at CBGB, then they couldn't sound good anywhere. But the same was true on stage at CBGB, for the rhythm section anyway.

Several years apart, I met two of my main bass guitar teachers opening for them at "CB's". The second I noticed pacing the edge of the stage from the audience, studying me and smiling broadly. After my set, someone told me "Hey, [name withheld] said he really dug your sound." That night I was playing my first Tobias, a fretted 5-string Basic, maybe through my former tweaked V4B stack.

That V4B stack remains a bass amp benchmark for me. I recall that I had high headroom EV drivers swapped into it. Better than my blackface SVT, or anything else I happened to own, record or gig with, that V4B was so interactive, harmonically nuanced, and beautifully, brutally, and usefully loud. Would I like it as much now, more than 20 years on, after years of back problems, and in light of the subsequent major advancements in bass guitar amplification? I don't know.

Though I will be comparing it to an old memory, my upcoming 3-way Hathor 1855 is meant to help replace that V4B as my all-around favorite large bass amp. I plan to use it with subtractive synthesizers, too.

 

[Mystic Michael]

That's how it felt to play bass guitar at a CBGB gig 25 to 30 years ago, standing near the big*ss, vertical side fill: your sound (bass, etc., amp) magnified to affect complete immersion for the player.

Sometimes I quip that if a band couldn't sound good in the house at CBGB, then they couldn't sound good anywhere. But the same was true on stage at CBGB, for the rhythm section anyway.

Several years apart, I met two of my main bass guitar teachers opening for them at "CB's". The second I noticed pacing the edge of the stage from the audience, studying me and smiling broadly. After my set, someone told me "Hey, [name withheld] said he really dug your sound." That night I was playing my first Tobias, a fretted 5-string Basic, maybe through my former tweaked V4B stack.

That V4B stack remains a bass amp benchmark for me. I recall that I had high headroom EV drivers swapped into it. Better than my blackface SVT, or anything else I happened to own, record or gig with, that V4B was so interactive, harmonically nuanced, and beautifully, brutally, and usefully loud. Would I like it as much now, more than 20 years on, after years of back problems, and in light of the subsequent major advancements in bass guitar amplification? I don't know.

How cool. That sounds like a peak life experience for sure.

Though I will be comparing it to an old memory, my upcoming 3-way Hathor 1855 is meant to help replace that V4B as my all-around favorite large bass amp. I plan to use it with subtractive synthesizers, too.

Something tells me that your new Hathor will be "all that"...and more; something that will exceed even the rosy memory of your V4B cab. But now the all-important question: Which amp head do you have in mind? One that can truly do justice to the H1855?

Methinks there's probably only a handful of them that can do justice to the H1855 100%...although the Hathor will probably make most amp heads sound better than they usually do, so there's that as well.

So do you still live in the NYC metro area? And if so, where the heck would you be able to crank up an H1855...and let it run wild 'til it tires itself out?

MM

 

[Selta]

It's pretty hard to compare to a memory, especially one so old. We (humans) tend to severely distort our memories. But, I feel the Hathor would be your best bet for modern cabs if you're going to compare something new to that old memory.

 

[shrigg]

Pretty sure it's not gonna be called "1855" anymore as the driver complement will be different in the new 3-way version. I'll let Duke be the one to unveil the new name tho...