AudioKinesis Cabs Part VI...

[DukeLeJeune]

I'm excited to see what Duke's commitment to development brings.

Your comments and observations have played a big role in the direction I'll be exploring in 2017.

Some of my earliest ideas about bass cab design were embodied in a prototype cab that was beta-tested back in the middle of 2009... almost a year before my first commercial effort, the Thunderchild 112, was officially launched. I felt like that 2009 prototype fell short on practicality, and despite building several modified versions, I was never quite able to get it "over the hump".

In the meantime I've learned things from doing the Thunderchild line, the Hathor line, and the Birdhaus line. So the time has come for me to have another go at what I was trying to do back in 2009.

Don't worry, I'm not abandoning things like the update to the Hathor 1855, and the 2009 idea doesn't make any of my other cabs "obsolete", even if it works as hoped.

 

[Interceptor]

I'm humbled.

And in love with the ability of my band mates to hear me well. It really made a difference in the bands I'm in. Huge difference, more than I expected. It made my electric bass act like an acoustic bass on stage. I gig routinely as a jazz player. Perhaps that's the crucible for testing? Jazz combos romp around with dynamics, subtle timing plays and dancing around with pitch. You have to hear everything to not step on toes.

The same band that I did the prototype work with the Birdhaus is starting to book larger spaces than I can cover with it. Next weekend I'm trying the Birdhaus on top of a fearful to get more umph. I've been experimenting with running both full range, or biamping using the lpf / hpf built into my Crest Prolite 2.0. More to follow after it all gets out into the jungle.

 

[LeonD]

Personally, I like my ThunderKid badge less.

Kind of like the sleeper cars of the 60's. Looks like June Cleaver's daily driver to the market. Right up until you hit the go pedal. Then all hell brakes loose.

 

[Marial]

I'm shallow. I like a nice clean badge. Nothing fancy or flashy, just a nice subtle, tasteful little badge.

 

[dinoadventures]

Thus far, to the best of my knowledge, no one has managed to fry any of the little 3" Faital mids in my Hathor cabs. Now don't take that as a challenge to see who can be the first! But I tip my virtual hat to Faital for making a pretty rugged little driver. Of course I try to do my part too - I summon the mystical powers of science and stuff to cast a protection spell on each cab before it gets shipped.

I've blindly dumped all kinds of wattage into my 1203 and it's still going strong.

Must be a very strong spell.

 

[slagheap]

out of necessity put a set of flat wounds on my P bass tonite. kind of unhappy with it, searching around for a tone...then i put the hathors' top switches into down position. ahh, that's what it wanted. shifted the response into the proper freq zone for the flats. more growlier, yow.

 

[shrigg]

out of necessity put a set of flat wounds on my P bass tonite. kind of unhappy with it, searching around for a tone...then i put the hathors' top switches into down position. ahh, that's what it wanted. shifted the response into the proper freq zone for the flats. more growlier, yow.

Hathors LOVE P Basses with flats!

 

[slagheap]

Hathors LOVE P Basses with flats!

yes, have to agree - now the player has to learn to love them! been a long time since i've played flats for more than a few minutes ( someone else's axe. ) my very first " real " bass, an L series jazz, had the labella jamerson set on it. i put 'em on 'cause glen cornick ( RIP, ) played 'em. anyway, now have these labella 760 flats on my P, and i'm gonna' give 'em a chance before i decide...hmm, maybe i should buy another bass!

 

[Turn Em Loose]

...hmm, maybe i should buy another bass!

I can't see any other solution to your dilemma!


I like Chromes for flats. A surprising amount of useful top end. I have them on both my basses and can get plenty of clank if needed. Great match with the Hathors.

 

[steubig]

agreed. you need basses with both rounds and flats.

fretless with flats can also be nice.

 

[shrigg]

agreed. you need basses with both rounds and flats.

fretless with flats can also be nice.

+1

Cobalt flats are A-MAZING on my fretless through the 1505!

 

[Turn Em Loose]

+1

Cobalt flats are A-MAZING on my fretless through the 1505!

View attachment 1025559

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[shrigg]

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Yep, the 40-95 set: New EB Cobalt Flats?

 

[nutdog]

+1

Cobalt flats are A-MAZING on my fretless through the 1505!

View attachment 1025559

that's purty

 

[MarkA]

Yep, the 40-95 set: New EB Cobalt Flats?

The Slinky flats (they mention cobalt wraps) and the Cobalt flats are the same thing, then?

 

[shrigg]

The Slinky flats (they mention cobalt wraps) and the Cobalt flats are the same thing, then?

Yes they were referred to as Cobalt flats before they were released so much that many people still call em that. Ernie Ball confused things by naming them Slinky Flats but yes they are the same great strings

 

[MarkA]

Yes they were referred to as Cobalt flats before they were released so much that many people still call em that. Ernie Ball confused things by naming them Slinky Flats but yes they are the same great strings

Danke.

 

[Snaxster]

...The H1203/F112 stack sounded good. It sounded big.

• With the settings I preferred, the stack sounded like not only other than, but also more than either cabinet alone, which I did audition periodically.

• With the H1203's port open, the two cabs sounded much more natural together. Finding this early on, I left the port open thereafter...

Bass cabinet news:

For my current 'playing only alone at home' mode, the Hathor 1203 with its port open is my go-to speaker cabinet. And as I continue to toy with the idea of rejoining the human race and playing music with other people again after many years, I think of the Hathor as the cabinet I would grab first for a jam session.

On Monday I received a Baer ML-112 Series 1, and it was good. On Tuesday it was time for round two of "What plays nice with the Hathor I put on it?" The amp was Kern preamp/send to sfx micro-Thumpinator/return > Glockenklang Blue Rock flat and clean. Briefly, then,

• With the Hathor 1203's port open, the two cabs subtly fought each other in the low end. More than sounded, it felt like slight vertigo during a bass head cold.

• Then I plugged the Hathor's port and the two cabs sounded excellent together, as if they were meant to be so. I mean strong, practically seamless, very natural, spatial, and simply quite euphonic.

• That settled, any of the three H1203 high and mid switches settings I prefer sounded good in the stack (all except both up, that is).

• Set to my liking, the H1203/M-112 stack sounded far better than my recollection of how the H1203/F112 stack sounded.

Anti-cabinet mix 'n' match-ers keep moving; nothing to hear or see here. But you're missing out on a good combo...

 

[Mark Sacchetti]

Update on the B46/1203 combo. I just love this pairing. It's complex and rich warm sound. Great for nuance playing where your bass really shines through.

 

[slagheap]

the Hathors are home tonight, sounding pretty good. volume way down here in the old condo. experimenting with the switches, they are way cool. labella flats still on the P bass. i'm stuck in the house - plantar fasciitis ( i'm a runner, ) in left foot is so bad couldn't play a gig if there was one. january is fairly dead around here gig-wise, although looks like there's a couple of good dance party jobs in the city. i'm going fricking stir crazy after just one day laid up...