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AudioKinesis Cabs Part VI...
- Thread starter Thor
- Start date
Hey Passinwind - hope all's well. Not to de-rail, but is that a Serek bass in the photo? If so, what scale length and how do you like it? Thanks, DM
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,075
- 46,024
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Hey DM, that's @loopee's pic, not mine. I happened to have it on my computer from helping her process it a little so it would post here correctly.
Chef
In Memoriam
Looks are so subjective they're mostly not a thing I comment on; but since y'all started down that road:
-The AK look isn't my personal fave;
-maybe because it's different and as a grumpy old bass player different always irks me. All my basses are still 1950's Fender shapes; dig?
-therefore "speakers should have a single full coverage metal grill!" Because that's what I'm used to as a grumpy old bass player who doesn't accept aesthetic changes readily ;--)
-here's what would help me with the current aesthetic;
Leave off the brushed on black finish and just oil stain them. They don't need to be furniture grade plywood for this to be more visually appealing, to me. Just void free.
I know there's another very well known higher end cab maker that does this but I can't for the life of me recall their name just now.
-The AK look isn't my personal fave;
-maybe because it's different and as a grumpy old bass player different always irks me. All my basses are still 1950's Fender shapes; dig?
-therefore "speakers should have a single full coverage metal grill!" Because that's what I'm used to as a grumpy old bass player who doesn't accept aesthetic changes readily ;--)
-here's what would help me with the current aesthetic;
Leave off the brushed on black finish and just oil stain them. They don't need to be furniture grade plywood for this to be more visually appealing, to me. Just void free.
I know there's another very well known higher end cab maker that does this but I can't for the life of me recall their name just now.
Chef
In Memoriam
!!!!
Bag End are who I was thinking of.
!!!!
Bag End are who I was thinking of.
!!!!
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,075
- 46,024
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Yep, that's the Grateful Dead aesthetic, more or less. Always my favorite as well.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,075
- 46,024
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Chef
In Memoriam
Maybe some folks should just buy a big old Ampeg 810 shell and hide a Hathor inside it. It can be their "road case" and armor from naysayers. .
I think it's kind of annoying I mean funny that the first night I brought the Birdhaus 48 to band practice the guys started off saying "That's your bass cabinet? That littlle thing?" By the end of the practice they were remarking that they could hear me better and weren't getting beamed anywhere, or struggling to hear me if off-axis from it.
Then we had a few rushed practices where I just brought my bass, or bass and preamp, and used the guitarist's Line 6 Flextone head for power into a pair of 15" two-way Peavey PA cabs, laid on their sides and stacked. Loud enough, and it delivered a similar basic sound, but back to being beamy. The guitarist, seeing a tall, imposing stack of bass gear with a full-width amp head shape on top (complete with "Close Encounters" lighting on it) goes, "There's your rig, right there"...and I just had time to think "My boy Ron seems to be hearing with his eyes" when that Flextone head started randomly switching out of "manual" mode and intermittently switching to various stored patches he'd programmed for past guitar sounds. Suddenly I'd be playing bass through a high-gain guitar sound with delay and flanging on it.
That redirected the conversation a bit, which was just as well. The Flextone head is stil acting up after its first trip to be repaired.
Then we had a few rushed practices where I just brought my bass, or bass and preamp, and used the guitarist's Line 6 Flextone head for power into a pair of 15" two-way Peavey PA cabs, laid on their sides and stacked. Loud enough, and it delivered a similar basic sound, but back to being beamy. The guitarist, seeing a tall, imposing stack of bass gear with a full-width amp head shape on top (complete with "Close Encounters" lighting on it) goes, "There's your rig, right there"...and I just had time to think "My boy Ron seems to be hearing with his eyes" when that Flextone head started randomly switching out of "manual" mode and intermittently switching to various stored patches he'd programmed for past guitar sounds. Suddenly I'd be playing bass through a high-gain guitar sound with delay and flanging on it.
That redirected the conversation a bit, which was just as well. The Flextone head is stil acting up after its first trip to be repaired.
Lowendtech
Happily trending in my own peculiar direction.
Hmm. Now you’ve done it. Got me thinking, that is. I wonder if that could be an option.
I kind of dig the military effectiveness of the look but, options.
Like, if you were to have a Verellen Meatsmoke amp stained in a particular colour and wanted to match up a C1533T, for example. Just supposing here. Totally hypothetical.
I think the AK is pretty dang ugly but I love it and don't need it to look any other way. Not with the way she sounds... my goodness.
I DO think a brand badge makes sense. Perhaps he'll get around to that one day.
The look is a tad agricultural, but I've found these to be durable in transit, and non-obtrusive on the stand. And the strong leather handle is a plus, in my book.
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,950
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- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
+1 Same here. It's an identifiable look across the brand.
Call me crazy- I really like the way they look, but I like things that don’t look like everything else. Memories of my old Curbow bass suddenly came into my head! Lol. I don’t think looking different was the overall design goal, but that was Duke’s vision. And at the end of the day, like most of the folk here, if it sounds great and fits my tone goals, I’m playing it.
I've grown to really like the look. I've stopped bugging him about brand badges. The advantage of the non-standard look is that many bass players recognize his cabs immediately.
As far as just stain---the problem is that the cabs are poplar plywood. It's pretty darn soft--but very light. If it were just stained it would look visably scratched up aftr a few gigs. It's like a bass that I had made with a figured redwood top.Just an oil finish.It develops scratches if you look at it sideways. The Bag End speakers are Baltic Birch. That stuff is like concrete. When I was a kid all of my cabs were BB with an oil finish. Give it a little sanding once a year and apply oil---good as new.
I've grown to really like Duratex. The main reason--it protects ok but is a breeze to repair. You can bash it and take out a big divot and use Bondo (with fiberglass---not the pink stuff for big repairs---the pink stuff is great for dents and big scratches) sand, and apply Duratex. Parts Express has repair kits with a roller. Experiment with a cardboard box until you feel confident in your technique and you'll be all set. If you get a similar bash with natural wood, Tolex, or even truck bed liner you're s--t out of luck. And the Bondo is stronger that the plywood.
Just sayin'---
