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avatar cabs=not enough treble?

C

countshockula

Feb 22, 2008
245
1
#1
I recently purchased an avatar 410 neo, 4 ohm. i was psyched that it had a knob for the horn. My previous cab had only an on/off switch, which I usually kept off.
I'm now playing with the tweeter all the way up on the Avatar, to my surprise. I don't need a ton of treble, but I do love me some overdrive and fuzz. Just wondering if ya'll have had the same experience.

And no, I didn't do a search.
So there.
 
#2
I am confused about what you're asking. are you saying the cab doesn't have much treble, but before you used a cab with the horn off and liked how much treble it has?

Without knowing what your old cab was, it's tough to say, but are you sure you aren't thinking mids rather than treble?
 
#3
Agreed... confusing post.

Not sure if poster is looking for agreement, suggestions, or advice, or what...


One thing to note: If you ever decide to turn down the tweeter on the avatar, only turn it down to 'almost off'. Turning it all the way off will burn it up which is 'bad'. You'd hear no difference between almost off and off.
 
#4
Sorry for the confusion.
I wouldn't say I was "happy" with my old cab with the horn turned to "off", but it was better than having it on.
I thought that with the new Avatar, i would probably be rolling the horn almost all the way down, but I find myself turning it up, and not hearing much difference.
Wondering if this cab is known to be particularly "bass-ey" or if their tweeters are known to be weak.
My old cab was a (dare I say it?) Behringer 1x15 with the normal paper cones.
 
#5
There's a lot of things that could contribute to this.
questions:

1-- are you sure the tweeter is engaging at all? can you hear something obviously different when you adjust the attenuator?

2-- Do you use flatwound strings, or roll the tone knob off on your bass?

3-- Finger style, pick or slap? Is the tweeter more pronounced with different styles?


The Avatar cabs I *believe* are crossed over around 3.5khz so without a lot of treble dialed in you shouldn't hear much more than string noise out of the tweeter in most cases. If your tone knob is off or you use flatwounds, you probably won't hear much of anything out of it.

The deltalites Avatar uses have a pretty serious amount of upper mid / treble content, despite being fairly distorted most likely, so I would be surprised if the cab was not fairly bright overall at least on-axis (standing in front of it).
 
#6
To be fair, I've only played with the cab twice since I got it.
Not really sure if the tweeter is engaging at all. I couldn't really hear any difference when playing with the knob.
All my basses are strung with roundwounds, I rarely roll the tone knob off.
I also play pretty meat and potatoes stuff. Mostly E&A strings, mostly low frets.
Maybe I'm just too used to the crappy "hiss" that passed for treble on the Behringer?
 
#7
It's very possible. Avatar uses a full crossover and a passably decent tweeter IIRC.

Could also be that the tweeter isn't engaging. You should be able to hear some hiss from it if you roll your tone knob all the way on, turn your horn all the way up, and crank the treble on your amp -- don't play like this as you could damage your horn, just listen for the hiss.

I wouldn't expect you to hear a ton of difference when moving the attenuator around but if you can't hear any you should do some testing to be sure. Fresh roundwound strings should produce audible fret noise through the tweeter in general if your treble/tone are not rolled off.
 
#12
countshockula said:
Not really sure if the tweeter is engaging at all. I couldn't really hear any difference when playing with the knob.
Click to expand...
It probably doesn't work. You'd hear an obvious difference, especially with fuzz, which sounds horrid through a cranked tweeter.
Maybe I'm just too used to the crappy "hiss" that passed for treble on the Behringer?
Click to expand...
Tweeters don't hiss. Amps do. A tweeter only reproduces the sound sent to it, it can't create sounds of it own. If it could you'd hear the hiss with the amp turned off.
 
#14
billfitzmaurice said:
It probably doesn't work. You'd hear an obvious difference, especially with fuzz, which sounds horrid through a cranked tweeter.

Tweeters don't hiss. Amps do. A tweeter only reproduces the sound sent to it, it can't create sounds of it own. If it could you'd hear the hiss with the amp turned off.
Click to expand...
Can't a tweeter reproduce the sound sent to it...poorly?
Perhaps the word "Hiss" was a poor choice, but that old cab sure sounded bad with the tweeter on.
 
#17
I've got two Avatar cabs (2x10, 2x12, both new neos) and can get plenty of zingyness. I like a nice modern tone too... think Adam Nitti, Ray Riendeau, Jeff Schmidt, Marcus Miller... and I still leave the tweeter knobs on both cabs set at about 1/3 of full. Plenty of nice sparkley but smooth high end.

Not sure why you'd have trouble. Hate to say it, but maybe if you're not hearing any difference when you turn the knob, the tweeter isn't working/hooked up? Hope that's not the case!!!

5sg.
 
#18
I have an avatar 210 and 115, and I barely turn my tweeter up...it can get quite bright. I wonder if your tweeter is blown...they are known to do that sometimes. If you contact them, I think they will send you a new diaphragm for it.
 

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