Big E Speakers Part 4 - Quadraphenia

[kesslari]

I am sad that @Alphaman had the experience he had. I get that it’s not the elapsed time, it’s the mixed communications.
Equally, I hope Mike is ok. Some of his recent posts, like the TB wealthy hobbyists comment (and some here that he later deleted) are a lot edgier than mos vintage Mike posts.
Hope you’re ok, Mike.

 

[Alphaman]

So Mike has reached out to me on this... Since this is posted on his FB page, I will post it here minus the FedEx label number...not a good idea to post that if the shipment has not delivered.

Mikes post follows:

I think that I'm a nice ethical guy. I'm pretty sure that you are too. I think that the biggest problem was my crappy communication. I suck at business. I hate business. I love playing bass and designing and making what I feel are the best bass cabs on the planet. (the 38 is the best thing I've ever done) You are absolutely right about bad communication and missed promises. Sometimes I really think that I could do something and say so. And then I find out that I didn't think carefully enough. A big problem is that I'd like to please everyone and get literally ill when someone is disappointed in something that I have done. I guess I need to develop thicker skin.

Here's the entire sequence as it actually ocurred. I had finished one 38 and cut out the wood for 4 more. I have had two orders for the 38--one from you and one from Brad. You ordered yours on the 24th of September and Brad ordered his on the 28th. My first promise was based on Reliable Hardware getting me the grills. They were supposed to arrive that week. I didn't receive them until October 14th.I now realize that if I had got in touch with you as soon as I found out that this would cause a delay that you likely would have been totally cool with it. Not meaning to be a whiner but it appears that I'm not handling stress as well as I get older. I was freaked and trying to expedite parts, building cabs,play gigs, and (ineffectively) dealing with communication.People ask "how do you get that all done?" I respond "not very well".

I caught the flu and was REALLY sick for 10 days.Like 101 temperature and unable to get out of bed. Also--and this really is true.I had drivers on hand to make the 38's. You stated in a post that you didn't necessarily believe that I was using a new driver.. I can take pictures of the production driver's label and that of the custom sample. And provide proof of the delivery time.The net impedance would be 6 ohms.

with the original driver I worked with Eminence to come up with an even better driver that would yield a true 4 ohm load. I was really excited about it and ordered 50. (lots of dough). I asked Eminence if they could do me a favor and get 3 of them built as samples so I could put them in your cab. I know that you are well known here and besides for any altruistic concerns--as people respect you here it is to my advantage to do the best I could. (actually I'm the same way with everyone). I KNOW that you would likely still be cool if I communicated with you. I get that. Sometimes when I'm behind my nature is to bury my head in the sand until I dig my way out. Missing two weeks of work killed me. This has been a very obvious wake up call for me. I can't build speakers, play 5 gigs a week and still be effective on the business end. Oh--and the Duke thing---Duke is a genius and one of the best people I know. But he's always joking with me about his long lead times and that he is frequently late. It was not my intention to imply that "you should be happy with a 6 week dellvery". I was just trying to point out that even the best small manufacturers are late often times.

I guess that I was being defensive about and trying to deflect blame so as not to admit the real problem---bad communication. I now realize that you'd most likely be cool with the lateness if I communicated better. I see that it could definitely be construed as a diss. That was not my intention. I screwed up by sending Brad's cab first. It was an unfortunate but honest mistake. There are no other orders (yet) besides yours and Brad's. All of my big cabs are essentially custom--it wasn't a big deal as far as labor time to install the tweeter.

As a result of this I'm raising the price of all of my cabs by $50 and hiring one of the Big E guys (who's really good at this) to handle all of the business end. He has a system to inform people of exactly where I'm at in production and giving regular updates. He's a stickler about communication and business professionalism. At business professionalism I rate at the level of a lower primate. In the future all communication and business will be handled by an intelligent human being.

I'm truly sorry for the fact that you had to be the impetus for me to honestly address my limitations. I take full responsibility for the problem. I'm sure that you would have been totally cool if I kept you informed. Your pulling of the funds did not accelerate my getting the cab done. It was almost done anyway. The cab is soooo complex to build that finishing the cab is 70% of the work. The cabinet is now complete and tested. And it kicks butt.
Again---I'm truly sorry about this. How you handle it at your end is your business. I created the problem and take full responsibility for it I'd love to ship the cab if you'd like. If you would like the cabinet, the tracking number is XXXXXXXXXXX. It would ship tomorrow and shipping Fedex Ground to your location is two days at the most, although to the Midwest it frequently takes one. (as in Brad's case)
I hope all is well with you (whether you want the cab or not!)

 

[kesslari]

This sounds more like the Mike A I've worked with. @radbass why were you posting a message from Mike to Alphaman? That part looks odd, though I'm sure there's a good reason.

@Alphaman I hope this leads to better feelings and a better resolution that includes a38 special coming to live with you.

 

[Amajew]

Question.... has anyone ever used a DB751 with a MAS 112 or Bodai 112? or any MAS cab for that matter?

 

[J.Wolf]

That would be so slammin I bet. The 112 could probably take the wallop the 751 puts out with grace.

Havent tried it, but sure would like to.

 

[winegamd]

Mike's response above is exactly why we need to treasure them as members here. He and Duke take time to respond on here in spite of their schedules and work loads. That shows both dedication to their work and to their customers/potential customers. This is one reason I, personally, would never use/buy a mainstream cab. The cab's sound aside, these guys are just awesome.

I am glad you are going to be getting that cab, Alphaman. I look forward to a review and hearing your impressions.

 

[Alphaman]

Talked to Mike this morning. We have everything worked out and the cab should be here this week! Awesome!

 

[J.Wolf]

So glad to hear that Jerome!

 

[tombowlus]

Question.... has anyone ever used a DB751 with a MAS 112 or Bodai 112? or any MAS cab for that matter?

I have a DB750 and several of Mike's cabs. Adimittedly, I have not tried the 750 with any of them, but I guarantee it's gonna slam! I'll try and break it out sometime and give it a whirl.

 

[Amajew]

I have a DB750 and several of Mike's cabs. Adimittedly, I have not tried the 750 with any of them, but I guarantee it's gonna slam! I'll try and break it out sometime and give it a whirl.

Tom, do you have access to a Mesa Prodigy as well?? I'd love to get some feedback regarding that tube amp. I'm currently using a D800 and I think I'm chasing that tube OD grind in the wrong direction with a D class head and multiple pedals.... a B3K, Southampton 5th gear v2 and Broughton Terraformer just aren't doing it for me it seems. These pedals also sound very very different through the Bodai 112 than my other cabs.... 2 aggie db112's and 2 GK neo 212's...

 

[3rdcurve]

Tom, do you have access to a Mesa Prodigy as well?? I'd love to get some feedback regarding that tube amp. I'm currently using a D800 and I think I'm chasing that tube OD grind in the wrong direction with a D class head and multiple pedals.... a B3K, Southampton 5th gear v2 and Broughton Terraformer just aren't doing it for me it seems. These pedals also sound very very different through the Bodai 112 than my other cabs.... 2 aggie db112's and 2 GK neo 212's...

I know this is gonna sound funny, but after adding an empress compressor to my board I got way closer to being "tubelike". It gives a bit of squish and fattens up the OD pedals.

 

[Amajew]

I know this is gonna sound funny, but after adding an empress compressor to my board I got way closer to being "tubelike". It gives a bit of squish and fattens up the OD pedals.

I'm currently using a Aggie TLC and for some reason I got more output from the pedals with my other cabs... could be a simple eq'ing thing, not sure... the MAS cab is definitely something that needs a different approach to EQ like you mentioned in a previous post...

 

[J.Wolf]

+1 the empress comp has been a GREAT way for me to soften the front edge attack of my main bass which is very firm and forward sounding (in a good way). I was looking for a way to give it a little adjustable "give" to the front end and I got that, plus a bag of chips. Can't say enough good things about that little box. I could totally see how it could emulate that little bit of tubey sag.

 

[J.Wolf]

I'm currently using a Aggie TLC and for some reason I got more output from the pedals with my other cabs... could be a simple eq'ing thing, not sure... the MAS cab is definitely something that needs a different approach to EQ like you mentioned in a previous post...

When I got a para EQ to use with my FLEX 210, it made that rig the ultimate chameleon cab. A few tweaks and it was perfect for everything from modern funk, to acoustic flamenco, to Beatles cover band, to vintage motown cover band. That flex was really something.

 

[Amajew]

When I got a para EQ to use with my FLEX 210, it made that rig the ultimate chameleon cab. A few tweaks and it was perfect for everything from modern funk, to acoustic flamenco, to Beatles cover band, to vintage motown cover band. That flex was really something.

no kidding.... which eq did you roll with ????? on your amp you set everything flat then do most of the eq'ing from the para???

I also found out that the Bodai didn't like my bass plugged straight into the D800.... it farted something wicked... I thought the speaker was damaged..... added the compressor and it made a huge difference.....

sometimes signal chains can be a real PITA... lol

 

[J.Wolf]

I use a sonic farm DI with very little EQ capability, so most of my heavy lifting was done by the EQ on my bass (East uni-pre which is VERY powerful). Most of the time I use the Para for very small and surgical eq shifts, like notching out the bass nodes in a room, or cutting a little "gank" from the upper mids, or adding some air to the top end (above most normal treble EQ points). But generally its subtractive rather than additive.

 

[J.Wolf]

weird that you were getting farting sounds with bass > D800 > cab. I wonder if your gain on your preamp is set really high, and you need the empress to tamp down the gain a bit so you're not hitting the front end of the mesa too hard.

 

[Amajew]

weird that you were getting farting sounds with bass > D800 > cab. I wonder if your gain on your preamp is set really high, and you need the empress to tamp down the gain a bit so you're not hitting the front end of the mesa too hard.

that could've been it.... no OD light was flickering or limiter light even with more aggressive playing so it's hard to say.... I'm not a pro at all when it comes to EQ... I'm more of a set it and forget it kinda player... my EQ on my basses were set flat.

 

[tombowlus]

Tom, do you have access to a Mesa Prodigy as well?? I'd love to get some feedback regarding that tube amp. I'm currently using a D800 and I think I'm chasing that tube OD grind in the wrong direction with a D class head and multiple pedals.... a B3K, Southampton 5th gear v2 and Broughton Terraformer just aren't doing it for me it seems. These pedals also sound very very different through the Bodai 112 than my other cabs.... 2 aggie db112's and 2 GK neo 212's...

Yes, I have a Prodigy (and a D800).

 

[Kirk Bryant]

I used to be a project manager at a Bay Area remodeling company that was rated #267 in the country by Remodler magazine when I was there. We routinely had a backlog of 3 months from sale to start of job. As with construction of all types there were frequently delays beyond our control. Often from suppliers. MOST people are ok with delays, IF kept fully informed. Some were less patient. That's life in the fast lane. It's how we deal with these things that can make or break a company. This too shall pass.