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Double Bass Bye Bye Wizzy 10

Greg Clinkingbeard

Greg Clinkingbeard

Commercial User
Apr 4, 2005
4,632
2,347
Kansas City area
Disclosures
Black Dog Bass Works
#1
I've enjoyed the little box for over a year, but been bothered by the overly middy nature. The EQ always had the bass bumped, mids at 9:00 and that sounded pretty good, but it still never sounded smooth to me. About three years ago, I built one of these little puppies and am now using it exclusively. I've used two for louder slab gigs with great success.
They weigh about 20 pounds and are a couple inches larger around than the wizzy, but will go louder and sound much smoother. I can now run the Focus dead flat as well. Containing an Eminence Deltalite 2512, they are based on Fdeck's design which is tuned to 80hz with a rapid drop below that. However, they seem to have more low end than the wizzy. For anyone with some power tools and $150 this is a very nice little cabinet. :hyper:

I will miss the schlep factor of the wizzy, and my box doesn't look quite as nice, but the sound is worth the tradeoff.
 
#3
Looks sharp, Greg.

I have an Underwood and an Upton RS2. The Wizzy 10 likes the RS2 much better than the Underwood; with the RS2 I'm running the Woods flat. The exact opposite is the case with the VL-208.

Of course, nothing beats the NoAmp. (No offense, Greg, I'm sure your rig comes right close.)
 
#4
Steve,
Thanks. Not bad for DIY, ya think? No beauty contest winner, but I'm not embarrassed.

One of the factors was that I never liked the Wizzy at all with slab. This cab is wicked on those gigs and better on DB, so it wasn't a tough decision. Many times, I would take the Wizzy just because it was an easier carry. I would take the bigger cab if I didn't know how loud the gig might get. Sometimes I chose right, others not.
 
#5
clink said:
Steve,
Thanks. Not bad for DIY, ya think? No beauty contest winner, but I'm not embarrassed.
Click to expand...
Not bad at all chief. I always hope that as soon as I start to play, people no longer focus on my amp stand and cab 3 feet off the ground, the H-clamp, or any of that stuff.

Wardrobe choices however, now THAT'S important. ;)

And choreography.
 
#6
Sam Sherry said:
Looks sharp, Greg.

I have an Underwood and an Upton RS2. The Wizzy 10 likes the RS2 much better than the Underwood; with the RS2 I'm running the Woods flat. The exact opposite is the case with the VL-208.

Of course, nothing beats the NoAmp. (No offense, Greg, I'm sure your rig comes right close.)
Click to expand...

Sam,
So the Underwood works with the VL 208 better. That's kinda interesting, I might give it a try again. Once I got a Realist, I pretty much abandoned the Underwood, but I sure used one for a long time.
No amp is truly the best when it works. I did that a couple of times in a duo last year and loved it.
 
#9
OK, I got a few takers so I figured I would post it here. I hope this does not violate the CUP. I will try to answer all the questions that I have received.

The newer Wizzy 10's use a different internal damping material than the original. The damping material of a Transmission Line design makes a big difference in the response of the cab. Older Wizzy 10's can be upgraded to the new damping material that is already in use in the newer cabs. I will see if I can find out, tomorrow when production is open, the serial number break point for the older vs. the newer Wizzy 10's.

The easiest way to get the fix is to send the cab back to us. John will personally upgrade the cab. Cost is $50 plus shipping.

This is a fix that you can do, however. We can sell you the acoustical grade fiberglass and instructions. I need to price that out (again, tomorrow, when production is open). Please note however, working with acoustical grade fiberglass is much like working with household fiberglass. It can make you quite itchy and cause skin irritation. Basically one needs to remove the grill, remove the driver and replace the old dampening material with the new. I would try it on my old ones, but I like the midrange of them - it really helps me cut as the volume gets louder.

Finally, the Doubler is a few short weeks away. We are just awaiting the wiring harness and and a special pot that was added when we added the variable HPF that was requested here at TB

Hope this helps, let me know how I can help

Mike
 
#10
Hmm, I bought my Wizzy 10 4 months ago, new from Golihur, and it is incredibly mid biased... what is "new" versus "old" in the Wizzy 10 world?

To the OP - For EB I use a Sansamp Paradriver between my Focus I (series 3) and the Wizzy 10. The EQ section on the Focus just doesn't have the adjustment range to tame the mids. The paradriver has a sweepable mid adjustment that really does a good job.
 
#11
Disclaimer: I primarily play EB these days.

Although there is a slight mid bump to the Wizzy 10. I have to say that I really like as it really cuts through especially when playing with a loud drummer (I use 2 Wizzy 10's with a Blues Band). As for my solo work, I can easily get any sound I want from the EQ on my Micro or iAMP 500 and either 1 or both of the Wizzy 10's.

It seems that those who state that the bump on the Wizzy 10 is exaggerated or that it is incredibility mid biased are using the same amp. Although I have no experience with their products, they might voice their amps for their speakers. Although we do not consciously voice EA amps for EA speakers - we do use EA speakers to test our amps (and visa versa)

Mike
 
#13
jweiss said:
Well I've used the AI Focus with several different cabs, including an Acme Low B-2, two Acme Low B-2s, a Aquilar GS112, and a Mesa 2x10. They don't sound mid-biased with the Focus.
Click to expand...

you are comparing apples to oranges. You are comparing a single 10" driver cab with the acmes and Mesa which are both 2x10 and the aggie which is a single 12. The single 12 has about 44% more surface area than a single 10.

jweiss said:
Really, I think this is a very common comment on the sound of the Wizzy 10.
Click to expand...
yeah ... not so much. It is mid present, but not extremely so ... something, that, for me, comes in handy on hollow stages, boomy rooms or trying to compete with a kick drum

Mike
 
#14
Mike,
The fix makes perfect sense. I opened up the box when I got it and seem to remember one sheet of white foam. Something more absorbent would tame the nasties inside that little box. My DIY boxes are full of poly fiber and that seems to work well.
Too late though. I sent my box off to the verticallygiftedArsenio yesterday.
 
#15
Perhaps my other cabinets are not a fair comparison, but the Acoustic Image amps are quite neutral in terms of their voicing.

Mike Dimin said:
yeah ... not so much. It is mid present, but not extremely so ... something, that, for me, comes in handy on hollow stages, boomy rooms or trying to compete with a kick drum

Mike
Click to expand...

I dunno, my experience and those of many others on Talkbass, including the OP, seem to indicate otherwise.

Yeah it cuts through great for a single 10, but it just sounds really honky to me. I'm a lot happier with it after I cut the mids and boost the lows slightly.
 
#16
But I LIKE mid boosted speakers! What if I want the mid "boost" in the original Wizzy 10? I was waiting to buy one when the "Doubler' is available. The reported slightly "exaggerated" mids was just what I'm looking for combined with the low weight.


Can I buy the original damping material if necessary?

Also, you guys should make the Wizzy 10 backpack fit the new doubler as well as the micro 300.

bob
 

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