EBS Drome 15 - Your Favorite EQ settings

[MrUsefulAlien]

I have a Drome 1x15 which I'm unable to get a clear sound out of, and I have found limited EQ info here on Talkbass or Basschat UK.
The original speaker was replaced with an Eminence Neo driver, plus I had handles installed on it, both upgrades for weight saving and transportability.

The point of this thread is to solicit some EQ ideas, as I find the amp kills all clarity and has a lot of upper mid honk that I can't seem to dial out without it sounding like a Dub rig, and it sounded this way with the old speaker too.

My comparison is a Genz Benz shuttle 6 going into a Bergantino HT112, and a GB Shuttle 9.2 into a Berg 4x10. Both amps have a warmth and clarity, as well as punch.
I play P and J basses with flats.

I've tried setting everything at noon and going from there, but even the highs in the EBS sound brittle and digital. My conclusion is that I must be doing something wrong, as this combo is very much celebrated around here.

 

[lomo]

I can't help with specific experience with the Drome 15, but my 1st question would be whether the replacement driver has appropriate specs for the exact volume and porting of that specific box.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

I can't help with specific experience with the Drome 15, but my 1st question would be whether the replacement driver has appropriate specs for the exact volume and porting of that specific box.

The driver is matched correctly, I was in touch with Celestion, plus a few other manufacturers, and asked them to recommend a driver, and to confirm on their sim software.
The EQ issue was the same with the old driver.

 

[Gearhead17]

This is my 1st time hearing about the EBS Drome. I did a Google search about the EBS Drome and "Talkbass". Several threads came up and someone probably has some items to help you. talkbass EBS Drome site:www.talkbass.com - Google Search

If I were in your shoes, I would turn around and sell it. Any time I have fought the inherent tone of a preamp that I did not like, I lost the battle. It's better to get something that gives you a tone you like with minimal effort.

 

[jpbass5]

I have a Drome 12 and find the high end brittle. I typically run the amp eq flat with the bright turned down. I add bass and treble from my bass.
The character switch is useful depending on the room.
Have you tried the sweeping the mid frequency with the mids boosted until you hear a “bad” tone? Sometimes that can help, find the offending frequency and then turn down the mids.

I hope you can get it to sound the way you want, they’re pretty cool amps. I have always been curious of a neo speaker upgrade.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

This is my 1st time hearing about the EBS Drome. I did a Google search about the EBS Drome and "Talkbass". Several threads came up and someone probably has some items to help you. talkbass EBS Drome site:www.talkbass.com - Google Search

If I were in your shoes, I would turn around and sell it. Any time I have fought the inherent tone of a preamp that I did not like, I lost the battle. It's better to get something that gives you a tone you like with minimal effort.

Thanks, I'm thinking in this direction too.
I have the Drome 1x15, most praise and discuss the 1x12.
I'm used to 10's and 12's, so I'd like to hear what other players came up with before I flip it.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

I have a Drome 12 and find the high end brittle. I typically run the amp eq flat with the bright turned down. I add bass and treble from my bass.
The character switch is useful depending on the room.
Have you tried the sweeping the mid frequency with the mids boosted until you hear a “bad” tone? Sometimes that can help, find the offending frequency and then turn down the mids.

I hope you can get it to sound the way you want, they’re pretty cool amps. I have always been curious of a neo speaker upgrade.

That's a great strategy!

I find the Neo speaker to be not much different tonally, at least I can't tell a big difference. But the amp is lighter.
I might also just need to gig it out more, because what sounds good in my living room isn't always the same in a live mix, maybe the brittle tone cuts through nicely.

 

[Al T.]

I have had my Drome 12 for 15 years now and I generally run it with a little bass cut and bright all the way down and treble flat. Mids boosted a bit around 800 hz. One thing I did when I got it was get an L-pad installed to attenuate the tweeter hiss. The 15 is a great amp so best wishes for a resolution to the tone issue.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

I have had my Drome 12 for 15 years now and I generally run it with a little bass cut and bright all the way down and treble flat. Mids boosted a bit around 800 hz. One thing I did when I got it was get an L-pad installed to attenuate the tweeter hiss. The 15 is a great amp so best wishes for a resolution to the tone issue.

Thanks a lot, I'll try these settings out.
Can you give some insight about the L-Pad installation process? What was it rated for? Do I install following the instructions of any other L-Pad schematic that's online?

 

[micguy]

The original speaker was replaced with an Eminence Neo driver, plus I had handles installed on it, both upgrades for weight saving and transportability.

There are several Eminence neo 15" drivers - the LF version is made to just do the low bass well, others have somewhat more extended response. You may not have gotten the right one. And yes, just swapping any old driver into a box that may or may not (mostly likely not) work with it is a complete crapshoot.

 

[Al T.]

Thanks a lot, I'll try these settings out.
Can you give some insight about the L-Pad installation process? What was it rated for? Do I install following the instructions of any other L-Pad schematic that's online?

@MrUsefulAlien If I remember correctly the L-pad was good for 100 watts. It kills the annoying hiss if I set it about a third of the way down from full on. I had it bench tested when I got it to avoid any surprises and the tech suggested it as he noticed the problem. I played a 15 at Boston Guitar Works several times and I loved the tone and the ability to make it sound the way I like. As others have said, check the driver and be sure it is the right one for the cabinet volume. Regards, Al

 

[Sid Fang]

I’ve been using a Drome 12 for about 20 years now, and am rather surprised by your problem. I had never heard of EBS when I first plugged into the Drome, and I was immediately blown away by the range and clarity, especially for a small combo. Definitely no upper mid honk! For fingerstyle, I always have the “brightness” all the way off, but with the rest of the EQ neutral/“flat”, sometimes even disabled by the bypass button, sometimes with a small bump on the mids. Do the compressor settings or “character” switch have any effect? Do you get the same tone with headphones? Have you contacted EBS? When I’ve written to them over the years, it sometimes took a while to get a reply, but when I did they were incredibly helpful.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

I’ve been using a Drome 12 for about 20 years now, and am rather surprised by your problem. I had never heard of EBS when I first plugged into the Drome, and I was immediately blown away by the range and clarity, especially for a small combo. Definitely no upper mid honk! For fingerstyle, I always have the “brightness” all the way off, but with the rest of the EQ neutral/“flat”, sometimes even disabled by the bypass button, sometimes with a small bump on the mids. Do the compressor settings or “character” switch have any effect? Do you get the same tone with headphones? Have you contacted EBS? When I’ve written to them over the years, it sometimes took a while to get a reply, but when I did they were incredibly helpful.

I think it's a function of the 15 inch speaker, it has different tonal qualities and needs different EQ. Plus my other amps are really clear and punchy.

 

[Sid Fang]

I think it's a function of the 15 inch speaker, it has different tonal qualities and needs different EQ. Plus my other amps are really clear and punchy.

The thing is, the designers at EBS have historically been very clever and very good, if a bit idiosyncratic, and they went for a certain hi-fi-ish sound. I've never looked at replacing the 12" Eminence on my Drome, but I recall a statement being attributed to EBS about it being to a specific OEM spec due to the cabinet design. I have a hard time believing that they'd have launched the Drome 15 without having having engineered something that sounds "EBS". Is there any chance that the speaker you replaced wasn't the original?

 

[FilCo]

I have this exact combo. I can tell you that I have always hated the sound of it when using the front end, but when I run any other preamp straight to the effects return, it sounds superb. There is a night and day difference, at least for me. You should give that a try.

 

[burgerdj]

Remember that sometimes settings at noon are not flat. It also sounds like the horn/tweeter is a bit aggressive. Obviously turn that down on the L-pad, but also don’t be afraid to roll back the treble and goose the low mids. The eq section looks pretty robust, but you might consider an external multi-band eq to fine tune. Or not! If you’re fighting it too much, just move it along.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

The thing is, the designers at EBS have historically been very clever and very good, if a bit idiosyncratic, and they went for a certain hi-fi-ish sound. I've never looked at replacing the 12" Eminence on my Drome, but I recall a statement being attributed to EBS about it being to a specific OEM spec due to the cabinet design. I have a hard time believing that they'd have launched the Drome 15 without having having engineered something that sounds "EBS". Is there any chance that the speaker you replaced wasn't the original?

That's the thing, I'm not really into their sterile HiFi sound, also on other equipment I've tried.
The driver I replaced is stamped with EBS, and the replacement one sounds just about the same, though it's lighter.
I'm after a different sound than the baked in EBS one, and to be fair I don't love the tone of my friend's GK MB112II, or his huge Mesa stack. So it's more a function of me being fussy, I like the Aguilar, Bergantino and GB sound, and with the EQ suggestions (cutting bass, IDing offending mid frequencies) I'm making progress!

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

I have this exact combo. I can tell you that I have always hated the sound of it when using the front end, but when I run any other preamp straight to the effects return, it sounds superb. There is a night and day difference, at least for me. You should give that a try.

I could run my Tonehamme pedal or my Sadowsky Pre into the effects return, that's a great idea!
I cannot get over the standard EBS sound, it's never clear or punchy enough, you get me!

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

Remember that sometimes settings at noon are not flat. It also sounds like the horn/tweeter is a bit aggressive. Obviously turn that down on the L-pad, but also don’t be afraid to roll back the treble and goose the low mids. The eq section looks pretty robust, but you might consider an external multi-band eq to fine tune. Or not! If you’re fighting it too much, just move it along.

Thanks, I need to install an L-Pad, and your point about noon≠flat is one I haven't thought of. There's a few other good suggestions on this thread on how to approach the EQ, I'll try them because I like the amp, but I want to love it.

 

[Aloe]

please note that 'flat' for the bright knob is not 12 o'clock, it's 0. bright is a boost-only filter in 10-ish khz and if you find the highs harsh, the first thing to try is to turn this ccw fully. bright at 0, bass, mid and treble in the middle should be the starting point.

if the drome has the same finicky eq as my ebs rig, download the manual and look at frequency curves. it's typical for ebs eq to boost and cut in the same time. like you boost the lows and simultaneously cut the low mids, with one knob. this doesn't work like a hifi eq and needs getting used to. from then cutting a specific mid-frequency should be as easy as locating it on the 'freq' switch.

setting up the gain right (light acting on your heaviest notes) also greatly helps. also please note that using huge compression (fully cw) also plays part, try to eq with the comp ccw first.

hope it helps a bit