• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

fdecks HPF, Part II

#321
M0ses said:
Thanks for the info Francis, and of course everyone else. I trust you to be real with me about your stuff, so when I have the cash I'll spring for the big one. I have no patience at all for batteries. Still a way better value than the [sfx] unit.
Click to expand...
'Very' different than the sfx. The fdeck stuff is stellar and well designed, but the microthumpinator is a high-order filter tuned for 'no' ripple- it wouldn't work when swept for example
 
#325
scotch said:
I may be the only happy fDeck customer who doesn't use it all that often!

I understand how a hpf works, why it is a valuable tool, and when to use one. It just seems to me that maybe upright & U-Bassists are overusing them? (Frankly, I'm seeing more filters on electric bassists pedalboards as well....) There are times, in really boomy rooms, that I use mine, but more often than not I love feeling all that sub energy! It helps fill out music too! I don't think that the sub-lows of an upright are so much of a 'problem' (most times) than an asset. I can also see folks trying to save their speakers/maximize amp power, that's certainly legit. I just hope everybody gets a chance to hear & feel the full majesty of their amplified instrument once in a while. :)

When playing a large venue, I know the foh has plenty of hpf ability. I generally let them decide where to chop out the subs. If I have a problem on stage, I'd rather tweak my monitor or thin out at my amp than deny the house all those subs (in case they want 'em, which I've found they usually do).

I guess I feel towards hpf's the same way I do compression. It's a great tool & important to learn how to use, but man- it can be such a breath of fresh air to turn em off!

Don't get me wrong, my fDeck hpf3 is permanently a part of my upright/U-Bass setup! It's a wonderful piece of kit. I just bypass it unless I KNOW it's needed.

End friendly rant. :)
Click to expand...

I bought a series I for that rare times when I really need it... usually having to do with a bad back line rig in a bad room, or a FOH system with an engineer who doesn't know how control the subs. Nice tool to have in the box, but don't really need it that often. (If I was playing upright, I might be in a different place).

Funny to me also that a lot of dudes are getting rigs that can produce massive amounts of deep low end, talk about how low their cabs can go, and then stick a HPF in the mix to tame all that low end.
 
  • Like
Reactions: scotch
#326
hennessybass said:
...

Funny to me also that a lot of dudes are getting rigs that can produce massive amounts of deep low end, talk about how low their cabs can go, and then stick a HPF in the mix to tame all that low end.
Click to expand...

Yup. Weird to me as well! I've had people come to me with their pedalboards (I do setup and consulting here in Nashville) with a hpf & say "I bought this and am not sure where to put it. I don't have a problem with low end but I read so much great stuff about it on talkbass..."

These are great tools with entirely legitimate uses! (I own one and do use it myself! Sometimes.) Methinks there is a lot of overuse (or at least, 'unnecessary' use) as well, though.
 
#328
hennessybass said:
I bought a series I for that rare times when I really need it... usually having to do with a bad back line rig in a bad room, or a FOH system with an engineer who doesn't know how control the subs. Nice tool to have in the box, but don't really need it that often. (If I was playing upright, I might be in a different place).

Funny to me also that a lot of dudes are getting rigs that can produce massive amounts of deep low end, talk about how low their cabs can go, and then stick a HPF in the mix to tame all that low end.
Click to expand...
Even the best MI subs these days aren't pumping out much of significance below the cutoff on the Series 3, which is the reason amps usually have nice HPFs built in already. The beauty of an HPF with something like a Fearful is that you can further take advantage of the extended range that it DOES give you over a standard cabinet, but without wasting wattage or clarity on the subs.
 
#329
scotch said:
Yup. Weird to me as well! I've had people come to me with their pedalboards (I do setup and consulting here in Nashville) with a hpf & say "I bought this and am not sure where to put it. I don't have a problem with low end but I read so much great stuff about it on talkbass..."

These are great tools with entirely legitimate uses! (I own one and do use it myself! Sometimes.) Methinks there is a lot of overuse (or at least, 'unnecessary' use) as well, though.
Click to expand...


I use mine to set a 'rock bottom' floor for my signal. In this case, 35hz. Then I can push the shelving bass control on my preamp and not have it go so deep that I get unnecessary and/or damaging excursion and without getting sublow wash in the room. In a way it sculpts the deep lows more effectively than you can do with an amp alone. And at 35hz, you're still going lower than most if not all production bass cabs can successfully provide.
 
#330
hennessybass said:
Funny to me also that a lot of dudes are getting rigs that can produce massive amounts of deep low end, talk about how low their cabs can go, and then stick a HPF in the mix to tame all that low end.
Click to expand...

If your rig can reproduce all the way down to 35Hz, but your bass guitar is producing some 20Hz harmonics, your amp is (or may be) still wasting power reproducing that 20Hz crap. Better to eliminate it from the signal before your amp gets it.

And even if your amp has a built-in HPF, it's not like its HPF has an Infinite curve slope. Even if it's -24dB/octave, the fdeck (combined with the amp's HPF) will still take more of the lows out of the signal than what the amp will cut out on its own.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BurningSkies
#332
scotch said:
Amp effeciency is a good point.
Click to expand...

With my Monique the 'shelf' on the low is fairly deep. I was experiencing some clipping protection from my power amp until I used the HPF. Lots of energy wasted in moving a speaker in the range of the subsonics. There is visibly much less travel in the speakers as well...so you're retaining your headroom at the cab as well.
 
#333
One place that the GB amps absolutely dominate is in tight bass due to their built-in HPF's. If any of yous DB guys haven't tried a Shuttle 3.0 do so when you get a chance - it's HPF is tuned a bit higher than the others and it has no inherent "tone" of its own other than that. Too sterile for EBG IMO except for practice where it really shows you the weak points of your technique ;) .
 
#334
I made a bonehead move the other day. I play bass in 2 host jam bands during the week and felt my bass was sounding a bit weak and my amp was set way higher than normal. Duh, stupid me didn;t realize until 2 hrs in the volume on my HPF had got potted way down on the trip in my gig bag. I actual do use it to pot down my active basses in front on my Markbass and Genz benz heads as they have no active /passive pad.
 
#335
troy mcclure said:
I made a bonehead move the other day. I play bass in 2 host jam bands during the week and felt my bass was sounding a bit weak and my amp was set way higher than normal. Duh, stupid me didn;t realize until 2 hrs in the volume on my HPF had got potted way down on the trip in my gig bag. I actual do use it to pot down my active basses in front on my Markbass and Genz benz heads as they have no active /passive pad.
Click to expand...
Done that in rehearsal a couple if times, but so far, not in a show.
 
#336
Hello Mr. Deck!
I received my HPF v3 while I was away on vacation. It greeted me as I arrived home. No full level practice yet, but I am in love already. Played my new Clement 5 string through my Acoustic 260 practice amp, (single 10") and the B string articulation and pungency was dramatically improved with the HPF set at 35Hz. Max out the bass on the Nordy Pre, and get tons of big round bottom, with NO farting. Very eager for next Saturdays practice.

Could you please confirm my assumption. A 24db/octave LPF at 35Hz is essentially having no effect at 35Hz, but rather the downward curve starts there, and by 17.5Hz, is attenuating 24db. In some earlier posts, there was casual mention of setting the HPF at 35Hz as though it would be cutting 35Hz, that is not my understanding of how a typical LPF works. What say you with regard to the fDeck?

The fDeck HPF is the least sexy, least flashy, most innocuous part of your signal chain, that will yield the most improvement in your tone, that you will never want to be without.
 
#337
Love my series 3 especially with my semi-hollow body that gets all kinds of hand thumping on. Only thing though is that I rewired the in and out so that it fit naturally with all my other in-on-the-right, out-on-the-left peddles. And I've settled on using it as the first thing in my chain so that none of those useless frequencies get into any of my other effects much less my amp and ported cabinets.
 
#338
LouBass said:
Love my series 3 especially with my semi-hollow body that gets all kinds of hand thumping on. Only thing though is that I rewired the in and out so that it fit naturally with all my other in-on-the-right, out-on-the-left peddles. And I've settled on using it as the first thing in my chain so that none of those useless frequencies get into any of my other effects much less my amp and ported cabinets.
Click to expand...
About the only qualm I have with the HPF 3 is the sequence of the in/out jacks. Makes for some challenging pedalboard wiring. Never thought to reverse them. Thanks for the idea; will look to do that. As for sequence, I prefer the HPF 3 after my pedals to filter out any "useless frequencies" they might add, especially my Octaver.
 
  • Like
Reactions: troy mcclure

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back