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Fix My Rig!!! (Please)

#21
Thanks for the insight martarmetal. The tone I'm getting from the BMax, as best I can describe it, is "pointed", as opposed to "rounded". I lowered my pickups a little and that helped some, but it is still very pointed sounding. Backing the treble off helps a little too, but its still lacking.

You're right though...I'll have to tweak for a long time with this thing.
 
#22
Here's another pic of the cab... ImageUploadedByTalkBass1376504916.072812.jpg
 
#24
You're right. Many, many moons ago this cab was a PA cab. So yeah, it's not really tuned for bass applications.

I stopped at a local music store this afternoon and looked for a cab. They had a Peavey VB410...8 ohms, 800w, 81 lbs (ouch) for $600 (double ouch). But it looked like a nice, sturdy cab. Anyone own one of these? I didn't play through it, but I may take my amp/guitar to the store and try it out.
 
#25
Based on something I read in a different post on TB, I tried just running my bass guitar through a mic preamp. I have a somewhat cheap Studio Projects VB-1...but it does have a 12AX7 tube. Actually, it didn't sound too bad. With a little EQ tweaking, it got a very usable tone. Taking it a step further, I ran the bass guitar into the BMax, then into the mic pre, then into the Crown. The sound is better, in my opinion, than the BMax alone. I think the tube helped warm up the tone a little and make it rounder. There's still a metallic harshness that occurs when I turn the volume up a little on the Crown amp. Could that just be the new speaker that hasn't "broken in" yet?
 
#27
Ok, so the speaker I am using for my bass rig is a PA speaker. Last night, I decided to run some music through it from my computer. I hooked it up and it sounded like crap...very middy/trebly, with very weak low end. Does that just mean my speaker shouldn't be used for bass?
 
#28
No it means that the cabinet shouldn't be used for bass. A driver and the box it's mounted in should work together properly. You obviously have yet to achieve this. Simply dropping a driver into any old box you happen to have is not the way to go. This you have found out. It doesn't matter how good your amplifier is if that "goodness" can't be translated to sound by your cabinet.
 
#29
martarmetal said:
As far as the BMax i9s concerned, I really disliked it for a while until I dedicated a few hours to mess around with the settings. I read every review and BMax thread available to gather as much information about it before i started the process. I have been playing bass for about 13 years and have never had a piece of gear give me such a workout. The BMax was a tough preamp to tame, or maybe Im just a little slow... Anyway, heres my BBE Bmax settings.
Bright switch: Off
Gain:
Treble: 4
Mid: 5
Bass: 5
Freq: 9 o'clock
Gain: 3 o'clock
Comp: 9 o'clock
Low Contour: 1
Process: 0

This may not work great for you but it took me a long time to find a good tone with the BMax. I hope this helped out a little. Just take your time and tweak the settings a little at a time.
Click to expand...

Remember flat for the Bmax is 2-10-2. A good place to start. The Bmax puts out huge lows so usually you will need to boost the mids via the parametric.

Also +1 on getting a new cab. It looks like an old Peavey SP-2 PA cab. It will work in a pinch but a better cab will help. If cash is low look for and old Peavey 2x15 cab. The heavy, bulletproof (almost) and usually pretty cheap.
 
#30
BassmanPaul said:
No it means that the cabinet shouldn't be used for bass. A driver and the box it's mounted in should work together properly. You obviously have yet to achieve this. Simply dropping a driver into any old box you happen to have is not the way to go. This you have found out. It doesn't matter how good your amplifier is if that "goodness" can't be translated to sound by your cabinet.
Click to expand...

Correct! That looks like an old Sp2. You need a real bass cab!
 
#31
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Measure the cabinet volume and calculate the tuning frequency to see how it compares to this. Most likely, the tuning of the box is wrong for that driver, and the speaker is displacement limited to much lower than the rated thermal capacity.
 
#32
Measure the cabinet volume and calculate the tuning frequency to see how it compares to this. Most likely, the tuning of the box is wrong for that driver, and the speaker is displacement limited to much lower than the rated thermal capacity.
Click to expand...

I measured my cab an its volume is 3.63 cubic feet. The Kappa-15LFA's Vas is 5.6 cubic feet. So yeah, the box is way too small for that speaker.
 

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