For all you players that use a low B string - a trivia question

[CGremlin]

I didn't know exactly, but figured it to be around 30 Hz since 60 cycle hum is pretty close to the B an octave up.

 

[LowEndOperative]

Some various info came up in a recent thread over in the 'Amps and Cabs' forum. And I was just wondering how many 5er / 6er players that use a low B, actually knew this tidbit of information. Not particularly useful in gigging/chops terms, but possibly if designing rigs and systems. Also for its use as a reference for where the low B lies in the scope of human hearing.

Answer truthfully. Do you know what frequency the open low B is relative to Hz. I'm certain someone will pop in with the answer pretty quickly. Mainly I was wondering how many of us knew. I didn't, tho it meshed closely with the guess I would have made.

In addition, how many keys on a standard 88 key piano are actually lower than this?

Just two.

 

[Frank77]

I knew it: I looked it up when I was shopping for cabs and reading specs. I use a 5-string occasionally and wanted to make sure they could handle it.

Semi-unrelated, but another info that's interesting to some: The range of the human ear is from 20 Hz to 20 kHz and as you get older you lose some of the top frequencies. I've lost those above the 17-18 kHz mark.

 

[Korladis]

Honestly some of the best low B and low A tone I've heard has been from bassists playing through Ampeg 810 cabs. Or old school voiced 2x15 cabs.

 

[Ric5]

Actually, many EB cabs won't reproduce the fundamentals below about the A string. 60-70 Hz tuning is pretty common, since most electric basses with magnetic pickups produce more 2nd harmonic than fundamental. The listener's mind fills in the missing fundamental. It's another example of psychoacoustics.

PSYCHOACOUSTICS

Now there is a good band name

 

[Ric5]

I think that the 4 string bass should be tuned to DGCF or that people should play 5 string basses ...

 

[socialleper]

I didn't know because it isn't terribly consequential.

 

[Korladis]

I think that the 4 string bass should be tuned to DGCF or that people should play 5 string basses ...

I've not found that tuning very useful. My primary bands play in E standard and B standard, so a BEAD tuned bass is much more useful to me.

 

[fishsome]

Fundamental is 31 as mentioned before. You can play with boosting frequencies around 62 to thicken it up as it's the over tones.

 

[groooooove]

i know it's near the bottom, 30-ish hz. i used to know exactly im sure.

doesn't matter if we can or cants hear the fundamental. you hear the note. you feel it. it's awesome.

 

[tombowlus]

Just keep in mind that "handling a low B well on a gig" and "producing the fundamental of a low B" are two different questions.

 

[Gazman]

I know about low B, but what frequency is the brown note?

About once or twice a day.
Thanks for asking.

 

[Geri O]

I knew it was around 30 hz. I had a De-tuner on my Stingray for a while and that gave me an A around 27.5 hz.

What gauge B string are you using to get a good-sounding A with a detuner?

I have a detuner on my Stingray Five as well. I use a .135 B string (stock Power Slinky set). At A, the string is a little too flabby to be useful, but Bb is just fine, which works with a lot of worship music and so far, I haven't missed having low A. But it would be nice to.

Thanx.

 

[David A. Davis]

what about the frequencies up in the neck? C in the 8 fret of the E string sounds nothing like the third fret of the A string, go upper on the E string and the sound is fuller than the open.

The frequency is the same, the tone is different due to the difference in size of the strings. Make sense?

 

[ofajen]

I'm thinking most bass cabinets can "handle" 31Hz. Their efficiency just starts rolling off well above 31Hz. Am I wrong?

Most bass cabs have system response that starts to roll off well above 31 Hz, typically in the range from 40-70 Hz. There will be some output at 31 Hz, but from somewhat to much lower.

However, there could be an issue with the speaker unloading below resonance and being vulnerable to damage from excess low energy that causes excessive cone excursion. Typically cone excursion is minimal for a given input power near resonance and then increases below that and levels off at a high level as you approach DC. A lot of ultra low energy will cause massive cone excursion and likely cause mechanical damage. That's why it's good practice to keep strong ultra lows away from the speaker cones.

Otto

 

[ofajen]

Most neck position pickups will present strong fundamental tone down to about 60 or 70 Hz. Below that, pickup response will be rolling off at about 6dB/octave, so at 31 Hz, you are getting about 6 dB less fundamental than you are getting the other harmonics.

Otto

 

[aborgman]

Actually, many EB cabs won't reproduce the fundamentals below about the A string.

I'm afraid that speaker cabinets don't act as brick wall filters.

 

[Phildevoid]

All I know is that if you fix what Hertz, you will be better off.

 

[kikstand454]

All I know is,. LONG HAIR DONT CARE:

16yrs and 100lbs later...

NO HAIR DONT CARE.

 

[southgabass]

One of the questions in the OP that hasn't been touched on is the human range of hearing. That would be 20Hz-20k Hz.

Sensitivity of Human Ear