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Have wattage, need VOLUME!

#21
Lets get some things straight. First of all, though I was asking for the advice of peers on the forum with more experience than me, I would have it be known that I am not just some window licker. I can create "Legit" designs just fine using big boy math and everything. Which was double checked and confirmed by the wonderful r+d staff at eminence the other day when I called with a few questions about my new driver. I'm not some idiot nailing shop grade pine together into whatever shape will fit in the trunk of my car. My previous cab designs had flaws, yes. That's what happens when you experiment.

As for 10's for highs, again, not a ******. I'm not going to be biamping and throwing not but lows to my 15 and not but highs to my 10's. I will be trimming a bit of the low end off the 10's, so that they carry more low mids and mids, while the 15 will have some of the highs rolled off, letting do its intended purpose of carry most of the lows and mids. I'm not just going to throw my crossover on to hard split the frequencies right down the middle. That would be stupid.

I would like to thank all the people on here who really did give me good advice, and who weren't just being high and mighty @s$ holes because they have more forum posts than me.

My new build will be started tonight, which I will start a thread for. Some of it will be loosely based on some of the boutique cabs I have been eyeing, but with my own little flair thrown in (don't worry, I'll use my big boy math for the flair part too).
 
#25
mindslave said:
Lets get some things straight. First of all, though I was asking for the advice of peers on the forum with more experience than me, I would have it be known that I am not just some window licker. I can create "Legit" designs just fine using big boy math and everything. Which was double checked and confirmed by the wonderful r+d staff at eminence the other day when I called with a few questions about my new driver. I'm not some idiot nailing shop grade pine together into whatever shape will fit in the trunk of my car. My previous cab designs had flaws, yes. That's what happens when you experiment.

As for 10's for highs, again, not a ******. I'm not going to be biamping and throwing not but lows to my 15 and not but highs to my 10's. I will be trimming a bit of the low end off the 10's, so that they carry more low mids and mids, while the 15 will have some of the highs rolled off, letting do its intended purpose of carry most of the lows and mids. I'm not just going to throw my crossover on to hard split the frequencies right down the middle. That would be stupid.

I would like to thank all the people on here who really did give me good advice, and who weren't just being high and mighty @s$ holes because they have more forum posts than me.

My new build will be started tonight, which I will start a thread for. Some of it will be loosely based on some of the boutique cabs I have been eyeing, but with my own little flair thrown in (don't worry, I'll use my big boy math for the flair part too).
Click to expand...

Don't ask for advice if you don't want it.

The solution to your problem seems pretty simple. You're throwing too little speaker at too much wattage. I'm guessing your guitarists are doubling or tripling the amount of speaker surface area you have.....right?
 
#27
I came on here for advice because I DID want the advice. But as the posts state, my financial situation changed due to a stay in the ER, and could no longer afford a new cab, so since I already had a couple sheets of really nice imported birch, and still had enough money for a new driver left, so I decided to redesign the cab instead.

What i DIDNT want was for some jerk to come on to the thread and talk to me like i have the IQ of a rock. I received lots of great advice from a bunch of great people on here, and took it to heart. First, of all the boutique 15" cabs everyone suggested, pretty much ALL of them use the 3015lf, so that is the one i got. I also got to chat with the guys from Eminence about my build, and redesigned the ports on the new cab with them. Its going to be awesome. I also have a list of great cabs I need to check out like the GK 412, and the Mesa Powerhouse.

Again, thank you to all the people on here who actually do give a crap about helping out a fellow bassist.
 
#28
Oh, and we only have 1 guitarist, who uses a half stack. Also, since the cab wasn't finished for our last practice, and the current cab (although not the most efficient design for it) still falls within Eminence's recommended specs, so I tossed it in to see if it made any difference, and holy crap! I got told to turn down which was cool, and it sounds just as good as my old 15, so I am super excited to get my cab finished, and get it all loaded up. When i get it finished, I'll post all the pics in a build thread and post a link here. I am really proud of this build. And its coming along nicely so far :)
 
#29
I might be misunderstanding, but it sounds like you are going to build a single 15" cabinet using just the 3015lf and the design from some other cabinet. That might get loud but it probably won't sound the way you want.

IMHO, you can't get more bang for the buck or clean volume and lows for the $$$ than a fEARful. If you build it yourself you can get a 15/6 for under $500. The enclosure makes a big difference, and in any case if you just put the 3015LF in a box by itself it probably won't sound very good. It gets really loud and low, but doesn't have good highs or high mids. The fEARful design has good volume, bracing, and porting, and also has a great midrange driver and crossover.

Just my recommendation. You already have the woofer, so why not build it right?

EDIT: Looks like you like the sound, so I guess that's what matters. But still, try out a 15/6 sometime and see if it doesn't blow you away...
 
#30
Looks like you are set. . .but remember, seeing as you have the Kappalite, you're only a crossover and a 6' mid driver away from building yourself a fEARful should you ever want to try one. . . .
 
#32
mindslave said:
Oh, and we only have 1 guitarist, who uses a half stack. Also, since the cab wasn't finished for our last practice, and the current cab (although not the most efficient design for it) still falls within Eminence's recommended specs, so I tossed it in to see if it made any difference, and holy crap! I got told to turn down which was cool, and it sounds just as good as my old 15, so I am super excited to get my cab finished, and get it all loaded up. When i get it finished, I'll post all the pics in a build thread and post a link here. I am really proud of this build. And its coming along nicely so far :)
Click to expand...

So, your guitarist has a cabinet with 4- 12s and you're building a single 15..............

You'll probably still have an issue for the reason I stated above.
 
#33
15 and 2 10's...as stated in previous posts. I still have a pair of Carvin NE10's. Building it all in to one cab. The 10's are going to be sealed, to get super punchy, and the 15 half, as stated before isn't just me tossing a kappalite into whatever shape I feel like making. I have been using WinISD for a couple years for designing cabs, and also got with Eminence to check my work. I took some points from the fEARful cabs and several others as far as bracing design, etc.
 
#35
Also, I almost did get a 6 and a crossover, but my budget got sliced to about $250, so after the driver, all I had enough for was some hardware extras. If I would have had enough, there was pretty much no question as to which cab. I think those fearfulls are awesome. Watched a lot of vids of people playing/testing them, and was really impressed. Would be cool to own a real 1515/66/11 some day, just to have their proprietary materials in it, but again, i probably won't have that sort of money for a while. Anyway, once i get to my computer, I'll start my build thread.
 
#36
As others have stated power in gobs is great but speakers make Volume and spl a lot easier. Go modular with four 2x10's? Two 4x10's, 4x10 & 2x12, so many choices.

at 2x10's and 1x15 Its not enough. how many speakers are you competing with? ie Guitar cabs, PA, Drums and cymbals. I always thought it ironic that bassists have to bring in a Kilowatt or more of power to be heard/felt only to be thwarted by the cutting tone of a cymbal being hit by a stick.

Another thing to consider is how much mids you have playing live. Alone its really easy to dial out mids, but live it really makes an impact on where you sit in the mix. I know you posted that you like your tone and just want it louder, fwiw I have a very different tone live than I do in the studio. Different basses even.
 
#37
I actually like a decent amount of mids. I do boost them a bit more live, and my 10's seem to really like the mids, which is good. Ive never been much of a "tons of lows and nothing else" kind of guy. I do slap, and tapping and such, so I love the punch and articulation.
 
#38
Cab update: I built the new cab, and it is phenomenal. Problems solved! Putting those 10's in a sealed box is just what they needed. It has really tightened them up. They actually get a ton of nice clear highs and mids, and even though they were in a box with the exact same volume and porting as the carvin box they come in, its like they're even louder than before. I need a string change, so it's still going to get better... And the 15...holy rocks that thing is a beast! It is loud, and clear! My band mates are all completely infatuated with this new cab. They described the tone like an obese virgin... Fat and tight! My computer is in getting repaired, so i will get a build thread going soon. My phone won't let me post pics on here. So glad i did this. I feel like my rig is complete now :)
 
#40
ill have to check that. I know my pre doesn't have the strongest signal without over boosting the gain, and getting a bit more grit than I want, so I use the gain on my compressor and eq to make up the difference a bit because they are cleaner. Thanks for the heads up on that!
 

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